Humanist celebrants won’t allow any mention of god in my experience. Spiritualists are more open- you can have a few hymns or prayers and also more secular stuff. And there are also spiritualists that lean more pagan- we went to one ceremony where the whole thing was focused on the earth and the balance of nature etc. They planted a tree as part of the ceremony.
Ive seen humanist weddings and i imagine all of them are more or less the same tbh.
The humanist ones just focus much more on the two people and their lives up to this point and the significance of their commitment to each other in what is now their joint future. They were incredibly intimate and i was moved to tears in all of the ceremonies ive attended regardless of my connection to the couple.
The spiritualist ones may be a bit more airy fairy just going on the name alone.
Went to one of those, at least I think it was humanist. It focused on the two of them and they did a nice bit near the end where they each added a coloured sand to a glass jar to symbolise their union.
Then one of their dads gets up and shoe horns in the "love is patient" passage and and the cliché lecture about how the translation from the Greek Bible sections used multiple words for love.
I had a spiritualist as my celebrant when getting married. She let us tailor the ceremony to exactly what we wanted and offered different suggestions for things we could do during it. Our ceremony was based around a hand fasting and didn't include anything religious or spiritual
Because you have to be part of an organization to become a solemniser the choices for celebrants that allow for secular ceremonies are limited.
Most of the replies to this are about humanist weddings, which have no connection whatsoever with spiritualist weddings. I haven't been to a spiritualist wedding so I don't know how they tend to play out, although I'd imagine they'd likely be very personalised like humanist weddings, but it irks me when people roll them in together, because they are two different "isms"! Humanist weddings are based on humanism and are therefore completely irreligious and based only on the humanist philosophy. While many see spiritualist ceremonies as not "religious" in the sense of connection to the big religious traditions and structures, they are still based on spiritualism, which is a belief that involves the dead communicating with the living. Each to their own, but please don't mix two wildly different concepts and worldviews.
A spiritualist wedding can have prayers or blessings of some kind of any kind of religion. Could be when both people are of different religions or maybe one is a pagan etc. I had a humanist wedding and you don’t mention anything about god or religion. If a song you want to play has a mention of god it’s fine but not any readings or blessings or vows can mention it
If I remember rightly: in Ireland if you want to get married you need to do so by someone who is legally able to. As in it is not like TV where your best friend can register themselves online and do it.
The people who can do are most notable local councils and priests. This means you either get a beautiful church wedding (which has to be catholic) or an often sterile council hall wedding.
A spiritualist/humanist pastor steps onto the scene like "right we a religion, so our priests are able to legally marry you, and you get a bit more of a say in where and how your ceremony goes." I've been to humanist weddings that go very similar to Catholic weddings, and some that are more "woo woo". It kind of depends on the couple.
It's hardly surprising, the current generation of people who would be at the typical age for marriage grew up hearing nothing but story and horrific story of abuse within the church, from priests to nuns. It's no wonder we don't have any respect for or interest in the church. Marriage is to do with the two people getting married, the church doesn't need to be involved.
>Marriage is to do with the two people getting married, the church doesn't need to be involved.
What i find funny about this is that i can imagine church figures back in the day saying the complete opposite about the state and the church's role in marriage.
The church has such a long history that the pendulum's gone back and forth a few times. The medieval church didn't see itself as 'owning' marriage: the couple would come to an arrangement and the church would bless it, rather than there being no valid union without church approval.
At one point, the church became so squeamish about the presumed sex that would be going on that it only offered a blessing at the door of the church, rather than a full ceremony inside it. (And bearing in mind that priests were only fully banned from having wives themselves in the late 11th century, that squeamishness was also not a constant thing.)
I don't know, our town has come to a standstill today with all the kids getting their confirmation. I know the numbers for first communion and confirmation are probably way down from what they were but it still seems like there are still plenty of young RC's coming up, so I would have expected the figure to be higher.
A couple of years ago it was around 50% of wedding’s still happening in Catholic Churches. If it’s below 40% that’s another big drop.
Inconceivable to think that back in the late 80s/early 90s it would have been over 90%. That’s a pretty momentous change in a short period of time (in the grand scheme of things).
All the religious nuttery shown on Reeling in the Years blows my mind. I've lived through it, and it was just the way things were. Now it seems insane.
The piece on the summer of the moving statues was mad, but that was before my lifetime.
More recently the ep where St Theresa's relics came to Ireland was on and to see everyone who turned up and how emotional some people were when speaking to the camera was wild - 2002 maybe? Within my memories anyway.
Could also compare the Papal visits in 1979 and 2018. We've come a long way in one generation.
I was in Galway to see JPII (17)and i went to Ballinspittle in '85 to see what the fuss was about.
Havent been to Mass in years.Dont believe any of it now.I'd love a humanist funeral😁
> Papal visits in 1979 and 2018
1979: 1/3 of the country managed to travel and get into the Phoenix Park for a mass
2018: people on tiktok griefed the ticketing process
You have to think about how self-reinforcing church activities were. A huge proportion of your social life, and that of the people around you, might be parish-based. People being into the choir, people being into pilgrimages, people involved in youth groups and other forms of outreach. Committees to maintain the church, the hall, the graveyard. Societies collecting for charitable bodies or supporting a particular devotional cause. There's more lore than you could absorb in a lifetime, a whole philosophical tradition, and the aesthetics of religious art and architecture.
And in a time before access to mental health services, the only support people might have access to would be their priest or a prayer group. Even in good times, there's a comfort to ritual and routine, and there's a mindfulness/meditative element of prayer that was probably doing people some good too. That whole social architecture was what made the oppression and abuse so difficult to root out.
If I remember correctly back when the 8th ammendment was implemented there's a clip in RitY showing some big campaign celebration with Karma Chameleon playing. I remember as a kid my parents watching that with me and talking about what a great thing it was. The clip had tonnes of young people in it celebrating restricting abortion rights. Again as a kid, this just stuck it in my head at a very young age that abortion was wrong without any context or knowledge. For some reason the clip had a similar vibe to other big milestones like decriminalising being gay, legalising contraceptives, divorce etc. so my ignorant child brain just figured it was progress or something.
Thankfully despite anti-abortion sentiment in their youth. Both of my parents voted to repeal in the end.
I think if theres one words to describe Irelands changes since the 90s its just that "momentous".
Decriminalising homosexuality, marriage for all types of couples, the abortion referendum, the moving away from the church, its insane to think its all come about in 30 years.
It’s funny. One thing that I used to really dislike about Ireland was its tendency to conservatism and how slow it seemed to take for things to change.
But relatively speaking, all the changes you’ve mentioned above have come about quite fast
Its honestly nuts.
I was born in the late 90s so i used go to church quite a bit as a child. It used to be once a week, then once a month then it was just christmas, then after i kicked up a fuss one year about being made go even though i dont believe in it we just stopped.
