Ireland Has Become A Cold Place For Catholicism…

Easter. 19:16.

The two exiled loyalists from Sandy Row were perched on a crude orange bench in the bus shelter, leisurely working their way through a few cans of lager.

In the city’s Holyland the evening dusk was falling on Jerusalem Street, and an impressionable young student living nearby could not help but curtain twitch. Popping boldly outside, he produced a carefully chosen wine, fresh from the fridge, that he’d been saving for a special occasion.

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The gentlemen waved him over and, with that, admission to the soiree was granted. By God, it was good.

In July the Irish Seanad passed legislation overturning a 90-year restriction on pubs in the Republic of Ireland opening on Good Friday.

An Island with a drooth for the drink shall suffer no more. Unlike Northern Ireland, the people in The South can now avoid the ignominy of getting blocked at a bus stop when the bars are closed at Easter.

Senator Billy Lawless introduced The Intoxicating Liquor (Amendment) Bill by saying: “The passage [of this] bill is another progressive step in Ireland’s long journey in the separation of church and State.

“It is understandable when lawmakers try to introduce legislation that changes a practice that has been in place for almost 100 years, people pause to reflect, yet this is what lawmaking is about.

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“There is an affinity to the closed day but that affinity is in fact leading to alcohol abuse in many cases.”

Lawless appears to be confusing the reluctance of the ‘Catholic lobby’ to accept change with that of sheer sentimentality: Irish Catholicism maintains a simple desire to uphold a respect for Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. The passing of this bill provides the tools for more chipping away of that respect.

Undoubtedly the legislative change has been carefully thought through, historically contextualised and presented in an ‘inoffensive manner’ – indeed The Irish Times spoke clinically of the risks of dealing with “statutory baggage with religious connotations”.

There’s the obvious argument in support of business and tourism, when scores of pubs are closing and struggling to stay afloat. Wearing the financial hat – or beer goggles – furthers the case that the Church’s severance from the State is indisputable, inevitable even.

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Alas, As Skunk Anansie sang in 1995, they’re Selling Jesus again. But imagine if we had the old Smithwick’s advert rebooted to instead ask: ’Are You Dying For A Pint?’ The country would respond, ‘Spiritually, Yes.’

Because this is yet another opportunity for the secular mindset to tramp on the corpse of Catholic Ireland; a body decimated by the awful legacy of paedophile priests and ceaseless historical abuse revelations. But many of those not affected – and who wouldn’t darken the door of a chapel anyway – continue to fixate on the past actions of a minority to promote their anti-Catholic, anti-Christian agenda. They are demagogues and, frankly, agitators.

The grievances of some within the population are wholly understandable – the LGBT community’s sense of feeling unwelcomed and the scars held by the victims of clerical abuse continues to do real damage to the Church’s reputation.

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But any sniff of blood is constantly seized upon and supported by a progressive liberal arrogance which thinks it knows better, fuelled by a disdain for the Faith that often verges on outright hatred.

Whether you buy into that view or not is another thing, but the 6% of the Irish population (according to the 2012 census, and by now surely rising) who describe themselves as having ‘no religion’ are being given a voice, whilst in the rush to embrace this pluralism the 80% of Christians up and down the country are being asked to wise up and hush up.

The search for self-help and self-fulfilment is rife outside of the Church – meditation and spirituality courses have become big business in Ireland. But what ever happened to asking for God’s help and through that, attaining fulfilment from God?

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Irish broadcaster George Hook made a bit of a holy show recently when he called out “The Rubber Bands” (sic), aghast at their reference to the Eucharist as “haunted bread” on a previous appearance on RTE’s The Late Late Show. The subsequently limp wrist response imposed by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland provoked his ire.

Indeed, Limerick music and cultural phenomenon The Rubberbandits have the ears of their generation and the voices to influence. They speak superbly on mental health issues and are a rich addition to the historic tapestry of seminal Irish artists and thinkers. Yet a constant sniping and battering of the Church feels like they’re tying an old, frayed rope around the neck of Catholicism – it’s a thin and worn out act.

Liberal Ireland is kicking the Church when it’s down, and rebelling against the softest of targets which isn’t going to fight back. Away from the blethering and spluttering, George’s hook was sharp: “Ireland is now a cold place for Christians,” he said.

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Gather round, because the green flag has been raised on the race to bury Catholic Ireland. First person to the shovel wins a free Mindfulness DVD.

It’s a fact that Catholicism has been booted from the mainstream agenda and is frighteningly, from many perspectives, now viewed as a mere postcard relic like The Blarney Stone or Father Ted; a form of ‘Gombeen Irishness’, as Jarlath Burns once called it.

At a time when Irish Nationalism is standing strong in The North and clearly present in The South it is terribly passé to be seen to promote – let alone defend! – the virtues of the Catholic church. What a contradiction. And heaven help anyone who dares to shout about this, because there’s a plague of keyboard warriors, pithy comments and self-informed cynicism to drown them out. Eye-roll emojis all round, please.

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If Ireland were a band it’d be Faith No More. The country’s Mid-life Crisis of belief as a result of laziness, disillusionment, hurt or distraction or whatever is a damning disease that won’t be cured anytime soon.

Speaking in last weeks’ Irish News Archbishop Dr Diarmuid Martin contended that the current climate has been inevitable: “Secularisation, whatever that means exactly, had been on the Irish radar screen for many years.”

Expressing hope for the Faith’s future on the Island, he said “there is a growing number of youth movements and initiatives of faith formation for young people.” Optimistically, he added that these “may… be the signs of new beginnings”

Up Above, meanwhile, Jesus Christ himself was footering about on the i-pad and suddenly swore loudly.

‘Here, Da – we might have to rethink Ireland on the homecoming tour. Ring Croke Park, anyway. It’s the residents…they just don’t seem to get it anymore.’

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