Yes vote plunges Church deeper into mire

The Irish answer to the issue of same-sex marriage underscores Pope Francis’s isolation from the Western world and its people, writes John Lloyd.

Tom Inglis, a sociologist who specialises in the affairs of the Irish Church, opined that “the era of the Church as the moral conscience of Irish society is over.”

But not just for the Irish. As the effect of the April 29 referendum — gay marriage approved by 62% — sinks in, it becomes clearer it isn’t just the Irish Church that is trembling but the Catholic Church as a whole. To say, as Diarmuid Martin, archbishop of Dublin, did after the vote — “I appreciate how gay and lesbian men and women feel on this day. That they feel this is something that is enriching the way they live” — is to position the bishop well among liberals.