Catholic Church in Ireland
St. Patrick | |
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Origin | Claims continuity with Celtic Christianity c. 430. Roman diocesan structure introduced c. 1111 at Synod of Ráth Breasail. Gaelic Ireland |
Separations | Church of Ireland (1536/1871) |
Members | 3,729,000 (2016) |
Official website | Irish Bishops' Conference |
Part of a series on |
Celtic Christianity |
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Portal Christianity |
The Catholic Church in Ireland (
After the
History
Gaels and early Christianity
During classical antiquity, the Roman Empire conquered most of Western Europe but never reached Ireland. So when the Edict of Milan in 313 AD allowed tolerance for the Palestinian-originated religion of Christianity and then the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 AD enforced it as the state religion of the Empire; covering much of Europe (including within the British Isles itself, Roman Britain); the indigenous Indo-European pagan traditions of the Gaels in Ireland remained normative. Aside from this independence, Gaelic Ireland was a highly decentralised tribal society, so mass conversion to a new system would prove a drawn out process even as the Christian religion began to gradually move into the island.[3]
There is no tradition of a
Regardless, the earliest stages of Christianity in Ireland, during its 5th century arrival, are somewhat obscure. Native Christian "pre-Patrician" figures, however, including
From its inception in the
The influence of the Irish Church spread back across the
The oldest surviving liturgical text of the Church in Ireland is the
Gregorian Reform and Norman influence
Within the Catholic Church, the
One of the major figures associated with the Gregorian Reform in Ireland was
Due to the influential hagiography, the Life of Saint Malachy, authored by Bernard of Clairvaux, with a strongly Reformist Cistercian zeal, the view that the Gaelic Irish Christians were "savages", "barbarian" or "semi-pagan"; due to their difference in church discipline and organisation and despite a reform already underway under the native high kings; found a wide footing in Western Europe. In 1155,
Crusading
During the
Counter-Reformation and suppression
A confusing but defining period arose during the
The effect of the
Between emancipation and the revolution
The slow process of reform from 1778 on led to
In 1835, Fr. John Spratt, an Irish
In 1879, there was a significant
Following the partition of Ireland
From the time that Ireland achieved independence, the church came to play an increasingly significant social and political role in the
were also resisted; media depictions perceived to be detrimental to public morality were also opposed by Catholics. In addition, the church largely controlled many of the state's hospitals, and most schools, and remained the largest provider of many other social services.At the partition of Ireland in 1922, 92.6% of the south's population were Catholic while 7.4% were Protestant.[19] By the 1960s, the Anglican and Nonconformist Protestant population had fallen by half, mostly due to emigration in the early years of Irish independence, with some Anglicans preferring to live within the UK. However, in the early 21st century the percentage of Protestants in the Republic has risen slightly, to 4.2%, and the absolute numbers to over 200,000, almost equal to the number in 1920, due to immigration and a modest flow of conversions from Catholicism.[citation needed] The Catholic Church's policy of Ne Temere, whereby the children of marriages between Catholics and Protestants had to be brought up as Catholics,[note 6] also helped to uphold Catholic hegemony.
In both parts of Ireland, church policy and practice changed markedly after the
Since the Celtic Tiger and the furtherance of cosmopolitanism in Ireland, Catholicism has been one of the traditional elements of Ireland to fall into decline; particularly in urban areas. Fewer than one in five Catholics attend Mass on any given Sunday in Dublin with many young people only retaining a marginal interest in religion the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said in May 2011.[22] According to an Ipsos MRBI poll by the Irish Times, the majority of Irish Catholics do not attend mass weekly, with almost 62% rejecting key parts of Catholicism such as transubstantiation.[23] After the results of both the 2015 same-sex marriage and the 2018 abortion referendums, Úna Mullally, a liberal journalist who writes for The Guardian claimed that "the fiction of Ireland as a conservative, dogmatically Catholic country has been shattered".[24]
Northern Ireland
This section needs expansion with: there's gotta be more out there than just two measly quotes. You can help by adding to it. (May 2016) |
The Government of Ireland Act of 1920 acted as the constitution of Northern Ireland, in which was enshrined freedom of religion for all of Northern Ireland's citizens.[25] Here Catholics formed a minority of some 35 percent of the population, which had mostly supported Irish nationalism and was therefore historically opposed to the creation of Northern Ireland.
