In Ireland… There Is Still Faith And Hope

By BRIAN CLOWES

Fr. Shenan Boquet, president of Human Life International, and I arrived in Dublin September 23 to begin a whirlwind ten-day tour of the country. We would travel with Patrick McCrystal, head of HLI-Ireland, his daughters Esther and Mary Grace, Timothy O’Sullivan, William Smyth, Mairéad Bernal, Dennis Arnold, and Anthony O’Reilly to Dublin, Armagh, Waterford, and Cork spreading the Gospel of Life during our “Defending the Family, Building the Church” tour.
As always, the Irish scenery was gorgeous, very neat and clean, even when seen at 60 miles an hour. This is usually the way we see it, as we drove nearly a thousand miles around the Emerald Isle. I had the honor of driving our nine-seater van, and only drove on the right (wrong) side of the road once!
We began with a Youth Mass at the Legionaries of Christ Center in Leopardstown, Dublin, where young people were enrolled with the brown scapular. Then we held our first of four conferences at the Clayton Hotel, covering the complete range of moral issues, from modesty in dress to contraception, abortion, and euthanasia.
All of the speakers emphasized teaching and catechizing our children and spoke about authentic Catholic action. Keith Kavanagh stressed this last point during his talk “Your Faith Is Not Private — Do Something!” Those who attended the all-day conference were very enthusiastic, and many told us that they had never heard this information before.
One priest said that “HLI is the only group at the forefront of the entire integral life message from conception to natural death.”
After the conference, we had a very enjoyable buffet dinner, which featured singing by Clare Quinn and the famous Dana Scallon. We also presented Dr. Rita O’Connor with HLI-Ireland’s Pope Paul VI Award for her stalwart defense of faith, life, and family. Her “Ask Majella” crisis pregnancy service has saved hundreds of Irish babies from abortion, including 26 so far this year.
Then our eight-person road team began our trek to Armagh, Waterford, and Cork. We spoke to hundreds of people about how Ireland is still considered a shining beacon of hope to Catholics around the world, despite the rot that is threatening to destroy her.
We didn’t only speak and preach doom and gloom, however. With God there is always hope, and we showed people how they could spark an authentic Catholic renewal in Ireland. Indeed, we actually gave them the physical tools they need to so do. HLI-Ireland provided each family a large packet of materials free of charge, including books, encyclicals, blessed scapulars and rosaries, a Holy Face medal and information on this devotion, and two CDs on the miraculous powers of the Holy Eucharist and our Lady, as well as the Facts of Life DVD.
The response of the people was usually a mixture of puzzlement and enthusiasm. Most were confused as to why they were not hearing about these things from the pulpit. There was also excitement, especially from the younger people. We showed them that, although the world is getting darker, their light shines brighter by contrast and they can do something about it
The priests who attended were also edified to hear true Catholic teaching unalloyed by dissent or doubt. One priest from Cork said that “it is great that HLI is faithfully fighting the good fight,” and another said “that night was a great shot in the arm.”
Both the personal high and low points of our journey happened in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh. One of the young men traveling with our group, 17-year-old William Smyth of Knock, told me that he would like to play a little on the enormously complex organ at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
I certainly did not expect him to play the most beautiful Ave Maria and Imperial Wedding March that I have ever heard. When William was nine years old, the famed organist Baron George Minne recognized him as a prodigy and dropped all of his other students to instruct him alone.
The next morning, our whole group returned to St. Patrick’s to hear William play again, but the cathedral was occupied by hundreds of middle-school students. Some of them were enthusiastically singing. Was it O God, Beyond All Praising? How about Immaculate Mary?
Unfortunately not. They were singing the theme song from the Disney movie Frozen. What a missed opportunity to witness the beauty of the faith in such a magnificent setting! To us, this incident seemed to symbolize the sorry state of affairs in the Catholic Church in Ireland, peddling secular music in this sacred setting right before the altar.
We took a break from our long drive to Knock to stop at the ruins of the Clonmacnoise Monastery in County Offaly. Some of the buildings, including the Connor and Finghin Chapels and its round tower, are still in perfect condition after nearly a thousand years.
As a rain shower swept over and the wind chilled us, we tried to imagine how difficult it must have been for these men of faith to preach the Gospel under atrocious conditions that usually ended their lives before they were 40 years old. By comparison, how easy it would be for us to evangelize today, if only we had the will to do so!
