Advertise in this spot on CatholicCulture.org. View all ads.

Catholic World News News Feature

NEW PRIMATE INSTALLED FOR IRISH CHURCH November 04, 1996

EWTN News November 4, 1996

(596 words)

Archbishop Sean Brady was installed on Sunday as the Archbishop of Armagh, the successor to St. Patrick and Primate of All Ireland.

More than 1,000 people crowded into the St. Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh for November 3 ceremony. Among them were Ireland's President Mary Robinson and Great Britain's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Sir Patrick Mayhew. Ireland's three other Catholic archbishops-- Desmond Donnell of Dublin, Dermot Clifford of Cashel, and Donal Neary of Tuam-- also participated in the ceremony.

The Armagh archdiocese, with nearly 200,000 Catholics, takes pride of place in the Irish Church, as the former See of St. Patrick. Archbishop Brady now becomes the 115th archbishop of the historic see.

Archbishop Brady, 57, was born into a farming family in County Cavan, and began his education at schools there. He graduated from St. Patrick's College in Maynooth, and did graduate work at the Irish College in Rome, earning his doctorate in theology there.

Ordained in 1964, he was first assigned as a schoolteacher, and coached the school's team in Gaelic football-- a sport in which he had once been a member of the Irish national team. He taught Classics at the Irish College in Rome, and served as rector there before returning to Ireland to serve a parish in his native County Cavan.

In 1979, Father Brady took advantage of his contacts in Rome to help organize Pope John Paul's pastoral visit to Ireland, where the Holy Father was accorded a memorably warm and lively reception. In 1994, he was named as coadjutor to Cardinal Cahal Daly in Armagh, with the right of succession. His formal installation as head of the archdiocese comes in the heels of Cardinal Daly's resignation.

At the installation ceremony, Archbishop Brady said that the greatest challenge facing the Church in Ireland is the drive to find a path toward lasting peace in Northern Ireland. And he stressed that the peace process will require the cooperation of all segments of society. "Reconciliation," he said, "is not something to be attempted only after a political solution has been found. It is not a task for religious leaders alone. It belongs to all men and women of good will."

Although "the troubles" have plagued Northern Ireland for generations, the new archbishop urged his people to maintain their hope, recognizing that the world has seen amazing political transformations realized in the course of the last few years. Still, he cautioned, even the most spectacular changes do not end the process of seeking justice. "Political walls that divided Europe have been torn down," he remarked. "However, in hearts and heads, the Iron Curtain has far from disappeared. Europe is calling out for reconciliation. So our situation is not unique. But it is urgent."

At a press conference last week, prior to his formal installation, Archbishop Brady told journalists that he believed the IRA should renew its cease-fire. At the same time, he also said that Sinn Fein, the political party that represents the IRA, should be admitted to peace talks without any preconditions-- that is, whether or not a new cease-fire is announced.

Archbishop Brady is generally regarded as more sympathetic toward Irish nationalists than his predecessor, Cardinal Daly. In his inaugural meeting with the press he did nothing to contradict that impression. However, the archbishop also made it clear that he did not favor the use of violence. "My personal conviction," he said, "is derived from the deep longing for peace which is palpable throughout the entire community. The overwhelming majority of people reject the path of violence."