By Sarah Mac Donald - 26 November, 2013
Photo: John McElroy
All Hallows College in Dublin has announced that this year’s recipient of the Vincentian Charism Award is Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.
The Archbishop will be presented with the award at a ceremony this evening which will honour his leadership in addressing child protection within the Catholic Church.
In a statement, the College said that Archbishop Martin’s commitment to this mission and determination to bring closure and comfort to the victims of childhood sexual abuse, demonstrated the Vincentian ideals of leadership, social justice and service to the community.
“His direction and leadership of this seismic crisis within the Catholic Church in Ireland has given confidence to Catholics and others and enabled the Church to envisage and create a new future in Ireland,” the statement added.
All Hallows is a Catholic and Vincentian college. The Vincentian Charism Award is its highest honour. It is conferred on individuals who, through their work, their vision or their generosity, exemplify the spirit of St Vincent de Paul in addressing needs within the human family through advocacy or changing systems that work against true and full freedom.
“Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’s courageous leadership has systemically changed attitudes and policies within our local, national and international church,” a statement from All Hallows said. It continued, “Most importantly, the Archbishop’s pastoral leadership has brought safety to our children and healing to our people.”
The awards ceremony will be followed by the President’s Dinner, which will be attended by 160 international distinguished religious, business, political and academic guests.
In hosting this awards ceremony, All Hallows College said it was part of the college’s tradition of over 170 years of values-based education and service to society.
All Hallows has approximately 500 full and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate students and over 1,000 students per year in its continuing education programmes. It is a college of Dublin City University and all degrees are accredited by DCU.
