Heeding the voice of the poor
PDF Theology students from around the world got an insight into the life of Glasgow parish when they visited St Philip’s RC church in Ruchazie, writes Maria Gilmore.
Parish priest Fr Joe Sullivan provided them with a moving account of ten years ministering in the city’s East End. In an intriguing talk, titled ‘The Coby Ziggy Fleet meets Heterodox Augustinianism’, he explored how his own theological studies related to the nitty-gritty of life for young people in an economically deprived Glasgow estate.
The Coby Ziggy Fleet is one of the gangs which many young people drift towards in more deprived areas. Fr Sullivan’s constant refrain to them is simple: “You are not rubbish”. Rather than abandoning the poor, as so many other sectors of society have done, the Church is called to be alongside people on the margins.
The visit to Ruchazie was part of the ‘Visions for the Future’ International Theological Summer School hosted by Scottish Churches House in Dunblane.
Twenty-two participants from 14 countries took part in the two-week study visit which included trips to Edinburgh, St Andrews, New Lanark, Paisley and Iona, as well as Glasgow.
Midway through the course, the students were joined by Archbishop Mario Conti, Rt Rev John Christie, Moderator of the General Assembly, Bishop David Chillingworth, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and theologian Elizabeth Templeton for a panel discussion.
Referring to the centenary of the 1910 Edinburgh Ecumenical Missionary Conference, the Moderator said: “You are blessed when you can teach people how to cooperate, not compete”. Bishop Chillingworth, recalling his experience in Northern Ireland, called for “absolute consistency in the search for truth, while remaining open to people”. Borrowing the motto of the Knights of Malta, ‘Defence of Truth — Service of the Poor’, Archbishop Conti warned against the “heresies” of resignation and fatalism in an increasingly “post-Christian” world.
• Full story in the August 2010 edition of Flourish.
