Fr Twomey will explore how traditional Irish Catholicism, once apparently so all-pervasive and all-powerful, imploded so that today it is considered to be, at best, a minority persuasion confined to the sacristy. What are the implications of this implosion for the well-being of Irish society? How should the Church respond to this new situation? After a brief examination of the causes of our present predicament, Fr Twomey will explore ways of renewal so that Catholic Christianity can recover its sense of purpose and its mission to bring joy and hope into our daily lives. Is it possible that celebration/festivity might in fact be the key to the future of Catholic Christianity in Ireland? Fr Dailey will offer his own observations as an American who has been living in Ireland for the past four years on the present situation of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Fr Dailey is Director of the Notre Dame-Newman Centre for Faith & Reason at University Church. He is also a priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. He is a Thomas More Fellow with the Notre Dame Center for Ethics & Culture at the University of Notre Dame in the United States.
Fr Twomey is the author of several books, including The End of Irish Catholicism?, Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age (A Theological Portrait), and Moral Theology after Humanae Vitae. In 2011, Benedict XVI awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal to Fr. Twomey for outstanding services rendered to the Church and to the Holy Father. He is a former doctoral student under Joseph Ratzinger.