“The Church of the future must be less authoritarian and have both a male and female face; it must be”, above all, “a listening Church”. That’s the hope of the future archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, appointed coadjutor of the archdiocese in May and destined to take over from the present archbishop, the 77-year-old Cardinal Desmond Connell, who is close to retirement. In response to the growing secularisation of the country and falling attendance at Mass, Martin points out the high number of faithful who ask to receive the sacraments of the eucharist and confirmation: “this seems to express the desire and wish of parents to transmit to their children something very important for them”. “We need to go towards the young with greater enterprise… many women, moreover, have the impression that their voice is not heard by the Church”, said Msgr. Martin. “The Church teaches with authority continued Martin during a homily given in the cathedral of St. Mary in Dublin but she should never be an authoritarian Church”. She should be a Church modelled on Mary “who was humble and capable of perceiving the real message of Jesus”. In Martin’s view, “a listening Church must hold out a welcoming hand to women, and show appreciation for their work in the family and in society. She must listen to their voice, and not in a passive way. The Church of Dublin must become in a more visible way a Church with a male and female face”.
