Press Releases
Archbishop Neill warns 'fragmentation of society within all too easy reach'
Commenting on the recent publication of the UN Human Development index, which noted that the Republic of Ireland was the second wealthiest country in the world but also one of the most socially divided, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr John Neill, warned that with the growing gap between rich and poor 'we have the ingredients of serious community strife and the fragmentation of society within all too easy reach.'
Speaking in St Mary?s Church of Ireland Church in Clonsilla in Dublin where he was opening a new parish centre the Archbishop said, 'The quality of life within our new communities, the provision of real facilities, the availability of child care, the attention to those weaker members of the community ? the elderly, and the large number of younger citizens with special needs ? are not matters that can be put on the back burner to be tackled later. They are urgent now.'
Praising the local community?s initiative in developing the parish centre, the Archbishop said 'There was perhaps a time when it [St Mary?s Church Clonsilla] was seen as the Protestant Church behind closed gates serving the needs of a small but faithful Church of Ireland Community. You have seen a larger vision ? you have seen possibilities of service, opportunities for the development of greater facilities for the whole community in the parish...'
For further information contact:
Garrett Casey,
Diocesan Communications Officer,
Dublin and Glendalough,
Tel: +353 (0)1 6106447
Mobile: +353 (0)87 2356472
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The full text of the Archbishop?s Address follows.
Address by the Archbishop of Dublin at the Service Marking the Opening of a Parish Centre at St Mary?s Church Clonsilla
Sunday 11th September 2005
"My House shall be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers?
One of the special features of being an archbishop is the large amount of mail that one receives either giving advice or issuing warnings, or complaining about what somebody is doing in some parish or other! One favourite theme is to complain about anything being sold in a church building, and inevitably the incident that is today?s Gospel is offered as the final reason why I must act immediately! Jesus is interpreted as throwing out all trade from the House of God. This argument is frequently extended to include any secular use of a Church building. A church building is for worship and for worship alone, I am reminded all too often. The problem with this interpretation of the Gospel is that it is a half truth and like so many of the incidents in the life of Jesus, to be faithful we must go a lot deeper.
In the Old Testament, as much as in the life of the Christian Church down the ages, there is a very strong belief in the concept of a holy place ? somewhere that God is very real for many people, places hallowed by the prayers of countless generations, places where people have encountered God in a special way. This summer my wife and I visited several ancient French Cathedrals, and we commented that some had an outstanding sense of the beauty of holiness, others were perhaps more marked by the beauty of architecture and art, though of course that too may carry its own sense of holiness ? but nevertheless there were some that seemed especially ?prayed in? and places that called one to pray. The Temple in Jerusalem was spoken of in that way ? and the great historical writer of the Old Testament quotes that lovely phrase about God?s presence in the Temple ? ?My name shall be there?.
The parallel between the Temple in Jerusalem and many of our great mediaeval churches does not end there. Those great churches were more than places of worship; they were the very centre of the community. The sanctuary was sacred space or holy space, whilst the nave was used for all sorts of things ? it was the meeting place of the community. The Temple in Jerusalem was the same with its various courts, but the most special of all was the Holy of Holies where God was believed to be present in a very special way. There was one court reserved for those who were not members of the Jewish community itself ? it was called the Court of the Gentiles. Here the strangers were welcomed, here the seekers after faith were to be encouraged.
The text which I quoted a few minutes ago ??My house shall be called a house of prayer? is an incomplete quotation from the prophet Isaiah by St. Matthew, though St Mark quotes more fully the original: ?My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples? Here was a vision of the Temple not as an exclusive place, but an inclusive venue ? not a place of exclusion, but a place of welcome. The point of the cleansing of the Temple has little to do with a condemnation of commercial activity, it has everything to do with the manner in which narrow self interest and even religion can take to itself what is meant for others ? the place of welcome for the outsider had become the most convenient place to turn into the local market ? and even worse where small doves could be sold at exorbitant prices to the poor so that they could offer their sacrifices.
Here in Clonsilla, set in the middle of a very fast developing community is an opportunity for the Church to serve the wider community. This city is developing at a swift pace. We heard only this last week that we live in one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and yet one of the economies with the greatest gap between rich and poor. What is said of the country as a whole is brought into sharp focus for us in the city of Dublin ? the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. We have the ingredients of serious community strife and the fragmentation of society within all too easy reach. The quality of life within our new communities, the provision of real facilities, the availability of child care, the attention to those weaker members of the community ? the elderly, and the large number of younger citizens with special needs ? are not matters that can be put on the back burner to be tackled later. They are urgent now.
This is the type of opportunity that even a small community centre such as we are opening today is seeking to address. St. Mary?s Church has been here in Clonsilla for a very long time. There was perhaps a time when it was seen as the Protestant Church behind closed gates serving the needs of a small but faithful Church of Ireland Community. You have seen a larger vision ? you have seen possibilities of service, opportunities for the development of greater facilities for the whole community in the parish and this is within the vision of the prophet of old, of which I spoke.
Even more important, this is precisely why Jesus cleansed the Temple ? it was not fulfilling its purpose ? it is even pictured by Jesus as a tree which bears no fruit, and so he drives out in a symbolic dramatic action that which stands in the way of the Temple fulfilling its wider vocation. St. Matthew shows the effect is immediate ? people start coming in to him ? people in need ? the blind and the lame, and suddenly that place of exploitation is filled with the joyous babble of children?s voices.
Today the doors of St. Mary?s are being opened in a symbolic sense, not driving anybody out, but representing what must be a new mindset for not only the Church of Ireland but for all Christian Churches ? a mindset that we are here as Jesus is ? not to be served but to serve, to give of ourselves for others, to open our door and to be a place of welcome, of encouragement and of healing for all ? a house of prayer for all people. And we do not forger that in today?s city, that means for people of all nations just as it did in the Temple in Jerusalem. We are here as Christians to make the stranger and the non-national, the asylum seeker and the economic migrant know that they are welcome in our city and country.
The parish centre that we open to day can be a place to enable the parishioners, the members of the congregation, to enjoy better facilities, and there is nothing wrong with that, unless that comfort stands in the way of the church?s mission to serve and to make the love of Christ known. But better still the vision that this parish has grasped that the parish centre can be a place of service for the whole community, a contribution to make this new growing area into a place of welcome, a place where community really matters, and where lives can be enriched. As Christians this enrichment includes all that God offers to us, and so it is the place where God?s Church must be ? and so may Christ Jesus cleanse from us all that stands in the way of service and in the way of making him known in the Dublin of today.