However, attendance at Mass is still high for the older generations, but will drop dramatically over the coming years as the younger generations are very critical of what the Catholic Church did.
Even after all that I wouldn’t say the Catholic Church has “destroyed” Ireland. What has immensely damaged the nation in the last few years is the "Great Recession" which has had a devastating impact on the Irish economy.
Catholicism in Ireland has long depended on the absolute authority of the priest and the church, who commands unquestioning respect, loyalty, affection, trust and obedience from his parishioners. To be a "good Catholic" in Ireland was to have faith in the infallibility of the Church. The Irish went through many hard times, especially under fairly brutal rule from England, so that their faith was essential to pull them through the hard times to freedom and prosperity. God did not fail them there.
What was so disappointing was that this trust in the priests and bishops was proved to have been abused in a most terrible way - by using this authority to demand sexual favours from children, who were powerless to question the authority of the Church, despite their own suffering and feeling of being violated themselves. Now this deception and this abuse of power and trust has been exposed, the Catholic Church in Ireland has lost its reputation and its authority.
The response from the good priests in Ireland (the overwhelming majority, I must say) is to rid the Church of its authoritarianism, and to work instead towards earning the trust of the people, through good works, through faith in God and Jesus Christ, and above all having the humility to admit wrong and do something about it.
They are up against a Pope, who is the son of a police officer during the Third Reich in Germany, who is almost certainly not a Nazi, but did grow up under the culture of unquestioning authority, something he himself got a reputation for as Enforcer of Doctrine (with the nickname 'God's Rottweiler').
The good Irish priests have called for a fresh start for the Church, in the same spirit of the Second Vatican Council 50 years ago which brought so much fresh air into the Church, but these priests are being slapped down and told to know their place and obey. Ideas such as ending the celibacy of the priesthood and for a more pastoral rather than evangelical emphasis on their mission have been treated as heretical by the Vatican.
Either, the present Pope has to die and a more enlightened successor take his place, or these good Irish priests will break away and form their own reformed Church of Ireland, ending the authority of the Catholic Church there, and possibly in many other places too. We are back to where we were 500 years ago.
The Roman Catholic church has a lot to answer for however with the power it has very verw will be punished. The faithful must revalue the religion and teachings taking advantage of the internet which is impartial. I have some devout Catholic friends who just refuse to accept facts.
If God is responsible for every life on earth he is also responsible for people being born homosexual/lesbian and he loves them equally. Why can't so many who call themselves Christian accept this fact?!
Basically the church is corrupt.
The catholic faith is far removed from the scriptures, the message has been adulterated & blended with fiction.
For example Limbo.
Limbo was a con to make catholic priests money to bless dying babies.
If Limbo didn't & has never existed, how many poor grieving parents were scammed?
It doesn't bear thinking about!
We have a Holy Bible we can share. - It gives people choice. Maybe the Republic of Ireland could consider using it. We need help to get it taken notice of - and it is our Monarch's Jubilee Year - and She has been around long enough to be known not to bite.
Its all this child abuse stuff. Of course they have ruined their church there. The solution is clearly in their hands just don't appoint the "luvvy" men with scent on who would do that sort of disgusting thing. Men who would even want to do such a thing. I dont want to do such things,there are millions other people of morals like me.
most of the priests were child abusers ,and the bishops knew this and did nothing , so the abuse went on for over 50 years
They and had a sex scandal there also and it left many churches empty.
I heard this - I'm not sure if it true..
And I'm not sure if it was:
"Catholic church ruined in Ireland" or "The catholic church destroyed Ireland"
How and why?
