A very happy feast day of Mary Mother of Divine Love to each of you. 

May our Mother lead us deeper into God’s infinite love this day.

1. This is Our Life

The seed of religious and consecrated life is always germinating from the arable and nutritive divine landscape. Its beauty is never seen and vitality is never experienced without being connected into the mystery of the Trinity and the redemptive love as experienced and lived by the person. In the experience of the call and the living of the call itself, the gift of consecrated life is surfacing to nourish and share the joy of being graced by participating in the salvific mission of our heavenly Father and that of the church.

As consecrated life takes the image of Christ in the calling, in its formation and in mission; in it is a personal decision to walk the talk by leaving everything and fundamentally making one’s life ready to faithfully live the big Yes, the yes that says ‘here I am.’ Thus Lumen Gentium reminds us of the Yes of our baptism which is completed and perfected when we consecrate ourselves wholly to God in the totality of love.   

The Christological and Pneumatological nature of the consecrated life invites the participant not only to follow and live Christ radically but also to open oneself to the workings of the power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The imitation and the special gaze on Christ’s face are to illumine our deepest selves so that we may joyfully radiate the presence of Christ to all and at all times. Our partnership of life of our very selves, with the gifts of the Spirit are for constantly being renewed and energized to live to the demands of our call and the mission ahead of us, as Vita Consecrata says, there is ‘going up the mountain and coming down the mountain.’

The joy of accepting the invitation of Christ has to be the joy that accompanies us in living our call and mission. When the year of consecrated life was announced, the message that is accompanying us to ponder and reflect is the reality of this joy. In whatever moment and situation, Pope Francis is inviting us to rediscover the deepest root of our calling in joy. Our lives individually and communally, in mission and apostolate are to continually radiate the presence of joy, to the extent that where there is a consecrated person, there is joy.   

2. It is in Us……Joy

Consecrated life is never a life of emptiness and in emptiness. As it has its foundation, its mission and gracious return in faithfulness and joy; in it are the consecrated men and women who heed to its demand and its call. There are different calls into it as important as the other, and this year, joy is our necessity and in deed our greatest demand. It is never a small matter because it holds certain other things that open up further understanding of our relationships and mission.

Since time in memorial joy has been fundamental to the existence of humanity and to its well being. It is a word and an experience that has been accompanying men and women of this world. When denied, life and its dimensions are denied. Life is turned upside down and becomes gloomy, dull, miserable, dysfunctional and dreary, depressing … etc. When freely lived and shared, joy brings delight, humor, content, friendship, love …etc.

The anthropological experience of man in his state of being and nothingness reveals his different capacities, both positive and negative. Not only can he transcend the state of life’s limits, he can also vision ways of living a better life. He operates in this through hope which is in him making the spirit of yearning and eagerness important factors. As joy could be minimized to the periphery of one’s life, it is the yearning for goodness within the capacity of our being that can once again revive and centralize joy in our lives. The tension between consistency and inconsistency in maintaining the state of goodness in joyful endeavor may be corrected and balanced by continually reviving our yearning, our goodness and understanding our limits for better complementarity. It is our faithfulness, our consciousness, it is our state of being in choosing what build our anthropological relationships than what leads to its collapse.

When saint Augustine says ‘my soul shall not rest until it rests in God,’ it reminds us of this spiritual and anthropological yearning which transcends us to the divine presence. We have been created for a great and valuable life. Hence when we open ourselves to the divine and higher values, we are exposing ourselves to that contact with our Creator who is the first source of our joy. We rise beyond human capacities and limits because we are no longer the ones but “the spirit comes to our aid” to help seek what is deep and fundamental to our spiritual corporality.

When we sing ‘give me joy in my heart keep me praising…’ we seek divine intervention and presence, we seek the perfection of what is ordinary for the greater well-being of the body and soul in union with God. Jesus speaking to his disciples before his departure in the gospel of John, insisted on joy being perfected, being fulfilled in them. As it is never fulfilled when it is too human, the invitation is to ground that joy in the continual loving relationship with God. At this point, this is how it opens itself; joy is love, joy is relationship and joy is connected to other dimensions of our call and life as Christ’s true followers. That is why in Paul joy is part of the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5).

