DERRY JOURNAL Editorial: Warm welcome for new Bishop as he signals hope amid challenges of present
There was warm welcome as Bishop Michael Router was installed as a successor to Columba and Eugene.
Our patrons may predate the episcopacy but their presence was felt during his installation Mass at St. Eugene’s.
Stained glass likenesses looked down from the Bishop Francis Kelly window as the Cavan-native spoke of the diocese’s ‘considerable spiritual resources’, ‘valued inherited traditions’ and ‘recognisable ecclesial culture and identity’. But the challenges of modernity were touched on too. ‘A modern culture so completely different from anything experienced before in history’, he said, means a need for ‘new approaches’. He signalled he will be in listening mode as the church charts a path forward. Pope Francis and Pope Leo have made interventions on capitalism, climate change and AI which were important beyond the Catholic church itself. Francis’ Fratelli tutti (All Brothers) and Laudato si’ (Praise Be To You) were indicting critiques of capitalism and environmental degradation. When he died last year Bishop Router described Laudato si’ ‘as one of the most significant moral calls to action on the climate crisis’. In Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity) Pope Leo argued for the need for human dignity to be defended in the face of a rapid technological change. Bishop Router will be focused on the pastoral care of the diocese yet he and the church will continue to make contributions on the pressing matters of our day. We wish him a long and successful prelacy.