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How the Catholic Church in Ireland can survive

We are a wounded church but not defeated

GARRY O'SULLIVAN,

Editor Irish Catholic

Published Tuesday, November 29, 2011, 7:13 AM

Updated Tuesday, November 29, 2011, 11:50 AM

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34 Comments

Is the Catholic Church in Ireland down but not out?

Photo by Guardian

Others want to reach out and find scapegoats and find solace in blaming others -- the media, secularism, atheists, the new missal, the old Mass, liberals, right-wingers and so on. Red herrings all.

The wound is still there and there's a message in it, for us, and until we respond to the message we will continue to die as an institutional religion in Ireland. The faith, once strong in North Africa died out completely; there are no divine guarantees for Ireland or Western Europe.

But as one religious leader has written: ''We are not here to change the world; we are here to illuminate it.'' We talk about evangelisation but is the salt still salty? Bland Christians don't convince or convert anyone.

Cardinal Brady spoke at the weekend of the numbers looking to study theology and scripture and how encouraging those numbers are.

It is impressive and is a clear sign of the hunger among laity to know more about their faith, to have an adult faith that makes sense. People long for instruction on their spiritual journey, to learn how to pray, to learn how to let go of the nonsense and find what is real.

Institutional religion -- the Church and religious orders -- are failing because there is a failure in leadership.

Quite simply, those in leadership positions were not trained to be leaders in times of chaos, yet some cling to leadership in spite of their inability to lead, others lead because no one else will.

A few recognise that leadership requires vision and is not management or administration but something different.

What we all can agree on is that we are called to be a new type of Church, ''one truly centred around the radical and disturbing vision of Jesus. At our best we know what it is. It is the only way to ensure a future full of hope''.

That quote comes from the head of the Christian Brothers, a disgraced religious order in Ireland with their reputation in 'tatters' and yet, from the margins, from the bottom, comes such insight and wisdom and hope.

I'll leave the last word to the mystics:

''Beware of the tiny gods frightened men create

To bring an anaesthetic relief

To their sad days.''

Be not afraid.

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34 Comments

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IrelandNorth | Dec 02, 2011, 08:37 AM EST

Every empire has its day. The Sumerians - Babylonians - Persians - Greeks - Romans - British - American, etc. Why should the Holy Roman Empire be any different. Now we can get back to an authentic generic Christianity, before orthodoxy highjacked a good money spinner 2000 years ago.

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warlocks | Dec 01, 2011, 02:21 AM EST

The Catholic Church is just about Dead in Ireland. Its Time Ireland take over and bring back Jesus Christ in a New Church . let it Be a United Cheistian Church of Ireland. Forget those Fat Pagan Sinners of the Vatican.

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PolinDeB | Nov 30, 2011, 06:00 PM EST

If the Catholic church stopped worrying so much about gay people and started concentrating on the real message of Christ which was Love, Compassion and Charity.. they'd have a lot less problems. Protecting pedophiles and their assets make them the rich man through needle, ie the camel.. The death of the institutional church is not a bad thing, a happy more understanding church with less emphasis on sexual morals and more on human morals being kind and decent to each other will attract more people.

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canadianirish | Nov 30, 2011, 04:33 PM EST

Well said, 'adrienrain'!! Point #2 and #5 nail it on the head!

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barneyjo | Nov 30, 2011, 03:56 PM EST

@GeorgeDillon - "Why should Catholics turn Protestant?" I didnt say that they should. Were that to happen then the uniqueness of one branch of the Christian Family would be lost, and despite all that has happened, there is no need for that. No, what I am referring to is Reformation of the Church Body; Clergy, laity and the mechanisms by which both are governed and by which both interact. Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, the drive to this Reformation has already started across large parts of the Catholic world. I say that because the single most crucial element of the church; that is the laity, the faithful recognise the need for change, and are articulating that demand for change. How? in different ways. Many "voting with their feet" and not darkening the door of their church. Many who continue to articulate the need for change from within the Church. And many whose personal journey of faith has been radically altered by the recent revelations about how many have conducted their ministry, at total variance with the true teachings left to us by Christ as Man during his earthly ministry. "Love one another as I have loved you" this was the greatest commandment of all given by God. And this in my view is the greatest deficit in the Clerical Church today."Cardinal Brady settles the latest claim by abuse victim he swore to secrecy" is a story widely reported today."I accept that the vast majority of Catholic clerics are good men. Can the Catholic Church not see that if it wishes to regain the almost universal respect which it once enjoyed and the moral authority which it would wish to wield, it must come to terms with all such just claims against it?" (Brendan Boland)

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adrienrain | Nov 30, 2011, 01:49 PM EST

Because celibacy is as virtuous as constipation. Because evil flourishes in secret. Because women are at least as good as men, and men have no legitimate claim of domination over them. Because no one should have to tell their most intimate secret thoughts to someone in authority. Because for all the RC's preference for the poor, its HQ are richly furnished and the pope sits on a golden throne while children starve. Because the obscenity of hierarchy is indefensible. Because the foundation for all the abrahamic religions is patriarchy and genocide. Let the rotten old structure fall forever.

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cillowen | Nov 30, 2011, 11:41 AM EST

The need for a church of one's own as in the St Patrick model, a model that served so well until Anglo Adrian trigged the invasion which forced them to pay up and to obey Roman dictates. Collection monies be kept at home and not send a cent to the Vatican. This approach will serve to place blame wherever it correctly belongs.

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cillowen | Nov 30, 2011, 11:40 AM EST

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cillowen | Nov 30, 2011, 11:39 AM EST

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jamieLM | Nov 30, 2011, 10:59 AM EST

@merefalow, you make a good point. Religion, like other things, can become a source of evil when it's abused and corrupted. It's not the message of God/Jesus that's the problem, it's some of the messengers and the receivers who are the betrayers and corrupters of the message who are the problem.

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KevinKehoe | Nov 30, 2011, 10:47 AM EST

By packing there bags and feak off to Rome

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jamieLM | Nov 30, 2011, 10:40 AM EST

Reform is needed in the RCC in the way the hierarchy deals with priests engaged in child sex abuse. This could be referred to as a "reformation" that has nothing to do with the historical Reformation that established the Protestant churches 500 yrs. ago. Even Protestant churches have made reforms in their practices over the years. I doubt anyone is seriously suggesting that Catholics become Protestants, although they need each other where Christianity is constantly under attack.

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Murph46 | Nov 30, 2011, 10:27 AM EST

By keep hiring peeping priests!

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GeorgeDillon | Nov 30, 2011, 10:07 AM EST

barnyjo: Why should Catholics turn protestant? We had that debate 500 years ago, attended by slaughter and cruelty on both sides. And it's not as if the Protestant Churches in Ireland are actually thriving. Take the Nigerian migrants ouit of their congregations and you're left with two senior citizens and a dog. And don't forget that the Protestant Churches in Ireland have also had their sex abuse scandals, thouigh not surprisingly on a proportionate scale to their numbers.

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CitizenWhy | Nov 30, 2011, 09:29 AM EST

The Catholic church in Ireland will survive, despite so many bishops having no understanding of or use for Christianity, and concerned only with scoring points with some dodgy cardinals at the Vatican.

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