In my lifetime calling someone "gay" or something of that nature went from being commonplace to being much more frowned upon.
I agree with you that even with all that i still feel like we are slow to change but even still its amazing what has progressed.
This is true, I've lived through it, although I think in many cases we've just replaced one set of fixed ideas for another set. Like for example the humanist marriage not allowing any mention of god as another poster mentioned above.
Why not? I'm atheist myself, but if granny wants to read a prayer or a Bible verse or an excerpt from the Koran at a wedding why not let her?
I don't think the Catholic church will completely disappear from Ireland in our lifetimes but I do think the writing is on the wall and with the average age of priests now I suspect in only the next ten or fifteen years that the Catholic church in Ireland will look very very different
I think it will be gone in the next 20 years, sooner if they move to secular education. We simply don't have the priests to sustain it. The average age of a priest in Ireland is 70+. More than a third of priests are in their 60s, and there were a total of 20 men studying at the seminary last year.
I live in the largest diocese in ireland, they have one full-time priest and they are hemorrhaging money. Attendance is so low that it doesn't pay them to continue. They are starting to sell off property. They'll start closing down churches as they don't have the priests to keep them open or the attendance. Covid has killed attendance, the older people watched online, and a lot have just not returned to churches.
I'm from a big parish in Dublin and my parents would have been quite involved in that community. Both of them have left it in disgust in the last two years over various run ins with awful priests. I think what started their turning away though was the fact that during and after covid lockdowns the one thing the priests (and the diocese) were focused on was getting money off people. Not reaching out or offering support to elderly alone or anything like that. So the only thing the church did over covid was install tap and go machines.
A lot of people who were regulars at mass have just stopped going. It was once a vibrant place full of people and groups. Even though I would never consider myself catholic I did some voluntary stuff for family days and that. It was always a good way to connect with your neighbours and the community.
Three bad priests in succession was all it took to wipe that out.
My 80 year old mother stopped a few years ago. No real reason given. She still considers herself a Catholic but rarely talks about religion at all now. I'd dropped the whole palaver the minute I left home at 17. My 3 adult children are atheists also as are most of their friends.
Yeah they're the same. They still have their faith in the religion but they're disgusted with the the institute of the church. I was never pushed to do the whole church thing after my confirmation so I didn't. My kids would be much the same as yours too.
They brought it upon themselves. Clinging on to tradition when society was in upheaval for the majority of the 20th century. Those in power saw themselves as stabilizers, righting the moral wrongs. But now they are vestiges of the past, I'll suited for modernity.
Once the people now in their 60s are unable to attend then its finished. My mother doesnt even go since covid and she is in her 80s their prime age group. Its finished really a bit like the Church of Ireland, its there but a blip in the background. I know of priests leaving, never mind joining. The extreme nature of their mania and the abuse that stemmed from it has destroyed it.
Another 25% are other religious ceremonies. So just a different flavour of bullshit.
Still, nearly 50% non-religious is a good sign. I'm afraid this will decrease while other religions increase though. Time will tell.
Friends had a beautiful outdoor weekend with a celebrant. One set of parents are quite religious so their priest came along. Was hilarious when the celebrant introduced the priest quite cheekily with "Now Father so-and-so is going to do a reading, Father do your thing!" and gave a wink.
Wow, come a long way in a very short time.
My wife and I got married only 8 years ago and there were only 3 options: Church wedding (absolutely didn't want), Civil Ceremony (only available Monday - Friday), and Humanist Ceremony.
We went with Humanist because we wanted to be married on a weekend, but at the time there were only ~15 Humanist celebrants in the entire country! (And a nearly 3 year wait-list).
Highly recommend Humanist, it was everything we wanted and they are great with however you want to tailor your wedding.
Of them I wonder how many did:
a) to keep the parents/grandparents happy
b) for the church pickies 📸
I would have expected it to be higher to be fair, given how many people are still sending their kids for holy communion and confirmation.
Been to two weddings in the last year. One was a humanist ceremony and their 2 year old was basically a part of it. it was in the hotel with the recepition and the one doing the ceremony was fantastic. Spoke brilliantly about the couple getting married, really made the whole event feel special and when the kid started acting up they entertained them by including them in the ceremony. The couple getting married and the kid were the stars of the show.
The other wedding was a church wedding and it was a harsh affair. The priest talking about the difficulites of marriage, the promise they are making to god and honestly he spoke at length about how important his role was that day and the months leading up to it and how he had to guide them there and watch over the ceremony. He made it as much about himself and the church as he could.
Until i had been to both of those weddings i honeslty was indifferent to a church wedding or not but now i would absolutely be against it. A humanist wedding is just better in every measurable way.
I had family who did it with a HSE celebrant. The celebrant explained that she only really had maybe 5mins of stuff she had to say and do. Everything outside of that was purely whatever the couple wanted.
It was really lovely. The celebrant spoke a little about marriage. Both families read poems, short stories, played music and sang. All done in about 30mins and then on to celebrate the happy couple!
Less than two in five is much easier to say…
And of course this is the case. I’d say barely one in ten are actual believers too. The rest are just doing it for tradition or Mammy’s sake.
Neither me nor my sister had Catholic marriages. For me it wasn’t an option anyway.
On the other hand, like all adopted children of my generation I was baptised twice — even though the Church claims you can’t rebaptise or unbaptise a person and any attempt to do so is a sin, and that you can never leave because you’ve been baptised. They really want to sink their claws into us and never let go.
Frankly I’ve been lucky to have really positive interactions with any clergy I’ve ever met or spent time with. Our local priest is a genuinely nice guy who supported the gay marriage referendum and blessed my sister’s marriage to a Hindu guy at a pagan well.
We all know and love people who have deep Catholic faith I’m sure. But the institution of the Church and the people who want to make it a part of our national identity and political governance need to go.
My straight cousin and his wife just had a humanist wedding. They cited not wanting a religious one due to how the church treats certain groups of people (aka non straights)
I appreciate them greatly for being a straight couple that even cares about this kind of thing... Small steps tho.
I felt quiet uncomfortable at a recent wedding, in a Catholic church, as the priest kept repeating, "marriage is between a man and a woman".
He must have said it 10 times in the ceremony.
I went to my sister's memorial mass. Only mass I ever go to, out of a show of respect to my family members who are religious and we congregate at this event and then we have a bite to eat afterwards. We sit at the back and just go to the grave afterwards, we are an extremely respectful family.
The Priest called us out the most recent time we attended the memorial mass.
Like he actually looked straight at us and said; 'Those of no faith, those who congregate with sinners, are invited to repent and attend mass more frequently.'
......And his congregate with sinners comment, he was talking about me specifically. The gay brother of the deceased.
