C OVE R STO RY
Church IRELAND HAS GONE FROM BEING A SOCIETY THAT HAD A HIGHLY DEFERENTIAL ATTITUDE TOWARDS BISHOPS, PRIESTS, AND RELIGIOUS TO ONE THAT IS MUCH MORE CRITICAL AND EVEN SCEPTICAL AS REGARDS RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS FOR OUR FUTURE? BY MICHAEL A. CONWAY 12
Reading
the signs of the times and interpreting them in the light of the Gospel is an essential task for the Church in any country at any particular time. There has been an enormous change in Irish culture over the last 30 years or so, and this is having a significant impact on the role and understanding of Church in Irish society. It could be said that everything about the Church is now being refashioned in the cauldron of contemporary culture. The Church has much to learn from the culture and, as regards to responding to change, the first task is to understand our present situation as best we can. In terms of the relationship between the Catholic Church as a major figure of Irish society and the culture at large, there is neither harmonious uniformity nor aggressive opposition. There are, rather, ongoing processes of divergence and disagreement, dialogue and discernment arising from the specific tension between the Church as belonging in, and deeply marked by, the REALITY MARCH 2020
culture and the Church as herald of the good news of the Gospel from within that same culture. The various debates surrounding the recent referendums on the Constitution reflect this complex relationship. In general, the Church in Ireland is cognisant that it is only by paying attention to the ambient culture and being sensitive to its spiritual needs and aspirations that one can hope to "evangelise culture" (St John Paul II). RE-POSITIONING THE CHURCH’S ROLE IN PUBLIC LIFE? A particular feature of Irish life and culture in recent decades is a clear rejection of the Catholic Church’s dominant position in public and social life. This should not be read, however, as an outright rejection of religion and faith, but, rather, as a realignment of its place as a public reality. Whereas this has led necessarily to a certain diminishing of the Church’s voice in public debate, it is far less a dynamic of exclusion and much more one of establishing the appropriate place
in its
IRISH
