FORUM
NEW SERIES
NO.63
March 2006
Meeting the Spiritan Associates…
Lay people have been associated with Spiritan mission, in Ireland, since the first French Fathers settled in Blanchardstown, in the mid 1800s. The character of the associations that developed has been both rich and diverse, with some involved in the raising and collection of money, others in promotion work through the sale and delivery of Outlook, others in the provision of education, others in the administration of the Province, yet others in the administration of care to older confreres and many others in the pastoral and support duties. Lay people, such as these, provided a firm base upon which the work of the Spiritan Congregation could develop.
Around the year 2000, a group of lay people came together seeking to deepen their relationship with the Spiritan Family, through the adoption of, and commitment (formal and informal) to an apostolic life, in the footsteps of Libermann and Des Places. Through prayer and sharing of their faith experience, they became strengthened and animated to achieve the translation of their apostolic zeal into many manifestations of concrete action which reflected the three apostolic commitments of the Spiritan Way of Life.
Today, the Irish Spiritan Lay Associates number ten women and men, from various walks of life. We come together regularly in community to discuss our activities and to support each other in our work. Whilst the main group is centred on Kimmage Manor Parish, one person has linked in with the work of An Tobar, and the group has assisted the initiation of a similar group in Nairobi. These are our first attempts to branch out and to move towards our goal of developing Spiritan Lay Associate groups around each Spiritan Community.
We have, in the past been asked ‘what do you actually do?’ This is a valid question and one which led us to reflect on the diversity of activity and mission that was represented in our group. It may, perhaps, be useful to list out these activities:
Social action marking solidarity, justice and peace
- Therese Osborne is based in El Salvador working in and living in solidarity with those who are marginalized.
- Fintan Sheerin is PRO for a Kenyan-based charity ‘Love for Sick, Homeless and Abandoned Children in Kenya’ and is working on a collaborative project with a Spiritan in Nairobi aimed at developing self-sustainable work.
Living Christian lives, and spreading the Gospel through our example:
Involvement with Youth:
- Carol McCabe works in a youth outreach project and is exploring the possibility of moving into chaplaincy for young people.
- Mary Gormley is involved in a bereavement group for children who are
experiencing loss. She has also been active in facilitating school retreats.
- Fintan Sheerin coordinates and directs a youth choir in his local church which has a faith and justice component.
- Marguerite Curran co-ordinates the G.I.F.T. Programme (Growing in Faith
Together) for teenagers aged between 13 and 16 years in the parish.
Community:
- Kate Cooke is involved in the provision of adult literacy classes.
- Mary Kelly runs grief support groups.
- Brian Gormely is involved in leadership programmes and has completed CORI training in ‘Peer Pastoral Review’ which allows him to facilitate review of groups involved in pastoral ministry.
- Mary Gormley trained with Cáirde, an Irish AIDS befriending organisation, and has accompanied sufferers through their final stages of life. She has worked in hospital/hospice/home visitation, and takes part in a HIV/AIDS housing project in the inner city as a voluntary/relief carer.
- Liz Coyle works full-time in pastoral ministry in a south-city hospital.
Parish:
- All of the group are very active in their respective parishes both in ministries as well as in parish councils.
- Mary Gormley, Carol, Brian and Fintan are involved in leadership
of/participation in parish choirs. Brian and Fintan both compose sacred music for community worship.
- Marguerite has played a significant role in PDR at Dublin Archdiocese level and is very involved in the organisation of the Sunday Family Mass liturgy in Kimmage Manor Parish.
- Mary Gormley is involved in a Baptism Team and has recently taken on the role of Sacristan in Greenhills Parish.
- Mary Kelly and Carol are on the Funeral team in Kimmage Manor Parish.
- Carol is trained in parish and youth ministry.
- Kate is a minister of the Word and is also involved in church decoration.
Asylum Initiatives:
- Fintan, Liz and Brian were involved in voluntary roles within SPIRASI.
