Old and new Ireland

OVER the last number of days public debate has been animated by the prospect that the Sisters of Charity might be involved in the new National Maternity Hospital.

Though many assurances, all of them sincere presumably, have been offered that they will not, it is more than difficult to see how an ownership role for the order would not afford it a controlling influence. Any other scenario would be in conflict with long-established norms around property rights. The Catholic Church’s stonewalling, do-or-die reluctance to surrender power is also influential in this controversy.

There is one battle the Catholic Church is losing though — the battle for vocations. A shortage of priests means that Mass will not be celebrated in Limerick diocese next Tuesday. It is believed that this is the first time this situation has arisen in modern Ireland. There are 45 parish priests and 38 curates in the diocese but they plan to attend an in-service formation gathering on Tuesday.