"Irish Religious Rebellion or Reformation?" An interpretation of The Economist article by Adelaide Willert

"Ireland wrestles with Catholicism as the religion plunges in popularity"

Erasmus of The Economist published the above article on August 26 of 2018, discussing the religious discordance regarding today's Catholic church. The article was spurred by Pope Francis' visit to Ireland, which seems to have left some loose ends behind, leaving the modern significance of Catholicism open to questioning. One of the first questions asked by Erasmus was regarding whether Ireland was more Catholic or post-Catholic. Then providing several examples supporting both the argument that Ireland is more Catholic rather than post-Catholic and vise versa, Erasmus came to the conclusion that while there is no simple answer to the question posed, it could be what creates an allure for Ireland.

You may ask how this pertains to the United States national news, and here's your answer: historical trends have shown that when something sweeps through Europe, it carries across the pond to us, the United States of America. Someone once said something like, "when France coughs, all of Europe catches a cold." This has been known to be true, but what that person forgot is that the United States has also been historically affected by trends in Europe, so there's no reason to assume that the religious situation in Ireland will not grow to affect the United States.

Personally, I grew up in a Catholic-centric world, if that is an appropriate phrase to use. I went, like many people my age, to a Catholic elementary school, attended church every Sunday (excusing the Sundays that someone in the family was sick), and clutched the cross and my faith close to my heart, using it as a lifeline. It was only after I left my fortress of religion that I realized that there was more to the world. My life had revolved around Catholicism, much like Ireland has, as many of the European countries have throughout history. Every country has experienced different "side effects" from separating church and state, and one of these side effects is a decreasing number of the population identifying as Catholic.

Leaving the shell of religion is never something easy to do, not for people as humans, not for countries as nations. This can be seen in American history by the Puritans leaving England for the Americas and eventually breaking off into different groups. That showed a separation of the more religious populous and the less religious populous. This is what we can currently see in Ireland, with less people choosing to focus their lives on/around religion, and more people facing the modern future and its perils. The really important thing to note through this process, is that it's happened before and it will certainly happen again; and that's true of most current events. It leaves you to ask yourself this: do we know when we're making history, or are we oblivious to the fact that one day, we will be a fact in a textbook, a vocabulary word on a flashcard, the wrong multiple choice answer on a test?