ADDRESS TO ALL PARISH MASSES ON THE WEEKEND OF 16/17TH FEB 2008
BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL RE- THE DECISION TO TWIN OUR PARISH WITH A NEEDY PROJECT
Good [evening] fellow parishioners. I am Colman Scott, I am the Chairperson of the Parish Pastoral Council as some of you may already be aware.
The PPC is the representative body of you the membership of this parish. It is responsible for the running and development our parish in co-operation of course with our priests of the parish.
It is a fact that the number of priests in the Archdiocese of Dublin has fallen from a level of more than 600 just 10 years ago, to where it will reach 400 by the end of this year, and only 200 within another 10 years. Therefore, the work of the PPC in the life of every parish in the Archdiocese will become increasingly important as time passes if we are to sustain the vitality of our local Christian communities.
The PPC was established only two and a half short years ago. In addition to the managing of the normal ongoing affairs of the parish, we have also addressed the following:
Setting up a parish baptism preparation group who work with families presenting members for christening,
Setting up a Parish bereavement support group to offer support to those who have suffered loss through bereavement,
Setting up a parish prayer group,
Establishing the office of Child Protection Officer in the parish and formalising a child protection structure in the parish,
Establishing a children’s choir,
Installing a LOOP “electronic hearing aid system” in the Church to assist those with impaired hearing and thereby to participate more fully in the parish liturgies.
All of these and indeed other developments are very real, and I believe positively affect the Christian lives of parishioners in various positive ways both now and in the future.
The job of the Parish Pastoral Council continues to be one of positive development.
The Parish Pastoral Council has been looking at the question of Social Justice. And in these days of lent, it seems appropriate that we address our minds to the matter ever more. We are all aware of the great needs that exist in the world, and the gaping differences in welfare of many in the world compared to ourselves. Justice issues we know are central to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
For this reason, the Parish Pastoral Council has established a Social Justice Group to consider this matter further and to see how we as a parish might address the question in our local situation in Milltown.
This Parish Social Justice group has been set up as a sub-committee of the Parish Pastoral Council to which it is responsible on behalf of all us parishioners.
I am here this evening to address you on the developments which have been made by this group to date.
We have identified two key goals: first making ourselves ever more aware of the glaring social injustices which exist in the world; and secondly to translate this awareness into concrete action. The concrete action will be to identify a community other than ourselves which is seriously disadvantaged; the life of which we would try to support in a practical manner. This outreach which is known as twinning will normally express itself in identifying ourselves with the lives, hopes and aspirations of the community which we would plan to partner.
Numerous invitations have already been made for new members to join the SJ group, and indeed the weekly notices of recent weeks have all contained such invitations.
And, today we are inviting proposals for an appropriate twinning project for our parish.
We would suggest a 28 day period within which we are asking that submissions be made.
If you have any questions about this proposal, we invite you to have a word about it with members of the Social Justice Group who will be located at the table beside the organ immediately after this Mass.
The Social Justice group will evaluate the proposals, and recommend a selected twinning partner for the parish. This choice will be presented to the Parish Pastoral Council, which will have the final say in approving the choice.
Once this has been done, the Social Justice Group will come back to you – the parish to elicit your support in making the selected twinning project a success.
There are a number of parishes in the diocese engaged in this area, having already embarked on active twinning projects. We hope that you will support this new initiative.
More information will be available shortly on our web site www.milltownparish.ie
Thank you
