I wrote an Opinion piece for the Irish Times which was published last Tuesday (Nov 29). I wrote it several months ago after it was announced that our parish would be losing a priest.(I know there are some readers of this Blog who have not the slightest interest in the future of the Irish church but I ask you just to bear with me.) Apparently there is such a back-log of Opinion pieces that it takes a long time to get a piece published in the Irish Times. It is a bit easier to get on Jude’s Blog site, thanks be to God and Jude. I was pleased with the response on the web page and in letters sent to me personally. In the Opinion piece I was reflecting on the state of the Irish Catholic church today and into the future with the growing scarcity of priests and with those of us who are still ministering getting older and less energetic. All the signs are that we will not be getting more priests in Ireland. I came to the conclusion a while ago that anyway it is not more priests we need but more teacher/catechists to lead people in a new and deeper understanding of the Christian faith and the radical commitment involved in taking it on. It would mean taking on the whole system and the anti-human values of the culture. Then when people celebrated the Eucharist there would be something real to celebrate. I am trying to think outside the box. I am trying to learn from the Catholic church in South and Central America where Small Christian communities have emerged since Vatican II which try to apply the gospel, the good news, to their unjust political and social situations. The primary aim is to empower the people to make radical changes so that justice is done and seen to be done in situations of grave inequality and poverty. The Church is called to take the side of the poor and oppressed in society –not to prop up unjust governments. As Pope Francis keeps reminding us the Church is called to lead a revolution in attitudes to climate change and caring for the planet earth.
Most of the bishops in Ireland today are burying their heads in the sand for fear of having to deal with the reality:
– the reality that a minority of Catholics now attend Mass in the cities, towns and country parishes. Many find their Church services irrelevant to their lives and to the political situation and to the world in which they live today.
– the reality that in twenty years there will be very few priests in any diocese in Ireland.
– the reality that the hey-day of the Catholic Church in Ireland is over – and over for good. Ireland is now a missionary country. There has been too much emphasis on attending Mass and Catholic devotions as the test of being a faithful Catholic and not enough on promoting and implementing the radical message of the Gospels-calling us to be peacemakers. Social justice is the basis for peace. Reconciliation needs to be based on Justice and respect.
You can analyse all you like and try to find reasons why the alienation of so many has happened in a short period of time. There are many reasons, not least the scandals that afflicted the church and the way they were dealt with by the Church leaders.
This is a time for bold action by Church leaders. It is a time for rethinking the purpose of the Church in the world today and for looking at alternative ways of making the faith alive. The official church is not good at this. The Vatican Council has shown us how to go forward and to think forward. The Holy Spirit has a lot to do with it. It is time we took the Second Vatican Council to heart in Ireland. There are those who want to turn the clock back. I call them fundamentalists. They want to spend their time in adoration. Jesus did not come to be adored but to be followed. The first step if we are to find out what following Jesus involves in Ireland now and into the future is to hold a national assembly with one clear objective – to listen to the people in order to create the Church of the poor and marginalised. Any other kind of Church is not the one envisaged by Christ and is not worthy of him. Maybe that is what a lot of those who walked away are saying.
your right their time is gone..you can get cures and miracles now by clicking the like button under the photos of god on facebook.
Funny billy, today’s Gospel included the line “the fear of God is his breath”
I may be Catholic and thankful for it but if you don’t believe then statements such as this show a total contempt for others and their faith. Secular or other. Very crass
opinions lad opinions,thats all.
“I know there are some readers of this Blog who have not the slightest interest in the future of the Irish church”
THE Irish church? For that to be the case would it not have to be founded in Ireland?
Who exactly are you confronting Joe? I haven’t been able to work it out. I confront myself constantly and find all judgements of others impossible. Helping the poor by fighting injustice is not a Christian act for even the atheists do it, do they not? The main problem with the Church today is cowardly Catholicism which manifests itself in weak leadership that lacks all belief in itself and has no vision. We need men like Fulton Sheen who believe in the power of their priesthood rather than social workers and political activists who are hiding from their priesthood.