“We face a post-Catholic Ireland”

From the speaking notes of Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin Archbishop of Dublin: Fordham Centre of Religion and Culture, New York, 24^th April 2013

“Let me take a brief look at the changed demographics of Catholic Ireland. Church attendance is very low in some areas, especially in socially deprived areas. In Dublin, Mass attendance is generally highest in middle-class parishes, where parishioners are middle class economically and liberal middle-of-the-road on matters of church teaching. They are parishes, however, where there is a sense of community and activity. There is a growing interest in adult faith formation, but as yet generally on an irregular basis. Irish Catholics are generous to the church even in hard times. The International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 2012 was financed above all by the voluntary contributions of ordinary Catholics. The presence of young people in the life of these parishes, however, is minimal. The strong backbone of good Catholics in Ireland is an aging group.

Where there are signs of youth participation in the Irish church it is among more conservative young Catholics. Is this where the future of the church lies? I am not sure. Many of these movements of young, more traditional Catholics are very limited in numbers and make few inroads into the lives of their peers. When it comes to new evangelization, the Irish church has to ask radical questions about where it should direct its resources.

On the question of vocations, numbers are low and the seminarians are divided between two establishments, one in Ireland and one in Rome, neither of which can really achieve its aims on the basis of such small numbers. There are religious congregations that have not had an ordination for 15 years and more. There are dioceses that have currently no seminarians. No one from west of the River Shannon entered the seminary this year. It is not the case of a secularized, urban Ireland and a healthy, rural Ireland. The same cultural processes are at work across the country.”

(emphasis added). It is clear that, at least in Europe,  the problems of the church are acknowledged. And the success of the younger generation returning to tradition is also recognized. But we must recognize ourselves that the hierarchs of the Roman Catholic Church, like Archbishop Diarmud  Martin above, will disregard  this reality. They would rather that the Church collapse than analyze and admit the failures of their policies over the last 50 years. The recent action taken against the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate  – and the inaction regarding the LCWR – is the best evidence of this.

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