Ruadhán Jones
Bishop Paul Dempsey tells Ruadhán Jones about the integral role the Church can play post-Covid
Today, religion is often viewed as a “risk factor for division… at worst, as a problem to be solved”, according to a lengthy new report by the Free Church of England. Religious views are seen as divisive barriers to progress and must be reserved for the private sphere.
Bishop Dempsey believes that the pandemic has highlighted the central role the Church continues to play in communities, as a spiritual and a social force”
The Free Church report, however, demonstrates that the opposite is more frequently true – churches are active supporters of social cohesion, not enemies. The report, ‘The Church and Social Cohesion: Connecting Communities and Serving People’, shows this in a number of different ways.
It highlights the work that is done by churches “working quietly and concertedly to enhance their communities”. It points out the research which shows that regularly practising Christians are the most likely religious grouping “to join a political party, make a charitable donation, or volunteer regularly for a local charitable initiative”.
Why are Christians so engaged? The report has an answer: “When participants have told us about their motivations for civic and community engagement, we have found they do so for authentically Christian reasons, as an outworking of their faith convictions”.
Ireland
While the fine detail of the report focuses on, and is derived from, the faith-context in England, Bishop Paul Dempsey of Achonry believes that it has much to offer for the Church in Ireland. “I think this kind of report actually shows that the Church is the glue that holds a lot of communities together,” Bishop Dempsey told The Irish Catholic.
Bishop Dempsey believes that the pandemic has highlighted the central role the Church continues to play in communities, as a spiritual and a social force.
“The whole importance in our communities around funerals, around weddings, around the gathering of people, even at weekends for the Eucharist,” he said. “We’re starting to realise how important these things that we maybe took for granted are.”
As a social force, Bishop Dempsey emphasised the Church’s role in education; how churches reach out to other groups in society; and the “very important work that’s going on in parishes that we don’t hear about, so many projects through volunteers reaching out to those worse off in society – that the Church is playing a very central role in all of those issues in parishes around the country”.
Education
Bishop Dempsey was especially firm in emphasising the excellent work done by Catholic schools. He said he found commentary to the contrary from some politicians “amazing”, most especially claims of a “baptism barrier”.
“When we talk about Catholic schools, and again I know this from my own experience of education, the Catholic Church is wide open to welcoming people from all faiths and none,” Bishop Dempsey said. “Again, that’s bringing community together, it’s including people, it’s welcoming people, and our Catholic schools are doing that.
“I’m amazed at the commentary I hear sometimes from our politicians. They talk about this thing called the ‘baptism barrier’. I have never in my 23 years being a priest and bishop come across a baptism barrier. We’ve always been opening and welcoming to people of all faiths in our schools.”
Integral
Regarding the role churches play in cohering their local communities, Bishop Dempsey said he felt the work they do is often overlooked.
“I think somehow or other that church organisations are not taken as seriously as they could be and should be in our local parishes,” Bishop Dempsey said. “Any priest in a parish, any lay volunteer or parish minister, is very much in tune with the local community because we’re at the heart of community – we’re there in people’s lives, we’re there in their joys, we’re there in their sorrows.
Bishop Dempsey highlighted in particular the wealth of the church’s social teaching”
Bishop Dempsey called on the Government to recognise the integral role that the Church plays in building communities, and can play in rebuilding them after Covid-19 has passed. The Church should not be seen as an irrelevance: instead, it should be “drawn on more from the political sphere to be more included in our society,” Bishop Dempsey said.
“I think one of the interesting points in relation to Covid in recent times, in relation to worship and in relation to the Church, is that somehow or other the Church is seen as being on the fringe of society, you know it’s seen as being a gathering,” Bishop Dempsey said.
“But for us to gather as Christians, it’s more than just gathering socially, it’s who we are and that we are central in society and that we have a very important message for society. And that should be at the very heart of society, not at the very fringe.”
Bishop Dempsey also believes that the Church should be more outgoing in preaching its message, that it has “so much to say to society”. Bishop Dempsey highlighted in particular the wealth of the church’s social teaching.
“The Church has so much to say about that,” he said. “Sometimes, unfortunately, we don’t hear the commentary in society about what the Church has to say and the importance of its message because we get caught up in our own internal affairs. We shouldn’t be internalising, we should be reaching out to as many people as possible to try and help them and inspire them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”