Irish state broadcaster, RTÉ, aired two documentaries in January looking at the decline of the Catholic Church in Ireland. “The Last Priests in Ireland” was hosted by the acclaimed comedian—and one of the stars of the iconic 1990s sitcom “Father Ted”—Ardal O’Hanlon, and “The Last Nuns in Ireland” was hosted by the award-winning journalist Dearbhail McDonald.
Both shows eschewed the easy path of gloating over the challenges facing the institutional church. Mr. O’Hanlon carefully reflects on his own ambiguous relationship with faith and his need for the liturgies of the church, even as he struggles to believe anything at all. And Ms. McDonald sensitively explores the remarkable achievements of Irish sisters without failing to acknowledge the abuse and neglect that often took place under their watch.
But the numbers tracked in both documentaries are stark. Half a century ago, there were more than 14,000 women religious in Ireland. Today that number stands closer to 4,000, with an average age that is over 80. New vocations are, in Ms. McDonald’s words, “vanishingly rare.”
The national seminary at Maynooth was once home to as many as 500 seminarians. Today there are just 20. Neither Ms. McDonald nor Mr. O’Hanlon conclude that the church in Ireland will actually die out. In fact, both shows give plenty of space for Christian leaders to articulate how they see the state of the contemporary church not so much as suffering a decline but a kind of “fulfillment,” experiencing a change in the seasons, a period of hibernation before a new spring for the Catholic Church in Ireland emerges at the right time.
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Kevin Hargaden is a theologian with the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice in Dublin, Ireland. He is the author of Theological Ethics in a Neoliberal Age, published by Wipf and Stock.
With thanks to America and Kevin Hargaden, where this article originally appeared.
