Ireland has long been one of the staunches Catholic countries in Europe; today, though, it's becoming one of the staunchest anti-clerical countries in Europe. The two situations are not contradictory; in fact the latter grows out of the former. The extreme deference given to churches and church leaders led to incredible abuses of power, no to mention abuses of children, and that's creating an incredible backlash -- especially given the immoral, callous manner in which the Vatican is handling things.
The airwaves are full of bitter remarks supporting Taoiseach Enda Kenny's attack on the "disgraceful" Vatican, and recommending every anti-church measure from the dissolution of the monasteries to the expulsion of the Papal Nuncio and the severing of all links with the Holy See. (The recall of the Papal Nuncio this week marks the lowest point of relations between Ireland and Rome.)
One correspondent wrote that it was his ardent hope that the Catholic Church would follow the example of the News of the World, and hold a "last Mass" before shutting down.
The Taoiseach, meanwhile, has been met with standing ovations for his salvo against the Vatican for failing to respond with sufficient concern to the clerical sex abuse scandals as described in the Cloyne report.
His justice minister, Alan Shatter, is introducing a highly controversial Bill which will compel Irish priests to disclose the secrets of the confessional where paedophilia is mentioned: failure to do so could result in a five-year prison sentence.
Source: Telegraph
The secularist movement in Ireland is growing in support, power, and influence. I expect that few Irish or even experts on Ireland would have expected such a shift a couple of decades ago, but it is happening and the momentum right now is very much with the advocates of increased secularism rather than with apologists for clericalism and for the church.
Church and state are already formally separate in Ireland -- there is no official state church and the Catholic Church has no official position within the government. However, there isn't much separation between church and culture in Ireland. That sort of separation is much harder to achieve. It can be done legislatively and through force, though that tends to have bad effects. Better, long-term separation must come from the ground up. In Ireland, there might be a chance of that happening.
There once was a joke/maxim about the catholic cult and its influence: “Italy invents the rules and Ireland puts them into practice.” It was generally true, but maybe we’re finally seeing it come to an end.
It would be interesting to hear how much of the cult’s attempts at blame shifting are playing a part in Ireland turning its back on them. The Morally Vacant City, the Vatican, has been blaming “society” for the crimes of its priests in much the same way a thief blames society for “making” him steal. It’s bullshit, and everybody knows it. This stuff – child molestation, the rape of nuns, slavery of the poor – has been going on since the time when there was only catholicism, pre-Martin Luther, and the catholics controlled all of Europe.
Some people defend criminals because they’re family or part of the neighborhood, but eventually, people get sick of it. They don’t just turn their backs on them, they start turning them in to the cops.
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I believe it was Emile Zola who said, “Civilization will not attain perfection until the last stone from the last church falls on the last priest. “
Does anyone remember the scene in Steve Martin’s movie “The Jerk” where a church is yanked off its foundation and dragged down the street. Actor Bill Macy says to Steve Martin, “Look on the bright side. It’s one less church.”