Roman Catholicism in Ireland

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The Catholic Church in Ireland is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome.

There are an estimated 4.5 million baptised Catholics in Ireland out of a total population of just under 6 million.

It is organised into four provinces, not however, corresponding with the provincial divisions. It is ruled by four archbishops and twenty-three bishops. But the number of dioceses is more than twenty-seven, there have been amalgamations and absorptions. Cashel, for instance, has been joined with Emly, Waterford with Lismore, Ardagh with Clonmacnoise, the bishop of Galway being also Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora. The number of parishes is 1087, a few of these are governed by administrators, the remainder by parish priests, while the total number of the secular clergy—parish priests, administrators, curates, chaplains, and professors in colleges—amounts to around 3000. A full list of dioceses can be found here: List of the Roman Catholic dioceses of Ireland. There are also many religious orders which include: Augustinians, Capuchins, Carmelites, Fathers of the Holy Ghost, Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits, Marists, Order of Charity, Oblates, Passionists, Redemptorists, and Vincentians. The total number of the regular clergy is about 700. They are engaged either in teaching or in giving missions, but not charged with the government of parishes.

Contents 1 History, legal status and politics 2 Catholic Sexual Abuse Scandal in Ireland 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] History, legal status and politics

Until 1869, the Church of Ireland was the state church. The special position of The Roman Catholic Church was recognised in the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland from 1937 until 1973, until removed by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland after a referendum supported by the Roman Catholic Church itself. This amendment removed the reference to "special position" of the Catholic Church.

Following the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland freedom of religion was established. At founding of the Irish Free State, in 1922, the Church actually had equal power to when the 1937 Constitution of Ireland was drafted. However, the Constitution of the Irish Free State had no special position for religion, (Article 8). The Catholic Church had great influence in education and politics. For instance the Health (Family Planning) Act, 1979 showed the ability of the Catholic Church to force the government into a compromise situation, whilst not been able to get the result they wanted. Most notably in the 1983 Amendment to the constitution which introduced the constitutional prohibition of abortion of which the Church spoke out on. The only other time they had been involved was in June, 1996, when the constitutional prohibition of divorce was removed, but retained certain restrictions on its occurrence. The only other time when the Church got involved in politics was in 1950, when it opposed the Mother and Child Scheme.

In Northern Ireland, under the period of Unionist rule from 1922 until 1972, there was unoffficial but widespread discrimination against Catholics in state employment and certain other sectors of the economy such as engineering, as well as some other areas of public service delivery such as the allocation of council housing. It is generally acknowledged that this has ameliorated considerable over the past 30 years and is no longer a major political issue in Northern Ireland. See History of Northern Ireland.

The Catholic Church still has major influence on health and education in Ireland. Over 90% of schools in the Republic are under Church control with funding from the Irish State. In Northern Ireland, almost 50% of primary school pupils attend state funded Catholic schools with the proportion being only slightly lower in secondary schools. In all Catholic primary schools (and the vast majority of Catholic secondary schools) religious instruction is a central part of the curriculum. At primary level the teachers prepare the pupils for their First Confession, First Holy Communion and Confirmation.

The health sector in the Republic is also similarly set up. For example, in Co. Cork and Cork City some of the hospitals, are administered by Boards with a Catholic ethos. The situation is radically different in Northern Ireland due to the National Health Service.

[edit] Catholic Sexual Abuse Scandal in Ireland

In 2005, a major inquiry was made into child sex abuse allegations. The Ferns Report, which was published on October 25, 2005, revealed that more than 100 cases of child sex abuse, between 1962 and 2002, by 21 priests, had taken place in the Diocese of Ferns alone. The report criticised the Garda and the health authorities, who failed to protect the children to the best of their abilities and in the case of the Garda before 1988, no file was ever recorded on sex abuse complaints.

[edit] See also

• Roman Catholicism by country
• Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland

[edit] External links

• Homepage of the Irish Bishops' Conference