The Battle for the Soul of Ireland is on. The battlefield is youth. Most Irish children spend their primary and secondary education in “Catholic” state schools. Tragically they emerge from them with a little knowledge of the faith or ability to defend it. The work of secularising, and even implanting anti Catholicism, is then completed in the third level institutes.
Newman College Ireland offers the unique opportunity to form well educated, thinking, spiritually mature and motivated young adults as light and leaven to society.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin warned that the Catholic Church in Ireland is very lacking in people of intellect who, educated in their faith, can address the pressing issues of the day. He said that he is haunted by Pope Benedict’s description of the service to which Bl John Henry was called which involved applying his “keen intellect and his prolific pen to many of the most pressing subjects of the day”. The Archbishop said, “If the place of the Church in the current social and political discussion in Ireland risks becoming increasingly marginal, this is not just due to some sort of external exclusion; it is also because the Church in Ireland is very lacking in keen intellects and prolific pens addressing the pressing subjects of the day. The Church needs competent lay men and women well educated in their faith. It is a role especially for competent lay men and women well educated in their faith.”(Reported Irish Times June 6, 2016.)
Nicholas J. Healy, President Emeritus, Ave Maria University and retired co founder of Newman College Ireland wrote in 2012,
“Principles which for centuries were taken for granted – … have been eroded to the point that many in the younger generation have not heard about them, much less been taught to value them. Never was there more need for the Catholic witness of the way we are called to live and of the ultimate destiny of each man and woman – to know Christ Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life, and to make Him known….Yet what is at stake in Irish society is the challenge to the Christian vision at the deepest intellectual levels…. These attacks need to be answered at that same level. A high quality Catholic academic institution can assist the faithful in responding to the increase in challenges to the Church. It can also form the next generation of professionals, mothers and fathers, ethical business leaders and those called to the priesthood or religious life. It can foster a love of beauty in the arts, and begin restoring an appreciation of the treasures of Western Civilization.
Indeed, without a vibrant and confident Catholic witness Ireland is in danger of losing its unique culture and even its liberties.”