Cathal BarryFocus on humanity is the key
The Pope’s representative in Ireland has warned Catholics not to allow themselves be “caricatured” when standing up for Church teaching on social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.
Papal nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown also stressed that Catholics should not be seen as attempting to impose “sectarian” religious laws on the wider pluralistic society in Ireland.
Rather, the archbishop insisted that Catholics should focus “on what it means to be human” in their efforts to shape public policy.
“In speaking about the issue of public policy in Ireland today, questions like the right to life of all human beings or the reality of marriage as a unique relationship between one man and one woman or on important elements of economic justice, the contribution of Catholics today needs to be based, in the first instance on what it means to be human,” Dr Brown said.
“We should not allow ourselves to be caricatured as seeking to impose or re-impose some kind of sectarian Catholic religious law on the wider pluralistic society,” he added.
Dr Brown made his remarks while speaking at his alma mater, the prestigious US University of Notre Dame.
Sponsored by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, the archbishop’s lecture explored ‘The Catholic Church in Ireland and Pope Francis: Legacy and Transformation’.
Questions
Responding to questions after the lecture, Dr Brown said his “principal goal” in Ireland is to “create an atmosphere that allows the Church to grow and to flourish”.
“Everything I do is to help the Church to complete her mission in Ireland. I have one of the most political jobs in the Catholic Church.
“A lot of my work is purely political and in a certain sense very secular but always with the aim of helping the Church to go forward and to permeate society as much as conceivably possible,” he said.