The answers to the two questions on religion in the poll conducted among Irish farmers, and published in the Irish Examiner, are really interesting. 82% are in favour of priests being allowed to marry, and, even more surprisingly, 58% are in favour of women being ordained as priests, with 52% strongly in favour.
And to put this in context, of those polled 69% are regular Mass attenders, meaning that they attend Mass every weekend.
I had a stimulating chat with a man who spends half of each year doing humanitarian work in Africa, and the other half back here in Ireland. Having told me about Africa, what motivates him, how much he loves the people there, and what he is involved in, I asked him about the contrasts between his life in Africa and back home in Ireland.
“They must be two very different realities”, I said.
After forty years of being on the altar celebrating Mass, I have now had four years of attending Mass, like any ordinary believer. It has been an experience not without its difficulties. Often I find myself as if I was standing outside the event, as a spectator, and not really being part of what is going on. I know that is not the way a person should participate at Mass, but it can be a struggle for me to get involved.
