Press Releases30 Dec 05

"Ireland is in an adolescent phase in its response to a new religious pluralism" - Bishop of Cork

Preaching on Christmas Day in St Fin Barre?s Cathedral, Cork, the Right Reverend Paul Colton, Bishop of Cork said that he believes that in Ireland we are still in an adolescent phase when it comes to understanding our new found religious pluralism, as seen in the reactions to the continuing of role of religions in our society, and in education, for example.

Reflecting on the way the Christmas story has shaped human society and culture he said:

?In some parts of the world it has got to the point where people want Christmas without Christianity.

We in Ireland find ourselves, I believe, still in an adolescent phase when it comes to understanding our new found religious pluralism. This adolescence is seen on the many sides of reaction to the continuing role of religion in our society. The response of some in the churches is to retreat either to a nostalgic wistfulness ? a longing for the way things were - or worse, to an authoritarian, exclusive, Christendom paradigm, both of which ignore the reality of change, and indeed, the God-given grace in the opportunities and characteristics of our time. Equally, those who assert a secularising agenda ignore the simple reality that many Irish people, and indeed many of the new Irish, are people of faith and spirituality.

The cause of pluralism is not advanced either by a naïve enamour with new religious groupings to the exclusion of established churches. What is needed is a mature pluralism that values all, and embarks on intelligent and informed dialogue about the place of religion in our society.

Very real questions have to be asked. For example, there appears to be a concerted effort on the part of some to dismantle the churches? involvement in education. All is depicted in terms of either/or extremes. Many of the arguments put forward fail to take account of the fact that Ireland is still, even if only residually, a predominantly Christian country.

The formal dialogue the government is establishing with the churches will need to facilitate an intelligent and mature process which helps us to move beyond an adolescent understanding of what it means to live in a society with many expressions of faith.?