Church’s power on lawmaking fades

Cardinal Seán Brady appeared to overestimate the power the Catholic Church has over the sovereign lawmaking of this Republic when he told reporters in Knock over the weekend that “our job is to convince the electorate first of all, and the legislators”.

Any signs that the Church is still the forceful patriarchal organisation that can “convince” the political establishment to enact what it believes to be morally correct — for women, in the case of abortion — were done away with by the Taoiseach yesterday.

Enda Kenny, himself a devout Catholic, stood up to the head of the Church in Ireland, standing firmly for “Ireland and its people” who, he said, decide on the Constitution, and whom he has a duty to represent.