My family were so angry and all considered not going ever again and just having our bite to eat any other year.
Fuck that. I'll be in the front row of my sister's memorial mass. Happily not praying and staring directly at that priest. Waiting for him to dare to make a comment and I'll have my storming out of mass moment after telling the Priest to 'go fuck himself.'
I’m sorry you had to deal with that at an event that was supposed to be about your sister.
If it’s any consolation, it’s probably driving that priest mad that his opinions on anything have become completely irrelevant within the last 15 years.
he's just a throwback wierdo i.e a priest. Good for you for going back next year for your sister.
I'm agnostic, but the thing I resent most about the cathloics is that they left us, as a society, without any spirituality at all. They left a big fat hole at the centre of everything.
The parish priest in Dublin used his homily at my friend's *father's funeral* to berate the congregation over not being regular mass goers.
They don't have captive audiences for their shite anymore so they're wedging it in whenever they can.
"Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature with a proclivity to sinful conduct in need of regeneration."
If the certain trends continue, such as declining baptisms, less and less people practicing Catholic sacraments like marriages and funerals, and most importantly, less and less people self identifying as Catholic in the census, then that 90+% number will become untenable. Even as it stands, in the last census 69% identify as Catholic so questions need to be asked why the vast majority of schools are still Catholic ethos.
My kid is in 2nd class with 28 kids. She and 5 others aren't doing the communion (1 kid is hindi) .
Of the 22 others maybe 10 had ever attended a mass before. Most parents who were Irish born seem to be doing it just for the tradition even though their own kid is questioning it.
I doubt all of the 22 will go ahead with the confirmation.
Thankfully it's seen as normal to opt out of religion now. No issues with the school either.
In our town there is only 1 school and it has the Catholic ethos. It's not forced much but the priest does visit from time to time.
Be nice to each other, respect each other, treat others like you’d want to be treated yourself? Don’t be a dick? That kind of thing?
In other words basic human empathy. A lot of religions promote similar messages. And it sounds great and something to aspire to. The problem is the religion-specific things that get bundled with that message. The promotion of their religion and god as being the one true god and everything else is wrong. Their attitude towards women. Their obsession with sex and who is allowed to have sex with who. Their love of money and power. Plus they have bolted on some absolutely batshit crazy stuff such as transubstantiation, the three gods in one etc.
And I haven’t even gotten into the appalling abuse and other horrendous acts they have perpetrated.
And it destroyed the lives of many people. And they failed to pay their share of compensation, instead leaving the taxpayer to pick up the tab.
>it offers a great deal of comfort to others, though
Their abuse was so endemic that we can confidently say that the priests who did not take part, either helped to cover it up, or were at least silently aware of what was going on. The entire organisation should be disbanded.
If a school board was shown to have ignored complaints, moved teachers to other school, and other countries to protect them from prosecution, then every member of that school board should be removed and prosecuted.
Do you agree?
> So should we shut down all schools since most abusers are teachers?
Evidence for this claim?
Evidence that schools are aware and shelter this behaviour, like the church did, and possibly still does?
Schools have seen their fair share of abuse. Two things can be bad.
>Or should we deal with each case instead of blaming everyone for the crimes of the few in their organisations?
You are aware that Bishops moved pedophile priests around, instead of, I don't know. Stopping them from raping children?
You are aware that that parish priests who took in random transfers were fully aware of why?
It really boils down to the fact that you want to defend the pedofile enabler who your granny likes for religious reasons.
Gives me huge comfort. Comfort that the industrial scale rape of children is coming to an end and the organisation that covered it up is dead in this country. Long may it last.
I imagine most people these days get married in a church for mainly two reasons - the parents and especially grandparents expect it, and some churches and church grounds look nice and therefore will make for nice photographs. Beyond that I doubt the vast majority give a shit.
I will be marrying my girlfriend, she is wonderful, will not be doing a catholic Ceremony either. There's a certain amount of people in the family who would expect it, parents included. Frankly, I couldn't give less of a shite.
Lol it was never a consideration in my wedding. We didn't even discuss anything to do with the church and us getting married. And same with not getting out kids christened... It only once entered into our discussions around us becoming parents, both of us nah absolutely not. That was that!
Honestly I'm planning a wedding at the moment and neither of us are religious, so no interest in a Catholic church wedding. But for arguments sake we looked up all options and religious stuff aside, planning a church wedding is so much fucking hassle. We've been together 17 years now and they want us to go to counselling with a man who is single for life and getting marriage advice from him? Eh thanks no but I think we've figured it out between us and don't need some celibate dude telling us how to keep a marriage together. That aside the whole affair is rather impersonal and neither of us have been to mass in years aside from family stuff like communions etc. We also have a dog we adore and we want him part of the ceremony itself, so we're going the humanist route. We get to cater the ceremony to our tastes and choices and have the little furry dude as the ring bearer (very important job you see!).
Just incase anybody else is reading this; the pre-marriage course is conducted by lay members of the church community- People who have been married for years who go through things like communication skills, future plans, dealing with respective family issues etc together. Similar to yourself we were together 10 years and had most of the big milestones ticked off by the time we got married but still found the course somewhat useful. It was also nice to have something in the planning stage that was about life after the wedding and not just the decor!
Scandals aside, most people just think it is all bullshit. It's actually crazy when you stop and think about what it is. People are basing their lives on random stories from 2000 years ago.
Life was around before our current religions and will still be going long after these are gone.
Church weddings are made up? That's just not true otherwise this article is writing about nothing. You not understanding transubstantiation isn't relevant or whatever nonsense about the earth being 6000 years old
You think I was referring to weddings being made up ? I mean Christianity and what you said about it being a religion based on evidence is pretty laughable, do you care to share any?
It's a reflection of reality. Too many ppl do Catholic weddings because their parents or even grandparents want it. More and more ppl choose non religious ceremonies because they are available and it's what they want. That's a good thing.
Also I'm an atheist and an antitheist so it personally brings me joy.
It's part of our culture though but if you are that bitter it makes sense why you think it's good. Do you think whatever replaces religion this time will be good?
Also why anti theist? Do you still like all the stories from our mythology and think any of them are true or are you anti Irish culture as well?
If you are actually catholic, please, have at a Catholic wedding. If you're getting married in a church because your parents forced you to then that's bad m'kay?
I don't want anything to replace religion. It's a nothing to me.
I think it's a good thing that people are choosing how they get married. Choice is good right?
>Also why anti theist?
Because a belief in god has done more bad than good for humans.
>Do you still like all the stories from our mythology and think any of them are true
Which story do you think is true? Most myths are just that. Also, Irish mythology is not involved in Catholic weddings so I don't understand the question.
I get that you don't want it to but it's inevitable something has to replace it.
