Mary and the Church
May 2027
John 19:26-27: "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home"
This month we will focus on Mary. Mary, our model and our mother, makes us small, humble children of the Gospel and makes us her instruments who spread love everywhere, thus generating living communities, living cells of the Church and of society.
MONTHLY GATHERING:
Tuesday, May 4, 2027
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Located in the Main Church
The speaker will be Bishop Brendan Leahy
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
The Most Reverend Professor Brendan Leahy, Bishop of Limerick since 2013, is an Irish Catholic bishop, theologian and author whose ministry has been deeply shaped by a particular theological insight: the Church cannot be fully understood without appreciating the place of Mary within it. His academic work, pastoral ministry and writing have consistently returned to the relationship between Mary, the Church, Christian discipleship and the vocation to love.
Born in Dublin in 1960, Bishop Leahy studied law at University College Dublin and was called to the Bar at King’s Inns in 1983 before pursuing theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. His doctoral research focused on the “Marian principle” in the ecclesiology of the Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, a theme that would become one of the defining interests of his theological career. His doctoral work was subsequently published as The Marian Profile in the Ecclesiology of Hans Urs von Balthasar.
At the heart of Bishop Leahy’s understanding is the conviction that Mary reveals something essential about what it means to be the Church. Mary’s response to God is one of faith, receptivity, love and complete openness to God’s action. In this sense, the Church has a Marian dimension: before the Church acts, teaches or organizes, it is called to receive Christ, listen to God and say “yes” to His will.
Leahy’s study of von Balthasar explores Mary as a model of Christian discipleship and as a key to understanding the Church’s vocation. Mary and the Church share a fundamental vocation, to receive Christ and bring His life into the world.
His reflection on Mary leads him also to a consideration of what the theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar calls the Marian and Petrine dimensions of the Church. The Petrine dimension is linked in particular with the apostolic authority and the hierarchical-sacramental ministries of the Church, while the Marian dimension expresses the Church’s faith response to God and the many forms of Gospel life and lived holiness in the Church. Bishop Leahy emphasizes that these dimensions belong together: the Church needs both, hierarchical structure and the living witness of all the baptized, the sacramental gifts and the living out of the sacraments in daily life. Without the Marian dimension, the Church’s structures and activity cannot bear their fullest fruit.
This conviction has also informed Bishop Leahy’s work for Christian unity and dialogue. Since the 1990s he has been deeply involved in ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, while his theological research has included ecclesiology, the Marian principle in the Church and new ecclesial movements. He has also been a member of the Pontifical Theology Academy since 2004 and has served as a visiting lecturer at the Sophia University Institute in Florence.
As Bishop of Limerick, Leahy has sought to translate this theological vision into pastoral life. His ministry emphasizes communion, participation and the renewal of the Church’s life. In his recent diocesan consultation, for example, he highlighted the desire of parishioners for a stronger and more vibrant Church, with greater lay involvement and deeper collaboration among communities.
For Bishop Brendan Leahy, therefore, Mary is not simply a subject of devotion or theological study. She offers a pattern for the life of the whole Church: a Church that listens, receives, trusts, loves and allows Christ to be born anew in the lives of its people. His lifelong reflection on the Marian profile of the Church offers a vision of Catholic life in which Mary points beyond herself to Christ, and, in doing so, reveals what the Church is called to become.
While Bishop Brendan will not be physically present, he will send us his pre-recorded talk tailored specifically for our Embers Evangelization program. Then, he will be on the phone for a Q&A session.