This is in Dublin, Ireland but it could be anywhere in the Catholic world. What is astounding is the loss of faith, not just the Catholic faith, but faith in God. Could the sex abuse scandal involving priests be attributed to the loss not only of Catholic faith, but belief in God too? I report, you decide:
4 comments:
I see a lot of opportunity. Those people are starved. There is a LOT of open contempt and distrust of the clergy there right now. That bitter disappointment seems top flow from a sense of betrayal. I think this is the state of most young Catholics in this country.
So I am optimistic because if they did not believe, and have the expectations of belief, they would not feel the loss.
rcg
The pope needs to do a World Youth Day there.
We recently had our Seminarian God-son for dinner along with several others including a very serious, lovely young Catholic from Ireland(about to receive her Ph.D. in Theology. She told us that clerical abuse, although a horrendous assault, was merely the straw that broke the camel's back. She said that cleric-alism was really the culprit that produced all kinds of abuses: sexual, financial, psychological and spiritual.
She says that hope is on the horizon there, but will take much hierarchical self-examination and hard work. Her goal after her PhD is to return to Ireland and begin the hard work...
May God richly bless her efforts.
I have seen this video on other blogs and Mr Voris' take on Maynooth.
I do not think things are as bad as you might think. First of all he polled only 24 people, of the twelve on the video three are not Irish.
The E.U. constantly makes survey and the Irish come out as the strongest believers in a God. At least 90% believe in God.
Secondly the latest average figures for weekly mass attendance is 45%.
The scandals have to some degree affected Catholic belief but many also have left the faith and joined other religions.
The rot in Ireland started long before the scandals. Secularism which affects the whole of the western world is the major factor. Because we were shielded from it so long, when it came it came like a hurricane.
The dramatic changes I have seen in my own short life, took much longer in other countries.
We have a good base to start from the problem is we need to get our act together.
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