Chai Brady
It has been six years since the former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar spoke about a new “covenant” between Church and State during Pope Francis’ visit to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families in 2018.
Almost a year later, not much had happened to further Church-State dialogue, prompting the then Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin to say in a March 2019 speech: “So far no progress has been made by the Government in developing the Taoiseach’s idea of a covenant.”
Two months later in May, after been asked about Church-State dialogue in the Dáil, Mr Varadkar reiterated his message saying that “it is now time for us to build a new relationship between Church and State in Ireland” and that he was open to suggestions as to how it might work. In a more concrete gesture, he announced a plenary meeting for July.
It took place in Dublin Castle and included 28 representatives of Churches, faith communities and non-confessional organisations. However, the closed talks were somewhat overshadowed by Mr Varadkar likening Micheál Martin to a “secretly sinning priest” in the Dáil just the week before. He subsequently apologised and withdrew the remarks.
Downfall
Then it all seemed to fall apart. A notable example of the State’s failure when it comes to relations with the Church was its reaction to the announcement of UCD founder St John Henry Newman’s canonisation in October of the same year, which saw a notable lack of diplomatic reaction – with the Irish Government belatedly saying it was sending the then Minister for Education to Rome.
Covid-19 hit Ireland the beginning of the following year, a period in which many felt acutely the lack of robust Church-State relations.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Primate of All Ireland Archbishop Eamon Martin highlighted the difference in approach to the Church by the Executive in the North of Ireland compared to the Government in the south during the pandemic.
‘At the very end of that I had to say very strong words to the Taoiseach and to the government that our religious freedom is important for us,’ he said”
Archbishop Martin said: “The Executive Office for the assembly at the time were keen to listen to the voice of the Churches and gave a lot of agency to the Churches themselves. They trusted the Churches. Whereas in the South, there was an almost belligerent attitude to faith and to the Churches and to practice of the faith: ‘We don’t trust, shut your doors.’
“At the very end of that I had to say very strong words to the Taoiseach and to the government that our religious freedom is important for us,” he said. “We’re doing a reflection at the moment on the Covid experience and that is something perhaps we could look at: how did the Churches contribute to the discussion? Was the door closed? Were we simply subservient to what the State told us? Or was there an attitude of trust? That’s certainly an open question,” the archbishop added.
Before the election the Irish bishops took the opportunity to highlight the weak channels of communication between the Church’s hierarchy and the Government, something that it has not publicly broached since before the pandemic.
On November 20 the bishops put out a statement entitled ‘To be a people of hope! Bishops’ statement for Election 2024 and questions for candidates’. As the statement suggest, it hones in on a particular issue, and then offers a question to ask. It highlights challenges related to the cost of living, homelessness, housing, immigration, sanctity of life, climate change, Gaza, and also Church-State dialogue – while all are extremely important, the last is the odd one out.
Function
The statement was quite diplomatic, saying that dialogue is “not functioning”.
The bishops said in “a fracturing society, real and meaningful social dialogue is needed so that people actually feel their voice is being heard and that they have a contribution to make. Government must engage purposefully with all sectors of society, including the community and voluntary sector.
“Churches and faith communities have an important contribution to bring to this national and local conversation by helping – with others – build and sustain an Ireland that protects and values the potential of every person.”
The bishops continued: “The current structures for Church-State dialogue are not functioning for the greater good of society and are in need of review. Any such structures must be made work so that the voice of Churches and other faith communities can be heard and contribute to a national reawakening based on the reality of people’s lives, and not ideology or special interests. As a Church, we are open to engaging with Government and with other Churches and faiths on this question.”
Following this they suggested several questions for the public to ask politicians on the issue, including if they would support ‘structured dialogue’ that “includes all voices and sectors in Ireland’s diverse society including Churches and faith communities”.
Archbishop Martin said that in recent times whenever leaders of the Church in Ireland make statements, they receive hostile responses on social media and in writing”
While not calling for it themselves in the statement, the bishops also asked people to tackle politicians on the question: “Similar to Governments in other European countries and at EU level, should a specific Government minister with responsibility for dialogue with Churches and other faith communities be appointed as part of the next administration?”
Asked about the publicly renewed call for Church-State dialogue, Archbishop Martin said that in recent times whenever leaders of the Church in Ireland make statements, they receive hostile responses on social media and in writing. He said: “That is so contrary to the actual mood in politics and religion throughout the world where in many democratic countries the voice of people of faith, and indeed leaders of faith, is deemed to be a very significant and important voice in all policy making.
Voice
“And if you take, for example, Article 17 of the Lisbon treaty which is about the foundation of the European Union, it makes it very clear that politicians and indeed the European Union should listen to the voice of faith, as in Church leaders, but also to the voice of philosophers and others who have something to contribute.”
Looking back on the Pope’s visit in 2018 and the former Taoiseach’s pledge on Church-State dialogue, the archbishop said: “I too, remarked at the time those words of former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, whenever Pope Francis was in Dublin, where he spoke about the need to develop a new relationship, or a new covenant I think was the word that the former Taoiseach used, and at that stage I was quite excited by that and the idea that perhaps this would herald some opportunity for dialogue, for discussion. And yet, I think the particular model that is used in Ireland for Church-State dialogue is tired, I think it’s unused. It is very seldom being called.
I think it’s hugely impoverishes the Church if we are not able to engage in that dialogue, and equally I think it hugely impoverishes democracy if the voice of faith is not heard”
“I think during Covid we sought on behalf of the Catholic Church a bilateral dialogue with the Taoiseach and it was difficult to get,” he said.
“If you think where this whole idea of Church-State dialogue in the European Union emerged, I think it might have been Jacques Delors [eighth president of the European Commission] who spoke about the need for Europe to have a soul, and I think that is true also of Ireland, and it would be sad if Ireland loses its soul. And I’m not saying that the Catholic Church has a monopoly on the soul of Ireland, but I do feel that people of Faith are increasingly finding their voice again after a period of time where they felt beleaguered and in some ways shut out from the public domain and from public discussion.
“I think it’s hugely impoverishes the Church if we are not able to engage in that dialogue, and equally I think it hugely impoverishes democracy if the voice of faith is not heard. So, you’ll see that when we made this statement for the election this time around, we added that paragraph at the end – that we are here to help, not necessarily to threaten the state, but indeed the opposite, to support our politicians because they have accepted a very noble vocation to serve the people.
“But that means to listen to the voice of faith and there are many people in Ireland who have faith and who are willing to write that in the census, and say ‘I am a person of Faith’. So I think it’s really important not to monopolise the issues but to contribute something particularly unique to the discussion.”