Archbishop of Dublin criticises ‘sinister forces’ fostering ‘hate and division’ in US
Catholic Archbishop Dermot Farrell, pictured here with his Church of Ireland counterpart Archbishop Michael Jackson, in 2022, leading the Walk of Witness through the streets of Dublin in an expression of solidarity with Ukrainian refugees and all those who have been dispossessed and marginalised.
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Archbishop Dermot Farrell of Dublin has criticised the repudiation of the tradition of welcome and refuge which “marked the greatness of the American dream”.
In a homily marking the 250th anniversary of the USA’s Declaration of Independence, the Archbishop said the “great motto of the Republic, E pluribus unum, (Out of many, one), has been rejected by many through the rejection of diversity and a denial of equal human dignity”.
Speaking in St Mary’s Cathedral, Dublin, Archbishop Farrell expressed solidarity with those obliged to flee war, famine and destruction in their home countries and to seek refuge far from home.
“Far from being welcomed, their plight is often exploited by sinister forces who foster hate and division and stir anger and suspicion against all those who have come from overseas to seek asylum.”
From its very beginnings the Christian Church understood that the good news was to be proclaimed to all people, to the ends of the earth, without distinction, he said.
“The tradition of refuge and sanctuary has been a key marker of Christian civilisation.”
Elsewhere in his homily, Archbishop Farrell expressed concern over the erosion of the basic human right to life itself by “a seeping culture of death reflected in the normalisation of abortion and assisted suicide, as well as the embracing by nations of a power paradigm that seeks to dominate through the dynamic of war and fear”.
Closer to home, he asked if Ireland’s history of emigration had made it sensitive to the needs of those who have immigrated from other countries.
Many were driven from their homes, many more were recruited by employers who need them to generate the economic resources which underpin the prosperity of us all, he said.
And, yet, Archbishop Farrell lamented, the streets of our cities and towns have witnessed the mobilisation of hatred and rejection. He described such hatred as “blasphemous” if it claimed to be protecting Christianity.
“The Lord … instructed us to follow His example of hospitality, welcome and inclusion,” he said as he appealed to people to become “weavers of hope” in the world.
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