PASTORAL CHALLENGESFACING THE FAMILYIn October of 2013, Pope Francistook the unusual initiative ofinviting Catholics all over the worldto participate in a consultation onthe Pastoral Challenges Facing theFamily. The particular context ofthis consultation was the nextSynod of Bishops, which takesplace III Rome next October.Shortly after Christmas, adaptingthe language somewhat, the ParishPastoral Council put some of thekey issues to parishioners in theform of an on-line survey. Inkeeping with the original intentionof Pope Francis, this was not anopinion poll on the teaching of theChurch. The intention was toexplore how the teaching of theChurch on marriage and the familywas understood by Catholics; whatconcerns Catholics have about thechallenges facing marriage and thefamily in contemporary culture, andhow the Church, both universal andlocal, might respond moreeffectively to those challenges.Within the limits imposed by a veryshort article, I want to unpack someof the key trends emerging. A total

of 232 people participated in theconsultation, 60% of whom werewomen. Slightly over 40% ofrespondents were over 65 years ofage, and slightly over 20% wereunder 45 years of age.Parishioners were asked "how doyou rate your familiarity with andunderstanding of the teaching ofthe Catholic Church on Marriageand Family Life". The majority ofmen rated their understanding as"good" or "very good", whereaswomen were more inclined to ratetheir understanding as "average"or "good". Younger respondentswere, on balance more inclined toconsider that they had a goodunderstanding.Participants were invited toindicate what they understood tobe the essential purposes ofMarriage according to the teachingof the Catholic Church. Whileresponses were quite varied, asignificant number identified twoessential purposes, one being theunion of the couple in mutual loveand the other being the procreationof children who are the fruit of

www.donnybrookparish.ie

that love. Surprisingly, however,there were quite a number ofresponses in which either the unionof the couple or the procreation ofchildren was the only purposementioned. When asked if theypersonally subscribed to theChurch's teaching as theyunderstood it, "68%" said "yes" and24% said "partly". While thenumbers of respondents weresignificantly lower in the 26-35 agegroup, this was the group which,had the highest percentage of "yes"responses. Clearly this can beinterpreted in different ways.Of particular interest in our parish,because of the significant under-provision of primary school places,was the question regarding thechoice of school. Participants wereinvited, if they had children ofschool going age, to indicate whatkind of school they would choosefor their children. Six options weregiven, one of which was "ACatholic School". If one takes outof the equation those who indicatedthat they do not have children in therelevant age bracket, the preference

OVER>

CONTINUED

among Catholic parents to sendtheir children to a Catholic school isnot far short of 80%. This bearscloser examination and I amcurrently preparing a more detailedconsultation of parishioners whohad children baptised III

Donnybrook in the past five years.Meanwhile, there was significantpositive response to the activeinclusion of children in the liturgyin our parish.Over 40% of respondents indicatedthat they did not know "anyCatholic couple under forty who didnot live together before they weremarried". This is consistent with theexperience of priests meetingcouples preparing for marriage andis clearly an enormous cultural shiftin the space of one generation. Itwould be interesting to explore the.reasons underlying thatphenomenon 'and whether it hasconsequences for the stability ofsubsequent marriages. It would alsobe interesting to know whatmotivates people eventually tochoose marriage rather than tosimply continue living together.On both the question of a pastoralresponse to couples who havedivorced and remarried and thequestion of couples living togetherin same-sex unions, there was awide diversity of responses. Manyresponses recognised in one way oranother that both of these situationsposed challenges in relation to theteaching of the Church that were noteasily resolved. Overall, there was aclear desire that the Church wouldrespond with compassion andunderstanding towards people who,while wishing to live as Catholics,found their personal situation at

variance with the teaching of theChurch.The above is only a tiny flavour ofthe responses and I want to finishby thanking all who took the timeto respond so openly and so fullyto the consultation. Given the richdiversity of the responses, Ibelieve it would be helpful duringthe coming months to provide anopportunity both for dialogue andfor further exploration of thechurch's teaching in some of thekey areas. I would be happy tohear any suggestions as to how wemight go about this.