What is our call in this divine-man relationship? A life of deep and persistent joy elevated to the divine presence indicates that we live the life of the Spirit and have immersed ourselves in the Divine presence. In it and in the consecration of our life, we continue having a shining star, to guide and motivate, to instill in us a persistent walk of great moments of rejoicing. We become the manifestation of true liberation in spirit and a sign of gratitude to our different situations and circumstances in maturity, in true nature and true interaction. Our joyous present moments in spirit are not isolated from our future dream of encounter. Thus joy is eschatological when is enriched and graced with our hopes. It points to the future, the destiny of our faith and our commitment to its values. Its sacredness is in its goodness, its transforming power. Its sacred inspiration is its constant call to embrace the source of all joy, God himself.

3. Experiences of Joy

Joy is a human experience with its own signs, symbols, gestures and moments in human terminologies. As is our reality of our everydayness, joy helps to us learn, remember and adapt. Joy makes us who we are, what we do, why and how we do it and to whom. Joy has its own intensity, force, power and strength when experienced and lived. And we have to agree that to rejoice, to be joyful is a decision, a choice. Look at St. Paul in 1 Cor 6:4-10 when he says “…we are treated…as punished and yet not killed, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing…” Job also in 19:25-26 sounds the same.

In the midst of troubles, problems, difficulties, mysteries, paradoxes, sickness, brokenness, fragility …what is my reason of acceptance and of rejoicing. What is the reason of the sick men and women who are in constant pain and tribulations (like Paul) but are never silent of their hopes and their joy? How many times have we seen our sick brothers and sisters portraying a stronger inner energy and a greater sense of acceptance compared with those who are strong and healthy?

What was the source of joy of the first missionaries, the joy of those who go to open new missions, the joy of those who take risky and challenging apostolate? How about the joy of consecrated men and women whose thoughts and energies are directed to places where things have not been easy, places where everyone else pulled out, but are determined to stay put and share their love and joy? How about those who from the first day of their consecration and apostolate placement have seen life in its periphery and is their joy to be where they are mostly needed?

As consecrated men and women, our choices on the state of our life and our being are crucial to the foundation and development of the person. If we responded to our divinely inspirational call of ‘rejoice, rejoice, and again I say rejoice…’ we would be walking on a greener path of the presence of life, joy and love. Not only would we encounter the shining light but we would radiate that presence. We would echo back the great sound of personal victory which speaks to our hearts and spirits invoking strength and determination no matter what. We are brought to that relationship with divine gifts, grace and strength. All these are to aid our human nature to discover true value in rejoicing.

A consecrated man and woman never define himself or herself without his or her fellow kaka (brother) and dada (sister). This is what defines us as people with communitarian character. We not onlyt live and stay together, but we journey, share and experience the dynamics of our life and apostolate together. It is pity for a newly consecrated kaka and dada to begin his/her responsibility in a non-joyous community or where personalities are never in communitarian spirit. The begging question is: have we prepared him/her for such a situation? Are we confident of his/her tools of interaction in that reality? Do we have to think twice before such a decision?

In all that we do and think as consecrated men and women how are we perceiving and expressing the sense of community life? As this is a place of ‘together we journey, together we rejoice,’ its fundamental details need to be revived and its spirit needs to be rekindled. It was never wrong in the African systems of thoughts and life when it was said ‘I am, therefore we are.’ And it is never wrong in our consecrated life to continue saying the same, and even more so in the words ‘I rejoice and therefore we rejoice’ and vice versa. Thus in this year of consecrated life, let it be the year that I question my role in building up a community. Lets question our status of communitarian character. Let’s question our fraternity, our love, our forgiveness, our support for each other to heal ourselves and heal our communities.