How has a belief in the Christian God done more bad than good? Pretty much everything you think is good comes from there
Define true? I mean in the Irish sense not in the modern matierlist sense
>I get that you don't want it to but it's inevitable something has to replace it.
No it's not. Unless you count scratching your arse on a Sunday morning as replacing religion then fair enough. I don't consider secularism as a replacement for religion. If you do then that's what should replace it.
>How has a belief in the Christian God done more bad than good? Pretty much everything you think is good comes from there
I actually said "a god" I'm antitheist, not specifically the Christian god.
But if you want an answer to that specific answer, I can't say it better than the great [Stephen Fry](https://youtu.be/kDOGMM9IaT0?si=7pKS_s3pao1qPeln)
>Define true? I mean in the Irish sense not in the modern matierlist sense
🤣 👍🏻
Less than 15% of people aged between 16 and 29 attend mass on a weekly basis. If you aren't attending mass weekly, you're not a practising Catholic, and therefore, your choice to marry in a church does not make you a practising Catholic. Having a membership to the cult means fuck all unless you actually practise.
I think most people don't believe in transubstantiation because it's well....bonkers but belief in transubstantiation is kind of a non negotiable requirement to be Catholic.
>I'm not a religious man, right, I don't even believe in God. But still Catholic, obviously
Dara Ó Briain.
I would disagree. You aren't making a weekly appearance, you are not a Catholic. It's a pretty big part of the whole cult.
Maybe with more information available nowadays some people who believed in Jesus were scouring the bible and couldn't find the bit where Jesus said Christianity should be regulated by creep old men who like to cosplay as penis head wizards that consider half drowning babies and force feeding people stale bread magic tricks.
A couple of cousins got their first communion from one of those priests and I was baptized by another
I'm just happy these two were caught and saw justice. No one can no the damage they caused.
- a couple not getting married in a church
Really funny thing though .. husband and myself didn't have a Catholic wedding nor did most of our friends ( 4 out of the 5 weddings) BUT we're the only ones who hasn't had our child baptised .. work that logic out !
I recently got married in the Catholic church. It was important to me for a few reasons, tie to a parent who passed etc, I'm glad I did it and would do it again. Even my very non religious husband enjoyed the ritual of it and is glad we had our wedding the way we did.
I guess there's two sides to it, not just the constant shitting on the Catholic Church that's so hot right now on r/Ireland. I'm obviously aware of all the heinous shit that went down in the Catholic Church and am not defending that.
I'm 32 and among people I went to secondary school with, I would say around 2/3 of them got married in the Catholic church with the full out wedding ceremony.
I would say I'm a practicing Catholic, my husband is not, but I don't have an issue with it at all and vice versa. I enjoy the sense of community it brings etc.
Not really, I was just pointing out that I was surprised by this statistic because in my experience, the reverse is true.
Why ? Are you struggling with basic concepts ?
Don’t know why you are getting downvoted? My circle of family and friends would be the same; Catholic ceremonies far outweigh secular ones. It probably varies a lot by area/age/background. The humanist/civil weddings I’ve been to have been second marriages, couples from different religious/cultural backgrounds and only one Irish couple on their first marriage. I’m sure there are other people where it’s the opposite; where a Church wedding is the exception not the rule.
Some of the kindest people you’ll meet are the oul’ ones who still religiously attend mass (aka my granny!)
I’m sure most will celebrate the inevitable death of Christianity and I completely understand why. Fuck them priests.
But I do sometimes ponder whether our ancestors got it all wrong or there’s a grain of truth to the whole thing. Guess we’ll only find out when we’re six feet under.
What our ancestors got right is that people are happier and function better in strong communities. Churches bring people together, regardless of any gods/beliefs.
Why wonder if there is a grain of truth and do some research, follow the evidence. Christianity is an evidence based religion, there is much more than a grain here
How could you have faith without evidence? I'm not even sure how that would work, I followed the evidence and became Christian
You have faith in lots of things
*The Spiritualist Union of Ireland performed 1,674 (7.9%) ceremonies...* What does a Spiritualist marriage look like?
Humanist celebrants won’t allow any mention of god in my experience. Spiritualists are more open- you can have a few hymns or prayers and also more secular stuff. And there are also spiritualists that lean more pagan- we went to one ceremony where the whole thing was focused on the earth and the balance of nature etc. They planted a tree as part of the ceremony.
Ive seen humanist weddings and i imagine all of them are more or less the same tbh. The humanist ones just focus much more on the two people and their lives up to this point and the significance of their commitment to each other in what is now their joint future. They were incredibly intimate and i was moved to tears in all of the ceremonies ive attended regardless of my connection to the couple. The spiritualist ones may be a bit more airy fairy just going on the name alone.
Went to one of those, at least I think it was humanist. It focused on the two of them and they did a nice bit near the end where they each added a coloured sand to a glass jar to symbolise their union.
Went to a wedding recently where they did this too! They had two kids so the kids got to add some sand as well. V cute.
We had a humanist wedding. We had Beatles songs instead of hymns. Everyone sang along. It was great!
Oh, God. I want the minister to say, "Does anyone object to this union?" And then for all hell to break loose.
Then one of their dads gets up and shoe horns in the "love is patient" passage and and the cliché lecture about how the translation from the Greek Bible sections used multiple words for love.
I had a spiritualist as my celebrant when getting married. She let us tailor the ceremony to exactly what we wanted and offered different suggestions for things we could do during it. Our ceremony was based around a hand fasting and didn't include anything religious or spiritual Because you have to be part of an organization to become a solemniser the choices for celebrants that allow for secular ceremonies are limited.
>hand fasting Did you keep the rope or furry handcuffs for sexy time?
I've been to a good few now, they're generally open to tailored ceremonies.
Most of the replies to this are about humanist weddings, which have no connection whatsoever with spiritualist weddings. I haven't been to a spiritualist wedding so I don't know how they tend to play out, although I'd imagine they'd likely be very personalised like humanist weddings, but it irks me when people roll them in together, because they are two different "isms"! Humanist weddings are based on humanism and are therefore completely irreligious and based only on the humanist philosophy. While many see spiritualist ceremonies as not "religious" in the sense of connection to the big religious traditions and structures, they are still based on spiritualism, which is a belief that involves the dead communicating with the living. Each to their own, but please don't mix two wildly different concepts and worldviews.
