The new Catholic Bishop of Kilmore diocese, Dr Leo O'Reilly, who was installed during a concelebrated Mass in Cavan town yesterday, has spoken of "living in a winter church", writes Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent.
At the installation he said that in Ireland "over the past few years we have felt the cold winds of criticism and the storms of scandal, and all of us, bishops, priests, religious and lay people, have been hurt by it. The sunny days of bursting seminaries and crowded novitiates are gone, and church attendances are smaller than they were. That is discouraging. It can damage the morale, and I think most of us, clergy especially, would admit that in recent years we have at times felt the chill of a winter church in our bones."