Future:
- Fintan maintains his link to the main group but is now associated with An Tobar, in Ardbraccan and is exploring a part-time role there. He is also developing his involvement with his Spiritan contacts in Nairobi. He has also, recently, commenced theological studies – in the footsteps of Liz, who completed her bachelor degree in theology and anthropology at Kimmage Mission Institute – and is using this to explore Lay Spiritan Spirituality.
Fintan recently wrote that we are at a moment of significant change in the history of the Spiritan Family, in Ireland. We may look back to the days when Kilshane and Kimmage were full of students and when Spiritan missionaries were plenty. We may look to the demographics of the Irish Province today and grieve for the passing of that age. We are, however, people of the light and of the day, and we look, not to the past, but to the future. The growth of the Lay Spiritan Associate movement, throughout the world, is evidence of that future, and evidence that the Spiritan Mission in Ireland, and further a field is alive and attracting new lay missionaries. We rejoice in this! We believe that the diversity and life that has manifested in the group is evidence of the Holy Spirit at work – indeed, this diversity from common heart and soul is reminiscent of that which marked the first Pentecost. These activities are the fruits of that Spirit.
In these days, the Lord is, indeed, pouring out His Spirit and displaying signs for all to see.
Ms. Carol McCabe
Carol is a Dubliner. She went to school at St Louis Rathmines. Afterwards, she studied and worked in accountancy for 10 years before entering St. Louis Convent in Monaghan where she stayed for 6 years. During this time she did pastoral work, studies and worked in Focus Point for two years. On leaving the convent she was involved in school retreats around Ireland and the UK for 10 years. Carol is now working with Adidas Dublin Marathon as Administrator and does pastoral work in the evening and at weekends. Carol says she is happy to be a Spiritan Associate.
Searching for Meaning…
Good Afternoon! My name is Carol. I am 5ft 6 dark haired female who lives in the area! That tells you who I am physically but who am I as a person? Who are you as a person? We know each other by name but what about the person inside. When I think about this, it reminds me of the line in the Gospel when Jesus asks, “Who do you say I am”?
Who do I say I am, leaving out all the titles: sister, daughter, friend etc? Who do you say you are? Leaving out all the titles of priest, brother, nephew, son, uncle…who are you as a person? This is a deep question that has been with me since my teens. It is questions that lead me to ask, what is my purpose in life? what is God calling me to do?
The question has led me along various paths since leaving school. On leaving school, I was convinced that I was being led toward Religious life. I spoke to the school principal and she told me to go and study/work for a few years and if I still felt the same in a few years time to come back and look at it again!... I did just that, I studied accountancy and worked at it for 10 years. I found this fulfilling but not enough, there was something missing. I got involved in all sorts or groups, charities but I was still asking the same question. I had three serious relationships and two engagements…I felt that married life was what I was meant to do but no… circumstances did not allow me to go ahead as I felt there is something else I was being called to do…but what was it?
My search continued and eventually after 10 years since leaving school, with lots of soul searching… I entered the St. Louis order. I felt yes, this is where I am meant to be. I loved the time for reflection, the work: in a remand home, schools, parish work in Belfast and I spent two years in Focus Point working with people who were out of home. I really felt this was great; it is the right place to be. I did not feel the same about community; I was surprised by their humanness. I don’t really know what I expected but it was more difficult than expected. It was filled with all the difficulties of living with other people, various ages who may have nothing in common with each other except trying to follow their calling in life. I hate to say it but living in a house full of women is difficult !!!!! Sorry to my fellow women… I felt it would be a place where the search for meaning would deepen but everyone just got caught up in the day to day activities and I found meaning in my work rather than my community. Again after a lot of soul searching, I left after 6 years and again searching that question, what am I being called to do?
I was approached by a Christian brother who asked if I would join their retreat team and then later with a Passionist team. I started giving retreats in secondary schools to help young people in their search and I felt that my search had lead me to the right place. I wanted them to talk about what was going on for them, as I felt the Lord would do, to build them up and help them see how important they were and how gifted and talented each person is. I wanted to help them to find the person that they are without titles. I also felt that they wanted to be listened to. They wanted to talk about their culture i.e. their music, peer pressure, exam pressure etc but they did not want adults to be part of their culture. They did not want adults listening to their music…that was part of their identity, I used meditation as a form of prayer and there was a deep hunger for this quiet time. I felt there was a real sense of justice and allowing others to be different. I also found great acceptance and fun. I did retreats for 10 years but from a financial point I could not keep it going but I think now that it was right to stop at that point anyway.
