DUBLIN (IRELAND)
Archdiocese of Dublin
July 15, 2018
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin
I join in the joy of the Salesian Fathers and the wider Salesian family as today we come to invoke the Holy Spirit, through the laying on of hands and the solemn prayer of consecration, on Dominic and Paul, two Vietnamese candidates for ordination to the priesthood in the Salesian Congregation.
Don Bosco had a missionary heart. He knew how the love of Jesus, that was the inspiration of his own entire life, was a gift that can be brought to any culture and that enriches any culture.
We remember the Church in Vietnam and pray for its members who often in the face of challenges live that message of the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ through a life of service. We pray especially for the candidates and their families some of whom are here with us this morning.
Don Bosco was a remarkable man. His work with young people is legendary. Living in the mid-nineteenth century, he developed his own pedagogy and his own way of reaching out to the most abandoned young people. At a time when such young people were open to being abused in the labour market he stood by them and helped insert them in a healthy working environment. Remarkable for his time, he rejected a pedagogy based on punishment and worked to show how loving care can bring out the unique talent of each individual.
Don Bosco began his work in Turin in what was a time of great economic and cultural change. Industrialization and urbanization were giving rise to a divided society and young people were among the prime victims.
Don Bosco’s work with young people is legendary. He was however also radical in his models of pastoral activity. He realised that young people were missing from parish life so he began to encounter them in new ways. He met reached out to young people and met them where they were. He founded his Oratori that were places where young people could come together, socialize in a healthy manner, and be educated in the faith within the day to day realities of their lives.
The Church in Ireland today is facing similar changes. Irish religious culture is changing. The main body of the membership of Irish Catholicism and its leadership belong to an age and cultural group that is in many ways foreign to the culture of young people. The Irish Church needs to waken itself to the urgency of this situation.
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