Why the Irish Church Deserves to Die

by Joe McDonald

The Catholic Church in Ireland is dying. Denial only serves to further delay any chance of recovery. This death has been taking place for quite a while but now quickens apace. To some extent we are to blame for our own demise. We have failed the Lord and the wider Church. Is there any hope for us as an Irish Church? If this hope exists at all, it is a very fragile flower indeed. It remains to be seen as to whether we can implement reform never mind renewal. The signs that this might happen are not good. Some of the so-called 'signs of life' have little substance and there is much internal division and dissipated energy. Much of what is going on in the Church is a form of rust, ecclesial rust. Unnoticed, unnamed, this silently eats away at the structure of the Church, corroding it towards collapse.

109 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Sanjuro · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited for this book when it was released, for its potential and for what it might say. I knew the title was rhetorical to a point, in that the book would detail why the church in Ireland is dying, but also detail how it might shed its abuses and seek a rebirth. McDonald made a number of interesting points, regarding the need for remorse on the church over abuses, the need for laity involvement, and the need to shake off the rust and distractions and refocus the church on Jesus and the gospel. However, the book is fraught with ADHD, as soon as McDonald begins to make an interesting point, he abandons it for another, without fully giving teeth to the idea or diagnosing the problem with insight, and he rarely offers any practical way forward. The book also ignores the real concerns for an odd mix of pedantic issues, such as wedding photographers who do not respect sacred space, and other meaningless concerns. At one point, McDonald laments that many school teachers are not driven enough by Catholic curriculum, and he never addresses the fact that the Catholic Church should be the first ones encouraging the removal of the Church's influence from public schools, so as to do exactly what McDonald says he wants them to do - set aside their desire for control to focus more on humble service of the gospel.

The book has a brilliant premise, and I see in McDonald the right heart. But the book really comes off as though he largely misses the point about why so many people in Ireland are angry with the church.

[David Cowpar · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are certainly a lot of positives to take from this book. If Joe is indicative of even a small movement of what’s going on in the Roman Church in Ireland then there is hope for it.

He constantly speaks of a more lay-led Church, or a kinder, less judgmental and genuinely repentant Church. He speaks in each chapter of getting back to Jesus and reintroducing Him to the Church. He talks about how priests should be men steeped in prayer and following the Spirit and in a personal relationship with Jesus.

It’s very exciting and I have no doubt if the Roman Catholic Church did reintroduce itself to Jesus, genuinely repented and followed the Holy Spirit none of the criticisms of the book I’m about to make will turn out to be an issue.

The issue is there is certainly a liberalizing force here. Though grace and love are expounded it seems to be at the cost of the Justice and holiness of God and the rejection of the existence of Hell. Homosexual relationships get a possible, low-key acceptance line, and there are some other liberal ideas here that the Church in its reform should not accept.

As well as this, the final chapter, chapter 7, stands out as being almost as if it were ripped out of another book. There is a section on the Mass (weird in itself for the book as it is a list of 50 things that happen in mass that should make people want to attend) and it contains some usual but unfortunate Catholic teachings such as Transubstantiation and denies the priesthood of all believers. Following this there is a very odd section which may be a prayer against abortion, or maybe for how the institutions of the Catholic Church treated babies in the past and it is littered with prayers to saints, I personally don’t believe I’ve seen as many prayers addressed to saints in one place before. It’s almost as if any work in the previous chapters is just undone by that Last, unfortunate chapter.

Overall, the Catholic Church would do well to listen to and heed the prophetic voice speaking to them at least in chapters 1-6.

[Meic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brief and anecdotal. Some great insights but not enough to get a good grasp of the true state of the Irish Church.