Michael Kelly“Laypeople tend to see priests as the professional people when it comes to faith” writes Michael Kelly
Priests in Belfast are to take up the challenge of Pope Francis to bring the Gospel to everyday life. As part of celebrations of the ‘Year of Mercy’ Redemptorists from Clonard Monastery will establish a ‘mercy tent’ in a local shopping centre where people can come and have their confession heard or simply just talk to a priest.
It’s a great idea and one that can be appealing for many Catholics who no longer practise their faith. Such initiatives will become increasingly important to face the reality of generations of Irish Catholics who have barely been inside the door of a church building. Many of these people – often called lapsed – have not rejected the faith per se. They may have either fallen out of the habit of going to Mass or felt themselves unnourished at Mass.
For people with no institutional connection to their local parish, a shopping centre is a neutral space where they can have an initial encounter with faith that can be an invitation to something deeper. As Pope Francis constantly reminds us, we can’t languish in our churches with our repository of truth and lament the fact that more people don’t come. We’re all called to go to the existential margins.
It’s not an attitude which comes easy to Catholicism in Ireland where the Church has been used to dominance. We never had to enter the marketplace of ideas to propose faith, but if Catholicism is to have a vibrant and credible future in Ireland, the Church must embrace new ways of proposing the Gospel to generations who have perhaps heard the message of Christ, but either not been touched by it or found it irrelevant to their life.
Social media and the use of technology is a vital component in evangelisation, but it is never a substitute for face-to-face contact. I get nervous when I meet priests who tell me that a lot of their ministry is on Facebook and Twitter. While the online world is undoubtedly a space that needs the light of faith, it should never become a substitute for authentic one-to-one contact.
Nor should evangelisation be left to priests alone. I spoke with a priest recently who told me that the parish pastoral council was keen on a process of home visitation in the parish. The stumbling block? Some members of the council felt it vital that there be a priest present as part of each visitation group – something which is not practical.
The danger in this approach is that laypeople tend to see priests as the professional people when it comes to faith, understanding themselves merely as assistants. While it’s true that priests must play a vital leadership role within the Christian community, all baptised people must also see evangelisation as part of their responsibility for building up the Church.