Fr John Harris OP, Provincial of the Order, said that while closures are difficult, the future of Catholic life does not depend on institutions and structures.
“If you really want Jesus, you will find Him,” he said. “We need a believing Church, a worshipping Church, a praying Church—not just a Church of institutions and buildings.
“The biggest problem we have with the Church in Ireland is buildings. We have too many. We have far, far too many churches. The Church needs to be a worshipping Church, God based, God centred. It’s not about keeping buildings open, it’s not about keeping institutions open, it’s about worshipping God in the sacraments. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but we have to have the courage to say the wheel actually works,” he said.
Fr Harris added that the old parish model is no longer sufficient, and that Catholics must ask themselves where they truly belong as communities of faith.
“The territorial parish model may be fading,” he explained. “Where is your worshipping community? That’s what’s important – not just where you live. The ‘eircode’ idea of parishes is over. If you’re not coming to church, and not part of this worshipping community, that is what is important: Where is your worshipping community?”
He acknowledged that change will be difficult, but said the Church in Ireland has endured through greater challenges in the past.
“I do think that old Church is dying, but the history of the Irish Church is not 1800–2000. How did we manage through persecution, which is a much longer story for us than the last successful 200 years?”