The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland has written to Leaving Cert and A Level students urging them to “Hold on to Hope”.
Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, whose diocese incorporates parishes and schools in Northern Ireland and the Republic, expressed his solidarity with the students whose exams hang in the balance due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the UK, the Government opted to cancel the A Level exams and award predictive grades. However, in Ireland, the Government wishes to proceed with the Leaving Cert rather than cancel it but intends holding the exams at a later date than usual, beginning on 29th July.
Meetings between the Department of Education and the State Examinations Commission are ongoing to try to come up with the revised Leaving Cert timetable by the beginning of June.
“I know that, for many of you, the uncertainty of this year has been hard to cope with,” Archbishop Martin said in his message to students.
In recent weeks, he revealed, some students have contacted him by phone as well as via letters and emails, asking him to remember them in his Masses and rosaries.
“The Covid-19 emergency has turned our world upside down and everywhere it has brought feelings of isolation, anxiety and helplessness,” the Primate of All Ireland said. “It has interrupted so many plans - for weddings, First Communions and Confirmations, travel and holidays.”
For the exam students, he said, it has “gate-crashed” an “important and special year in your lives, and it has left you wondering: what happens next?”
But the Archbishop of Armagh stressed that the virus had not destroyed goodness and love.
“Our response to it has actually brought out the very best in so many people. I have seen first-hand the amazing voluntary efforts that you and many others have been making to reach out to the elderly and marginalised, and to spread a message of hope for a better and brighter future.”
He said his message to the students was to “Hold on to Hope” or as Pope Francis puts it: “Do not let yourselves be robbed of hope”.
He thanked the students for keeping in touch with each other and for encouraging each other. He also thanked their teachers for their online tuition and for helping to keep the students’ spirits up and he also acknowledged the role of parents, families and friends in rallying around them.
Pledging to keep the students in his prayers for the days ahead, Archbishop Martin said: “Some day you will look back on 2020 and tell your children and grandchildren about the way the coronavirus tried to spoil your dreams.”
But he added that he hoped that instead of spoiling their dreams the crisis will actually lead to “a strengthening of your character, your belief in yourself, your empathy for others, and your faith in God.”