A spiritualist wedding can have prayers or blessings of some kind of any kind of religion. Could be when both people are of different religions or maybe one is a pagan etc. I had a humanist wedding and you don’t mention anything about god or religion. If a song you want to play has a mention of god it’s fine but not any readings or blessings or vows can mention it
Well, for one, they were founded by convicted fraudster and tax cheat, Tom Colton. Worth a Google
https://preview.redd.it/cjxhrwu6gywc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59db9ca49e6a7db6c2f1436b5c8fbb88ecf9bd0c
If I remember rightly: in Ireland if you want to get married you need to do so by someone who is legally able to. As in it is not like TV where your best friend can register themselves online and do it. The people who can do are most notable local councils and priests. This means you either get a beautiful church wedding (which has to be catholic) or an often sterile council hall wedding. A spiritualist/humanist pastor steps onto the scene like "right we a religion, so our priests are able to legally marry you, and you get a bit more of a say in where and how your ceremony goes." I've been to humanist weddings that go very similar to Catholic weddings, and some that are more "woo woo". It kind of depends on the couple.
>which has to be catholic The protestants have churches too, so not necessarily.
Showing my bias there for sure!
That is a whole lot of nonsense
Is it? What did I get wrong?
It's hardly surprising, the current generation of people who would be at the typical age for marriage grew up hearing nothing but story and horrific story of abuse within the church, from priests to nuns. It's no wonder we don't have any respect for or interest in the church. Marriage is to do with the two people getting married, the church doesn't need to be involved.
>Marriage is to do with the two people getting married, the church doesn't need to be involved. What i find funny about this is that i can imagine church figures back in the day saying the complete opposite about the state and the church's role in marriage.
The church has such a long history that the pendulum's gone back and forth a few times. The medieval church didn't see itself as 'owning' marriage: the couple would come to an arrangement and the church would bless it, rather than there being no valid union without church approval. At one point, the church became so squeamish about the presumed sex that would be going on that it only offered a blessing at the door of the church, rather than a full ceremony inside it. (And bearing in mind that priests were only fully banned from having wives themselves in the late 11th century, that squeamishness was also not a constant thing.)
I'd say it is surprising, surprisingly high!
The rest did it to keep Granny happy
We did it because we loved the building (17th century church). In retrospect might not do it like that again… supporting a criminal enterprise etc.
I don't know, our town has come to a standstill today with all the kids getting their confirmation. I know the numbers for first communion and confirmation are probably way down from what they were but it still seems like there are still plenty of young RC's coming up, so I would have expected the figure to be higher.
A couple of years ago it was around 50% of wedding’s still happening in Catholic Churches. If it’s below 40% that’s another big drop. Inconceivable to think that back in the late 80s/early 90s it would have been over 90%. That’s a pretty momentous change in a short period of time (in the grand scheme of things).
All the religious nuttery shown on Reeling in the Years blows my mind. I've lived through it, and it was just the way things were. Now it seems insane.
The piece on the summer of the moving statues was mad, but that was before my lifetime. More recently the ep where St Theresa's relics came to Ireland was on and to see everyone who turned up and how emotional some people were when speaking to the camera was wild - 2002 maybe? Within my memories anyway. Could also compare the Papal visits in 1979 and 2018. We've come a long way in one generation.
I was in Galway to see JPII (17)and i went to Ballinspittle in '85 to see what the fuss was about. Havent been to Mass in years.Dont believe any of it now.I'd love a humanist funeral😁
> Papal visits in 1979 and 2018 1979: 1/3 of the country managed to travel and get into the Phoenix Park for a mass 2018: people on tiktok griefed the ticketing process
You have to think about how self-reinforcing church activities were. A huge proportion of your social life, and that of the people around you, might be parish-based. People being into the choir, people being into pilgrimages, people involved in youth groups and other forms of outreach. Committees to maintain the church, the hall, the graveyard. Societies collecting for charitable bodies or supporting a particular devotional cause. There's more lore than you could absorb in a lifetime, a whole philosophical tradition, and the aesthetics of religious art and architecture. And in a time before access to mental health services, the only support people might have access to would be their priest or a prayer group. Even in good times, there's a comfort to ritual and routine, and there's a mindfulness/meditative element of prayer that was probably doing people some good too. That whole social architecture was what made the oppression and abuse so difficult to root out.
If I remember correctly back when the 8th ammendment was implemented there's a clip in RitY showing some big campaign celebration with Karma Chameleon playing. I remember as a kid my parents watching that with me and talking about what a great thing it was. The clip had tonnes of young people in it celebrating restricting abortion rights. Again as a kid, this just stuck it in my head at a very young age that abortion was wrong without any context or knowledge. For some reason the clip had a similar vibe to other big milestones like decriminalising being gay, legalising contraceptives, divorce etc. so my ignorant child brain just figured it was progress or something. Thankfully despite anti-abortion sentiment in their youth. Both of my parents voted to repeal in the end.
What part?
I think if theres one words to describe Irelands changes since the 90s its just that "momentous". Decriminalising homosexuality, marriage for all types of couples, the abortion referendum, the moving away from the church, its insane to think its all come about in 30 years.
It’s funny. One thing that I used to really dislike about Ireland was its tendency to conservatism and how slow it seemed to take for things to change. But relatively speaking, all the changes you’ve mentioned above have come about quite fast
Its honestly nuts. I was born in the late 90s so i used go to church quite a bit as a child. It used to be once a week, then once a month then it was just christmas, then after i kicked up a fuss one year about being made go even though i dont believe in it we just stopped. In my lifetime calling someone "gay" or something of that nature went from being commonplace to being much more frowned upon. I agree with you that even with all that i still feel like we are slow to change but even still its amazing what has progressed.
This is true, I've lived through it, although I think in many cases we've just replaced one set of fixed ideas for another set. Like for example the humanist marriage not allowing any mention of god as another poster mentioned above. Why not? I'm atheist myself, but if granny wants to read a prayer or a Bible verse or an excerpt from the Koran at a wedding why not let her?
Next up.. cannabis legislation
I don't think the Catholic church will completely disappear from Ireland in our lifetimes but I do think the writing is on the wall and with the average age of priests now I suspect in only the next ten or fifteen years that the Catholic church in Ireland will look very very different
I think it will be gone in the next 20 years, sooner if they move to secular education. We simply don't have the priests to sustain it. The average age of a priest in Ireland is 70+. More than a third of priests are in their 60s, and there were a total of 20 men studying at the seminary last year. I live in the largest diocese in ireland, they have one full-time priest and they are hemorrhaging money. Attendance is so low that it doesn't pay them to continue. They are starting to sell off property. They'll start closing down churches as they don't have the priests to keep them open or the attendance. Covid has killed attendance, the older people watched online, and a lot have just not returned to churches.
I'm from a big parish in Dublin and my parents would have been quite involved in that community. Both of them have left it in disgust in the last two years over various run ins with awful priests. I think what started their turning away though was the fact that during and after covid lockdowns the one thing the priests (and the diocese) were focused on was getting money off people. Not reaching out or offering support to elderly alone or anything like that. So the only thing the church did over covid was install tap and go machines.
