THE FUTURE(?) OF THE IRISH CATHOLIC CHURCH

In Ireland today, the tradition of there always being a Priest available to say Mass in any church has already died out.

Which would not be a problem if the staffing of the Church declined at the same rate as the demand for the sacraments, but it hasn't. It has proceeded faster.

Certainly, fewer Catholics go to Mass every week than did 20 years ago. Indeed, fewer still go to Confession. Almost none want to be Priests, but about half of them still want to go to Mass about once a month.

That means that the ratio of Priests to members of a congregation has fallen.

Even in secularized Ireland there is demand for more Masses than there are Priests to celebrate them.

And many parishes now are run by a single, lonely Priest performing all the duties attached to the job unaided.

One part of the solution has been simply to drop some of the Masses from the routine.  In other areas, parishes co-operate to relieve the burden. Congregations have been invited to cross to another parish to give their local priest a rest. 

And those Priests who remain are the older ones, tired, ageing men working flat out to provide Masses and other sacraments for the dwindling faithful.  This is a crisis, for those men will die out and not be replaced. The Catholic Church, in even a decade from now, will be sparsely served. 

Ireland was the most Catholic country in Europe, one in which most people went to Mass every week, and many families thought they were blessed if one of the children had a vocation to the priesthood or one of the religious orders.

The schools which were set up by the Christian brothers, the Jesuits, the Dominicans, the Order of the Cross and Passion are now staffed by lay people. Now a child who announces that he wants to be a Priest is discouraged. One who wants to be a Christian Brother is thought  to be mad.

The Irish Church is caught in a paradox.  The enthusiasm for religion is waning in the country, but it refuses to die out. Consequently, fewer people make big commitments.

Compared to other Churches, the turnout among Catholics is still healthy. A lot of that may be more to do with a sense of community than of deep devotion. And that more relaxed devotion does not inspire people to sacrifice the prospects of family life to serve God and His people.  The result is that the Priesthood is declining faster than the congregations.

Yet, the people who hardly go to church at all still expect their children to marry in the Church, and would be heartbroken if they didn't.  And most baptised Catholics expect a Catholic funeral even if they have hardly been to a church for decades other than to see friends married or buried.

That produces another pressure on the Church, its services being required by those who in the normal run of things contribute nothing to the maintenance of Church buildings or to the welfare of the clergy.

Yet there are practical solutions available for some of these problems, but the Bishops lack the faith and fortitude to address them.  The country’s Catholic bishops recently shelved a proposal to ask Pope Francis to consider allowing priests who left ministry to get married to return to priestly work.

According to The Irish Catholic, the decision follows a failure by the hierarchy to reach a consensus on proposals by the Bishop of Kilmore,  Leo O’Reilly, which also included considering lifting the bans on ordaining married men and female deacons.

In June 2015, Bishop O’Reilly said he was consulting with other Irish bishops about setting up a commission to discuss the possibilities of ordaining married men and appointing female deacons.  He also said that Pope Francis was encouraging individual bishops and national hierarchies to be creative in looking at ways of doing ministry in the future, and that Ireland must “consider all options”.

However, no decision was made when he raised the commission idea with his fellow Bishops.  Clearly, such a proposal requires changes to Church discipline and law but would be likely to be resisted by conservative elements.

There have been numerous rumors (but only rumors) that Pope Francis is willing to allow married former priests to return to ministry in Brazil on a phased and experimental basis. 

Personally, I propose that many of the Permanent Deacons, whose contribution to parish ministry is limited to the perfunctory role of serving as nothing more than an additional alter server, be ordained to the Priesthood  immediately.  Additionally, I propose that the condition placed upon them that they not be allowed to marry should their spouses die likewise be suppressed entirely and at once.  What nonsense!

Practical solutions are available to the Church, but they require courage and a willingness to put the Sacramental needs of the faithful above an attachment to traditional models of Priesthood which no longer serve the People of God.

The Bishops of Ireland and most of the Catholic hierarchy, for all their bravado in calling upon the faithful to trust in Divine Providence, are the most reluctant to submit themselves to that very trust.
And the people who feel the pain of that most are the solitary Priests in big parish houses all over the country, beleaguered by the needs of nominal Catholics who give them little support and wouldn't do their job themselves at any price.

A gloomy future for Ireland and the Universal Church, indeed!

At a recent General Audience, Pope Francis said that, despite the many signs of our sins and failings. “we know that we are saved by the Lord, and even now contemplate and experience within ourselves and all around us signs of the Resurrection, of Easter, of a new creation.”

He said the Christian does not live outside of this world, but in it. “The Christian has learned to read all things with eyes informed by Easter, with the eyes of the Risen Christ.”

And when we are discouraged or tempted to despair, Pope Francis said the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and “keeps alive our groans and the hopes of our hearts. The Spirit sees for us beyond the negative appearances of the present and reveals to us even here new heavens and a new earth, which the Lord is preparing for humanity.”

As we contemplate the condition of the Church in Ireland, we will need that gift of hope and courage that the Holy Spirit inspires in our hearts.  Come, Holy Spirit, come!