Catholicism Owes a Lot to the Celtic Church

When I visited the site of the nativity in Bethlehem about 40 years ago I was surprised to find that it was not run exclusively by the Catholic Church. In fact, two other Christian communities - the Greek Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church - share stewardship of the holy place with the Catholic Church. Furthermore, it is the Greek Church and not the Catholic Church that manages the Grotto of the Nativity where Jesus is believed to have been born. The Catholic Church, represented by Franciscans, is in charge of the Church of Saint Catherine which is next to the Basilica of the Nativity.

I suspect that my surprise was shared by other visiting Catholics that day as I had been brought up to assume that we Catholics had a monopoly on Jesus´s life and heritage. I knew about the great schism of 1054 that formally separated the Roman Catholic Church (Latin) and the Eastern Orthodox Church (Greek). However, I had never imagined that these Orthodox Churches held any real influence outside their territories. I don´t know why because their areas are geographically closer to the Holy Land than the western areas which became the Catholic Church´s stronghold. Perhaps this was mere ignorance or plain arrogance on my part. Just as it was often said that all real roads led to Rome so I felt all religious roads led to the Catholic Church.

The Christian faith quickly spread much further than the Middle East, Europe and Asia but also to Africa. Think of Egypt and the Copts who became Christians within a short time of Jesus´s death or Ethiopia where Christianity dates back to the fourth century.

Then I thought of my own country, Scotland, positioned at the furthest end of Europe with only the Atlantic Ocean separating it from America. Scotland was part of the Celtic Church along with Ireland, Wales and parts of England. This western outpost of Christianity ended up playing an invaluable role in spreading the Christian message that was out of proportion to its size and location.

Ireland was the driving force, thanks to saints like Columba and Patrick. St. Columba moved from Ireland to the Scottish island of Iona in the sixth century and turned it into a launching pad for missionaries, first across Scotland then northern England then further afield.  These Hiberno-Scottish missionaries, often monks, traveled across western Europe setting up churches and monasteries in France, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary and other places, converting pagan tribes to the Word of the Lord.  There is a canton in Switzerland called St. Gallen named after an Irish monk who was a follower of St. Columba. Regensburg in Germany has a Scots Monastery (Schottenkloster) founded in the 11th century.

The Celtic Church was independent for centuries and even had disagreements with Pope Gregory who sent Augustine to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons in 597. It was finally assimilated to the Roman Catholic Church in the year 664 but continued to maintain many of its own practices in Scotland and Ireland for centuries.

The Celtic Church has continued to push above its weight up to the present day. The missionary zeal of the first Irish monks who reached as far as Iceland and may even have got as far as America, if the story of St. Brendan is true, helped spread Catholicism.

Irish immigration to the United States in the 19th century interests boosted the Catholic population as did mass immigration from Italy and Poland.

The Catholic Church has recognized its debt to the Celtic Church. Scotland is still regarded as a separate country by the Vatican although it is now part of the United Kingdom (unfortunately, in opinion) and the descendants of Irish immigrants in the United States have always held high office in the Church there. There has never been an Irish, Scottish or Welsh Pope but if there is any justice there should be some day.

© John Brander Fitzpatrick 2025