Dr Martin Mansergh
“There are warning signs of the emergence of a growing secular zeal in this country”, writes Martin Mansergh
The phrase in the Easter 1916 Proclamation least quoted in this centenary is the guarantee by the Republic of religious and civil liberty to all its citizens. While at one level sincerely intended as a reassurance to minorities, religious liberty was also an important promise to the majority, which in previous centuries had been deprived of religious liberty. Part of the promise of Home Rule and even more of Irish independence was the liberty to shape Irish society, institutions and laws for the first time in 400 years to reflect the Catholic convictions of the great majority of citizens.
A classic example of such a reassurance is the Act for Liberty of Conscience passed by the Catholic-dominated Patriot Parliament of 1689 called by James II. Its legislation has just been re-published by the Irish Manuscripts Commission.
The Act’s preamble says it all: “Whereas it is found by experience, that persecuting people on the account of religion doth no way advance Christian faith, or piety; but on the contrary, occasions animosities and divisions between his majesty’s subjects, and discourages strangers from living amongst them, to the great hindrance of the trade, peace, and welfare of this nation.”
The Act went on to give free liberty of conscience to all subjects, promising “full and free exercise of their respective religions, ways and forms of worship, within this kingdom; without any molestation loss or penalty whatsoever”. With the defeat of James at the Boyne, the Act was repealed, and soon replaced by the penal laws.
The Orange Order had the ideals of the Proclamation in inverse order, “civil and religious liberty”, but, as a Grand Master Sir George Clark explained in 1960 when objecting to Catholics becoming members of the Ulster Unionist Party, “this liberty, as we know it, is the liberty of the Protestant religion”.
How does the modern world and modern Ireland measure up, when it comes to guaranteeing religious liberty? The answer is, often not at all well. In parts of the world, Christianity is not tolerated, barely tolerated, or subject to severe restrictions. Making it clear that this is not acceptable or doing anything serious to help people in imminent danger is not something Western governments do. Human rights are raised between governments, at high level, usually limply. How often do we read of religious liberty or freedom of conscience being raised by governments?
Answer
The answer is almost never, though US Secretary of State John Kerry has recently accused ISIS of engaging in genocide. Given our strong religious traditions, it is an issue on which we could give measured leadership in the EU, the UN, and bilaterally, without damaging our interests.
Twenty years ago, most Irish people would have taken the religious liberty guaranteed in the Proclamation for granted. If in the early decades of the State, Church influence was too strong, and, because of the secrecy which enveloped it, unaccountable, and in certain instances open to abuse, that has been more than corrected since.
Many of those who write about the problems France faces, terrorism coming from within and alienated second-generation immigrant youth, attribute some of it to excessive secular zeal, which is one strand in French republicanism. Ireland’s strong religious traditions have helped us accommodate immigrant populations from other non-Christian religious traditions. We are fortunate so far to have escaped having a strident right-wing anti-immigrant political party.
There are warning signs of the emergence of a growing secular zeal in this country, in the debate about scrapping denominational schools as opposed to supplementing and adapting them, and in calls for the repeal of the Eighth Amendment and its replacement by the British abortion legislation of 1967.
Once, there were occasionally accusations or suspicions that particular officials made partisan decisions, because they belonged to secret religious organisations. Today, there is a greater danger that decisions will sometimes be made on the basis of a conviction that there ought to be rigorous separation of Church and State. In other spheres, private sector participation is welcomed in relieving the burden on the State, without always enquiring too much into the ethos of the private partner.
Religious ethos
I am long of the view that voluntary agencies engaged in caring, counselling and community welfare should be free to contribute on the basis of a religious ethos, where in the vast majority of cases from the client’s point of view, who is free to choose another service, the values involved will not in any way diminish the benefit to them.
It is sad when the State withdraws financial support for work that has been of public benefit for many years, unless it renounces its original mission or core values. This seems to be what is happening in the case of Tusla and the Boyle Family Life Centre.
One reason among many that the Government and especially the Labour Party lost in the recent election was that they alienated many of those for whom religion matters in their lives. Speech writers, and those who use them, whose anti-clerical invective may have won applause in the national media, need to reflect on where public attitudes really lie.
Mandate
Ireland needs a government that can act soon. The truth is that no party sought or received a mandate to form either a grand coalition or a minority government with independent and opposition support. In December 1987, leading a minority government with the support of Fine Gael under the Tallaght strategy, at a private dinner with bankers then Taoiseach Charles Haughey was quizzed about continuity with what the previous government had been doing.
He told them he had no hang-ups about U-turns, as circumstances change, and he would do any number of U-turns if it were in the national interest.
While no paragon of political virtue or fetishist of consistency, at his best he was a master in the art of governing, and that government laid the foundations for a vastly more prosperous country since.
He also cared for Ireland’s cultural and religious traditions, including the Church.