Bishops launch Share the Good News – the first National Directory for Catechesis in Ireland
Share the Good News – the first National Directory for Catechesis in Ireland was launched earlier today in the Mater Dei Institute of Education in Dublin. Cardinal Sean Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, and Bishop Bill Murphy, Bishop of Kerry, Chairman of the Episcopal Council for Catechetics participated in today’s seminar to launch Share the Good News along with writer and editor Rev Dr Gareth Byrne.
Share the Good News is a ten year plan for evangelisation, for catechesis and for religious education in the Catholic Church in Ireland. It is available in Veritas shops throughout Ireland and on line at www.veritas.ie
Commenting at the launch Cardinal Brady said: “Share the Good News is a most significant document. It addresses in a unified, coherent and co-ordinated manner many of the issues that are very pressing for the Church in Ireland today. One of these is Catechesis – the process by which people are introduced to faith.
“My hope is that as many adults as possible will engage with this beautifully produced document and make it their own – so that what we are launching today will really be a decade of renewed evangelisation and catechesis in Ireland.”
Archbishop Martin said at the launch, “I welcome the Directory wholeheartedly. I wish to point out that it is not a magic formula or a programme which can be launched in the way one would launch a sales push or a political platform. Faith is a deeper matter; it is a matter of a deep encounter between the individual and God.
“The National Directory is directed to and must involve the entire Church in Ireland. It is not a document entrusted to the catechetical establishment. It is a time bomb thrown into the catechetical establishment and indeed into the religious education establishment. It is an invitation to break away from our current situation which is overly school-oriented and bring back into the picture in a more focussed way the central role of the parish and the family. It is a reminder that catechesis does not end with the Leaving Certificate”.
Further information:
Martin Long, Director of Communications 00353 (0) 86 172 7678
Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer 00353 (0) 87 310 4444
