The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
When Very Rev Gary Paulsen came to visit Rev Canon Bob Hanna in Ennis a few years ago and asked for directions to the Anglican Church, no one he spoke to knew what he was talking about. His request to locate the local Church of Ireland was also greeted with silence. Rev Paulsen drove on to a petrol station and repeated his request, where a man asked him “do you mean the Protestant church?” While the Rector of Adare eventually found Rev Hanna, he was amazed by the lack of local knowledge about different faiths and religions. His home town of Athlone in the Western Cape, near Cape Town, is an eclectic mix of Portugese, English, French, German, Malaysian and other cultures, which fostered a large variety of religions. There is no dominant church, everyone lives side-by-side and religious leaders meet each other on a regular basis. Rev Paulsen said he dislikes the Protestant label, as he doesn’t see himself …
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