Cathal Barry
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin Staff Reporter
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has warned that the artwork displayed at the national seminary in Maynooth gives the “wrong impression” of what the Church’s message is.
Noting that the long corridors of St Patrick’s College are “tapestried” with large portraits of bishops, Dr Martin claimed that most of them were “of little or any artistic value” and “highly unlikely to evoke prayerful contemplation”.
“Indeed one could say that such a collection of paintings if anything gives a wrong impression of what the Church is,” he said.
The Archbishop of Dublin made his remarks at the launch of the celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the veneration to the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
As part of the celebrations, Dr Martin launched a jubilee pilgrimage which will see the popular icon visit every cathedral in the country between April and May.
The archbishop said the pilgrimage of the icon “will certainly bring help to many who are troubled, and will hopefully lead those of us tempted to be closed in our own security to open our hearts more fully to those in need and to change our Church for it to be more fully a true icon of God’s mercy”.
The 150th jubilee pilgrimage will begin in Limerick on the evening of April 4 and will conclude in Clonard Monastery in Belfast on May 15.
Full programme of jubilee events can be found at: www.followtheicon.ie.