13.01.2015
Call for Dialogue and Respect at Mass Following Paris Attack
Hundreds of people attended a Mass in solidarity with the people of France which took place at the Pro–Cathedral in Dublin this evening (Tuesday January 13). The Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin who delivered the Homily. It was attended by Archbishop Michael Jackson who gave a reflection.
The Mass was organised in collaboration with the Ambassador of France H.E. Jean–Pierre Thébault. Among those present were the Lord Mayor, Mr Christy Burke, President Michael D Higgins and Mrs Higgins, An Taoiseach was represented by his Aide de Comp – Comdt Kieran Carey, Mr Charlie Flanagan, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Rear Admiral Mark Mellett, Defence Forces, Assistant Commissioner John Twomey, Gardaí.
Leaders of other churchesincluded Fr Raul Simion (Romanian Orthodox), Rachel Bewley Bateman (Society of Friends), Major Gillian Dicker and Stuart Dicker (Salvation Army), Mrs Frances Martin (Presbyterian Church), Dr Mudafar Al–Tawash (Representing the Islamic Foundation of Ireland), The Reverend John Parkin (Methodist), Mr Leonard Abrahamson (President of Irish Jewish Community) and Imam Dr Ali Al Saleh (Ahlul Bayt Islamic Centre).
Among the many members of Diplomatic Corps were former President, Dr Mary McAleese, French Ambassador, H.E. Jean–Pierre Thébault and the Irish Ambassador to France H.E. Geraldine Byrne Nason.
In his Homily, Archbishop Martin said it was necessary to build up a culture of dialogue and respect. “We must do it honestly and with the courage to tackle what is wrong in our own hearts, in our own cultures, in our own religious traditions. We must condemn violence wherever it takes place. We must condemn with equal strength every form of violence. We must condemn violence not just because it strikes us with shock and horror on one particular day. Every single act of violence has within it the seeds of spreading and destroying. Violence is not less serious or of lesser concern to us when it happens in places and contexts which are distant from us, as in the violence in the Middle East or the horrendous violence in Northern Nigeria. Where we allow violence to flourish anywhere, we are breaking down those factors which curb the capacity for destruction which is always lurks deep in human hearts,” he stated. [Archbishop Martin’s Homily notes are available here]
In his reflection, Archbishop Jackson said people were washed over by grief and hounded by sadness at the devastation and destruction of human life in Paris last week. He stated that the time for engagement and dialogue would have to come. “We voice our deepest sorrow to the people of Paris and of France today, those who are in their own land and those for whom Ireland has become their land and those who live right across the world and make those places their land,” he said. “As fellow–human beings of religion and of no religion our cry is for solidarity, for security and for society and we cry for one another from the deep well of sorrow, sadness and sympathy.” [Archbishop Jackson’s reflection is reproduced below]
Photo from this evening’s Mass courtesy of John McElroy Photos.
Reflection of Archbishop Michael Jackson at Mass in Solidarity with the People of France, Pro–Cathedral, Dublin, 13 January 2015
The face I most fear is the face I most need…
Whether this comes to you as a well–worn truism or as a piercing insight and painful revelation, it is something that will not go away as we are washed over by grief and hounded by sadness at the devastation and destruction of human life in Paris last week. Our thoughts and our feelings are most keenly for those who have been killed and for those who mourn the loss of these precious lives …
The face of those whom we admire and respect, the face brilliant, sparkling, probing and creative which we will see no more; the face deprived of energy, movement and life itself by a death which destroys life by its own authority alone, without consultation or compassion, and dismantles the ebb and flow, the give and take of life as we know and love it, where cultures and people meet …
The face of the neighbour whom we know well or whom we don’t really know at all; the face of the person who, in the earliest understanding of our religions, holds and reflects the image and likeness of God in the face of humanity …
The face of the other and the face of the enemy; the appetite for engagement and for dialogue is not there. The time will come when it will have to come …
We voice our deepest sorrow to the people of Paris and of France today, those who are in their own land and those for whom Ireland has become their land and those who live right across the world and make those places their land …
As fellow–human beings of religion and of no religion our cry is for solidarity, for security and for society and we cry for one another from the deep well of sorrow, sadness and sympathy.
The face I most fear is the face I most need …
Michael Jackson, Archbishop of Dublin
13 January 2015