We need to carry in community living four things: love, forgiveness, joy and hope. Do they substitute each other? Is one better than the other? Our deepest ambition should be to bring them together in the bigger basket of consecrated life. It is this ambition and desire in us that will set a purposive direction; bringing to light what is valuable for each one of us. A life of self-giving love is what we are reminded about, a life of generosity, of service and of practicality as we commit to each other in following Christ, as I borrow these words of Saint John Paul II in Vita Consecrata. As consecrated persons in our communitarian life we are invited to love and care with the heart of Christ. It is the invitation to amend and heal with the compassion of Jesus, to welcome and to give hope. We are to joyfully celebrate our communion and companionship in the light of divine presence. 

If communities of consecrated life are to embrace our Lord and the gracious presence of our heavenly mother Mary, will never be lacking love and joy. Our communities of consecrated life will never be a place of inner and silent death. We will never suffocate each other, exclude each other, eliminate each other, suppress each other or speaking evil to each other. As we embraced Jesus with the ‘Yes’ of consecrated life, we will embrace each other mercifully, lovingly and joyfully.  

Let’s Question Ourselves Joyfully:

1. Am I finding meaning in my consecrated life in the presence of God?
2. As consecrated person, where am I searching for my joy? Is that a real joy in the consecrated life?
3. In my involvement as an entrepreneur of joy in its divine and bigger picture, is my personal goal contributing to that of the other?
4. Am I widening the circle of information on the beauty and goodness of joy, communicating it, coordinating it?
5. Do we still have hopes and joy to continue working despite the challenges, resistances, failures …etc.?

Consecrated life is a precious and beautiful life in itself. It is a gift, a special divine gift. Our commitment to it is in loving our God and the mystery of our salvation in the life of the Trinity. In moments of Eucharistic celebrations, prayers of the church, meditations, our spiritual renewals in recollections and retreats, personal and community prayers, we are brought close to God and to each other. In them, together as consecrated persons, we walk on the road leading to joyful sanctification.  Constantly we are to ponder God’s ways and God’s word to understand the dimensions of His great love for us, and vision our joyful response. The fragrance of our consecrated life is to perfume the individual person first, then spreads and perfumes my kaka and my dada and brings us closer to the source of its joy and its beauty which is God. In the beauty of its fragrance, together we rejoice and are glad.

“The joyful heart sees and reads the world with a sense of freedom and graciousness.”

John O’Donohue

Today marks the 39th anniversary of the massacre of our 5 Pallottine confreres, Frs. Alfredo Leaden, Pedro Dufau, Alfie Kelly, and students Salvador Barbeito and Emilio Barletti, on Sunday July 4th 1976.

There will be a concelebrated Mass to honour their memory held in the Parish of San Patricio, Belgrano, Buenos Aires, at 19.00. The Mass will be preceded by a gathering for reflection and prayer on the theme “Like them, witnesses of the Mercy of God”, this gathering will take place in the Instituto Anunciacion de Maria, in the neighbourhood of Belgrano.
Today also the Pallottine Community in Mercedes gathered at 11.00 at the Pallottine plot in the local cemetery where the three priests are buried to pray for the eternal repose of their souls.

On Friday July 3rd the Municipality of Mercedes honoured their memory in a celebration held in Colegio San Patricio. The students of the secondary school presented an investigative study to the Municipality in 2014 and petitioned that the section of the 19th street, between the 12th and 14th streets, be given the name of the two seminarians. The Municipal Council acceded to the petition and the plaque was unveiled and blessed in a ceremony attended by the Lord Mayor, municipal authorities, education authorities, the staff and pupils of the school along with Frs. Tom O’Donnell, Mariano Pinasco and members of the Parish Community in Belgrano. The four blocks which border the school, parish church and community house now bear the names of Frs. Alfredo Leaden, Pedro Dufau, Alfie Kelly and Salvador Barbeito and Emilio Barletti.

