Bishop of Limerick opens Lourdes Pilgrimage with call for peace and hope

THE BISHOP of Limerick opened the Limerick Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes saying “The pursuit of peace and having lasting hope must be the priority of all.”

Bishop Brendan Leahy began his homily for the Lourdes Pilgrimage, dedicated to the Jubilee Year of Hope, with the message that "in the darkness that surrounds today, hope can be our guiding light and that we must start our peace building within."

Addressing 400 people, on Friday, June 20, in his homily at the Mass at the Lourdes Grotto, Bishop Leahy said that when he speaks on the topic of hope, people constantly say that they need to hear more about hope as they need hope.

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Bishop Leahy said that as well as having their own personal reasons for saying this, there seem to be more prevailing reasons than ever for hope. The looming dominance of Artificial Intelligence, the rapid rise of biotechnologies, the dark side of social media and wars and the fractious words and threats are, he said, making people afraid.

“Our world is crying out for hope, hope especially for peace on our troubled planet. As we hear about the horrors of war in Ukraine, Gaza and what’s happening now across Israel and Iran, our hearts are heavy with a sense of helplessness,” he said. 

“We in Ireland know only too well the cost of a breakdown in peace, the terrible legacy of war and conflict, which is generations of mutual hatred and resentment, instability and fragility.”

Bishop Leahy - who concluded Mass with consecration to the Sacred Heart, associating spiritually with Archbishop Eamon Martin’s consecration of Ireland to the Sacred Heart at Knock Shrine on Corpus Christi this Sunday - said that Pope Leo XIV has made the pursuit of peace a priority and this is something we must all strive and hope for.

“Recently, Pope Leo XIV expressed the hope that every diocese would promote pathways of education in non-violence and offer projects that transform fear of the other into an opportunity for encounter. He prayed that each of our communities might become a ‘house of peace’, characterised by dialogue and justice and where forgiveness is cherished.”

“Peace is not pie in the sky. Peace doesn’t just happen,” he said. “Peace is a project that we need to pursue humbly day by day. Peace is always a work in progress because there are so many forces and impulses, inside us and around us, only too ready to ambush the peace we were trying to construct. We always need to learn anew the art of peacebuilding. We need to practice building houses of peace.”

Bishop Leahy asked that we all take up “this idea of building houses of peace”.

“There is much justified talk in Ireland about the urgent need to build houses and many of them. But, as well as the physical buildings, it is important to remind ourselves we need to spiritually build houses of peace and many of them.

“While we can feel helpless when faced with the unconscionable tragedies erupting in our world’s geo-political landscape, we need to remember that we need to commit ourselves again and again to building houses of peace in our family life and in our workplace, in our neighbourhood and in the wider society.”

He added, “We can’t be peacemakers on our own resources. It is vital to pray for peace. It is a gift. Let us ask Our Lady who works so closely with the Holy Spirit to build us up as people of prayer, builders together in these days of our pilgrimage of the house of peace in which we can dwell together.”