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By Paul Majendie
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland once used to send thousands of priests and nuns to spread Christianity abroad.
Now the trend has been reversed for the Roman Catholic church on the Emerald Isle.
Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, trainee priests are now coming to Ireland from Eastern Europe to learn their trade.
And Nigerian nuns are ministering to the needs of immigrant workers in an increasingly multi-ethnic society.
But, in this predominantly Catholic country, the Irish are still determined to produce their own home-grown priests even though a vocations crisis has hit the church hard.
The number of priests in Dublin has fallen by 25 percent over the last decade. More than half are aged over 60. Only a handful are under 30.
But Ireland still acts as. . . .
Full Article
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland once used to send thousands of priests and nuns to spread Christianity abroad.
Now the trend has been reversed for the Roman Catholic church on the Emerald Isle.
Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, trainee priests are now coming to Ireland from Eastern Europe to learn their trade.
And Nigerian nuns are ministering to the needs of immigrant workers in an increasingly multi-ethnic society.
But, in this predominantly Catholic country, the Irish are still determined to produce their own home-grown priests even though a vocations crisis has hit the church hard.
The number of priests in Dublin has fallen by 25 percent over the last decade. More than half are aged over 60. Only a handful are under 30.
But Ireland still acts as. . . .
Full Article