There has been a raft of books in recent times charting the decline of religion in Ireland.In the Introduction to Empty Pulpits, Malachi O'Doherty pulls no punches: "There isn't a country in the western world that has swung from such absorption in church life to such indifference so quickly."
O'Doherty, a journalist and broadcaster, writes lucidly about the reasons that have led to the disillusionment with religion (he is really only dealing with the Roman Catholic version) in a country that has heretofore always been considered extremely devout.
The forces of secularisation, like those of capitalism, were slow coming to Ireland, but when they came, they quickly took a foothold.
To those who put forward the idea that the move away from institutional Catholicism began with revelations of clerical sex abuse, O'Doherty points to the massive decline in vocations to the priesthood that began two decades before.
Empty Pulpits is a compelling read. It is particularly strong when the author relates his own experiences of Catholicism.
I would have liked more exploration of how many people, in spite of the dominant secular forces at work, still retain a vibrant spiritual life. Are we secular now in much the same way as we were religious a few decades ago, that is to say in an unthinking, superficial way?
The idea put forward at the end of the book for the possible regeneration of faith in Ireland, perhaps fuelled by disillusionment with secular gods and the arrival of religious new migrants, while interesting, is nonetheless speculative.
The picture painted does not provide hope that the 'empty pulpits' will be filled in the near future. It is more likely that things will get worse before they get better.
Eamon Maher is co-editor, with John Littleton, of Contemporary Catholicism in Ireland: A Critical Appraisal (The Columba Press).
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(Source: II)