GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF CORI - 2009

Address by Sr Conchita McDonnell mshr  -  President of CORI

September 2009

We gather today as people of FAITH, in solidarity with one another and with the people of our nation. Few could deny the cataclysmic nature of what has happened to us in Ireland over the past months – as a country, as a church, as Irish Religious.
One thing is certain, no one has been left unaffected and the suffering that has ensued has been great. It is difficult to hold together the different elements that gave rise to the situation in which we find ourselves. Clearly more time is needed for reflection and analysis. Nevertheless, most of us here present have our own tentative understanding as to the meaning and message of what has occurred.

RISING ABOVE THE PAST TO CREATE A BETTER FUTURE

Paper given at the Humbert Summer School, August 2009.

None of us can remember anything like it in the past. None of us can imagine that anything like it could happen in the future. The waves of shock, horror and sadness that swept over all of us at the revelations of the Ryan Report were without precedent and without warning. The sheer scale of the findings hadn’t been expected. The findings shame us; as religious, as a nation. It’s difficult, I think, for anyone under 40 to comprehend how it could have happened. For those of us who are older it points up how unquestioning we were of our life and times.

This is the contribution that we, as religious and citizens, wish to offer to Europe’s human and spiritual growth.

World Day for Consecrated Life is celebrated on February 2nd, or the nearest possible date, each year.  A liturgy for the day is being prepared by CORI and will be available in early January by post or to download from this website.