Forbidden Ireland: Church and State – 1951 to The Present Day,
by T. P. O’Mahony, introduction by Rosita Sweetman
(Mercier Press. €16.99 / £14.50)
T. P. O’Mahony was for many years the religious affairs correspondent first for the Irish Press in Dublin and then later for the Cork Examiner. He has written several books on the role of the Catholic Church in Ireland, so this new book can be seen as a resumé of his experience in this area during a traumatic period for this Church.
Forbidding
The title Forbidden Ireland is somewhat enigmatic. The ‘Forbidding Church’ might be more to the point. He quotes approvingly the former Abbot of Glenstal Abbey, Mark Hederman, as saying that for most of the 20th century in Ireland the Catholic Church was involved in a “symbiotic structural entanglement with the Irish Free State”, and then suddenly, “the Catholic Church melted away. How could this have happened?”
The author does not flinch from Mary McAleese’s description of the Catholic Church as ‘the primary carrier of the virus of misogyny’”
The author himself explains that the book’s title “derives from the fact that in a number of key socio-sexual spheres the Church suffered a series of morally damaging setbacks – defeats, if you will – beginning with contraception, then homosexuality, divorce, abortion, and same-sex relationships.” These “setbacks” are examined at length, but who is “morally damaged” is not spelled out.
In her Introduction, Rosita Sweetman, points out that the author “does not flinch from Mary McAleese’s description of the Catholic Church as ‘the primary carrier of the virus of misogyny’.”
Painful
From this it can be seen that for Catholics, the book is a painful read. The scope of O’Mahony’s research is wide-ranging as the footnotes and five-page bibliography shows.
He makes a brief reference to the more positive role of the Church in the 19th century, when a great service was undertaken by the religious orders “for the benefit, welfare and well-being of the Irish people. The costs and benefits of that service simply cannot be computed. This is not to turn a blind eye in any way to the dark episodes in the history of these congregations, but there is a much larger picture.”
There are forays into the American constitution and French Gallicanism to illustrate how much the new Irish state fell short”
But for the most part, the book is a catalogue of the Catholic Hierarchy’s losing battle against social and sexual reforms. These were endorsed or promoted by successive governments following the revelations of physical and sexual abuse in institutions and dioceses. There are forays into the American constitution and French Gallicanism to illustrate how much the new Irish state fell short in ensuring the model favoured by the author for the separation of church and state.
Seperation
Following all the referenda and new laws it would seem that Ireland has reached a degree of separation which accords with the three criteria of former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, quoted by the author. These are: no religious tests for public office, no established state religion and no abridgement of right to religious liberty. The author is attracted to the proposal in 2018 by the then Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, in front of the visiting Pope Francis, for a “new covenant” between Church and State. But he notes that eight years later nothing has been done.
Even ‘substituting a female pope for a male pope’ will not have much point unless there is a ‘root- and- branch reform’”
The big problem which still remains with the Catholic Church not just in Ireland but everywhere according to the author is “ingrained misogyny”; the failure to give women proper leadership roles and, of course, ordination to the priesthood.
But even “substituting a female pope for a male pope” will not have much point unless there is a “root- and- branch reform” of the exercise of authority and leadership in the Catholic Church, the author concludes.