The ceremony ended with the naming of the school library as the Alfredo Leaden Library.

 What counts above all is “faith working through love” (Ga 5:6)

Spiritual preparation for the General Congress of the Union in July 2015

In the context of preparing for the General Congress of the Union in July 2015, a series of reflections have been shared through the monthly publication, Apostles for Today. In a particular way, the reflections from April and May spoke, respectively, of the importance of peace and dialogue, and of the spiritual motivations for mission. We would like to follow on from these by adding something regarding the biblical truth that what counts above all – in all of our apostolic and missionary commitments – is “faith working through love” (Ga 5, 6). In other words, we are called to remain faithful to the inseparability of faith and love, as the Church teaches us and as our Founder St. Vincent Pallotti urge us. Undoubtedly, this will facilitate in various ways the realisation of the identity and mission of the Union of Catholic Apostolate.

2. The privileged place of faith working through love

As Pope Francis remarked in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (37), “Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that the Church’s moral teaching has its own “hierarchy”, in the virtues and in the acts which proceed from them”. Here, the Pope emphasised, “what counts above all else is “faith working through love” (Gal 5:6). Works of love directed to one’s neighbour are the most perfect external manifestation of the interior grace of the Spirit: “The foundation of the New Law is in the grace of the Holy Spirit, who is manifested in the faith which works through love”.[1]

It is worth mentioning that, thanks to faith working through love, believers enter a new phase of their existence, a new life modelled on the radical novelty of the Resurrection. To the extent that they open themselves, thereby their thoughts and feelings, their mentality and their entire behaviour are slowly purified and transformed on a path never completely finished in this life. In other words, “faith working through love” from this time onwards becomes a new criterion of understanding and action that changes a person’s entire life.[2]

3. The inseparability of faith and love

The fact that faith working through love enjoys a privileged place in the “hierarchy of virtues and the acts deriving from it” makes these two Christian virtues always inseparable. For Pope Benedict XVI, there is a strong relationship ” between believing in God – the God of Jesus Christ – and love, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and which guides us on the path of devotion to God and others.[3] When we have been conquered by the love of Christ and therefore, moved by this love – “caritas Christi urget us”[4] – when we are conscious of being loved, forgiven, and even served by the Lord, who bends down to wash the Apostles’ feet and offers himself on the cross to draw humanity into God’s love, we become open in a concrete and profound way to love of our neighbour.[5]

4. Faith and love: two inseparable realities in the life of Pallotti

In the spiritual writings of Pallotti, observed Jan Kupka, it emerges clearly that he had a stable reference point in his personal life: to live faith in daily life and to believe without reservation the teaching of the Church.[6] Moreover, Pallotti lived faith in terms of a vow as evidenced by this excerpt from his writings: “I vow to believe in the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin, and all articles of faith; not only do I believe them, since I must do so as a Christian duty, but I also intend to make a vow to believe them”.[7] However, Pallotti was not content simply to live his faith deeply in daily life. With joy, he also proclaimed the truths of faith and bore witness to the love of God for all people. In other words, for him, faith, as lived and/or proclaimed, and love always went hand in hand, were two inseparable realities. This inseparability of faith and love is likewise maintained in his foundation, the Union of Catholic Apostolate, in that it has the task of reviving faith and rekindling love in the Church and in the world.[8]

5. The importance of faithfulness to faith working through love in the life and mission of the Union

To conclude this reflection, it must be emphasised that faith working through love is of paramount importance to the life and mission of the Union. Indeed, if the Union is defined as “a communion of the faithful who, […] promote the co-responsibility of all the baptized to revive faith and rekindle charity in the Church and in the world”,⁹ then the inseparability of these two realities in daily life will allow its members to make concrete the spiritual heritage of Saint Vincent Pallotti. Its mission will become strongly credible, because “faith working through love” will become, in all of its dimensions, a contagious testimony to the world, offering each person the possibility of encountering Christ and, in his or her turn, of becoming an evangeliser.¹⁰

6. Let us pray to the Lord:

 Lord God, when we revive and spread faith and love,

we become participants in the redemptive

mission and work of your Son, Jesus Christ.

