In his last sermon as Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin last night, Very Rev John Paterson asked whether, over 2000 years following the Epiphany, things had changed.
"In every country a small powerful elite still rises to the top and floats on the inability of ordinary people to make themselves heard. We see it in our own country where a few cent extra in income tax might well alleviate bed shortages in hospitals and provide public housing for the poor. But then the rich prefer consumer taxes to income tax...," he said.
"Countries that are no longer useful to the rich First World are either dumped or invaded. The rulers are removed. Only the poor are left to suffer the ravages of bombs and the lack of water and electricity."
"One could go on - for it's all just so much like Epiphany. The Magi push out the shepherds. The infant ceases to be a thing of awe and instead is used to become a part of the world and of its power struggles," he said.
Last October it was announced Dean Paterson was to retire, on medical advice. He had been Dean at Christ Church since 1989. Born in Portadown, Co Armagh in 1938 he was educated at Portadown College and Trinity College in Dublin.
He was ordained a priest in 1964. After serving in a number of curacies in the North and in Dublin he was elected vicar of the then newly joined parishes of St Bartholomew's with Leeson Park (Christ Church) in 1972.
In 1978 he became Dean of Kildare Cathedral and chaplain to the Curragh Command of the Irish Defence Forces. In February 2001 he married Patricia Bray (nee Daniel).
