tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078331897510807942.post5537081648717028465..comments2023-12-28T01:11:49.188-08:00Comments on Cum Lazaro: The Irish 'Yes' to Gay marriageLazarushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09716412032074416331noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078331897510807942.post-10261330469793900932018-05-26T14:22:46.885-07:002018-05-26T14:22:46.885-07:00And writing almost exactly three years later, just...And writing almost exactly three years later, just after the referendum to allow abortion, let me acknowledge just how prescient you were in that final sentence.Lazarushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09716412032074416331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5078331897510807942.post-57470664864013175372015-05-25T15:52:17.017-07:002015-05-25T15:52:17.017-07:00I'm Irish, from the usual not so Catholic Cath...I'm Irish, from the usual not so Catholic Catholic background for people of my age - mid-forties. I can tell you that the process of secularization has been well underway for decades and that very few people of my age or younger have any significant dealings with the Catholic Church. In the main it's simply not relevant to their lives at all. It's used, much like many people use the Church of England, as a convenient place to mark significant occasions - births, marriages, deaths and to enjoy the parties and family get togethers which surround First Communions and Confirmations. Apart from that, it's almost completely irrelevant to most people's lives. Visit Ireland and go to Sunday Mass either in a large city, a large town, a small village or a rural church. You'll find it largely empty with the congregation made up mainly of elderly men and women, perhaps with some immigrants from still more staunchly Catholic countries such as the Philippines and Poland. Catholic schooling doesn't make much difference. In my time we spent most of our religion classes either ignoring the teachings or openly mocking them - I doubt it's greatly different now. There is no quick fix - I doubt there's any fix at all. When Ireland, Malta, Spain and Portugal have legal recognition of same-sex unions, perhaps it's time to recognise that the Catholic Church's ability to influence public opinion and to block or amend laws which contradict the church's teachings has waned to such an extent that it's now just one of many voices clamouring for attention. And, at that, a voice which most people have long since chosen to ignore when it suits them. Abortion will be the next big battle in Ireland. Public opinion polls published over the last few years suggest that a campaign to relax the legal restrictions on the availability of abortion in Ireland will succeed relatively easily. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05377329780194422401noreply@blogger.com