You send us as labourers in your harvest; for this reason,

no work should seem too hard for us, no effort too tiring.

Send your Holy Spirit, Lord, to enkindle our faith

and strengthen us by his power.

Give us the courage to take up our work faithfully each day.

May our failures not discourage us.

Teach us instead to receive from you all that we lack.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.

Amen.

                                                            Fr. Eugène Niyonzima, SAC

                                                             National Formation Promoter,

                                                             Rwanda/DR Congo.

_________________________

9 Id.

10 Cf. The Synod of Bishops on “the New Evangelisation for the transmission of the Christian faith” (October 7-28, 2012), Proposition,41.

____________________________________________________

Segretariato Generale, Unione dell’Apostolato Cattolico

Piazza San Vincenzo Pallotti 204, Roma, Italia uac@uniopal.org

[1] POPE FRANCIS, EG, 37, referring to S. Th. I-II, q. 66, a. 4-6.

[2] Cf. POPE BENEDICT XVI, Porta fidei, 6.

[3]  Cf. Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI for Lent 2013. Referring to: Rm 12: 2; Col 3: 9-10; Ep 4: 20-29; 2 Co 5: 17.

[4]  2Co 5: 14.

[5] Cf. Deus Caritas Est, 33.

[6] Cf. J. KUPKA, “Anno della fede 2012-2013: Riscoprire la gioia nel credere e ritrovare l’entusiasmo nel comunicare la fede” (The Year of Faith: Rediscover the joy of believing and once more find enthusiasm in communicating faith”), pp. 12-16.

[7] OOCC X, p. 262.

[8] GSt, 1.

While I was a seminarian in Rome I often went over to St. Peter’s Square to the Papal Audiences on Wednesday morning or to the Angelus on Sunday. I was often struck by the vast crowds of people who came from different countries to pray, to listen and to receive a blessing from St. John Paul II. Often I would walk around to look for the best vantage point to see him. As I walked around what struck me most was all the different languages they were all speaking, Italian, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, French and English. People of faith coming together from different continents; men and women, young and old, black and white were coming together to pray and to be blessed.

Language is the means of communication and today we come to this place of prayer, ‘Our Lady’s Shrine in Knock’ to communicate and consecrate our love to Mary and her Son Jesus on this the Feast Day of Our Lady Queen of Apostles.  In our 2^nd reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, the 1^st Pentecost took place, as they gathered in prayer there was no unifying language. Just the opposite, the Holy Spirit came to rest on the head of each of them, the Apostles, Our Blessed Mother and the other women and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech. They all left that upper room with a renewed confidence to go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit gave them the confidence to witness. In our readings over the last few weeks for Easter we heard about how the confidence was taken away from them when they saw to their pain and horror the death of their friend, the one they loved die on the cross. After his death they were left unsure, fear had gripped them and anxiety had set in, even though Jesus promised them the gift of the Holy Spirit. His rising from the dead gave them new hope and gradually Jesus re-introduced himself back into their lives.

He returned to take away their worries and fears, he gave them signs, he showed them his hands and feet and his wounded side. He breathed His Spirit upon them, gave them the gift of peace, opened the scriptures to them, broke bread with them, he surprised them, he forgave them, he gave them hope and promised them the gift of the Holy Spirit. They might have let Him down by turning their back on Him, but he didn’t turn his back on them he fulfilled His promise, the mandate that was given to Him by the Father.

On our Christian journey we too can find ourselves in the same boat as the disciples, we too at times can feel hopeless, despairing about certain things within the church and in society – that is natural for the times we are living in. There is a crisis of FAITH. Over the last few years certain sections in the Irish media have tried to undermine our Catholic Faith. They try to distort and ridicule the teachings of Christ and His Church. We have to claim that back and there is evidence of that out there. We have a voice and a language that needs to be heard and there are people out there that need to hear the voice of Christ through us, his disciples.

