Today, mgr. Dermot Farrell has been officially appointed new archbishop of Dublin. The ceremony celebrating his appointment took place in St Mary’s pro-cathedral this morning at 10.30 am and, alongside the archbishop, Mass was jointly officiated by mgr. Diarmuid Martin and by mgr. Jude Thaddeus Okolo, apostolic nuncio to Ireland, as well. Because of the restrictions for the containment of the Coronavirus pandemic, Mass was live streamed on the Facebook page of the archdiocese of Dublin. “The future is God’s gift to us”, the new archbishop said. “I come to Dublin knowing very few of you”. “There is no pre-packaged plan to face the real world we are living in. However, there are some indicators, and they are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness. They call us to build or rebuild parishes that stand out for their acceptance, openness, forgiveness, resilience and courage”. In his sermon, mgr. Farrell said words of deep gratitude to archbishop Martin, whom he now takes the baton from. “I want to repeat what I said on 29th December: you have seen the wounds made in Christ’s body and you have provided strong, clear guidance, especially in the protection of children, by taking brave positions. The Church, and society as a whole, should be most thankful to you. We must do all we can not to go backwards”.