I am very scared right now for the future of the Faith in Ireland and the rest of Europe for that matter. I was hoping that during the recent trip by the Holy Father to the UK these things would have been discussed (they may have been for all I know), and things put in place so that it would not escalate to this level.
It is sad to say but if the faith continues to die in Ireland as seems to be happening now we will have no one to blame but the Church herself.
**Does anyone have any thoughts on how to turn the tide in the Emerald Isle? I am thinking that the Church should almost treat it as a missionary project and send a bunch of religious in to start the whole thing over from the ground up (schools, evangalization, etc.)/**QUOTE]
The re-evangelisation of Ireland will need to happen mainly through the laity. Currently about 20% of Catholics in Dublin attend Mass weekly. We need to go to THEM. It’s time for lay people who love God and love the Church to stand up and to lovingly proclaim Jesus and His love, to share their own faith. The majority of people in this country (Ireland) no longer look up or trust priests or religious, unfortunately. They aren’t going to listen to them no matter where they come from. This is a sad but true fact.