Archbishop of Dublin: Irish Church in Crisis

From Catholic World News:

Irish Church faces unprecedented crisis: Archbishop of Dublin

December 14, 2011

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has warned that the Chuch in Ireland’s capital city is facing “the most challenging years that the diocese has had to face since Catholic Emancipation."

Responding to a report that showed a steep drop in Mass attendance in recent years, Archbishop Martin predicted “enormous” changes for Dublin’s Catholics. The report found that only 14% of Dublin’s Catholics attend Mass on a given Sunday. Contributions to the Church have also plummeted, and with the clergy population aging rapidly, a shortage of priests looms in the near future.

The archbishop said that Irish Catholicism is “undergoing a far-reaching transformation.” After decades of dominance in the nation’s culture, the faith has lost its hold on the public, and “the reality of God is slowly being eclipsed and men and women live their lives as if God does not exist.” The Church now faces an “uncharted” future, Archbishop Martin said.

While calling for a renewed commitment among the faithful, the archbishop said that those who have abandoned the faith should be honest enough to acknowledge that. Commenting on families that come to church only for special occasions such as weddings and baptisms, he suggested that they should be consistent enough to leave the Church. Archbishop Martin said: “It requires maturity on those people who want their children to become members of the church community and maturity on those people who say 'I don't believe in God and I really shouldn't be hanging on to the vestiges of faith when I don't really believe in it.’”