Irish bookmaker company Paddy Power has erected a huge drive-through confession box in Dublin in anticipation of Pope Francis' upcoming Irish visit for the triennial "World Meeting of Families".
Located close to Dublin's Phoenix Park, where the Pope will preside over an open-air mass expected to attract 500,000 (a far cry from the 2.7 million that attended mass the last time a Pope visited, back in 1979), the confession box is a tonge-in-cheek barb aimed at the Catholic Church that was once so powerful and dominant in Ireland. Paddy Power says it will allow motorists a quick expiation of sins with a minimum of hassle, as they prepare for next week's open-air mass. The company points to polls that suggest that 80% of Ireland's once devout population do not go to confession regularly, and 29% can't even remember the last time they went. Only a third of the population even attend mass regularly (down from 90% at the time of the last papal visit in 1979).
Although this particular Pope is relatively progressive (at least by papal standards), Ireland has changed a lot in the last 40 years - gay marriage is now legal, as is abortion - and the Pope will be be met by a barrage of protests (particularly over the ongoing issue of sexual abuse within the clergy) rather than by adoring fans. There is a large online movement called "Say Nope to the Pope", part of which involves buying up tickets to the outdoor mass and then not showing up.
Whatever you think about Catholicism now, the organization has a horribly checkered past, and modern Ireland will leave the Pope in no doubt about what many people think of it. If only the drive-through confession box were large enough for the One True Church itself to enter into.
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