Last year, there was more than one seminarian in Dublin

In 1975, 92% of the Irish population reported regular visits to Mass, making it the highest rate in Europe. Four years later, John Paul II's historic visit to Ireland — the first time a pope had visited Ireland — had brought together 2.5 million people, almost three quarters of the population, including more than one million in the Phoenix Park in Dublin, the capital. In recent decades Catholicism has declined considerably in Ireland, so much so…