Catholic Church leaves Antarctica

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The Catholic Church has left Antarctica after 57 years.
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The number of people attending services at the Chapel of the Snows at McMurdo Station has declined to the point that there is no longer a need for a Catholic priest, according to Radio New Zealand.
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“There is a gradual decrease in religiosity, there is also a decrease in the number of people working at McMurdo Station and the South Pole and budget cuts, so all of these factors have led to the decision that only one chaplain is necessary,” said Fr Dan Doyle, co-ordinator of the Catholic Church in Antarctica. He has spent 14 summers there since 1984.
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catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/07/27/catholic-church-leaves-antarctica/
 
As population decreases, one can expect a decline in attendance.
 
redbetta said:
I never knew the Church has reached all seven continents.
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To all corners of the earth…and there’s still one chaplain. Maybe the church has closed down but the Eucharist will still be celebrated even if there’s only one person (other than the celebrant) present. I’ve been to Mass where there was only 3 of us including the priest! Doesn’t happen often but it does happen.🙂
 
I guess they were privileged to be able to celebrate Mass there and have a priest as long as they did.
 
808Catholic said:
To all corners of the earth…and there’s still one chaplain. Maybe the church has closed down but the Eucharist will still be celebrated even if there’s only one person (other than the celebrant) present. I’ve been to Mass where there was only 3 of us including the priest! Doesn’t happen often but it does happen.🙂
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There will be no priest. Inter-denominational services typically don’t have any semblance of a Eucharist.
 
It is a shame that there is apparently no permanent chaplain at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. Chaplains have visited the South Pole – including Cardinal Spellman for Christmas 1963 – but no chaplain of any faith seems to have wintered at Amundsen-Scott. If I were wintering at the South Pole, the sacraments and spiritual direction would be essential to my well-being. However, I suppose that at least during the winters, chaplains would be superfluous unless they did double duty elsewhere (on the base).
 
Sad. It’s not just a decline of population, it’s also a decline of Faith. But, will the Church address this?
 
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