Fr. Kevin Doran

MARRIAGES

We congratulate

David Cummins andChihiro Alston

David Flynn andCriona Nangle

Steven Radford andElaine Mulligan

Oliver Cavanagh andLaoise 0'Shea

Arthur Williams andJane Sullivan

who were married recently.

www.donnybrookparish.ie

HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The Ballsbridge,Donnybrook &SandymountHistorical Society isnow in its eighthyear and continuesto present a widevariety of lectureson local andnational historical subjects, togetherwith outings to places of particularinterest to members. The SpringProgramme has included lunchtimetalks in Pembroke Library byCharles Lysaght on Merrion, GedWalsh on Classon's Bridge. theDropping Well and Milltown andKurt Kullmann on the Battle ofClontarf The next lecture byBeatrice Doran on Donnybrook willbe on Thursday, io" April 2014at 8.00pm in Elm Park Golf Club.

The Summer Programme has notyet been finalised but willbe published on the website by theend of April. The website addressis: www.bdshistory.org. There is amembership form on the web site orin Pembroke Library where you canjoin the Society for € lOa year.

http://www.bdshistory.org

DONNYBROOK: A HISTORYCongratulations to Beatrice Doranon her recently published book"Donnybrook: A History" The bookwas launched last November byFergus D'Arcy, Professor Emeritusin modem history in UCD.

YOUTH FORUMDuring Catholic Schools WeekMuckross hosted a 'Youth Forum'in the school and students from TheTeresian School, Gonzaga Collegeand Marian College attended.The keynote speaker was Dr MarkDooley, a renowned philosopher,author, journalist and broadcaster.He gave an inspirational talk on the'Search for God and Meaning' andprovoked some interesting questionsfrom the floor. The special guest ofhonour later that morning was theArchbishop of Dublin Dr DiarmuidMartin. The students, in preparationfor this visit, had gathered together alist of questions which they wantedto put to him and theArchbishop responded to each onegenerously and thoughtfully. He didnot evade or avoid the 'difficult'questions which were put to him andthe students appreciated that. Hejoined the students in the canteenafterwards and they found him to beboth friendly and approachable. Thevisiting teachers and students fromthe three other schools enjoyed themorning and found it to be a goodand worthwhile learningexperience. We would hope to havea similar forum in the coming yearsduring Catholic Schools Week.

http://www .muckrossparkco llege.com

AILBHE KINGSWIMMING GOLDCongratulations to Ailbhe King,sixth year student in Muckross ParkCollege, who won three Gold andone Silver Medal in swimming atthe World Dwarf Games in 2013which took place in Michigan,USA.

Archbishop Martin answeringquestions at the Youth Forum

TERESIAN BASKETBALLBasketball has been extremelytriumphant this year. U19 finished3rd III the All-IrelandCompetition. U16A came 2nd inthe All-Ireland Regions Finals(unfortunately only 1st place wentto the semi-finals). This month:2nd year A SBAI 'B' final andSDBL semi final, 2nd year BSDBL quarter final. U14B All-Ireland semi-final. 1st year A andB SDBL semi final.

The Teresian School are theLeinster Senior 1 Hockey LeagueChampions for 2014 after afantastic win over Holy ChildKilliney on Friday 7th March atGrange Road. The Teresian girlsclaimed their first senior I title bybeating HCK 2-1 in normal time.Rachel Dillon & Evie Regan werethe goal scorers forTeresian's. Fantastic day for thewhole school to haveexperienced. On Friday14thMarch the Teresian girls werenarrowly beaten in the LeinsterSenior Girls Plate Final by Loretoon the Green. All teams wouldlike to thank everyone for theirsupport.

www.donnybrookparish.ie

BAPTISMS

We welcome the following, recentlybaptised, to the ChristianCommunity in Donnybrook

