Today’s Comment in The Irish Times states:
The Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, the Very Rev Robert MacCarthy, retired on Wednesday, following a blistering farewell sermon on Sunday in which he was less than delicate in his criticism of all he had crossed swords with since his election 13 years ago. While he raised some legitimate questions about relations between the Christian churches, ecumenical progress may require a more nuanced approach
The cathedral chapter and board will want to relegate much of what was said last Sunday to the annals and archives as the chapter begins the immediate task of searching among its own members for a new dean they must hope will be a worthy successor to not only Jonathan Swift but other great deans such as William King and Adam Loftus.
During the tenure of Dean Victor Griffin, the cathedral had a warm place in the hearts of inner-city Dubliners. But St Patrick’s is also a unique institution in the Church of Ireland, serving not as a diocesan cathedral but as a national cathedral, with a chapter that represents all 12 dioceses, North and South. With this unique role, it ought to embody the Church of Ireland’s engagement and interaction with the life of the nation.
The dean may only be chosen from among current, serving chapter members or canons– an all-male body of over two dozen canons. This limits their choice as they seek a new dean with the necessary vision, generosity and true qualities of spirituality.
The first task of the next dean must surely be to mend the many breaches in the cathedral close and to restore trust and confidence with the chapter, the cathedral board and members of the congregation.
This means the new dean must have innate pastoral skills, a true ability to listen to people, and an approach to cathedral life that is collegiate, hospitable and inclusive. Naturally, the new dean must be gifted in liturgy, music and administration, and be learned, scholarly and inspirational. But he must also have a passion to represent Saint Patrick’s to the whole Church of Ireland, to the wider church in general, and to the whole community so that the cathedral once again becomes a truly national cathedral for the whole island.
Electing a dean who falls short in these expectations will have serious consequences for St Patrick’s, for if it fails in its role of allowing the church to speak to the nation and the nation to speak to the church it has lost its sense of mission and vision.
In a further comment on Dean McCarthy in today’s paper, James Gibbons comments in The Social network column titled “Preaching to the converted” on the launch of book on Bishop Frederick MacNiece,
The former dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, the Very Rev Robert MacCarthy, who retired this week, was in the Long Room Hub at Trinity College on Wednesday evening for the launch of two books, one of which is about Bishop Frederick MacNiece, father of the poet Louis MacNiece.
The former dean has had quite a reaction to his valedictory sermon at St Patrick’s Cathedral last Sunday. It made headlines earlier this week. Trinity’s professor emeritus of history, Louis Cullen, said he agreed entirely with MacCarthy on ecumenism and about different faiths preaching in each other’s cathedrals. He felt, however, that the former dean should not have mentioned people’s names in his sermon and that he should have gone easier on people within the Church of Ireland. “That’s because you don’t belong to the church,” replied MacCarthy. “Would you have preferred me to talk about them behind their backs? If you don’t talk about people you don’t make points.”
Prof Terence Brown launched the books, Solitary and Wild: Frederick MacNeice and the Salvation of Ireland by David Fitzpatrick, published by Lilliput Press, and Synge and Edwardian Ireland by Brian Cliff and Nicholas Grene, edited for Oxford University Press. The books brought the departments of history and English together.