Greg Daly
The Church has thrown its support behind an ambitious new film series aimed to energise young Christians and help them tackle doubts they might have about their Faith.
The eight-part NUA film series was launched at Dublin’s Gonzaga College last month ahead of the release of census figures that show significant declines in numbers of Irish people identifying as members of the Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland and the Methodist Church.
The project cost almost €250,000 according to series presenter Jonny Somerville, who told The Irish Catholic the series was funded with the help of trust funds in Ireland, Britain and the United States.
Input
Although produced by the Protestant evangelical organisation Scripture Union, NUA has had significant Catholic input, with Augustinian scripture scholar Fr Kieran O’Mahony being one of three members on the project’s ecumenical advisory committee and other Catholics contributing at other stages of the project.
“The principle behind it all has always been that whatever we can do together, we do together,” Dublin’s Auxiliary Bishop Eamonn Walsh told The Irish Catholic.
“When I first heard of this venture and then when I saw the actual product, it was very clear that this was a very useful evangelising tool for all age groups, and I could see it being used very fruitfully in parish discussion groups,” said Dr Walsh, who attended the launch along with the Archdiocese of Dublin’s post-primary adviser Anna Maloney.
Dr Walsh suggested that the series could be used in parishes ahead of Masses, saying: “When you come to Church you come to worship God, but also to have your faith nourished and your knowledge of your faith inspired in some way and this is an excellent tool for that.”
The project focuses on common difficulties young people have with Christianity, and Dr Walsh said this is well-targeted for a time when religious faith is defined more by conviction than by convention.
“Attendance at church may be declining, but people’s search for faith is much deeper than when we lived in a culture that was predominantly faith-presumed,” he said, continuing, “Now you have people saying, well, I pray but I don’t agree with everything that a particular Church professes, or I have been put off by the scandals, and the poor witness, but I’m still searching for a meaning in life and God is very much part of that.”
Worship
Despite discouraging census figures that indicate Ireland’s Catholic population has dropped from 84.2% of the population five years ago to 78.3% now, Dr Walsh said, “Faith isn’t just a box to tick, but is something that propels us forward in the way we worship God and the way we treat people,” adding that such a faith requires a “solid foundation”.