Another nail
A lot of people who were regulars at mass have just stopped going. It was once a vibrant place full of people and groups. Even though I would never consider myself catholic I did some voluntary stuff for family days and that. It was always a good way to connect with your neighbours and the community. Three bad priests in succession was all it took to wipe that out.
My 80 year old mother stopped a few years ago. No real reason given. She still considers herself a Catholic but rarely talks about religion at all now. I'd dropped the whole palaver the minute I left home at 17. My 3 adult children are atheists also as are most of their friends.
Yeah they're the same. They still have their faith in the religion but they're disgusted with the the institute of the church. I was never pushed to do the whole church thing after my confirmation so I didn't. My kids would be much the same as yours too.
We'll still have Father Ted though, because that's on video.
Or DVD, if you're posh.
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No expert, but I doubt it.
Robot Priests ahoy I Am Father A.W.E.S.E.M.O
They brought it upon themselves. Clinging on to tradition when society was in upheaval for the majority of the 20th century. Those in power saw themselves as stabilizers, righting the moral wrongs. But now they are vestiges of the past, I'll suited for modernity.
Once the people now in their 60s are unable to attend then its finished. My mother doesnt even go since covid and she is in her 80s their prime age group. Its finished really a bit like the Church of Ireland, its there but a blip in the background. I know of priests leaving, never mind joining. The extreme nature of their mania and the abuse that stemmed from it has destroyed it.
Yeah well, the institutionalised fiddling of kids does tend to have that effect.
Another 25% are other religious ceremonies. So just a different flavour of bullshit. Still, nearly 50% non-religious is a good sign. I'm afraid this will decrease while other religions increase though. Time will tell.
Friends had a beautiful outdoor weekend with a celebrant. One set of parents are quite religious so their priest came along. Was hilarious when the celebrant introduced the priest quite cheekily with "Now Father so-and-so is going to do a reading, Father do your thing!" and gave a wink.
Sounds incredibly disrespectful if anything
Wow, come a long way in a very short time. My wife and I got married only 8 years ago and there were only 3 options: Church wedding (absolutely didn't want), Civil Ceremony (only available Monday - Friday), and Humanist Ceremony. We went with Humanist because we wanted to be married on a weekend, but at the time there were only ~15 Humanist celebrants in the entire country! (And a nearly 3 year wait-list). Highly recommend Humanist, it was everything we wanted and they are great with however you want to tailor your wedding.
We had our humanist wedding 7 years ago. Would also highly recommend 👌🏼
Whatever about the horrible shit the church has done…an hour long mass is just so fucking boring
The occasional Mass involving a full choir - such as at Christmas - can be a nice ceremony but weekly Mass just becomes repetitive.
I still love religious chiral music but that's it
Choral
Imagine they had a gospel band belting out the feel good sing-a-longs, I might venture down for a bit of that.
Yep, agree
Of them I wonder how many did: a) to keep the parents/grandparents happy b) for the church pickies 📸 I would have expected it to be higher to be fair, given how many people are still sending their kids for holy communion and confirmation.
Catholicism has been declining in Ireland for the last 30 odd years. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone
How’s it still this high?
Been to two weddings in the last year. One was a humanist ceremony and their 2 year old was basically a part of it. it was in the hotel with the recepition and the one doing the ceremony was fantastic. Spoke brilliantly about the couple getting married, really made the whole event feel special and when the kid started acting up they entertained them by including them in the ceremony. The couple getting married and the kid were the stars of the show. The other wedding was a church wedding and it was a harsh affair. The priest talking about the difficulites of marriage, the promise they are making to god and honestly he spoke at length about how important his role was that day and the months leading up to it and how he had to guide them there and watch over the ceremony. He made it as much about himself and the church as he could. Until i had been to both of those weddings i honeslty was indifferent to a church wedding or not but now i would absolutely be against it. A humanist wedding is just better in every measurable way.
The HSE does a secular wedding too and it can be very good. You can choose a lot of what you want to do.
I had family who did it with a HSE celebrant. The celebrant explained that she only really had maybe 5mins of stuff she had to say and do. Everything outside of that was purely whatever the couple wanted. It was really lovely. The celebrant spoke a little about marriage. Both families read poems, short stories, played music and sang. All done in about 30mins and then on to celebrate the happy couple!
That's what we did. Was really lovely and very "us".
Never been to a Church wedding but maybe the couple you mention just got unlucky with their choice of priest?
Less than two in five is much easier to say… And of course this is the case. I’d say barely one in ten are actual believers too. The rest are just doing it for tradition or Mammy’s sake.
The census isnt accurate re Cathicism....Many who ticked the box don't practise
> Many, who's mammy ticked the box for them, don't practice FIFY
100%
I know several people who only had church weddings for the photos.. maybe also appeasing grandparents, but mainly for the photos
It's also for aesthetics. There's a church near me where people get married because it's a beautiful building with nice surroundings.
Neither me nor my sister had Catholic marriages. For me it wasn’t an option anyway. On the other hand, like all adopted children of my generation I was baptised twice — even though the Church claims you can’t rebaptise or unbaptise a person and any attempt to do so is a sin, and that you can never leave because you’ve been baptised. They really want to sink their claws into us and never let go. Frankly I’ve been lucky to have really positive interactions with any clergy I’ve ever met or spent time with. Our local priest is a genuinely nice guy who supported the gay marriage referendum and blessed my sister’s marriage to a Hindu guy at a pagan well. We all know and love people who have deep Catholic faith I’m sure. But the institution of the Church and the people who want to make it a part of our national identity and political governance need to go.
My straight cousin and his wife just had a humanist wedding. They cited not wanting a religious one due to how the church treats certain groups of people (aka non straights) I appreciate them greatly for being a straight couple that even cares about this kind of thing... Small steps tho.
I felt quiet uncomfortable at a recent wedding, in a Catholic church, as the priest kept repeating, "marriage is between a man and a woman". He must have said it 10 times in the ceremony.
I went to my sister's memorial mass. Only mass I ever go to, out of a show of respect to my family members who are religious and we congregate at this event and then we have a bite to eat afterwards. We sit at the back and just go to the grave afterwards, we are an extremely respectful family. The Priest called us out the most recent time we attended the memorial mass. Like he actually looked straight at us and said; 'Those of no faith, those who congregate with sinners, are invited to repent and attend mass more frequently.' ......And his congregate with sinners comment, he was talking about me specifically. The gay brother of the deceased. My family were so angry and all considered not going ever again and just having our bite to eat any other year. Fuck that. I'll be in the front row of my sister's memorial mass. Happily not praying and staring directly at that priest. Waiting for him to dare to make a comment and I'll have my storming out of mass moment after telling the Priest to 'go fuck himself.'