I was offered a job as the administrator of the Dublin marathon which I am now doing for 7 years and my search for what I am to do and who I am continues. I believe at present, that I can only be the best person I can be here and now in the place I find myself in and that is what I try to achieve while still searching.
As part of the associates, I continue my search with like minded people which are of great support to me. It is not possible to share at the level we do with just any group of people, we are genuinely concerned and caring for each other. Some people ask why the Spiritans and not some other congregation- It was the personal contact with spiritains who impressed me greatly. It was all you here present and all who went before you that built such solid foundations that the Spirit is alive and active in your very being, thank you for that. It was also the spirituality of the congregation and the guidance of Frances Libermann that inspired and continues to inspire me.
I have never gone for a job interview to anywhere I ended up working…Every time I came to the point where I was to change jobs, I waited, I knew that when the time was right I would be guided towards it, and it was meant to be…and they did come to me! And I never got the two jobs I did an interview for…even though they were pastoral and I felt it would be a good move but…it was not meant to be!
I wonder if I am ever meant to find what I am looking for, meant to arrive, to get to the point of where I can say…yes this is it, this is where I am meant to be.If I do arrive at that point…is that the end! Does the question ever go away...? Does the search go on until we truly rest in the Lord? I shall continue my search and listen to what the Lord is saying to me with the support of my friends in the Spiritan family.
Thank you for supporting me in my search and let us continue our search together.
Mr. Gerard Gallagher
Gerard has worked with young people for over twenty years and since 1994 works with Catholic Youth Care, part of the archdiocese of Dublin. In 2005 he was Leader of the World Youth Day Office in CYC. He is the author of, Are We Losing the Young Church? a book about youth ministry in Ireland from Vatican 11 to 2004. Gerard is married to Anne and they have three children Seán, Thérèse and Daniel.
Working with young people today
We live in a time of considerable change. Directly or indirectly we are all affected by it. It affects our decisions, thoughts and our lifestyle. Change has occurred in our values and in what we believe. Some of our certainties are now being questioned. Much has been spoken of and about change that has occurred in Ireland in its modern period. We have changed from a largely agricultural and traditional society to a modern, technological and progressive one. The traditional family has changed in its make-up. Society has changed from the perception of being a staunch Catholic country to one that has more in common constitutionally with modern democracies. Our Church has changed from being a dominant institution which permeated into all aspects of life in Ireland to one that was forced to change due to external analysis by media and successive scandals. Our understanding of our Catholic identity has changed as a result.
Changing Ireland
Since the 1960’s in Ireland various priests and religious were aware that Vatican II had provided a catalyst for change within the Church. They began to introduce a new way for people to be involved in the life of the Church. They introduced news ways of praying such as Charismatic Renewal and its new music. Young people began to experience a new type of school retreat based more on their personal faith experience. At the time, many of these new post Vatican II changes, were radical and disturbed the comfort of many. As a result it was a natural choice for young people if they wanted to rebel in a changing Church.
Secularisation also impacted greatly in Ireland. Statistics for mass attendance are still significantly higher than most other European countries. A number of surveys indicate change in how religious attendance has changed over the years. In 1973 Church attendance in Ireland was an amazing 91%. An Irish Times/MRBI poll in December 1996 showed that they 66% went to weekly mass which was down from 79% in 1991 and 85% in 1986. In 1998 an MRBI/RTE Prime Time survey found that 60% went to mass weekly. By 2002 a Millward Brown IMS survey found that 48% attended mass weekly.[1] A Sunday Tribune/IMS opinion poll in April 2005 found that 34% of those interviewed attended mass each week. Only one in four of the under-thirty age category was a mass goer. This is a big change in Irish culture and a challenge that the Church needs to address.[2] During the 1980s one commentator noted,
“The large fidelity to mass-going is undoubtedly the greatest strength of the Irish Church; but this strength could rapidly become our greatest weakness.”[3]
This scenario of weakness happened more quickly than people were prepared for. Similar trends from other countries were known, yet little or no contingency planning was prepared or made in the years preceding the scandals. It was easy for young people to either walk away or just drift. Young people had abandoned a part of traditional Irish culture that was universally important to their parents.[4] It was also a time when the Church was responding to the scandals affecting the Church and it did not have time to offer leadership that was required.
