The Future of the Catholic Church in Ireland

This week the Catholic Church held a conference in Dublin which was attended by over 1,000 people, to discuss the future of the Church in Ireland. The conference was aimed at planning a way forward for the Church in Ireland by discussing controversial issues and discussing ways in which to overcome them. A number of different issues were discussed ranging from the sex abuse scandals to the question of whether or not priests should be allowed to marry.

However, with the increasing number of scandals which have developed surrounding the Catholic Church in Ireland, are conferences like this likely to have any significant effect? Can a formal conference with a mere 1,000 attendees; considering the overall population of Catholics in Ireland, help to reverse the negative effects of all the bad media coverage which has affected the Catholic Church in recent times? The answer to these questions would appear to be no. The Church’s reactions towards many of the scandals which have become apparent in recent times and their attempts to deal with them have been less than effective. Time and time again new scandals have emerged and yet the Church still can’t seem to get it right.

Is it time for them to just give up on trying to restore their image in Ireland? Some may think so; and the declining attendance numbers at mass may signify that there is simply no point anymore. The scandals combined with the decreased emphasis on religion as part of the Irish lifestyle is obliterating the demand for the Catholic Church in Ireland. It seems that the Vatican may have this view, considering their reaction to the latest scandal which was reported involving the Irish Cardinal, Sean Brady, who failed to report sexual abuse cases which he became aware of during the 1970’s. It was reported that the Vatican has decided to simply try to reduce the negative effects that this story has elsewhere by trying to downplay the situation, rather than taking a significant stand on the matter in Ireland. It seems they may be prepared to sacrifice the Church’s image in Ireland in the hope that the Irish stories won’t have a detrimental effect elsewhere.

In any case, it seems the Church has lost significant face in Ireland and unless it suggests radical measures to try to overcome their problems here, the situation is likely to worsen. Unfortunately ineffective actions such as conferences, as radical as the ideas put forward at them are, seem unlikely to restore faith in the Catholic Church for the people of Ireland.