Changing beliefs - Cherish those who still try to do good

MANY of the core beliefs we once used as foundations of society have been shaken if not sundered.

In too many spheres, the anchor has slipped and the certainties that sustained our parents have been reduced to quirks of historical anthropology.

That which was once considered inviable is often seen in a far less accepting light. Decades of disappointment and betrayal have made us far less embracing, far less trusting and maybe we’re the poorer for it. Certainties have their value in the human psyche, their absence just another source of stress and unhappiness.

Trust in financial institutions has been replaced by a combination of contempt, anger and a deep sense of having been fleeced. A class once held in some regard stands discredited, almost numbered as enemies of the state. Of course the vast majority of people in the sector are decent, just trying to get through the world without doing any harm, but the havoc wreaked by the institutions shows them, rightly or wrongly, in a poor, unattractive light. That contagion is now threatening the integrity of our justice system because it is taking far, far too long to reach decisions on whether charges might be preferred against anyone involved in the scandals that did so much to destroy this economy.

The destruction of Fianna Fáil, once unimaginable, was how the electorate passed judgment on the once most powerful force in Irish political history. Despite a decades-long grip on power, or because of it, the party had grown insular, it had confused its cause with Ireland’s cause and paid the price. Whether its roots are deep enough, its message compelling enough to encourage a younger generation to revive its fortunes remains to be seen. At this point it would be foolish to predict its demise or rejuvenation but the way it squandered its credibility over the last decade points in a very specific direction.

Of all the institutions, of all the copper-fastened belief systems and power structures, the Catholic Church has seen its fortunes fall to a point so low that it seems unrecognisable from the institution that just three decades ago took over the country to welcome Pope John Paul II. A long list of appalling scandals and a series of inadequate, out-of-touch responses, combined with a general decline in religious belief, have made this a society Dr John Charles McQuaid, the uncompromising Archbishop of Dublin until 1972, would not recognise. It is unlikely that he could even communicate with it.

Today we tell of what is like to be a Catholic priest in Ireland now, of how there may be barely one priest for each of the 1,362 parishes on the island. Where so many of those who are prepared to give their lives to religious service feel marginalised and mistrusted.

Like the majority of those who serve in the many religions active in Ireland, most Catholic priests serve out a of a sense of obligation to celebrate their truth. Though that church will never regain the preeminence it once enjoyed we should not forget that an individual’s commitment to do good should always be cherished.

Maybe we should be more tolerant than the church was and recognise that the struggle to lead an ethical life is always worth supporting, however it is manifested.