“It was pretty familiar stuff for any Church in any European country, but it was not until the early 1990’s that the Catholic Church in Ireland really alerted itself to the defection of the younger generation.”[5]
Change occurred rapidly in the Irish Church. In just over a period of ten years, its position in society, its status in family life and its moral voice had all but imploded. The institution of the Church was facing a greater challenge on how to maintain a role in modern Ireland and at the same time remain relevant to young people. One group of commentators made the following point.
“Young people have been less and less successfully socialized into institutional religion as Ireland has moved from a position of “moral monopoly” to a de facto pluralism, where there is ready access to multiple media sources, values and lifestyles.”[6]
Challenges Facing Young People
Young people are being forced by external pressures to succumb to the pressures of modernism. We have become a more addictive society. People drink more today across all age categories. However among those under the age of twenty-five there has been a significant increase.[7] Many lack the resource of being able to turn to someone for advice or being able to get involved in alternative leisure pursuits. Maybe this is why suicide has almost reached epidemic proportions among young people, averaging around 400 deaths per year and a staggering alleged attempts numbering 10,000.[8] It is this void in youth culture that has to be challenged by practical responses. Young people and their culture need to be offered a new alternative. One young person told me that when her friends go to mass, it is usually only for a funeral of a peer. This is the reality faced by all our young people. This dark side of youth culture and the void it leaves needs to be filled by a spiritual and faith-based alternative. Recently the Ombudsman was quoted as saying that as people “tiptoe” back to the churches they are doing so on the basis that there is something deeper on offer in them than in secular society. It this is the case then what is on offer needs to be relevant to them. [9]
Personal Experience of Young People in the Church
Since the early 1990’s I have worked with young people full-time on behalf of the Church. It has been extremely challenging and yet a privilege. For most of that period I have worked with Catholic Youth Care in Dublin. I also have just published a book on the history of youth ministry.[10] It is an account of how people in the Church have attempted to create new structures that included young people in the life of the Church. It is a story of success tinged with decline.
The challenge to people working with youth is to make faith go deeper and to create, research and find ways in order to achieve this. It reminds me of Paul VI’s great encyclical on evangelisation and about the need to discover new methods, means and language to proclaim the Gospel.[11] Today, too few parishes have youth ministry programmes for young people that involve young people in a meaningful way. It is up to people like me and similar colleagues around the country to present the challenge as why they should involve young people in the local parish. It is also the task of the Bishops to prioritise the real involvement of young people in the life of the Church.
In all of this change we need to reflect on what has worked and what has not. In the past it was more about numbers and programmes. This will not suffice for the future. In the past most of the youth ministry programmes and opportunities presumed a faith based on knowledge, experience and commitment. Some of the young people who participate in Church related events have received a full school based catechetical programme, yet know little or nothing about the basics of faith. Many are ignorant of the basic tenants of Christianity and the rubrics of faith. I have met young people representing their parish at diocesan or national events who are on one of two extremes. They either are very positive about their faith and experience, but would not have made the same faith journey someone of a similar age would have made a generation ago. Or, they are just a well intentioned young person coming from a well known family in the parish, but may lack the skills of knowing how to pray, how to talk about faith and so on.[12]
The Church in Ireland needs to audit what it offers young people with regards faith development. If what we are offering and investing is not working then it seems fair to look at other options. We need to look at our ethos of Catholic schools and the diminished numbers of faith challenged young people that emerge. We need to reflect on what is offered to young people in our parishes and find out what would work. We need to examine what is the most effective programme or event at present. We need to look into the future and realise that we all have a responsibility to proclaim the Gospel, but we need to find the correct method and means. There is no point continuing to maintain something if it is not effective. That does not make sense.