The Roman Catholic schools' council was at first resistant in accepting the role of the government of Northern Ireland, and initially accepted funding only from the government of the
A. N. Bonaparte Wyse
We hope that, notwithstanding the disadvantage at which we were placed by this action, it will be found that Roman Catholic interests have not suffered. We have throughout been careful to keep in mind and to make allowance for the particular points of view of Roman Catholics in regard to education so far as known to us, and it has been our desire to refrain as far as we could from recommending any course which might be thought to be contrary to their wishes.[26]
— Lynn Commission report, 1923
Many commentators have suggested that the separate education systems in Northern Ireland after 1921 prolonged the sectarian divisions in that community. Cases of gerrymandering and preference in public services for Protestants led on to the need for a Civil Rights Movement in 1967. This was in response to continuing discrimination against Catholics in Northern Ireland.[27]
Organisation
The church is organised into four
There are also many
Two societies of priests were founded in Ireland, namely
Almost all Catholic religious in Ireland belong to the
Affiliated groups
Besides numerous religious institutes such as the Dominicans, there are many groups more focused on Catholic laity in Ireland, such as:
- Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (1844)
- Ancient Order of Hibernians (1890s)
- Knights of Columbanus(1915)
- Legion of Mary (1921)
Other organisations with Irish branches:
Missionary activity
In the years surrounding the Great Famine in Ireland, the Catholic Church was doing much work to evangelise other nations in the world. As a consequence of the famine, the Parish Mission's Movement commenced that would lead to a stricter observance of Catholicism in Ireland as well as the push for reform of healthcare and education which would later be expanded into the overseas missionary work.
Statistics
In the 2022 Irish census 69% of the population identified as Catholic in Ireland. [36] Ireland has seen a significant decline from the 84.2% who identified as Catholic in the 2011 census and 79% who identified as Catholic in the 2016 census. [37] In October 2019 the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) announced that reform is urgently required to prevent parishes from closing across Ireland. The number of clerics dying or retiring continues to exceed the number of new priests. The ACP has long promoted church reform, including relaxing celibacy rules, ordaining married men, and ordaining women to the diaconate.[38]
65% of Irish Catholics support same-sex marriage and 30% oppose it.[39]
Society
Christian denominations in Ireland |
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Irish interchurch |
Politics
In Ireland the church had significant influence on public opinion. The introduction of the Irish Education Act (1831) of Lord Stanley placed Irish primary school education under it. It was associated with the
The church continued to have great influence in Ireland.
Pope Francis visited Ireland in 2018 upon invitation extended to the Supreme Pontiff by Ireland's Catholic bishops to visit the country in August 2018 for the World Meeting of Families.[40] This was only the second visit of a pope to the country, the first one having taken place in 1979 with John Paul II.[41]
Education
After independence in 1922, the Church became more heavily involved in health care and education, raising money and managing institutions which were staffed by Catholic religious institutes, paid largely by government intervention and public donations and bequests. Its main political effect was to continue to gain power in the national primary schools where religious proselytisation in education was a major element. The hierarchy opposed the free public secondary schools service introduced in 1968 by Donogh O'Malley, in part because they ran almost all such schools. The church's strong efforts since the 1830s to continue the control of Catholic education was primarily an effort to guarantee a continuing source of candidates for the priesthood, as they would have years of training before entering a seminary.[42]
As Irish society has become more diverse and secular, Catholic control over primary education has become controversial, especially with regard to preference given to baptized Catholics when schools are oversubscribed. Virtually all state-funded primary schools – almost 97 percent – are under church control. Irish law allows schools under church control to consider religion the main factor in admissions. Oversubscribed schools often choose to admit Catholics over non-Catholics, a situation that has created difficulty for non-Catholic families. The
Health care
From 1930, hospitals were funded by a sweepstake (lottery) with tickets frequently distributed or sold by nuns or priests.[44] In 1950, the church opposed the Mother and Child Scheme.
