Dublin, Ireland, Mar 16, 2011 / 23:43 pm
Amid economic uncertainty and the continued response to the clergy abuse crisis, the bishops of Ireland have urged Catholics to remember St. Patrick’s plight.
They wished everyone “a joyful and peaceful Saint Patrick’s Day,” noting the Solemnity of St. Patrick’s special place for Irish people at home and abroad.
St. Patrick, a fifth-century missionary bishop instrumental in the conversion of Ireland, was called to bring God to a people far from his homeland, the Irish bishops said on March 16. They called him “a pioneer in an inhospitable climate.”
They quoted The Confession of St. Patrick, which reads: “May it never befall me to be separated by my God from his people whom he has won in this most remote land. I pray God that he gives me perseverance, and that he will deign that I should be a faithful witness for his sake right up to the time of my passing.”