Ireland

[Era Might]

Ireland was hit as hard as the US I think with the sexual abuse crisis.

Just a thought.

[Paladin D]

Why not Poland? It's currently the most devout Catholic country in all of Europe (over 50% actually attend Mass, which is higher than the US, and way above every other European country).

Edited July 25, 2006 by Paladin D

[homeschoolmom]

Malta.

[Socrates]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1030426' date='Jul 25 2006, 06:49 AM']
Okay...so it's been on my heart for a while...

I'm not sure I want to live in the US much longer. With all the depression, the economics, the threat of terrorism, and the culture, I don't want to raise my kids in this country. I figure, though, that a catechist could have a stable job in a traditionally Catholic country and could have a rich ministry...and the fact is that I think Ireland is the LAST place in the world someone would nuke.

So...anyone know if Ireland is hiring catechists?

Jennie is aboard, too...she'd love to live there. :
[/quote]
It's not your grandfather's Ireland anymore, I'm afraid. While I haven't personally been there, I've read a number of very discouraging recent articles concerning the astonishingly rapid loss of Faith and traditional Catholic morals among the Irish, particularly the young, over the past few decades.
It seems that as Ireland has finally gained material prosperity, it is losing its soul.
Whether things are as bad as in the U.S., I can't say, but things appear to be headed that direction. (And in much of Europe, things are actually [i]worse[/i] than in the U.S., even in traditionally Catholic countries like Spain and Italy.) Ireland seems to be becoming more and more like Great Britain and the rest of Europe.
Recently, the Irish PM passed a law protecting homosexual "civil unions." That should give you an idea of how far things have fallen in the Emerald Isle.
And a friend who has been in the Marines and traveled extensively says Dublin is just as immoral and decadent as any large European city.

I'm not saying things are necessarily worse or better in Ireland, but the bottom line is that going to Ireland will not be an escape from all the problems of America and the rest of the world. (And I'm not sure what makes you think Ireland is immune from economic troubles, either.) Modern Ireland is not some pristine paradise existing in blissful isolation from all the troubles of the modern world.
Wherever you go in today's world, I'm afraid, you'll find much trouble and evil.
(And the headlines in Irish newspapers are unlikely to be all optimism and joy, either.)

You say you see secularization in Ireland as an opportunity for evangelization, yet do you think the people of America are in any less need of evangelization? Or have you written off America as a lost cause, or do you assume things will be easier in Ireland?

If you genuinely feel called to move to Ireland, go for it!
However, if your primary motivation is that you perceive it as some kind of escape from the trials and anxieties of the world, you might want to reconsider your purposes.

Edited July 26, 2006 by Socrates

[God Conquers]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1030433' date='Jul 25 2006, 06:53 AM']
I know it has its own problems...every country does. What are its problems?

See, the main thing I hate is the bad news in America...always bad, depressing news. I have anxiety disorder...I want to get somewhere less "American."
[/quote]

There's always Canada!

[homeschoolmom]

Oh come on... Canada is more American and America is.

[ruso]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' post='1030695' date='Jul 26 2006, 01:47 AM']
Malta.
[/quote]
OK, the site more Catholic in Europe is Malta, over of 75% the poblation attend Mass.
Very more that Spain, Italy, Poland,Ireland, Portugal and other countries traditionally Catholics.

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='ruso' post='1030741' date='Jul 25 2006, 07:17 PM']
OK, the site more Catholic in Europe is Malta, over of 75% the poblation attend Mass.
Very more that Spain, Italy, Poland,Ireland, Portugal and other countries traditionally Catholics.
[/quote]
I love Malta!

[homeschoolmom]

Finally, someone listens to me...

[Laudate_Dominum]

[Jaime]

I always suspected the Micah was secretly a leprechaun

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Socrates' post='1030706' date='Jul 25 2006, 08:07 PM']
You say you see secularization in Ireland as an opportunity for evangelization, yet do you think the people of America are in any less need of evangelization? Or have you written off America as a lost cause, or do you assume things will be easier in Ireland?

If you genuinely feel called to move to Ireland, go for it!
However, if your primary motivation is that you perceive it as some kind of escape from the trials and anxieties of the world, you might want to reconsider your purposes.
[/quote]

That's not it at all. I need a slower pace, though, and America is anything but slow-paced. I have anxiety disorders. I want to get away from the anxieties of the world, and I don't think that's a bad thing considering that, with my disorders, I could end up in a mental institution the way things are going in this country.

[homeschoolmom]

There are slow-paced places right here in the US.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' post='1031047' date='Jul 26 2006, 08:12 AM']
There are slow-paced places right here in the US.
[/quote]
I've never seen one.

[Jaime]

Hsmom's place is pretty slow paced

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='hot stuff' post='1031049' date='Jul 26 2006, 08:14 AM']
Hsmom's place is pretty slow paced
[/quote]
Did her kids die?

[Jaime]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1031050' date='Jul 26 2006, 07:15 AM']
Did her kids die?
[/quote]





You must be a hoot at parties

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='hot stuff' post='1031052' date='Jul 26 2006, 08:16 AM']

You must be a hoot at parties
[/quote]


[img]http://www.exzooberance.com/virtual%20zoo/they%20fly/owl/Snowy%20Owl%2042036.jpg[/img]

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='Raphael' post='1031050' date='Jul 26 2006, 07:15 AM']
Did her kids die?
[/quote]
If you equate "slow paced" with "no children"....

[Paladin D]

[quote name='ruso' post='1030741' date='Jul 25 2006, 09:17 PM']
OK, the site more Catholic in Europe is Malta, over of 75% the poblation attend Mass.
Very more that Spain, Italy, Poland,Ireland, Portugal and other countries traditionally Catholics.
[/quote]

I wouldn't group Spain, Italy, Ireland, and Portugal with Poland. Poland is very much more Catholic than those countries, it's currently the largest export of priests in all of Europe, and separately, more than the US (and we literally have 10x more of a population then they do).

Poland also has a larger political voice than Malta does.




[b]EDIT:[/b] Look at what I found: [url="http://www.bmm.org/BMM/WhereWeServe/Europe/malta.htm"]http://www.bmm.org/BMM/WhereWeServe/Europe/malta.htm[/url]

Non-Catholics trying to "save" Catholics. There is also another group that is doing the samething.

Edited July 26, 2006 by Paladin D