BEGINNING OF THE LEGAL YEAR:THE CATHOLIC Archbishop of Dublin has warned that "uncontrolled growth" dominated by personal and intellectual greed and ambition inevitably leads to a divided society.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, in his homily at a Mass in Dublin yesterday to mark the start of the new legal year, stressed a just and caring society will only be achieved by people who “live justly”, care and listen to each other in a form of exchange in mutual trust and respect.
Law is “not just about rules” and regulation in a market economy is “not just about norms”, he said.
“Law and regulation are there to protect the weak and the vulnerable and to curb the arrogance to which all are tempted. This is the mission of all who work within the administration of justice,” he said.
“The poor and the marginalised must see us as people who listen to and hear their voice and the dignity they possess: listening to the voice of the poor is indeed a characteristic of God himself.”
Addressing a congregation of senior judges and lawyers, plus representatives of the judiciary of Northern Ireland, Scotland and the European Court of Human Rights, the archbishop said the Bible provides many lessons about the type of society we wish to build today, in which people are understood and respected and where growth is seen as “always having a social purpose”.
Referring to the Old Testament story of the Tower of Babel about people who hoped they would be able on their own to build a tower which would reach God, he said the Tower of Babel is the “image of uncontrolled growth, growth dominated by personal and intellectual greed and ambition”.
“The builders of the tower go ahead with their plan regardless of any other factor or person. They lose contact with the reality of what human and societal growth is all about.”
Uncontrolled growth “inevitably ends up in bringing about division and ends that pattern of trusting exchange which should be the mark of every participative democratic society.”
The archbishop noted the poor in developing countries, when asked what they felt was most needed to end their poverty, had said it was their “voice”. They wanted to be heard, listened to and respected in what they said and in the fullness of their dignity, and to have an active voice in the society to which they belonged.
A democratic system is one in which all have voice and assume responsibility, in respect for others, he said.
“A democratic system is NOT just about voting people in and out of office, no matter how vital that is.” “Voice without the support of law is stifled,” he added. “Law which does not hear the voice of society is tyrannical.
“Where voice is heard, then a new form of communication begins, new language which is understood by all and respects all.”
The congregation at the Mass at St Michan’s Catholic Church included the Chief Justice, Mr Justice John Murray; the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns; Attorney General Paul Gallagher and a large number of judges.
