Sunday Newsletter

Masses Today

6.30: (Vigil) Martin Ryan, (Anniv).
11.00: Eileen Kelly, (Bowling Green), (Anniv).
6.30: William & Bridget McGillen, (Anniv).

As I Was Saying...

It is 30 years this month since Louise Brown, the first test-tube baby, was born. It was an astounding medical breakthrough, achieved by two doctors, Steptoe and Edwards. It was such a medical novelty that the mainstream churches were unprepared. It was a classic example of ethics floundering in the great wash created by the new-found speed of its traditional rival. Churchmen were obviously apprehensive, and they voiced their reservations: "I have grave misgivings about the possible implications and consequences for the future" said Cardinal Gordon Gray of Edinburgh. However, it is one thing to condemn the 'irresponsible' manipulations of anonymous scientists in remote laboratories. But who could withstand the charms of a new-born baby! One Cardinal Albino Luciani recognised the dilemma. He simply congratulated the happy parents and wished the new baby a blessed life. (He would be elected Pope John Paul I two months later).

In the meantime, 40,000 women have conceived through IVF. Louise's younger sister, Natalie, also born through IVF, became the first test tube baby to give birth - naturally - in 1999.

The success rate for IVF treatment has remained at 17%. Doctors say social rather than medical factors are the major determinant of success. More than 70% of IVF clinics are in the UK and 80% of them charge £3,000 for each cycle of treatment. Of course, the resulting inequity presents its own set of ethical difficulties.

These days Louise is working as a postal worker in the Bristol area, an occupation lending itself too readily to puns about "deliveries." In adulthood, apparently, she remains disarmingly normal. She has a boyfriend and a place of her own. She likes swimming, the pub and even darts. How normal and how English can you get!

The conception and birth of Louise Browne normalised 'assisted reproduction'. But the whole field of embryology is far more complex than the Louise Browne case would suggest.

For example, at a Conference of scientists in Barcelona this week, researchers demonstrated that mice can now be used as surrogate sperm producers for infertile men! Whilst I marvel at the skill of those involved in such research, these latest findings blur the boundaries between human and animal life. Surely this raises some very fundamental questions about our human identity.

Of course scientists need to 'push out the boundaries' if we are to overcome the agonising genetic 'abnormalities' of our day. But we must be careful not to disrupt the balance within nature, or to lose a sense of who we are. Had we been more attentive to this insight in recent years, and had we used our resources more wisely, there would be less cause for alarm today over climate change. Belatedly, we are coming to realize the disastrous consequences of acting without respect for the inbuilt balance in nature. We must learn from this, and apply the lessons gleaned here to the fields of human fertilization and embryology. Because if our scientists fail to act with prudent restraint, the bravado question, "Are you a man or a mouse" may move from the boisterous schoolyard to become the preserve of biologists and philosophers! That would be serious indeed.

-Dick Lyng

COFFEE MORNING

Hello, I'm Máirín Whelan from Menlo. I come to Mass here with my family. Last Summer, I went with a group from 'the Jes' to South Africa to work on a project with Marian Finnucane's group, 'Friends From Ireland'. We worked in a very poor district, building three new classrooms and a crèche. These made a great difference to the children there. This year, we hope to build a health centre alongside the crèche. This will provide much needed health care to those who can't afford otherwise.

I found the whole African experience wonderful. It showed me a whole different side to life. For the first time I saw poor people really suffer. But I also saw how generous and good people can be. The experience was so worthwhile that I am determined to go again this Summer. There is one problem: each volunteer has to fund her own travel expenses. To help with this 'problem' I am holding a coffee morning (with Mum's help!) here in the 'Auggie' after Mass this morning. So why not drop in and 'smell the coffee'!

Is this the Future?

It has often been said that France has her crises before the rest of Europe - whether it be the French Revolution, or the student revolt of 1968, or the alienation of people from the churches.

Shortage of priests in France has resulted in lay people taking over the local church and running it for themselves.

In one diocese in northern France there is only one priest to serve 27 parishes. A priest drops by on rare occasions to celebrate Mass. For the rest, the people run their church themselves. In 2001 the diocese of Nice had to reduce its 265 parishes down to 47.

One of these, the recently created parish of Nôtre Dame de l'Espérance, runs along a celebrated strip of the Mediterranean coast, with five churches. There were five priests; now there is just one. Yet all five village churches are flourishing. The secret is that each church has an appointed lay person, called a 'relais local', whose duty is to run both church and parish. This ecclesiastical official performs almost all functions save administering those sacraments reserved to an ordained priest.

A principal function of the 'relais' is to conduct a Sunday Communion service, and funerals. There is frequently no priest at a funeral any more. At the Église Sacré Coeur in Beaulieu, I attended one such funeral, conducted by the 'relais locale' for the church. She received the coffin. There were words of welcome, the singing of hymns, a short eulogy of the deceased, readings from scripture, a brief reflection, the lighting of candles beside the coffin, a blessing of the coffin with holy water, and prayers for the deceased. It lasted about half-an-hour. There was no Mass, as there was no priest. But there wasn't a Communion service either.

Is this the direction in which we in Ireland are heading?

-David Rice is a former Dominican priest and writer.

Wedding Bells

Congratulations to Ruth Staunton and Jon Hunt who were married (to each other) in St. Augustine's Church here on Thursday last. Pictured in the pdf version of this newsletter are the groom, Brenda Staunton (bridesmaid) Ruth and her parents, Brendan and Betty. For their honeymoon the energetic couple will climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (19,340 ft) as a means of distracting themselves from each other! We wish Ruth and Jon every happiness in their future together.

The Irish Church Today

I met Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick some time ago, and he used a marvellous analogy. He talked about religious knowledge being like Latin irregular verbs used to be years ago. You learned them, and then you went off on holidays, and it was like you had never learned them in the first place, because you had no use for them, and they had no connection to your everyday life. So they were wiped from the memory banks. The same is true of religious education. If it is not connecting to young people's everyday existence, then it will disappear completely from their memories.

When parents are not practicing, the decline is even faster. As Grace Davie has pointed out, belief begins to drift further and further away from Christian orthodoxies as regular practice diminishes; this drifting of belief is surely a greater challenge to the churches of the 21th century than the supposedly secular nature of the society in which we are obliged to live.

Journalist and Teacher, Breda O'Brien.

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