Have the courage to be Catholic: Hickey

By Bridget Spinks
There are certain things you cannot do, Archbishop Barry Hickey told near 200 boarders at Aquinas College on 19 June when he celebrated a 7pm Sunday Mass for them.
“If you are in politics and faced with legislation that goes against your conscience, you must not vote for it. And you must live with the consequences,” he said.
“If you are a doctor and are under pressure to perform a procedure – like abortion – which goes against your conscience, you cannot do it. And you must live with the consequences.
“If you are in business and see that you can make a lot of money by dispossessing poor people, you must not do it. And live without the financial reward,” he said.
The reward for obeying a conscience that is formed by your Catholic faith is immense, he said.
“It is peace of mind, personal integrity and the satisfaction of knowing that someone may be moved by your witness to the truth,” he said.
The Archbishop was drawing on themes articulated in his Pentecost Pastoral Letter, which encouraged the laity to live their true mission in the Church, that of bearing the light of Christ in the world.
“You have been baptised and confirmed. You have a share in the mission of the Church, which is to bring good news to the world,” he said in his homily.
“You must take your faith with you wherever you go.”
Since Aquinas College is currently without a permanent chaplain, Acting Dean of Boarders at Aquinas College, Mark Weston, invited Archbishop Hickey to celebrate Mass to give the boys a chance to meet the Archbishop in person.
St John of God hospital chaplains, Fr Hugh Galloway and Fr Richard Rutkauskas and assistant parish priest at Our Lady of the Mission Whitford, Fr Dominic Savio CSsR, have also celebrated the 7pm Sunday Mass for the boarders this term.