Future of Christianity in Ireland

shepherd

I think this is probably the worst place to post this, but probably the only place its accepted. Im only preaching to the converted... Sorry to the mods if im out of order or in the wrong area...

Thinking through all the people I know, my age or younger, trying to think of anyone who is or thinks themselves a practicing catholic or any other religion... and of the two out of maybe twenty plus people that i thought of, i just found that one of them is much less practicing than i thought, and the other is much less practicing than he thought.

How many of them will bring up their kids as christians? I think christianity has at best one more generation before it becomes a minority cult. Its over. gone. The joke is over. Done and dusted. Everything else that is discussed here doesnt matter since society will have moved on from these pointless questions soon enough...

Maybe people will give personal stories about how many they know that are infact practicing believers. As far as the country goes though, I dont believe a word of it. Just like the Irish language, its best days are long gone. And, yes, we are infact better for it...

Dades

I don't think it's quite that cut and dry, although it's probably safe to say the catholic church's heyday is long gone.

The church still has a strong influence on several important aspects of Irish life; weddings, funerals, baptisms - and most importantly - education. It'll take a lot more then a generation to see that out.

Also, I reckon the huge influx of immigrants is part-way offsetting dwindling congregations. At least it seemed that way to me last time I sat through mass.

PDN

The number of people practising religion in Ireland, and specifically Catholicism, has undoubtedly declined and will probably continue to do. I agree that the monocultural 'moral monopoly', as Tom Inglis called it, was detrimental to our nation and its decline is a good thing.

The current religious scene in Ireland is interesting. Immigration, as the Athiest has pointed out, is making a huge impact. Filipinos, Poles and Lithuanians are maintaining attendances at Catholic mass. Islam is increasing due to immigration. There are thousands of Romanian Pentecostals, and hundreds of new African churches, many of them very large. These congegations are primarily composed of young people in their 20s or 30s (that seems young to an old guy like me).

I think the new Ireland is a place where people feel safer to explore various avenues, including atheism. The proliferation of 'angel shops' and stores selling cheap new-age trinkets would suggest that the numerical decline in mass attendance has spawned as much superstition as it has secularism. Also, don't write the Catholic Church off too quickly. I would expect Catholicism to remain the largest religion in Ireland for a very long time to come (and I say that as a non-Catholic).

Saruman

I think this sums it up:
http://www.myhome.ie/search/property.asp?id=318860&np=&rt=search&searchlist=

Its for sale in my town. If i had the money....

Galvasean

I can certainly see the Catholic church being a lot smaller/less prominent in the next 20 years but I can't see it disappearing altogether.

5uspect

I can imagine loyality (or misplaced nationalism?) to the RC Church will always be there. It would be interesting to see how Ireland looks in a few generations, but unless I perfect that damn brain downloading machine (TM) I probably won't find out.