Those involved in the justice system were reminded at the Annual Law Service in St Michan’s Church in Dublin this morning (Monday October 7) that that the vision of justice in this part of the world remained avowedly Christian). Preaching at the service to mark the opening of the Michaelmas Law Term, the Revd Simon Doogan, Rector of Ballyholme Parish in Down and Dromore, said that definitions of guilt, the presumption of innocence, forms of punishment and a host of other legal bulwarks flowed from the religion of Jesus Christ.
The service was led by the Vicar, Archdeacon David Pierpoint in the presence of the Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral. The congregation included members of the judiciary, departments of State, members of the legal profession, the diplomatic corps, representatives of an Garda Siochana, the Defence Forces and the Prison Service, and members of the Law Society. As has been tradition for over a century, the choir of the King’s Hospital, under the direction of Ciaran Kelly, led the music at the service.
The Church of Ireland service is one of three that ushers in the new law term with an equivalent service taking place in St Michan’s, Halston Street and, since last year, a secular event organised by the Chief Justice.
Mr Doogan explained that Christian principles were first enshrined in the civil law by the Code of Christian emperor Justinian in the sixth century and by the ninth century the laws of King Alfred were inscribed with the Ten Commandments. He added that two of the four remaining copies of Magna Carta from 1215 were copied by church scribes and the Puritans brought the 1628 Petition of Right.
Turning to the first lesson from Micah [7: 14–20] he said the God portrayed was a God who pardoned iniquity, passed over transgression and delighted in showing clemency. In the second reading [St Luke 15: 10–24] Jesus’s template for the father of the Prodigal Son was one of mercy, pity and love.
“Although a Christian can bring their intellect, their conscientiousness, their sense of public duty to any job at all, we’re here today because while the quality and character of our laws is important, even more important is the quality and character of those who administer them,” the preacher stated. “That, we would say, is a spiritual matter – though better surely to see the whole thing as a spiritual matter. After all as always, there is making a living and then there is making a difference. Over centuries, the ethics and ethos of Christ have shaped so much of the world in which you live and move and have your legal being. By that means, the Christian worldview has penetrated more consciences than we will ever know.”
