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A New Problem in Ireland: Where to Find a Non-Catholic School?
The Atlantic ^ | Oct 3, 2013 | Aaron Schrank

Posted on 10/03/2013 6:31:49 AM PDT by Kip Russell

As the country grows less religious, parents struggle to place their kids in classrooms where Catechism memorization doesn’t come standard.

DUBLIN—Sarah Lennon’s son Ethan is just 7 weeks old, and she’s already stressing out about his applications for primary schools. A lapsed Catholic, she hopes to land him a spot at a sought-after multi-denominational school in suburban Dublin—one of few alternatives to the Church-run schools in her neighborhood.

“It’s quite urgent to have our name down early and have the Catholic school here as a back up,” Lennon said. “But the Catholic school may not admit our son, unless we have his form in early, because he won’t be baptized.”

Lennon is among a growing number of Irish parents who no longer identify with the Catholic Church and struggle to find schools that don’t clash with their convictions. In Ireland—once considered the most Catholic country in the world—the Catholic Church runs more than 90 percent of all public schools. Other religious groups operate another 6 percent. But Ireland’s religiosity has waned in recent years, amid changing demographics, rising secularism and reports of Church sexual abuse and cover-ups.

Weekly church attendance among Irish Catholics dropped from more than 90 percent to 30 percent in the past four decades. Those in Ireland who identify as religious plummeted from 69 percent in 2005 to just 47 percent last year, according to a WIN-Gallup International poll. And the number of people who chose “no religion” in the last census soared, making non-believers the second largest group in the nation.

(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...


TOPICS: Religion; Society
KEYWORDS: catholicchurch; ireland; religion

1 posted on 10/03/2013 6:31:49 AM PDT by Kip Russell
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To: Kip Russell

My brother’s Irish expat inlaws claim the whole place has morally and culturally gone to hell in a handbasket since joining the EU.


2 posted on 10/03/2013 6:38:10 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Kip Russell

Move to a muslim country and enroll them in a muslim school.

I am sure you will be more than happy with the results.


3 posted on 10/03/2013 6:40:45 AM PDT by 2banana (My common ground with terrorists - they want to die for islam and we want to kill them)
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To: Kip Russell
Lennon is among a growing number of Irish parents who no longer identify with the Catholic Church and struggle to find schools that don’t clash with their convictions. In Ireland—once considered the most Catholic country in the world—the Catholic Church runs more than 90 percent of all public schools. Other religious groups operate another 6 percent. But Ireland’s religiosity has waned in recent years, amid changing demographics, rising secularism and reports of Church sexual abuse and cover-ups.

Weekly church attendance among Irish Catholics dropped from more than 90 percent to 30 percent in the past four decades. Those in Ireland who identify as religious plummeted from 69 percent in 2005 to just 47 percent last year, according to a WIN-Gallup International poll. And the number of people who chose “no religion” in the last census soared, making non-believers the second largest group in the nation.

Ping for later

4 posted on 10/03/2013 6:45:26 AM PDT by Alex Murphy (Just a common, ordinary, simple savior of America's destiny.)
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To: Alex Murphy

Sounds like Ireland is being destroyed just like the rest of the West.


5 posted on 10/03/2013 6:49:58 AM PDT by 3Fingas (Sons and Daughters for Freedom and Rededicaton to the Principles of the U.S. Constitution)
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To: Kip Russell

She can move up to the six sorrowful counties where all the Prods are.


6 posted on 10/03/2013 7:23:15 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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