IRELAND
Irish Times
Patsy McGarry
The Irish people “have, to all intents and purposes, become pagan” in the opinion of “a substantial number” of Ireland’s Catholic bishops and some priests, a new report from the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has said.
It said “there seems to be a substantial number of bishops, and some priests, who believe that the problems we are facing are not due to any difficulties in the Church or with the priesthood, but are caused by a lack of faith in the people.
“The people, they told us, have bought into the evils of materialism and consumerism, and don’t have time or interest in faith any more. They have, to all intents and purposes, become pagan. And they believe that ‘evangelisation’ is the answer.” But “there didn’t seem to us to be any practical ideas, or indeed energy, around how this evangelisation could be progressed,” it said.
The association’s leadership team has so far met priests’ councils in the Catholic dioceses of Dublin, Waterford, Kerry, Killaloe, Clonfert, Tuam, Elphin, Achonry, Killala, Clogher, Kilmore, Armagh and Ossory and Raphoe.
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