Less hospitals in Ireland are still run by Catholic religious institutes. For example, the
Public morality
Divorce allowing remarriage was banned in 1924 (though it had been rare), and selling artificial contraception was made illegal. The church's influence slipped somewhat after 1970, impacted partly by the media and the growing
In spite of objections from the Catholic hierarchy, voters in Ireland approved a referendum to legalise same-sex marriage in 2015 and abortion in 2018. In September 2010, an Irish Times/Behaviour Attitudes survey of 1,006 people showed that 67% felt that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. This majority extended across all age groups, with the exception of the over-65s, while 66% of Catholics were in favour of same-sex marriage. Only 25% disagreed that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, opposition that was concentrated among older people and those in rural areas. In terms of same-sex adoption, 46% were in support of it and 38% opposed. However, a majority of females, 18- to 44-year-olds, and urban dwellers supported the idea. The survey also showed that 91% of people would not think less of someone who came out as homosexual, while 60% felt the recent civil partnership legislation was not an attack on marriage.[48]
War-time censorship by the government for security was strict and included the church; when bishops spoke on aspects of the war, they were censored and treated "with no more ceremony than any other citizen".[49] While statements and pastoral letters issued from the pulpit were not interfered with, the quoting of them in the press was subject to the censor.[50]
Abuse scandals
Several reports detailing cases of
Popular traditions
Alongside the church itself, many Irish devotional traditions have continued for centuries as a part of the church's local culture. One such tradition, unbroken since ancient times, is of annual pilgrimages to sacred Celtic Christian places such as
See also
- Apostolic Nunciature to Ireland
- Christianity in Ireland
- Church of Ireland
- Eastern Orthodoxy in the Republic of Ireland
- Irish Catholics
- List of Catholic churches in Ireland
- Presbyterian Church in Ireland
- Protestantism in Ireland
- Religion in Northern Ireland
- Religion in the Republic of Ireland
Footnotes
- ^ Specifically, works such as the Lebor Gabála Érenn, Book of Ballymote and Great Book of Lecan, say that, during the time of Moses, Goídel Glas (the reputed progenitor of the Irish) was bitten in the neck by a snake while in Egypt as a youth. His father, the Scythian prince Níul (husband of Egyptian princess Scota) brought Goídel to the noted wonder-worker, Moses, who healed the boy immediately upon applying his rod to the wound. Moses made a prophecy that no serpent would live in the land of his progeny, and that God promised his descendants a "northern island of the world"; he claimed that “kings and lords, saints and righteous” would come from the seed of Goídel. In some ways, the Gaelic authors of these works sought to present themselves as a kind of "chosen people" while approaching the Biblical narrative, mirroring the Israelites.
- ^ Accounts actually attribute Conchobar's death to Mesgegra's brain, which had been lodged into Conchobar's skull by Cet mac Mágach. Conchobar's anger once hearing the story of the crucifixion leads to Mesgegra's brain bursting from his head, killing him.
- Celtic Church" or "British Church" independent from Rome in the Early Middle Ages as part of their historiography. However, during the dispute over the dating of Easter, the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome, Catholic doctrine, liturgical practice (see Hiberno-Latin) or the sacraments—issues of importance to Protestants—were not under question.
- ^ Divorce was permitted under the Constitution of the Irish Free State. The ban on divorce was introduced with the 1937 constitution. The ban was repealed in 1995. While the ban forbade remarriage, it provided for separation.
- ^ The sale of contraceptives was banned until 1978. They were regarded as medical items thereafter, and were only available from pharmacies; see [1]. Other outlets issued them freely, accepting donations and, as this was not selling, it was legal; see Contraception in the Republic of Ireland. For comparison, some other countries had a total ban: in the United States, for example, laws in some states prohibited contraception to married couples until the Griswold v. Connecticut decision in 1965; unmarried couples had to wait until the 1972 ruling Eisenstadt v. Baird.
- ^ The Ne Temere decree was issued in 1908. In one Irish instance, a court ruled, in 1957, that a pre-nuptial agreement based on this was legally binding. This led to the Fethard-on-Sea boycott. Many, including Éamon de Valera condemned the incident. Ne Temere was criticised by the Second Vatican Council and repealed by Pope Paul VI in 1970, declaring: "The penalties decreed by canon 2319 of the Code of Canon Law are all abrogated. For those who have already incurred them the effects of those penalties cease" (see [2]).
References
- ^ "Rinunce e nomine, 25.02.2023". Vatican Media.
- ^ Young, David. "Protestant-Catholic gap narrows as census results revealed". Belfasttelegraph. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ "The Adoption of Christianity by the Irish and Anglo-Saxons: The Creation of Two Different Christian Societies". Thomas Martz. 8 February 2015.
- ^ Stokes, Whitley. (1908). The Tidings of Conchobar son of Ness. Ériu. vol II.
- ^ Meyer, Kuno. (1906). The Death Tales of the Ulster Heroes. Royal Irish Academy
- ^ "Legends of Macha". In Armagh. 8 February 2015. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- ^ Craig, Jael. (2014). Irish History Live: Saint Patrick. School of History and Anthropology, Queen's University Belfast
- ^ Austin Lane Poole. From Domesday book to Magna Carta, 1087–1216. Oxford University Press 1993. pp. 303–304.
- ^ Hull, Eleanor. "Pope Adrian's Bull "Laudabiliter" and Note upon It", from A History of Ireland and Her People (1931).
