Congratulations for writing an excellent, top notch article, both historically and factually-based. I cannot express how thankful I am when people are able to write what you just did for others to read. Religions have had a long history of violence and degradation to societies. As near as I can tell, even here in the US, the attendance of churches in general are on decline.

I’ve spent a lot of time in Ireland, and absolutely love your beautiful country. However, I’ve long been aware of the impact of the Catholic Church on Ireland. I also have spent a lot of time in Spain and as near as I can tell, young Spaniards are no longer becoming priests or nuns as they once did. In fact, Spain is importing their nuns from places like the Philippines. And regular Sunday worship sees small attendance in Spain, largely by older females.

The church doesn’t have a hold on people like it used to, but we still have further to go. May humans continue to be liberated.