During his homily, on the Feast of Saint Kevin, Archbishop Dermot Farrell of Dublin announced plans to ask Pope Francis to designate Saint Mary’s Pro Cathedral on Marlborough Street as a new cathedral, and to designate Saint Andrew’s Church on Westland Row as a Minor Basilica.
Availing of the opportunity to speak on the patron Saint’s Day of the Archdiocese, Archbishop Farrell said that Saint Mary’s and Saint Andrew’s would be well placed to be developed as “twin pillars” for the faith in Dublin.
“Across these islands we see cities are being hollowed out. There is a call to work actively towards restoring a ‘centre of gravity’ to our cities. There is so much more to a living city-centre than being a ‘commercial centre’,” he said.
“The centre of a city – its heart – needs people, and people need worthy spaces to live and to be – to be with each other, and to be with ‘the Other’ – Our God who constantly creates us and recreates us, who brings us to life.”
Archbishop Farrell reflected that he expressed a year ago that he believed there was a need for the Church in Dublin to strengthen its capacity for outreach “to the many people with no established links with the Church or an individual parish.”
“For that purpose, I expressed my desire that our Diocese and this City should have a cathedral both in name and in fact,”… “I also began to see that such a cathedral would need to be complemented by a church on the other side of the Liffey whose status and dignity would be formally recognised and supported. I expressed the view that Saint Mary’s Pro-Cathedral and Saint Andrew’s Westland Row were well placed to be developed as twin pillars of a renewed pastoral and missionary strategy,” the Archbishop said.
“A decision of this nature is not to be made lightly. Having consulted widely, and have brought the questions before the Lord in prayer, I have discerned that it would be appropriate to seek the approval of the Holy Father for the designation of Saint Mary’s as the Cathedral of the Archdiocese.
“It is also my intention to initiate the process for the recognition of the special tradition and role of Saint Andrew’s in the life of the Archdiocese by its designation as a Minor Basilica. I am now inviting Saint Mary’s and Saint Andrew’s to begin to implement the proposals they presented to develop their liturgical and pastoral ministries,” Archbishop Farrell concluded.
To read the full text of Archbishop Farrell’s homily please click here.
ENDS