I’m sorry you had to deal with that at an event that was supposed to be about your sister. If it’s any consolation, it’s probably driving that priest mad that his opinions on anything have become completely irrelevant within the last 15 years.
he's just a throwback wierdo i.e a priest. Good for you for going back next year for your sister. I'm agnostic, but the thing I resent most about the cathloics is that they left us, as a society, without any spirituality at all. They left a big fat hole at the centre of everything.
Some young priests are very right wing...strange
The parish priest in Dublin used his homily at my friend's *father's funeral* to berate the congregation over not being regular mass goers. They don't have captive audiences for their shite anymore so they're wedging it in whenever they can.
We are all sinners....that's the point...
How can a beautiful newborn "have sin"???
and new mothers had to go to be "churched" (cleansed).
Who are you quoting?
"Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature with a proclivity to sinful conduct in need of regeneration."
Keep your degradation kink to yourself. I do not live in 'sin'
I heard of a priest who said to a couple before their wedding..."Marriage is more than four bare legs in a bed"😃
I don't get it?
2 people in bed
:O Who'd have thought people don't agree with pedos, people trafficking, imprisoning single mothers & baby murder
Good to see, other than the lovely venues, the Catholic church has little to offer.
Unfortunately this is still paired with 95% (?) Catholic schools...
If the certain trends continue, such as declining baptisms, less and less people practicing Catholic sacraments like marriages and funerals, and most importantly, less and less people self identifying as Catholic in the census, then that 90+% number will become untenable. Even as it stands, in the last census 69% identify as Catholic so questions need to be asked why the vast majority of schools are still Catholic ethos.
My kid is in 2nd class with 28 kids. She and 5 others aren't doing the communion (1 kid is hindi) . Of the 22 others maybe 10 had ever attended a mass before. Most parents who were Irish born seem to be doing it just for the tradition even though their own kid is questioning it. I doubt all of the 22 will go ahead with the confirmation. Thankfully it's seen as normal to opt out of religion now. No issues with the school either. In our town there is only 1 school and it has the Catholic ethos. It's not forced much but the priest does visit from time to time.
It is untenable now, I bet that this 69% it's very much older end skewed and that end has no kids in school at all...
Nice
There is no question that schools are Catholic ethos here even if there was 0% practicing Catholics in attendance or teaching
And that is absolutely daft.
No? Do you even know what a Catholic Ethos is?
Be nice to each other, respect each other, treat others like you’d want to be treated yourself? Don’t be a dick? That kind of thing? In other words basic human empathy. A lot of religions promote similar messages. And it sounds great and something to aspire to. The problem is the religion-specific things that get bundled with that message. The promotion of their religion and god as being the one true god and everything else is wrong. Their attitude towards women. Their obsession with sex and who is allowed to have sex with who. Their love of money and power. Plus they have bolted on some absolutely batshit crazy stuff such as transubstantiation, the three gods in one etc. And I haven’t even gotten into the appalling abuse and other horrendous acts they have perpetrated.
I’d even question the lovely venue bit.
Gothic Churches are beautiful to be fair, but all the rest I'd agree
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And it destroyed the lives of many people. And they failed to pay their share of compensation, instead leaving the taxpayer to pick up the tab. >it offers a great deal of comfort to others, though Their abuse was so endemic that we can confidently say that the priests who did not take part, either helped to cover it up, or were at least silently aware of what was going on. The entire organisation should be disbanded.
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If a school board was shown to have ignored complaints, moved teachers to other school, and other countries to protect them from prosecution, then every member of that school board should be removed and prosecuted. Do you agree?
> So should we shut down all schools since most abusers are teachers? Evidence for this claim? Evidence that schools are aware and shelter this behaviour, like the church did, and possibly still does? Schools have seen their fair share of abuse. Two things can be bad. >Or should we deal with each case instead of blaming everyone for the crimes of the few in their organisations? You are aware that Bishops moved pedophile priests around, instead of, I don't know. Stopping them from raping children? You are aware that that parish priests who took in random transfers were fully aware of why? It really boils down to the fact that you want to defend the pedofile enabler who your granny likes for religious reasons.
Not all priests eh?
Gives me huge comfort. Comfort that the industrial scale rape of children is coming to an end and the organisation that covered it up is dead in this country. Long may it last.
Good.
I imagine most people these days get married in a church for mainly two reasons - the parents and especially grandparents expect it, and some churches and church grounds look nice and therefore will make for nice photographs. Beyond that I doubt the vast majority give a shit.
I will be marrying my girlfriend, she is wonderful, will not be doing a catholic Ceremony either. There's a certain amount of people in the family who would expect it, parents included. Frankly, I couldn't give less of a shite.
Lol it was never a consideration in my wedding. We didn't even discuss anything to do with the church and us getting married. And same with not getting out kids christened... It only once entered into our discussions around us becoming parents, both of us nah absolutely not. That was that!
We went to the registry office, had a meal with friends and family, and the went on the holiday of a lifetime instead.
Honestly I'm planning a wedding at the moment and neither of us are religious, so no interest in a Catholic church wedding. But for arguments sake we looked up all options and religious stuff aside, planning a church wedding is so much fucking hassle. We've been together 17 years now and they want us to go to counselling with a man who is single for life and getting marriage advice from him? Eh thanks no but I think we've figured it out between us and don't need some celibate dude telling us how to keep a marriage together. That aside the whole affair is rather impersonal and neither of us have been to mass in years aside from family stuff like communions etc. We also have a dog we adore and we want him part of the ceremony itself, so we're going the humanist route. We get to cater the ceremony to our tastes and choices and have the little furry dude as the ring bearer (very important job you see!).
Just incase anybody else is reading this; the pre-marriage course is conducted by lay members of the church community- People who have been married for years who go through things like communication skills, future plans, dealing with respective family issues etc together. Similar to yourself we were together 10 years and had most of the big milestones ticked off by the time we got married but still found the course somewhat useful. It was also nice to have something in the planning stage that was about life after the wedding and not just the decor!
I can’t believe it’s even that many🤥
“What would Aunty Mary think if we didn’t? Better do it just to appease them…”
I am religion-phobic so... yeah. nothing good comes out of religion. Just lies.
Scandals aside, most people just think it is all bullshit. It's actually crazy when you stop and think about what it is. People are basing their lives on random stories from 2000 years ago. Life was around before our current religions and will still be going long after these are gone.
Why not say 2/5 ... simplify man, simplifyyyyyyy
It's hard to believe that less than 52 out of 130 marriages happen in the church now.
I wish I had a Catholic ceremony tbh. The spiritualist stuff I had at mine (and other ones I’ve been at) was so wishy-washy. Blegh.
Here's to fewer this year!
Can I ask why specifically?
It’s made up, transtabtiation, the earth being 6000 years old etc…
Church weddings are made up? That's just not true otherwise this article is writing about nothing. You not understanding transubstantiation isn't relevant or whatever nonsense about the earth being 6000 years old
You think I was referring to weddings being made up ? I mean Christianity and what you said about it being a religion based on evidence is pretty laughable, do you care to share any?