The Upper Room is a place for us also; it is a place of transformation, a school of love. St. Vincent Pallotti knew the importance of the upper room experience in his own life and he wanted us to have that same experience the disciples had at Pentecost. At the heart of the Upper Room is patience, expectation, perseverance, prayer fellowship and hope. In that gathering of the Upper Room no two followers of Christ were the same, each were different, each with there own gifts and talents, each made in the image and likeness of God.

The principle gift of the Holy Spirit given to those gathered in that upper room is tongues, is speech, and is language. They used the gifts that where given to them to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. On that day they could have decided well thanks for the memories, thanks for the gifts, we have done our part, now let’s go home as we know some of them did go back to their former way of life. But Jesus called them back. The coming of the Holy Spirit is not so much the end of Jesus’ activity but the beginning of something new for the disciples whom Jesus commissions and sends forth to be his presence in our world today.

In this regard, it’s helpful to think of Pentecost not so much as a singular event in the life of the Church, but as a way of life in which all of us, as the baptised Catholics, name, claim and proclaim our identity and mission as followers of Christ and members of his body. This is who we are. This is what we do.

Our Founder St. Vincent Pallotti received that gift of the Holy Spirit, which led him on a journey to setting up the Society of Catholic Apostolate and the Union of the Catholic Apostolate. He had an utter confidence in what the Lord could do through him. Even on his deathbed when those around him might have thought, we are losing him, will his charism die with him, but he reassures his followers it won’t. “It will develop and be blessed by God”. You will see. I tell you this not simply because I trust that it will happen, because I am certain of it.” He was true to his word.

This year The Mother of Divine Love Provence is celebrating 75 years of the Pallottine Charism in East Africa. In 1940 Bishop Patrick Winters, Fr. Vincent Cunningham and Fr. Jim Mullen left Ireland to go to Tanzania to share the charism of St. Vincent Pallotti. In the last few years we in Ireland have been blessed with the arrival of Fr. Louis Sisti, Fr. Mathew Sanka who is now ministering in Texas, following his time working as Mission Promoter in Thurles and we have Fr. Martin Mareja our main celebrant who took over from Fr. Matthew and goes around promoting the Pallottine Charism in different dioceses in Ireland today.

We have a lot to be thankful for, but there is still so much to be done and we can’t do it without the aid of the Holy Spirit and Our Blessed Mother. We are disciples of the Lord, you and me. To know Jesus, as a friend is the best gift, that anyone of us can receive. But we can’t keep that gift to ourselves; we have to share it with others. We have to give witness to the gift we have received. Our Lady appeared here in Knock and gave witness. Fifteen people from this village witnessed an apparition of Our Lady, St. Joseph, St. John the Evangelist, a Lamb and Cross-at the gable wall behind us. Each of them gave testimony to what they saw, the encounter they had with Mary, without their witness and testimony we wouldn’t be here as pilgrims today.

Mary came to Knock to be a mother to the people of Ireland and the people of Ireland responded and over the years many pilgrims have come here to seek her motherly love and protection. Today she comes to meet your needs as Our Lady of Knock and as Queen of Apostles.  Today we need Mary more than ever; especially we need her to be a mother to our young people.

Pope Francis invites us all to take the Good News to the “Existential outskirts” and the 1^st “outskirt” is to be found in our own lives. There are still areas he says in our inner thoughts, in our emotional lives, in our actions, in our spirit, in our will which have not been lit up by the light of the Gospel.”

Enter into the Upper Room with Our Lady, the apostles and the other women and join them in prayer and wait for an outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit. When we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit we shall be unshackled from our fears and move out beyond our comfort zones. We shall be able to go forth to wherever God leads us. When it comes to the Holy Spirit, we may not always know exactly where the journey will take us, but we can rest assured that every road ultimately leads us closer to the heart of Christ and to the fullness of God’s kingdom.

