IRELAND
Irish Times
Patsy McGarry
The decision by Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin to send seminarians from his archdiocese to Rome instead of Maynooth has very serious implications for the future of Ireland’s national seminary.
More immediately, it poses a very serious question for the remaining three of Ireland’s four Catholic Archbishops and those 13 other bishops who are also trustees at St Patrick’s College Maynooth.
Dr Martin withdrew Dublin seminarians from Maynooth because “there seems to an atmosphere of strange goings-on there, it seems like a quarrelsome place with anonymous letters being sent around. I don’t think this is a good place for students.”
If he feels that way, how can other bishops continue to send seminarians to Maynooth? What of the 55 men currently studying there?
If the Catholic leader, who has earned and retained a rare respect among the wider Irish public, has lost confidence in Maynooth, how can others do but follow suit?
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