- ^ Brown, Martin. (2016). "Soldiers of Christ: the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller in medieval Ireland". History Ireland
- ^ Stair na hÉireann. (2021). "The Knights Templar in Ireland". Stair na hÉireann
- ^ O'Donnell, Francis M. (2021). "The Kerry Days of the Knights Hospitaller". Stair na hÉireann
- ^ a b c Gandharva, Joshi. (2021). "Monastic Ireland: The Mendicant Orders". History Ireland
- ^ Gallagher, Niav. (2004). "Two nations, one order: the Franciscans in medieval Ireland". History Ireland
- ^ a b c d e Egan, Simon. (2018). Richard II and the Wider Gaelic World: A Reassessment. Cambridge University Press
- ^ Mant, Richard (1840). History of the Church of Ireland, from the Reformation to the Revolution. London: John W. Parker. p. 277.
- ^ "How did the remains of St Valentine end up in a Dublin church?". Independent.ie. 14 February 2017. Retrieved on 10 April 2022.
- ^ "No love lost in the battle to claim heart of St Valentine". Irish Times. Retrieved on 10 April 2022.
- ^ M.E.Collins, Ireland 1868–1966, (1993) p431
- ^ An Biobla Naofa, Irish Bible Society, Maynooth 1981 ed. Pádraig Ó Fiannachta.
- S2CID 163195744. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
- ^ Smyth, Jamie (30 May 2011). "Fewer than one in five attend Sunday Mass in Dublin". The Irish Times.
- ^ O'BRIEN, CARL. "Many Catholics 'do not believe' church teachings". Irish Times. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
- ^ "Una Mullally: Referendum shows us there is no Middle Ireland, just Ireland". The Irish Times. 26 May 2018.
- ^ His Majesty's Government (23 December 1920). "The Constitution of Northern Ireland being the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, as amended (Clause 5)". Government of Ireland Act, 1920. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1956. Retrieved 13 February 2007.
- ISBN 1-872076-15-7.
- ISBN 0-41515-477-4.
- ^ "Archdioceses and Dioceses of Ireland". Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
- ^ "Irish priests discuss wrongful abuse accusations, safeguarding their rights". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
- ^ "Priests' association writes to bishops asking for arbitration panels to address complaints". Independent.ie. 13 March 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
- ^ "Parishes may not perform baptisms due to lack of priests, group warns". Irish Examiner. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
- ^ "Hierarchy". Syro Malabar Catholic Church Community, Cork Ireland. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- Diocese of Cork and Ross. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2024.. Malankara Catholic. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- "H.E. Most Rev. Dr. Yoohanon Mar Theodosius". Diocese of Puttur. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- "History of Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in Unite Kingdom"
Bishop Yoohanon Mar Theodosius ... made his first Pastoral Visit to UK and Ireland from March 27 to April 8, 2018
- "Kornitsky, Vasyl". Archdiocese of Dublin. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
Parish / Organisation / Other : Donnycarney Parish & Chaplain to the Ukrainian Community
- "Appointment of apostolic visitator for the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic faithful resident in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland". Catholic Bishops' Conference. Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
Further reading
- Curtis, Maurice (2008). The Splendid Cause. The Catholic Action Movement in Ireland in the 20th Century. Dublin: Greenmount Publications/Original Writing. ISBN 978-1-906018-60-3.
- Curtis, Maurice (2010) (2010). A Challenge to Democracy: Militant Catholicism in Modern Ireland. The History Press Ireland. ISBN 978-1-84588-969-2.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - Contemporary Catholicism in Ireland: A Critical Appraisal, ed. by John Littleton, Eamon Maher, Columbia Press 2008, ISBN 1-85607-616-4
- Brian Girvin: "Church, State, and Society in Ireland since 1960" In: Éire-Ireland – Volume 43:1&2, Earrach/Samhradh / Spring/Summer 2008, pp. 74–98
- Tom Inglis: Moral Monopoly: The Rise and Fall of the Catholic Church in Modern Ireland, Univ College Dublin Press, 2nd Revised edition, 1998, ISBN 1-900621-12-6
- Moira J. Maguire: "The changing face of catholic Ireland: Conservatism and Liberalism in the Ann Lovett and Kerry Babies Scandal" In: feminist studies. fs, ISSN 0046-3663, j. 27 (2001), n. 2, p. 335–359
- O'Sullivan Beare, Philip (1621). Catholic History of Ireland. Spain.
- Report on abuse by the Catholic Church in Ireland