I want to leave the last words to a man who wasn’t afraid to witness or speak the language of God’s love in his life. He had a great love for the poor and for social justice. He was assassinated as a martyr for the Catholic Faith. Today in San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador Oscar Romero will be beatified. He wrote and I leave you with this: “The Church must suffer for speaking the truth, for pointing out sin, for uprooting sin. No one wants a sore spot touched, and therefore a society with so many sores twitches when someone has the courage to touch it and say: You have to treat that. You have to get rid of that. Believe in Christ.  Be converted”.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On my appointment as Bishop of Ossory in December 2007, I chose the words Libertas in Veritate, The truth will make you free (John 8: 32),from scripture to guide me in my ministry. Now, over seven years later, these words resonate with me more strongly than ever as we prepare to vote on the changes proposed by the Marriage Referendum on 22^nd May 2015.

Marriage is of fundamental importance for children, mothers, fathers, and society. I ask the faithful in our diocese to consider very carefully the profound implications which this constitutional amendment would have on the family environment and on our understanding of parenthood. Marriage is important – Reflect before you change it.

We come to this debate believing that the union of a man and a woman in marriage, open to the procreation of children, is a gift from God who created us “male and female”. Reason also points to the truth about human sexuality that makes the relationship between a man and a woman unique. Mothers and fathers bring different, yet complementary gifts and strengths into a child’s life.

There can be no doubt that those seeking a yes vote are motivated by love and care for their homosexual brothers and sisters and this is entirely good and Christian.  All of us must value each other and be caring and respectful. We must honour the views of people who think differently to us, trusting that our own sincerely held views, grounded in faith, will also be heard and respected.

Our desire to protect marriage and the family as it is currently understood in the Constitution is not intended to block or deny equality for others. In fact, although it is presented as such, this Referendum is not about equality.  After all true equality recognises difference.

In his recent teachings, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, stressed the importance of this when he speaks of the ‘the dignity of difference’. He refers to the difference between men and women and the beautiful, God given plan of how their complementarity leads to the new life of children. It is not a judgment on same-sex unions to say that there are intrinsically different to a union between a man and a woman. Being different does not make us any lesser or unequal.

In fact, a real search for equality requires us to be truthful about differences so as to then ensure that we are just and compassionate in how we respond to these differences. To vote No in this Referendum is not, therefore, contrary to the value of equality. It is to be truthful about the genuine difference between a union of a man and a woman and a union between two people of the same sex. To vote No is simply to remain true to the understanding of marriage as between one man and one woman.

This understanding of marriage occupies a unique place of esteem in the Irish Constitution: it is provided there with the strongest possible legal support and protection. Despite what many think, the reason for this is not the esteem in which married love is held but rather, it is because the Constitution designates marriage as the institution upon which the family is founded (Article 41.3.1).

We are now being asked to recognise same-sex unions as marriage.   If we think of marriage merely in terms of the public expression of adult love, this might make sense. This is not however how the Constitution understands marriage and, as the Referendum Commission has told us, the constitutional status of marriage, by which has to be meant its status as the foundation of the family, is not being altered. Where the Constitution is concerned, marriage is, and will remain, inextricably linked with having children.

The Marriage Referendum proposal is that we are being asked to vote Yes in order to recognise all loving adult relationships equally, whether homosexual or heterosexual, conferring exactly the same rights on both when it comes to procreation.

On May 22nd we are not voting on inequality and we are not voting simply on the real love of two adult people.  In truth, our vote will have real implications for the family, for children and for our future as a nation.  It is important that we cast our vote on the 22^nd May 2015.  I ask the faithful in our diocese to read the pastoral statement published by the Irish Bishops at our Spring General Meeting, “Marriage is Important – Reflect before you change it.”This Statement was distributed in parishes over several week-ends and is also available on our websitewww.ossory.ie

With every blessing of the Lord to all the faithful in our diocese, the Diocese of Ossory.

Yours faithfully in Christ,

________________