Irish Examiner view: Synthesis report is a moment of truth for the Catholic Church

The Vatican has to heed this cri de coeur from Irish Catholics when Pope Francis calls together next year’s Synod in Rome

Archbishop Eamon Martin is not renowned for having radical views but the Catholic Primate of All Ireland signed off on the groundbreaking National Synthesis report. File picture

To outsiders looking in, or even insiders taking stock, there appears to be little to argue with within the National Synthesis report on the role of the Catholic Church in Ireland, and how it needs to change to stay relevant to the faithful or become relevant once more to those who have lost theirs.

The report was sent to the secretary general for the Synod of Bishops in the Vatican, Cardinal Mario Grech, having been signed off by the Irish Primate, Archbishop Eamon Martin, a man not renowned for his radical views. It recommends immediate change on the Church’s dealings with women — up to and including ordination.