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THERE ARE AROUND 6,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Ireland.
You might know them as Mormons.
To answer your questions straight away: no they don’t all go door to door, they don’t have multiple wives, they do celebrate Christmas, but they don’t make Communion, and their mass lasts three hours.
Restoration
The LDS church is a restorative faith founded in 1830 in New York. Smith believed that he was called by God to restore the Church of Jesus Christ. He established settlements in Missouri, but was run out of the state to Illinois.
There, he and his chosen successor, his brother Hyrum, were killed. Their successor Brigham Young would lead the church to what is now Utah, which is now the home of the church worldwide, having grown to 15 million members.
The religion is a Christian faith and teaches the Old and New Testaments, but also uses other texts, most notably The Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon is a text that Smith claimed to have translated from golden plates. It chronicles God’s interactions with people on the American continent.
In Ireland
Ben O’Farrell is a computer repairman from Clonsilla in Dublin.
His father joined the church around 50 years ago and Ben is now Stake President of the Church in Ireland. A stake is similar to a diocese in Catholicism.
He says that growing up as a Mormon in Ireland was not especially different.
“I have nothing to compare to, I went to a Protestant school for primary and went to a non-denominational school in secondary. Those things made it easier, but it wasn’t much different.”
When Mormon children reach eight years old, they are baptised, which gives them an occasion similar to a communion.
“Our baptism is done by immersion so it’s quite a visual thing. A lot of the children will have their school teachers or aunts and uncles who aren’t of the faith there.”
In a country that is mostly Catholic, is being of a different faith something that people comment on?
Most people aren’t very interested. I do computer maintenance and maybe after a few years of going to someone’s house, it might come up, but even then it’s just a couple of minutes of a conversation.
Catholic knock-on
While Catholicism is Ireland’s most populous religion, it is experiencing a drop in attendances. So, are people flocking en masse to churches like LDS? Not quite.
“Our church leadership in Frankfurt would ask us if we’re experiencing more people coming because of the controversies surrounding the Catholic Church, but we’re not really.
“It seems like people have lost faith in faith. They don’t just leave the Catholic Church, they leave faith.”
That said, the Mormon church in Clonsilla baptised around 60 people this year, so recruitment is strong.
That is because the church has missionaries who go door to door and attempt to recruit new members.
There are 85,000 missionaries across the world. They are all young men aged 18-21 and young women from 20-22 and all are voluntary and pay for themselves.
“They move around and teach in different places across Ireland and Scotland.”
Once they are of age, young men and women apply to their own church leaders to go on missionary service and are assessed.
Their application is then sent to Salt Lake City, where the Quorom of Twelve, the church’s version of the Twelve Apostles, assign them a mission. If they need to learn a language, the church helps them.
The differences
If you went to a Mormon church on a Sunday, what can you expect?
It’s a very different service. Three hours long. We start with music and hymns and we do what is, I suppose, a form of communion. The previous week, people are asked to prepare a speech on a certain theme so it makes it quite interesting because the congregation says mass.
“Then we all divide out and do Sunday School classes for an hour. Then the men and women go into different rooms and we do different classes on your role as a father or mother or son or daughter.”
Individual churches are led by bishops who are volunteers and the church is run by donations from the congregation. Like many Christian sects, they apply the law of tithe, which means individual members are expected to contribute 10% of their income to the church. However, there is no onus to prove your earnings to the church.
The churches are then used as community buildings for classes and meetings.
O’Farrell says that because of the small nature of the faith, it is a “much tighter community”.
The misconceptions
And what about all those things you thought about Mormons? Are they all wrong? What mistakes do people make?
“The biggest thing is people think it’s not a Christian faith.
We teach the Bible, we believe in the Immaculate Conception, we believe in Christ, that he died for our sins, we celebrate Christmas and Easter.
“It’s a restored church – we believe that there is truth in lots of faiths and that Joseph Smith was called to restore the Church of Jesus Christ.”
The other issue is polygamy, a practice introduced in the early days of the church but swiftly outlawed.
“That can been controversial, but it was practice by 5% of Mormon people for 20 years 200 years ago.
“People say “oh you’re the polygamists”, and say well we were for a short time – 200 years ago.”
This is the first in a series on minority religions in Ireland. If you are a member of a minority faith and would like to tell your story, email paulhosford@thejournal.ie
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They are doing great work but we should do everything to keep our own healthcare workers here.
@Munster1: having immigrants working here means that at least some of the pressure is taken off overworked staff meaning that staff don’t leave the job or country in search of better working conditions as much
@Munster1: I remember going to Kerry for holidays as a kid and asking my mum what language they were speaking… it’s also sometimes hard to understand some accents. Instead of forcing it why not provide classes as anyone who comes here is eager to learn English…
Make fluent English one of the criteria. Some of them are impossible to understand. Also, make citizenship conditional upon HSE employment.
@Benny McHale: Having worked in Healthcare for more than 20 years, I have encountered many non-EU employees. All of the non-EU doctors and nurses I have met speak fluent English. Some of my Irish colleagues are not quite so easy to understand.
@Benny McHale: the majority of foreign medical staff in ireland are fluent English speakers but much like Kerry people their accent makes it difficult to understand….
@Benny McHale: The article was perfectly clear and articulate. If I had to be hospitalised I’d certainly appreciate being treated by a doctor capable of speaking out when necessary. Certainly not one that settled for struggling in silence for fear of what people might imagine. Everyone needs some hope that they can progress in life.
We are producing enough of our own at significant cost to not to have to do this.
@Bill ORourke: not everyone who graduates wants to stay in Ireland and they shouldn’t feel like they have to, and some will go abroad for a few years experience
@Bill ORourke: no we’re not.
@Sam Harms: isn’t that more of a case to better the working conditions in Ireland. For the Irish people. Rather than setting the bar lower and lower and staffing the country with foreigners in the first place? It’s only putting a bandage over the wound the country is continuing to cut into itself.
This is a consequence of brain drain of the last decade as a result of failed policy to retain talent.. Recent survey from nurses graduates showed over 70% are planning to emigrate.
How about paying student nurses Donnelly…. their the backbone of the health sector. Which you are missing…..
We produce more than enough doctors and nurses- highest per capita in Europe- that is Irish doctors alone excluding the foreign students who also graduate here.
The issue here is that doctors and nurses are leaving for better conditions overseas and in the private sector. 20% of consultant postions in the public sector are unfilled.
Asking him to do something.. Like that’s gonna work.
Thumbs up
Good for Ireland, not so good for the countries these badly needed professionals are leaving behind.
Wow how fast can these guys respond to a trending story however merited but take years to deal with true problems like paid sick leavefor workers, nurses retention, poor public transport systems etc
These articles about immigrants in Ireland are always guaranteed to bring out the whataboutery, closet xenophobia and racism…
This is bound to just create some form of “look after own” thread .
@Paul Hayes: are you suggesting that looking after our own is a bad thing?
@Cormac McCarthy: Cormac, our own are not here today to care for our own. .. it’s a pandemic and our own choose to look after themselves.
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