Maximilien Geoffroy Van DenBrandeSenan James FloodAlanna Lynne WhelanEmilie Mae MitchellZachary Luke O'LearyRachel Cecilia PhelanJames Peter ConlonFeilim Victor McCabeSamuel Joseph RadfordChloe Ava McKeon-EganAnneliese Willow Gracie NolanAlexandra Mae StuartEoghan John O'ReillyAlana Kate NagleThomas James BakewellAdam David AndersonElla Kate NearyEoin Michael McGrathThomas St John ConroyMark James CourtneyRobert Patrick ConnollyChloe Eva QuinnSienna Josephine O'DonoghueElijah Meenan MonaghanZach Meenan MonaghanAmelia Sophie BowenAlexandra Harrison LeopoldZachary MacKenzie KirwanSerena Vanora Mary ReillyAliya Kate EganConor Patrick CunneenCasper Kevin FennellyMary-Kate Elizabeth MacDonnellDonnacha Leo BolgerLaura Ciara O'BrienElizabeth Nancy BennettArthur MockoDavid James CraigMeabh Carmel BarnesRobyn Mary Foy-Holland KeoghanMary Elizabeth Bridget BradyCathan John Condon

DEATHS

We extend the sympathy of theparish to the families of thefollowing who died in recentmonths:

Pauline WhelanPatrick RyanJohn BymeKevin LynchDolores DelahuntyNora WatersChristine FlynnAngela HalveyPatricia D' ArcyAnnaMaloneEnda FanningNancyDrummDeaglan 6 HogainMary LenfesteyMary SiababaPatricia (Pat) GroganBaby Gia BoccarossaMary EnsorHilda CullenMaeve O'DwyerHugh HeartyGerard LarchetColm SweeneyBridget DowlingThomas Finbarr O'ConnellGertrude KennaDr Gerard GeartyNora GrimesJohn Francis BegganEugene McTemanDr Kevin MackenMary FarrellCarmel BurkeNancy DonnellyBen McArdleMary SmullenDr Francis (Oki) O'ConnorAlice Finlay

May they rest in peace

A MOTHER'S DAY PRAYEROur Father in heavenWhose love is divine,Thanks for the loveOf a mother like mine -And in Thy great mercyLook down from aboveAnd grant this dear motherThe gift of Your love -And all through the year,Whatever betide her,Assure her each dayThat You are beside her -And, Father in heaven,Show me the wayTo lighten her tasksAnd brighten her day,And bless her dear heartWith the insights to seeThat her love means moreThan the world to me.

Helen Steiner Rice

"Remembering mothers both hereor in heaven on this MotheringSunday"

THE ALZHEIMER SOCIETYOF IRELAND

Alzheimer Tea DayParish CentreFirstFriday, 2"dMay, 10-12 noonPlease support this great cause.Gaye Fallon will be organising araffle for good prizes.

Marian HorganMary McDonogh

www.donnybrookparish.ie

ADULT CONFIRMATIONSFrom earliest times, the Easter Vigilhas been associated with ChristianInitiation. This year we lookforward to celebrating theSacraments of Confirmation andFirst Communion for two adults atthe Vigil. Dana (who will also bereceived into full Communion in theCatholic Church) and Alma havebeen preparing for the past sixmonths. A longer article on theprocess, known as RCIA, will bepublished in the next edition.

CONFIRMATIONConfirmation for Teresian Schooland St. Mary's National Schoolon Sunday April 6th, 3:30pm

UCD - NEW PRESIDENTThe Chairman and Committee ofthe Greenfield Park Residents'Group welcome Professor Andrewpeeks and Dr Linda Deeks toUniversity Lodge and send bestwishes for a happy and fruitful stayin our locality.

NEWSLETTER TEAMCore en Dennis 269 4852Niall Loftus 269 2063Mary McDonogh 269 2338Daragh Mulvagh 087 973 6983Mary Plunkett 668 3407Margaret Whitla 2600329Correspondence to the Parish Office

SPONSORGerard Pureell and Aisling havekindly sponsored this edition ofthe Newsletter and we thankthem. Seamus and Phyl Pureellhave been generous sponsors.We pray for them now at theiranniversary times