Zoom : Thursday October 6th, 2022
at 8.00 p.m.
Prof. Michael Conway
Transmitting Faith in
Contemporary Culture
In processing the diocesan synodal reports the ACI steering group concluded that no issue seemed of greater concern than the growing absence of young people, including younger parents, from regular weekly liturgies – even before the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic in the spring of 2020.
There seemed to us to be an island-wide anxiety that the passing on of Catholic faith may too often not be happening now in Ireland.
“There is a crisis in transmission of faith”;
“We are unsure about how to evangelise in the modern world.”
(From the Irish National Synodal Synthesis, August 16th, 2022)
In ACI’s view, for those of us whose sense of connection to the divine source of compassion is still a central part of our identity this problem is too close to our hearts to be shelved or delegated. Our own adult children or nephews or nieces may be parents to the current youngest generations – the great-grandchildren of our parents, who belonged to a generation of mostly devout Catholics. These young children often have no experience of religious practice – of being part of an overt Christian community – nor do they experience a culture where hope is expressed in prayer in daily life. Their parents may either reject the culture of the Church that they experienced growing up – or may simply find religious practice irrelevant and lacking credibility.
So how are we to understand and practise ‘evangelisation’ in our own time? Bent on tackling this problem head on, ACI will be addressing it persistently over the coming year. Professor Michael Conway’s Zoom address on October 6th, 2022, will present his own view of the issue of faith transmission today, and will be followed by open discussion.
Michael A. Conway is Professor of Faith and Culture, Pontifical University, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth –
lecturing on ‘The changing nature of Irish culture in its relationship to religion, spirituality, and faith.‘
Join Zoom Meeting – Thursday October 6th, 2022 at 8.00 pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85073799955?pwd=V1picXViUG1mT2FlQXlmOHVLWjFpZz09
Meeting ID: 850 7379 9955
Passcode: 690623
It was a wonderfully inspiring and thoughtful presentation and discussion.
Perhaps it might be available as a podcast someday??
Best Wishes
It was unfortunately not possible to record this particular Zoom event. However, Professor Conway has assured us that the argument he presented will be in print as soon as possible. Also, a summary report of the presentation is in preparation for this website, and will be ‘up’ soon.
As Fr Michael so ably expressed so many of the misgivings we in ACI already have about the notion of ‘faith transmission’, his central argument will also be helping to guide our programme on faith formation and related issues from now on. His talk was unforgettable.