The new Bishop of Meath in Ireland has urged his colleagues not to grow "discouraged" in the face of modern, secular culture.
Bishop Thomas Deenihan, speaking after the Mass of Ordination at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Mullingar, said: "I am reminded by a line in the address by Pope Francis to the Irish Bishops at the end of the World Meeting of Families last Sunday, ‘Whenever you and your people feel that you are a ‘little flock’ exposed to the apparently irresistible onslaught of a culture so often alien to our deepest beliefs and values, do not grow discouraged. As Saint John of the Cross teaches us, it is in the darkest night that the light of faith shines purest in our hearts."
Addressing a congregation that included his mother, sisters, brother, niece, nephews and his uncle, a priest, Father Brendan, he described how there is a "spirit of joy" among the priests of the diocese. "They are the men who minister in so many different places, in so many different contexts and in oft difficult circumstances reaching out to those whom they minister to. It is not always easy being a priest today, like the parable, the priests of Ireland have worked in the noonday sun. They deserve support from their bishop and parishioners."
"Be it as bishops, priests or deacons, our ministry must be joyful," he said. "Pope Francis referred to this in Evangelii Gaudium when he stated that one of the more serious temptations which stifles boldness and zeal is a defeatism that can turn us into querulous and disillusioned pessimists."
Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin, speaking words of welcome exactly one week after he stood on the sanctuary near Pope Francis at the beginning of the closing Mass for the World Meeting of Families, said the Pope, when speaking to the bishops of Ireland at the end of his visit, had also reminded them to be fathers and shepherds of prayer, of hope and of mission so they can lead the people of God with wisdom, faith and charity. "Being a bishop today, conscience of our own personal unworthiness and simpleness, we realise that is only by God’s grace that we can be true fathers and shepherds."
Bishop Deenihan, from Cork, succeeds Bishop Michael Smith who led the diocese for 45 years and retired as Ireland's longest-serving bishop and who assisted Archbishop Martin along with John Buckley, Bishop of Cork and Ross. Rev Fergal Cummins, who will be ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Deenihan next Sunday, proclaimed the Gospel.
The Diocese of Meath includes the greater part of counties Meath, Westmeath and Offaly and the patron saint is St Finian. It has a Catholic population of 270,000 across 69 parishes.
In his homily, Fr Denis McNelis, parish priest of Laytown and Mornington, spoke about living with division. "Over recent Sundays we have heard from John’s Gospel about how people were grumbling about Jesus, he said. "Change is difficult. Sometimes we have to learn again how to live with each other and have our different views, and debate them and move on...It is a simple and fundamental human reality, that people complain and protest, children fight, politicians argue, church leaders take different positions, nations dispute."