Are we Killing our Priests?

With some exceptions the rhetoric of priesthood and the Catholic Church in Ireland today is that they are kind of irrelevant … especially in the Western World. Priests are depicted at best as benignly innocent and kind or as evil and cunning, but generally not really relevant to the Modern Ireland – apart from some ceremonial duties that are part of both tradition and / or faith for some. The Catholic Church itself is often depicted as a place of cover up and political manoeuvrings…. with little to recommend it … perhaps apart from some of the statements of Pope Francis – for those with the interest to note what he says. Within this perspective and the tone of it – the dominant one in Ireland – it is of little surprise that priests and religious leaders have and are living through an emotional rollercoaster with extreme lows and some highs.