Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly of Cashel and Emly has called on Irish people to be “much more missionary” in their own country and to take a more proactive role in Church life.
Asked about the recent RTÉ documentary The Last of the Irish Missionaries, which focused on the legacy of Irish religious working abroad, Archbishop O’Reilly SMA said it reflected a reality already familiar to many in parishes.
“RTÉ was good to do it, but they were catching up with the reality that is already in the country, where there are nuns, priests and brothers who were in Africa, Asia, all over really in parishes,” he said.
“When you look then to the future, you have to look at new possibilities and new options. I think one of the big things in our own country is the call to our own people, our own Irish people to be much more missionary, proactive at home. They can learn from what their uncle and their aunt did in different parts of the world, but that’s the first thing, now it’s for our own people here in Ireland to take much more of an interest in the activities, in the life of the Church.”
