A new more inclusive image of Saint Patrick reflects a debate swirling around Ireland’s Patron Saint.
There’s a lot of mystery surrounding the legend of Saint Patrick, but recently debates have emerged regarding the hiring practises of the Christian church. Did they need to hire a Briton to bring Christianity to Ireland? Could they not have hired someone from Africa or the Middle East? If so, then why didn’t they? Surely such candidates would have done as good a job or better?
Efforts to ascertain who was in charge of hiring practises in the early Christian church have been in vain and the Vatican has been very slow to reveal any details. “We just didn’t have the manpower to do that kind of thing back in those days.” says Archbishop Cazzograsso of the Holy See. “The church was just getting going back then. It took us a long time to even get to Africa never mind look for people to help us out. Keep in mind also that the native Irish were completely mental. You were lucky to travel ten miles in that freezing desolate land without losing your head. Literally. Try convincing an African to go up to there and try convert a land full of bloodthirsty lunatics to a religion of peace.”
Cazzograsso does have a point, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t address lack of diversity in the appointment of patron saints. Our moral imperative is to invert normality. Why not then give our pale-skinned Paddy a good old sun tan?