State Papers – 1977: ‘For God’s sake, don’t make this evil legal’

ON OPENING the file on contraceptives one is immediately struck by a photograph of Fr Michael Cleary in an article in the Catholic Standard of December 30, 1977.

The article was enclosed in a letter to the Taoiseach complaining about contraception.

“Such problems as contraception and divorce are proposed in the name of religious minority rights and the main argument used in their favour is that of religious discrimination because, with our great fear of offending, it is the argument most likely to succeed,” Fr Cleary wrote.