The livestreaming of liturgies from St Macartan’s Cathedral and St Joseph’s Church in Monaghan & Rackwallace parish was launched at a media event in the cathedral on Monday night, 5 December 2016. The attendance included members of the Parish Pastoral Team, the parish clergy, Mr Seamus McNicholl of MCN Security and Media, Dungannon (the company that provided and installed the technology) and the Knights of St Columbanus who sponsored the initiative.
Welcoming everyone, the Cathedral Parish Administrator, Fr Patrick McGinn, said that as it was the duty of all in the church to proclaim and preach the Gospel to all, it was so important to use modern means of communications in doing that. Commenting that the internet had changed the world in so many ways, he urged people to use the new facility as a means of re-connecting with the parish and the Church. He especially invited families to ask loved ones who are abroad to tune in to the Masses this Christmas.
Fr McGinn was fulsome in his praise of the Knights of St Columbanus for their generous sponsorship of the initiative and of the Parish Pastoral Team for initiating the discussion on communications options at parish level.
The event was addressed by the Diocesan Communications and Media Officer, Gary Carville. Mr Carville, who is also currently completing his doctoral dissertation on the Second Vatican Council and Ireland at DCU, spoke of the relevance of the new means of communications within the framework of the liturgical year, the history of Monaghan & Rackwallace parish and the relationship between modern means of communications and the Church since the Vatican II. He highlighted the fact that the two documents on communications and liturgy were promulgated by the council on the same day (which was virtually fifty-three years to the day that the launch of the livestream was taking place) and quoted from some of those documents and the ensuing Social Communications instruction of 1971. He commented on how the internet has changed how people think, how we view each other, and how we communicate.
But Mr Carville also warned that the means of communications do pose both opportunities and challenges. ‘These are systems that can help, welcome, encourage and invite; systems that can unite people. But they are only systems. It is people – all of us – in our need to be in God’s presence – that matters. Therefore, the challenge is for us to be innovative in how we use these, in how we take this to the next stage so that the Eucharist that is shared here is brought to people and people are brought to Eucharist and enabled to be eucharist in daily life’, he said. He concluded by reminding the gathering of the words of Pope Francis from this year’s World Day of Communications Message – ‘It is not the technology which determines whether or not communication is authentic, but rather the human heart and our capacity to use wisely the means at our disposal’.
The provider of the technology and Managing Director of MCN Security & Media, Dungannon, Mr Seamus McNicholl then spoke of the value of the new system and how they can re-connect people and communities. He gave examples of people in Australia and other places being able to follow funeral liturgies of loved ones, of how people in residential care can connect. He echoed the comments of other speakers as to how the new technology has progressed from earlier models and said that he welcomed the input of the Knights of Columbanus.
The livestreaming can be viewed as follows:
Cathedral: http://www.clogherdiocese.ie/category/cathedral/
St Joseph’s: http://www.monaghan-rackwallace.ie/parish-churches/st-josephs
The livestreams can also be viewed via the website of the provider at www.mcnmedia.tv
The installation and use of the new medium is fully compliant with Safeguarding and Data Protection requirements. There will be no recordings of liturgies unless with the express permission of the parish. Furthermore, cameras are focussed only on the sanctuary areas together with a rear view of the first two rows of seats.
Livestream of St Macartan’s Cathedral
Livestream of St Joseph’s Church, Park Street.
