An End to Rome Rule?
Yesterday, during a debate nobody was expecting much out of, Taoiseach Enda Kenny made a very suprising, and welcome, speech. The full text can be found here and watched here.
This is ground breaking stuff as every commentator has been saying. It is, finally, an outright rejection of the lies and cover-ups that the Roman Catholic Church has been engaged in for years unnumbered and it is an Irish politician, a long standing one at that, stating that what has been said and done is not good enough. It is a very far cry from the clericalism and excuses that have been trotted out again and again in the Dáil chamber. It is a statement that the laws and needs of the Republic come before those of the Vatican and it is hopefully a position that no Irish politician (or at least one with power) will go back on. I applaud Enda Kenny for doing this and saying these words, in this way.
But is that it? Not at all.
The metaphorical bishop's ass may have been kicked, but Enda Kenny is still a practising Catholic. Both the Dáil and the Seanad opened today with prayers and the country has not broken off diplomatic relations with the Vatican. Nor is it likely that any of this will change. It is a start, finally, and a good one, but Fine Gael's Presidential candidate is, let's remember, a right-wing Catholic and I'm sure a few politicians will show up to events next year when Ireland hosts the Eucharistic Congress.
So we're not there yet, but I think every day, with every revelation, more and more people believe this country would be better off as just a State, separated from any religion, free from the influence of those who put anything over the safety and well-being of the people, perhaps a place that may, one day, truly be called a Republic.
Edit for Clarification: It has been said to me that this reads as if I'm suggesting members of the Catholic Church should not be able to hold office. This is not my intent. As long as people are excellent to each other and use evidence as a basis for decisions, I really don't mind what they believe in the privacy of their own head. There's more to that, of course, but for the purposes of this short clarification, it'll do.
This is ground breaking stuff as every commentator has been saying. It is, finally, an outright rejection of the lies and cover-ups that the Roman Catholic Church has been engaged in for years unnumbered and it is an Irish politician, a long standing one at that, stating that what has been said and done is not good enough. It is a very far cry from the clericalism and excuses that have been trotted out again and again in the Dáil chamber. It is a statement that the laws and needs of the Republic come before those of the Vatican and it is hopefully a position that no Irish politician (or at least one with power) will go back on. I applaud Enda Kenny for doing this and saying these words, in this way.
But is that it? Not at all.
The metaphorical bishop's ass may have been kicked, but Enda Kenny is still a practising Catholic. Both the Dáil and the Seanad opened today with prayers and the country has not broken off diplomatic relations with the Vatican. Nor is it likely that any of this will change. It is a start, finally, and a good one, but Fine Gael's Presidential candidate is, let's remember, a right-wing Catholic and I'm sure a few politicians will show up to events next year when Ireland hosts the Eucharistic Congress.
So we're not there yet, but I think every day, with every revelation, more and more people believe this country would be better off as just a State, separated from any religion, free from the influence of those who put anything over the safety and well-being of the people, perhaps a place that may, one day, truly be called a Republic.
Edit for Clarification: It has been said to me that this reads as if I'm suggesting members of the Catholic Church should not be able to hold office. This is not my intent. As long as people are excellent to each other and use evidence as a basis for decisions, I really don't mind what they believe in the privacy of their own head. There's more to that, of course, but for the purposes of this short clarification, it'll do.