By Jennifer Hough
Saturday, August 13, 2011
THE Vatican is planning “something dramatic” for the Irish Church in the coming months which could see the number of dioceses significantly reduced and most of our current bishops replaced, it has been claimed.
Writing in the Irish Catholic, David Quinn, founder of the Catholic Iona institute, said “rumours” are circulating in Rome that a new, slimline hierarchy might be on the cards.
Mr Quinn said “we should hope and pray” that the Vatican is bold enough to make such a move because if the Church in Ireland is to have any hope of recovery then it needs a hierarchy that can look the public in the eye again.
It is not the first time such suggestions have been raised.
Theologian and former student of Pope Benedict XVI, Fr Vincent Twomey, emeritus professor of moral theology at Maynooth seminary, has also said we have too many dioceses — 26 — for such a small Catholic population.
“At the very most, 12 dioceses would be sufficient in Ireland, including a reduction of the size of the Archdiocese of Dublin to the present county boundaries,” he has said.
He suggested that the size and the nature of the Bishops’ Conference works against effective leadership at local or national level. Each bishop fears to tread on the toes of the others, not to mention criticise them.
He has also advocated for every Irish bishop appointed before 2003 to resign, claiming that the Catholic Church in Ireland has been without any leadership effectively for the last 15 years.
“A new slimline church” is already a partial reality what with the painful financial happenings in the Dublin Diocese (soon to be renamed the Diocese of part of Drumcondra)
I cant help thinking its just another attempt to change the subject. The abusers were priests and nuns in so many cases. its the priests who become abusers and the nuns who dont have any understanding of normal womenhood. thay are the ones that should not be with others because of lack of empathy.so its choosing the right person for the job that counts. jean paul was young for a bishop at 45 or near but that did not help the victims of these people.
The former Papal state has criticized its mistress and true to nature the besmirched lover will return with a wrath.
But of course the vatican is male dominated and although it may attempt to upset the balance of power in Ireland to avenge its exposure, in the end corporate interest will likely prevail and the wind down of the church will fit the perceived further uses for Ireland within the vatican’s strategy. Tank tracks and intimidation can no longer be disguised in the era of internet and instant communication.
Public support is rapidly declining, secularism has over taken religion and clerics are no longer able to control or intimidate with impunity which was such a necessary privilege in the power apparatus. The financial cost of maintaining a high density of clerics is not justified is no longer bearing fruit. Maintaining market presence in Ireland is causing increasing problems. Enforcement of funding commitments arising from claims is also a nuisance.
No doubt if the vatican and its CEO rationalise their presence in Ireland, it will not be for the purpose of cleaning up and correcting the crimes committed in christ’s battlefield and least of all for the young ones that were trodden on. Thats a ‘different’ issue of course.
What Ireland needs now is emergency legislation to ensure that ‘church’ property is returned to the ownership of the communities to which they belong and that trusts and offshore vehicles used to disguise ownership are in fact rendered void by an act of parliament and by doing so at least the departing mob will be stripped of their ill gotten gains.
What with the lack of younger priests its only normal to shut down some of the places. but i dont think it is enough. let these people find other jobs outside the social system. thay can not protect others and take care of the abusers all at the same time. And its a question that needs taking into consideration. its thier religion.and up untill now its caused too much damage to the whole nation.