IRELAND
Irish Times
Vivienne Clarke
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin is “moving the deck chairs on the Titanic” rather than addressing the important issues facing the Catholic Church in Ireland, a member of the Association of Catholic Priests has said.
Speaking after the Archbishop’s decision to transfer three seminarians to Rome after concerns emerged about “strange goings on” and a gay subculture at St Patrick’s College in Maynooth, Fr Brendan Hoban said he did not understand Dr Martin’s intentions.
“Behind all of this is the bigger question of vocations to the priesthood,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
“Dublin has 99 parishes, over a million Catholics, and only one diocesan priest under the age of 40. So it seems extraordinary that attention is being given to what seems to be moving deck chairs on the Titanic rather than getting to the issues that are important.”
Dr Martin’s move follows anonymous allegations being circulated about seminarian activities in Maynooth, including that some had been using a gay dating app.
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