The great Hollywood movies about Irish priests from the 1940s to the 1960s give us the impression that the Faith in Ireland is still strong and vibrant, but nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, the Church is probably in greater disarray in the Emerald Isle than it is in the USA.
Catechesis and instruction, particularly regarding sexuality, are almost nonexistent. Fr. Boquet spoke to a number of the people who attended our talks, and only about ten percent of them said that they had heard anything on contraception or abortion from their priests and bishops.
Then we have the atrocity of Ireland being the only nation that has actually voted for ersatz homosexual “marriage” by a nearly two-to-one margin last May. Pro-abortionists are confident that they can force the repeal of Amendment 8, which would legalize abortion in Ireland, and I am afraid they may be right.
As in the United States, dissent is rampant in Ireland, particularly on the topic of contraception. The allegedly “Catholic” glitterati, led by such personalities as former Irish President Mary McAleese, could save so many lives and souls by their examples.
Instead, they lead one blistering attack after another on the Church’s moral teachings. Their particular focus is on Pope Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae. McAleese was one of 170 prominent dissenters who signed the so-called Wijngaards Statement, which demands that the Church jettison her teaching on sexual morality, thus setting her on the road to becoming just another dying liberal Protestant denomination.
Betrayal on such a massive scale leads to predictable and heartbreaking results. We heard the story of one young lady whose husband was trying to pressure her into using contraception. She instinctively knew that it was wrong to destroy her natural fertility, so she went to six different Catholic priests to ask their opinions. All six told her that contraception was acceptable, so she gave in to her husband’s demands.
May God have mercy on the souls of those priests!
On October 1, HLI-Ireland conducted its annual pilgrimage to the Knock Shrine in honor of our Lady. More than a thousand people from the four corners of Ireland attended, many rising long before dawn to make the trek.
The day began with the stations of the cross. Small children drew colorful posters of our Lady which they then made into banners or signs, and led the rosary procession around the grounds of the Knock Basilica.
Then Fr. Boquet and several other priests offered the Holy Mass in the Basilica before the 2,100 square foot mosaic of the apparition at Knock, composed of nearly two million colorful pieces. During the Mass, many people approached the altar to receive the Sacrament of the Sick.
Then we all walked to the adjacent building to have a very enjoyable family evening of music, singing, and testimonies. Small children happily played and ran around the large room as children always do, and I could not help but be uplifted by their innocence and joy. We concluded our busy day with a holy hour prayed for the bishops of Ireland, half of whom had sent us their specific intentions. Afterward, one lady told us that “I will never ever, ever forget this night.”
The next day, Fr. Boquet formally enthroned the Cloak Charity Shop and the Guadalupe Center to Our Lady of Knock. Nearly a hundred people crammed into these small offices to see Fr. Boquet bless them, and then everyone enjoyed tea, biscuits and ice cream afterwards in the warm sun. It really was a beautiful afternoon of fellowship and craic (enjoyable conversation).

Mission Territory

MSNBC talk-show host Chris Matthews has boasted: “Liberalism always wins.” At this point in time, it is hard to disagree with him. But, like an aggressively malignant cancer, liberalism also kills its host. Ireland has not replaced its population for nearly three decades and, if abortion is legalized, it will not be long before more Irish die at the hands of abortionists than did during the Potato Famine in the 19th century.
Already, nearly 200,000 Irish babies have died in this brutal and inhumane manner, mostly in London at the hands of BPAS and Marie Stopes abortionists.
Ireland has once again become mission territory. As Member of the European Parliament Kathleen Sinnott told me years ago, Ireland is desperately eager to exchange its holy faith for a worthless mess of pottage. Nominally “Catholic” Irish leaders are in the forefront of attacking the Church in their rush to become more “European.”
But we must not lose hope. Ireland was a central actor in the evangelization of the world. Ireland gave us the faith. We must return the favor by helping bring it back to the Irish.
The Holy Spirit has a plan that we cannot begin to fully understand. And leading the way on Earth to implement it is HLI-Ireland, headed by the indefatigable Patrick McCrystal and his family, who have been laboring in the vineyard for decades.
Please pray for Patrick, for Human Life International, and for Ireland. May she rise again!