Radical Young People in the Church
Yet in saying this some of the most radical young people I know are young people who have made a personal faith journey, asked searching questions along the way, tried to develop knowledge of their faith and a relationship with God. I personally know young people who through programmes and opportunities provided by Catholic Youth Care say the following humbling statement. They tell me that participation in a World Youth Day or an Alpha Course, School of Faith “changed their life”. Few jobs can humble a person. I know that the young people I work with, befriend and challenge are on a journey of personal self-discovery. I know they may not have the full skills to debate Church matters, intellectualize on a matter of faith or spirituality. The starting point for them and for me and possibly you are different. They are radical because just as a culture here in Ireland over the years unturned and normalised faith, nothing culturally supports them in their faith anymore. Young people participate in CYC because they can meet friends who understand, share an experience and make it okay to be Catholic. Yet they have equal parallel friendships of friends who do not support their faith commitment, but understand and accept and are not hostile.
CYC works with the poor and disadvantaged young people in Dublin. A new category of poor are the young people who have been deprived of an authentic proclamation of the Gospel and of the living Church. They have been deprived of faith. In my work with young people over the years I have been struck that once they are presented and challenged by the Gospel and faith that their lives become more meaningfully balanced. I have also noticed that on pilgrimages to Taize or World Youth Days that our young Irish Catholics are struck at the commitment, zeal and pride by which other young people from around the world live their faith. This is an eye-opening moment. Their poverty of experience is then translated into a rich meaningful encounter of faith. This is the universal Church when it really is working – presenting the universal message of the Gospel in a simple idea.
Conclusion – Are we Losing the Young Church?
The short answer is more maybe than no. We are in danger of losing our memory of where we have come from. It is important now that the Church takes stock of the next path and chapter in youth ministry.
If you don’t dream then you won’t lead young people anywhere. If our faith means anything then we will desire to involve and find new ways of involving young people in the life of the Church. If the Gospel means anything to us, we won’t hold it for ourselves – we have the responsibility and mandate to find ways to pass it on to younger generations.
Religion in the future needs to engage people, especially young people about the story of our faith, capture their imagination and provide opportunities for them to explore what it means to believe in the modern world.
[1] A summary of these statistics can be found in The Irish Times, Friday, September 20, 2002 in an article by Patsy Mc Garry.
[2] Sunday Tribune 24 April 2005. This survey was published just after the election of Pope Benedict XVI.
[3] MP Gallagher SJ, Help My Unbelief, Veritas, Dublin, 1986, p36.
[4] Brennan – p76
Also insert relevant statistics etc.
[5] Philip Fogarty, Why Don’t They Believe us? Columba Press, 1993. This book raises some questions as to why young people find it difficult to make a faith commitment to the Church. It also echoes a concern of many parents as to where they went wrong in passing on the faith.
Also – see Tanner.p.386 – Ireland Holy Wars.
[6] CT Whelan and T Fahy, Religious Change in Ireland 1981-1990 - Faith and Culture in the Irish Context, Ed. Eoin G Cassidly, Veritas, 1996, p110.
[6] The Irish Times, Editorial 17 August 2001 highlighted the consequences that alcohol has on others aspects of living such as social dislocation, road carnage, drug abuse, violence.
[7] The Irish Times, Editorial 17 August 2001 highlighted the consequences that alcohol has on others aspects of living such as social dislocation, road carnage, drug abuse, violence.
[8] Statistics taken from The Irish Examiner, 8 August 2001.
[9] Ceifin Conference 2004, Imagining the Future, Emily O’Reilly, quoted in Irish Independent, 4 November 2004.
[10] Are We Losing the Young Church? Gerard Gallagher, Columba Press, Dublin, 2005.
[11] “It must constantly seek the proper means and language for presenting or representing to the God’s revelation and faith in Jesus Christ.” Evangeli Nuntiandi 56
Also Novo Millennium, 2001, This also makes similar points especially for people engaged in ministry post the Jubilee Year of 2000.
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