Gulf growing between Church and people

For some time now the authority of the Catholic Church in Ireland has been waning visibly.

Many causes, including covering up child abuse scandals, underlie this significant power shift. But the reaction of the bishops to the Protection of Life in Pregnancy Bill indicates that the gulf between the hierarchy and the broad sweep of people in this country is becoming ever wider and that Ireland is changing from being Catholic to a secular country.

The results of two referenda on the highly emotive proposal to introduce limited abortion here, in line with the Supreme Court ruling on the X case, have shown clearly that more than 80% of citizens support the Government’s initiative to legislate for circumstances where a pregnant woman’s life is at risk. Nonetheless, this proposal was yesterday described by Cardinal Brady personally and in a statement by all the bishops as a “dramatic and morally unacceptable change to Irish law”.