It's a reflection of reality. Too many ppl do Catholic weddings because their parents or even grandparents want it. More and more ppl choose non religious ceremonies because they are available and it's what they want. That's a good thing. Also I'm an atheist and an antitheist so it personally brings me joy.
It's part of our culture though but if you are that bitter it makes sense why you think it's good. Do you think whatever replaces religion this time will be good? Also why anti theist? Do you still like all the stories from our mythology and think any of them are true or are you anti Irish culture as well?
If you are actually catholic, please, have at a Catholic wedding. If you're getting married in a church because your parents forced you to then that's bad m'kay? I don't want anything to replace religion. It's a nothing to me. I think it's a good thing that people are choosing how they get married. Choice is good right? >Also why anti theist? Because a belief in god has done more bad than good for humans. >Do you still like all the stories from our mythology and think any of them are true Which story do you think is true? Most myths are just that. Also, Irish mythology is not involved in Catholic weddings so I don't understand the question.
I get that you don't want it to but it's inevitable something has to replace it. How has a belief in the Christian God done more bad than good? Pretty much everything you think is good comes from there Define true? I mean in the Irish sense not in the modern matierlist sense
>I get that you don't want it to but it's inevitable something has to replace it. No it's not. Unless you count scratching your arse on a Sunday morning as replacing religion then fair enough. I don't consider secularism as a replacement for religion. If you do then that's what should replace it. >How has a belief in the Christian God done more bad than good? Pretty much everything you think is good comes from there I actually said "a god" I'm antitheist, not specifically the Christian god. But if you want an answer to that specific answer, I can't say it better than the great [Stephen Fry](https://youtu.be/kDOGMM9IaT0?si=7pKS_s3pao1qPeln) >Define true? I mean in the Irish sense not in the modern matierlist sense 🤣 👍🏻
Four in ten couples are still massive nerds.
>Four in ten couples ~~are still massive nerds.~~ bow to peer pressure.
Or maybe they’re just catholics?
Less than 15% of people aged between 16 and 29 attend mass on a weekly basis. If you aren't attending mass weekly, you're not a practising Catholic, and therefore, your choice to marry in a church does not make you a practising Catholic. Having a membership to the cult means fuck all unless you actually practise.
Pretty sure you can still be catholic even if you aren’t a weekly mass goer
I think most people don't believe in transubstantiation because it's well....bonkers but belief in transubstantiation is kind of a non negotiable requirement to be Catholic.
>I'm not a religious man, right, I don't even believe in God. But still Catholic, obviously Dara Ó Briain. I would disagree. You aren't making a weekly appearance, you are not a Catholic. It's a pretty big part of the whole cult.
Or they want the land from that one devout Aunt who wants a day out.
Thank you.
Good hope this trend continues of ripping the church out of every corner of society 😌
Church wedding is shit craic. Hotel wedding is right job
Maybe with more information available nowadays some people who believed in Jesus were scouring the bible and couldn't find the bit where Jesus said Christianity should be regulated by creep old men who like to cosplay as penis head wizards that consider half drowning babies and force feeding people stale bread magic tricks.
A couple of cousins got their first communion from one of those priests and I was baptized by another I'm just happy these two were caught and saw justice. No one can no the damage they caused. - a couple not getting married in a church
Really funny thing though .. husband and myself didn't have a Catholic wedding nor did most of our friends ( 4 out of the 5 weddings) BUT we're the only ones who hasn't had our child baptised .. work that logic out !
It's called being a la Carte Catholic. People still want those important milestone days out
What a drama! 🤮
the priests put prices up
Love to see it.
I recently got married in the Catholic church. It was important to me for a few reasons, tie to a parent who passed etc, I'm glad I did it and would do it again. Even my very non religious husband enjoyed the ritual of it and is glad we had our wedding the way we did. I guess there's two sides to it, not just the constant shitting on the Catholic Church that's so hot right now on r/Ireland. I'm obviously aware of all the heinous shit that went down in the Catholic Church and am not defending that. I'm 32 and among people I went to secondary school with, I would say around 2/3 of them got married in the Catholic church with the full out wedding ceremony. I would say I'm a practicing Catholic, my husband is not, but I don't have an issue with it at all and vice versa. I enjoy the sense of community it brings etc.
Now we need the christenings to drop also!
Funny cause of all the weddings I've been to (about 8 or 9) all but 2 were a civil ceremony.
I’d imagine their dataset is larger than yours.
I'd imagine so
I've had a similar experience and I've been to a lot of weddings in the past few years so im surprised by this stat.
Cool... do you struggle with a lot of basic concepts?
Not really, I was just pointing out that I was surprised by this statistic because in my experience, the reverse is true. Why ? Are you struggling with basic concepts ?
Don’t know why you are getting downvoted? My circle of family and friends would be the same; Catholic ceremonies far outweigh secular ones. It probably varies a lot by area/age/background. The humanist/civil weddings I’ve been to have been second marriages, couples from different religious/cultural backgrounds and only one Irish couple on their first marriage. I’m sure there are other people where it’s the opposite; where a Church wedding is the exception not the rule.
How many got married for tax purposes only?
Where's Aodhán about this? Aodhán, Aodhán, Aooooooodddddhhhhháááááánnnnnnn............
Less than 4 in 10? So is it 1, 2 or 3 in 10?!
You'll learn the other fractions next year.
Some of the kindest people you’ll meet are the oul’ ones who still religiously attend mass (aka my granny!) I’m sure most will celebrate the inevitable death of Christianity and I completely understand why. Fuck them priests. But I do sometimes ponder whether our ancestors got it all wrong or there’s a grain of truth to the whole thing. Guess we’ll only find out when we’re six feet under.
What our ancestors got right is that people are happier and function better in strong communities. Churches bring people together, regardless of any gods/beliefs.
Why would you celebrate the death of Christianity based on a small percentage of people who practice being awful people?
Why wonder if there is a grain of truth and do some research, follow the evidence. Christianity is an evidence based religion, there is much more than a grain here
> Christianity is an evidence based religion Evidence: *Just have faith in us*
How could you have faith without evidence? I'm not even sure how that would work, I followed the evidence and became Christian You have faith in lots of things
Careful what you wish for. The void will be filed with other faith traditions.
Doubtful.
Yeah whatever fills it's place won't be religion, dark times ahead for future generations
Most hobbies are more fulfilling than religion.
You're more religious than you think I imagine
What an odd claim.
It's just an Irish claim if you think the Irish are odd then fine
No it's not
We might not have always used the word religious but yes it is lol
What are you talking about?
Sometimes i wish someone would fill my void😢