Ireland gets 15 new seminarians

Yes, a lot of the Poles in London attend Masses in Polish as well, they tend to lean towards the trad end of things.

Just speaking personally here, but I feel uncomfortable keeping score on who's "trad" or "progressive." The bottom line is that they're men called by God to serve as priests - in Ireland, at that. I frequently tune into Fr. Thady Doyle's Youtube channel, and from what he describes, it's a godsend to round up *that many* seminarians there. It *would* be interesting to know where they're from, however.

Me, too. It's very difficult if not impossible to find out. Foreign priests, especially those from Africa or Asia, are a sensitive topic, and the Church tries to keep them on the "down low", so to speak. Out of sight, out of mind.

For two reasons. One is that they're afraid that it will scare off native potential candidates. The other is that parishes that end up with a foreign pastor often perceive it as a sign that they are not priorities for the local ordinary, and may be slated for closure or merger in the near future.

Especially if the pastor in question is from a third-world country. I've heard such discussions in the past: "Saint Michael's just got a pastor from Nigeria!" "Uh oh! You know what means!"

There's a growing perception in Europe, and also somewhat in the US, Canada and Australia, that Catholicism is transforming from a "European" religion to an "African" one, from a "native" one to a "foreign" one. That is a big problem in Europe, where religion has long been tightly linked to ethnic and national identity, often more so than to actual religious identity. Most people who identify as Catholic in Europe are not practicing, or even believing, Catholics, but rather "Cultural Catholics".

Yes, it's partially due to prejudice, but more so to economics and culture rather than to overt racism. It's not as visible yet as the divide between the "Global North" and the "Global South" in the Anglican Communion, but it's eventually going to go along the same path, though a bit slower because the Catholic Church is far more centralized.

With the growth of the TLM and its appeal to a broader cross-section of people, it's increasingly difficult to pigeon-hole its adherents.  I am basically traditional in outlook and I seek out the TLM as my Mass of choice, but I favor optional clerical celibacy (at least for men above a certain age and of a good station in life, viz. viri probati), have no intrinsic problem with Mass in a reverent, dignified vernacular, and if it weren't for abortion and Second Amendment issues, my politics would more resemble those of Bernie Sanders or AOC, i.e., raise taxes and provide very broad social benefits for the whole of society.  Nobody should be homeless, hungry, or without health care, nor should they have to fear financial ruin if they can't afford the latter without destroying what they've worked to save in life.

I have no issue with "thread drift", and there is always the option of splitting out a thread if it starts departing wildly from its original subject.  I don't think that's happened here yet, but if it does, that's fine.

I am moderate to liberal on most social issues, again, abortion and Second Amendment rights aside.  As to same-sex marriage, no, I cannot approve of two men or two women being united in something called "marriage", though I could reluctantly condone some kind of civil union, with rights to inheritance, next-of-kin issues, insurance, pensions, and so on, as two people choosing to unite their fortunes is about far more than just having sex with each other.  If they want to get a civil union and then hie themselves off to some celebrant, have a ceremony, and call it a "marriage", well, we can't police the world.  As to someone such as AOC decrying how we can have the richest country in the world and still have children getting ringworm, conservatives lampooned her for this, but I echo her thoughts entirely.  I keep my mouth shut (yes, I'm capable of doing that, mirabile dictu) about my more liberal political views when among hard-right TLMers, and I peeled off my Bernie Sanders bumper sticker in 2016 before I parked my car in the lot of the TLM church one Sunday (I supported him simply because he wasn't Hillary, IMO he was the lesser of two evils).  That could harsh some people's mellow.