Ireland is running out of priests

"One-hundred and sixty priests died last year but only nine were ordained. Figures for nuns were even more dramatic, with the deaths of 228 nuns and only two taking final vows for service in religious life.
Based upon these figures The Irish Catholic newspaper predicts that the number of priests will drop from the current 4,752 to about 1,500 by 2028.
The decline in vocations is attributed to the loss of the Church’s authority after a string of sex-abuse scandals. In 1994 the Government collapsed over the mishandling of the case of a paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.

[...]

Ireland is now the vocations blackspot of the world."

The Times, February 27, 2008

In other news:
Pope not Catholic anymore

The Vatican urges boycott of Amnesty International

"The Vatican has urged all Catholics to stop donating money to Amnesty International, accusing the human rights group of promoting abortion."

BBC, 14 June 2007

I had been thinking for a while about joining Amnesty, but imagine what I did after hearing about this... That's right, I joined Amnesty!

So fuck you pope Benedict and your paedophile church!

Please join Amnesty
Italian catholics, leave the church here.
Read about the Vatican's cover-up

[Vatican, paedophiles] An Open Letter to Amnesty International from Trevor Blake

"This letter demonstrates that Vatican City, by way of the Roman Catholic Church, has systematically sheltered child abusers for decades."

It's from 2005, and not exactly news, but well worth reading!