I see from the weekend news that Ireland has a shortage of priests (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3441821.ece). I thought this was much like the United States having a shortage of hardcore evangelical Christians or South Africa and Australia running out of racists! Unlike the concept of shabbily themed pubs, men and women with soft accents and a higher calling have been Ireland’s top export, a real credit to the country and Catholic culture.
I’ve always had a warm affection for everything Irish. Irish blood will do that and the granting of citizenship to me and my brother, even though we’ve never been there and our family has been in South Africa for generations, cemented the warmth.Â
That Ireland has barely enough priests for its own use and not enough for the export market is tragic. Is it unexpected? No. With what passes as Catholic worship nowadays it is very difficult to get anyone into a church for ninety minutes a week, let alone someone into a seminary for a number of years. Without the majesty and culture of Catholicism, who would want to spend their lives looking out over dwindling congregations and answering to a hierarchy that closed ranks when threatened by the sex abuse scandals?Â
I tried to convey this in Devil’s Island. From most of the feedback, it seems that in most instances the message sank in. Others just can’t or won’t get it. Either way, the church is in trouble.