Writing in a new book about the Catholic Church in Jersey, Monsignor Nicholas France says that the Church has had a ‘relative lack of success’ in sustaining the religious beliefs of immigrants from Catholic cultures.
Mgr France told the JEP that the issue was most serious in the Portuguese community, who have become disengaged because of a lack of Portuguese-speaking priests coming to the Island.
And he admits that although the Church has recognised the problem and in recent years has created a Portuguese Catholic centre and chapel and set up language classes, it has yet to fully address the problem.
