Word: ireland
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Last month, the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, made a grim prediction: if more young priests aren't found quickly, Ireland's parishes may not have enough clergy to survive. Martin's own diocese is a case in point - it has 46 priests aged 80 or over, but only two under 35. It's a similar story all over the island. According to a 2007 study, about half of all priests in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland are aged between...
That's a problem. The ordination of a family member was once regarded as a moment of great prestige in Ireland, especially in rural areas. As recently as 1990, more than 80% of Irish people said they attended Mass at least once a week. But the country's relationship with the church began to change dramatically in the mid-1990s. When Ireland's economy took off, disaffection replaced devotion among young people. The priest sex-abuse scandals didn't help. Criticism over the handling of the case of Father Brendan Smyth - a priest who sexually abused children for more than...
Public anger has deepened since then. Last May, the government published the findings of a nine-year inquiry into child abuse at Catholic schools, orphanages and hospitals from the 1930s to the 1990s. The report, which described "endemic sexual abuse" at boys' schools, shook Ireland to its core and left the reputation of the religious orders that ran the institutions in tatters. Then, on Nov. 26, another government inquiry found that the church and police colluded to cover up child sex-abuse cases in the Dublin archdiocese from 1975 to 2004, prompting the head of the Irish church, Cardinal Sean...
Inevitably, the scandals have made it harder to attract new men. Father Brian D'Arcy, superior of the Passionist Monastery in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, says the only way to reverse the trend may be to relax long-standing rules. "Of course it would be a big help if priests were allowed to marry or if we could ordain married men," he says. "Good men are being driven out by foolish [rules]." [rules]," D'Arcy says. (Read a brief history of celibacy...
...church tried a different solution: a year-long recruitment drive. The initiative seems to have paid off, at least for now. In September, 38 Irish men began studying for the priesthood at seminaries in Ireland and Italy. That figure may pale in comparison to the 100 or so new seminarians who signed up annually in the 1960s, but it was the highest intake in a decade. "You're not just going to pull somebody off the street and they'll suddenly become a priest," Rushe says. "It's a decision that can take a long time to make." (See pictures...