May 01, 2006

Rebel American priest detects a 'move by Irish away from the Catholic Church'

IRELAND
Irish Independent

THE dissident American theologian, Fr Charles Curran, has said that there is a growing lack of credibility in the leadership of the Irish Catholic Church.

In an exclusive interview with the Irish Independent, he said he detected "a move by many people in Ireland away from the church".

Referring to how scandals have racked the Irish Church over the past decade, he observed: "The church itself has not dealt creatively with the problems it is facing internally and with the growing secularisation in Ireland".

Fr Curran, who teaches at Southern Methodist College in Dallas, Texas, added: "The hierarchical leadership has been slow to act and has not responded to the many problems facing the church today".

Posted by kshaw at May 1, 2006 08:06 AM