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	Once upon a Time in (formerly) Catholic Ireland By Giacomo Galeazzi Vatican Insider November 3, 2011 http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/inquiries-and-interviews/detail/articolo/irlanda-ireland-9576/ According to recent research carried out in the formely Catholic Eire, almost half of its inhabitants has a negative opinion of Catholic institutions Giacomo Galeazzi Vatican City Shock-research in Ireland: In the former very Catholic Eire almost half the population does not have a positive opinion of the Church. A survey conducted by the religious «think tank» «Iona Institute» (a non-governmental organization dedicated to strengthening civil society by supporting religion and marriage) reveals that three quarters of the Irish people are critical of the church hierarchy, indicating the sexual abuse of clergy on children as the cause for their opposition to the Church. In addition, 23% of respondents attributed their negative view of the Church «to history and ecclesiastical institutions». A wake-up call for a Catholic community which, says the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, is facing a difficult road to renewal. «Some outside of Ireland still believe that the country is a bastion of traditional Catholicism - Monsignor Martin points out. It is surprising to find that in Dublin there are parishes where Sunday Mass is attended by only 5% of the Catholic population, and in some cases does not reach 2%». The situation has deteriorated significantly over the past two years. According to several studies, in fact, a number of Irish children were beaten, raped and humiliated by Catholic priests and nuns while in "corrective" public institutions in Ireland until the '80s: this was reported by the Child Abuse Commission, which conducted the largest survey ever on institutions in the hands of religious orders in Ireland, a study which lasted nine years and for which thousands of victims of abuse were interviewed. In particular, in public institutions for boys run by Catholic religious orders - reformers, schools for "troubled teens", and homes that housed disabled - the violence was "endemic", as defined by the judge who coordinated the report, Sean Ryan .
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