There are a lot of myths about the life of St. Patrick.
One of them is that he was Protestant.
Or at least that he wasn't Catholic but was instead, I guess, a kind of proto-Protestant.
This kind of thinking is found in some Evangelical circles, where some of those of Irish descent have a desire to claim St. Patrick as one of their own.
This kind of thinking is understandable, based in human emotions.
It's also nonsense, historically.
So if you encounter folks at work–or wherever–denying that St. Patrick was Catholic, you might want to check out a piece I did lo some 13 years ago.
GET THE STORY.
Author: Jimmy Akin
Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."
View all posts by Jimmy Akin
Well, for one thing, he wasn’t Irish. Also, he wasn’t an Eastern Orthodox Bishop either. I’ve seen him co-opted by Western Eastern Orthodox Christians who converted from Catholicism and Protestantism so they have some Western link in their Russian, Greek, Antiochian, etc. Orthodoxy.
Of course, Abram wasn’t a Jew either. So, it’s OK that the great Patriarch of Ireland was actually from Britain.
By the way, are you referring to something like this:
http://jacksonsnyder.com/yah/page/jeremiah-in-ireland.htm
This is great
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UociNQHztiY
St. Padraig may have been Welsh, but in his ‘Confessions’ he shows clearly that he adopted his spiritual children’s nationality, often referring to himself as Irish. Destiny is more important than nativity.
That article was written a long time ago. It’s bylined “James Akin”.
Of course the concept of national identity was weak at the time at that. St. Patrick was Welsh, as we’d conceive of it, and he was the great Saint of the Irish, as we all know. How he conceived of himself nationally is no doubt much less important than that he was a great servant of God.
That some would claim that he was not a Roman Catholic is laughable. St. Patrick, however, probably wouldn’t laugh at that. He is a justly loved Saint, but he wasn’t exactly a shrinking violet. He was pretty tough, and likely would correct those who would misconstrue his legacy if he ran into them.
Do you have a reference to where one can read the “Letters to the Corotian Soldiers?” Is it available online or a purchasable book?
I found the Letter here with a Google search:
http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/p02.html
I had thought he was Welsch, but just read yesterday that he was actually born in Scotland.
St. Patrick’s father was a Deacon and his grandfather was a Priest.
My internet sources say that he was from Cumbria in modern day Northwest England before he was captured and taken to Ireland.
Mr. Akin,
Thanks for this post. I enjoy your stuff regularly.
Some years ago I spent time in an Evangelical denomination before my return to the Church, and attended a very good international study course known as “Perspectives”, geared toward encouraging folks to get involved in mission work. One of the historical classes was on St. Patrick, and the woman teaching the class went out of her way to tell everyone that Patrick was “neither Irish nor Catholic.” I knew it to be false but never challenged her on it (though I did explain to my friends that it was baloney). I had never run into this before and thought it just an aberration. Of course, Protestants try to do the same thing with Augustine and other early Fathers. I guess the idea is “if you can’t beat ’em, claim ’em” !
James Arrington
St. Mary’s Seminary, Houston