Free Republic

Ireland's future, with the legalization of same-sex marriage already passed, and abortion up for a referendum next year, doesn't look bright. An inside source at Ireland's national seminary gave an update that produces more concerns than hope. On Wednesday, Church Militant spoke to an inside source at St. Patrick's College, Ireland's national seminary in Maynooth. The seminary, founded in 1795 and built to house 500 seminarians, has produced 11,000 priests. Once the largest seminary in the world, the now scandal-ridden seedbed of priests is but a shadow of its former greatness. With currently only 30 seminarians, half of them...

Dublin's archbishop has said he will stop sending trainee priests to the Republic of Ireland's main Catholic college after allegations emerged of a gay culture at the seminary. St Patrick's College in Maynooth is not the right place for men to study to become priests, Diarmuid Martin said. He is "unhappy about an atmosphere that was growing" the seminary. He added that he would prefer to send priests from his Dublin diocese to Italy to study at Rome's Irish College.

The students’ union at Maynooth University has described a postcard it received this morning, which compares those who support gay marriage with people who have been convicted of sexual abuse and pedophilia, as “sick”. The postcard calls for a No vote in the same sex marriage referendum in May. It states that Jimmy Savile, Gary Glitter and Rolf Harris all propagated Homosexual marriage and it calls itself the “No Way is Ireland Gay” campaign. The college voted this afternoon on whether or not to raise a Pride flag on the campus in support of equality. …