On the 25th of May, Ireland voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment, which is the only protection of the unborn in the constitution. While many were sure that the result would be to repeal, many were surprised because it was expected to be a close vote. Of the people who voted, two-thirds voted to remove the Eighth Amendment. Ireland has been seen by the rest of the world as a Catholic country and though numbers have declined, it remains ahead of other European countries in terms of percentage of Catholics. The 2016 census 78% of the population identify themselves as Catholic. But many Catholics voted against Catholic social teaching which is clearly against abortion. This leaves a lot for the Catholic church in Ireland to reflect on. Is the future of the Catholic church to be solely a private affair? Can the church have a public moral voice in the future?
Many political commentators noted that unlike in 1983, the church was largely invisible during the referendum. There were statements by bishops, but there were also priests who asked that there would be no campaigning outside of churches and many priests did not discuss it in their homilies. Was it right for the church to be so silent? Was it right for the pro-life side to discuss abortion in a way that appealed to public reason? I believe that it was really important to discuss it in such a way that people would see that abortion is wrong regardless of whether one is religious. The religious landscape is changing in Ireland, there are atheists, agnostics and as well as other religions. Many pro-lifers, including myself, were not convinced by the arguments put forward by the Catholic church, but by science. From conception the unborn child has its own unique DNA, the unborn child will continue to develop and by week three the heart will start to beat. This should be of interest to anyone considering the issue of abortion, regardless of their metaphysical views.
However, the church’s silence concerns me. One might question however whether a more vocal church would have made much of a difference. Would more homilies, pastoral letters, radio interviews have swung the vote? It is unlikely, but the church must speak out. Christianity has a particular view of the human person, which Christians cannot ignore. Its moral voice offers an important critique to our culture. Christians believe that humans are created by God and that they are made in His image and likeness. In Genesis, it is also said that humanity is deemed good before humanity has done anything. Christianity rejects therefore the view of the human person which is based on utility. When one looks at a culture which says it is a choice whether a child with a life-limiting illness or special needs is born, the church provides an important challenge to that culture. David Tracy in “Three Kinds of Publicness in Public Theology” writes of a hermeneutical approach of dialogue, where classics such as the Bible are used to aid discussion. He cites Martin Luther King and Dorothy Day as examples of using the Bible to show the truth to the public. He argues that religious texts in particular are useful as they “provide visions of the good.” My discussion of Genesis for example has particular resonance for Christians as it shows the relationship between humanity and its creator. But, as Tracy argues, it can also be a source of reflection for those who do not believe, it gives others a vision of what humanity should be like and help them to see the truth.
The third of us in Ireland who voted against abortion have been told to be quiet and listen to the will of the people. But as Matthew Schmitz wrote on the result in Ireland, democracy is a means and it can produce “evil outcomes.” Bruce Arnold in his analysis of the referendum wrote that the removal of the Eighth Amendment has gotten rid of natural law from the constitution and has made the people not God omnipotent. I acknowledge I am probably taking Arnold too seriously, but as a Catholic, this would suggest that many of the Catholics that voted to remove the Eighth Amendment also committed the sin of idolatry. Arnold’s wording is reminiscent of Feuerbach, who declared that it man, not God, that is divine and that religion causes alienation as the precepts that are given to God are really man’s. What I find problematic with Feuerbach and similar thinkers is that all that humanity does is therefore divine. Whatever is chosen by the people is acceptable as the people are omnipotent and deciders of the truth. There can be no criticism because truth and morality are not external to humanity. Christianity, on the other hand, sees humanity as flawed, limited and is accountable to something outside of them, which is greater than themselves. Catholics must be critical of the idea that the people are omnipotent and recognise that people make mistakes. The law can help to teach morality, but it can also ignore it.
There is a real danger in a silent church, it may follow other churches where the beliefs are made completely private and individual. During the referendum, people were told that they could be personally pro-life and be pro-choice. There seems to be a similar disposition among Catholics, where one can be personally Catholic but in the public realm they feel that they cannot impose their views on others. I suspect that part of the problem is a lack of engagement with the theology of the Catholic church and act as if it has little to do with how one lives. But we are called to be Catholic in everything we do, to live the truth whether explicitly or not. If one does not fully understand the truth of Catholicism, why should one be committed to it in anyway? The truth has also been relativized in our culture, whether the unborn is a person or just a potential person is a matter of personal opinion. People are afraid to say that others are wrong, that this is the truth. There is a sense of fear in being too confident in the truth, because how can one know that they are speaking the truth and not someone else? This is why I think arguments like the personally pro-life and pro-choice are convincing. But what of the truth? Pope Benedict XVI said “man must seek the truth; he is capable of truth. It goes without saying that truth requires criteria for verification and falsification. It must always be accompanied by tolerance, also. But then truth also points out to us those constant values which have made mankind great. That is why the humility to recognize the truth and to accept it as a standard has to be relearned and practiced again.” This means as Catholics, we must not be afraid of seeking the truth, pointing out important values such as the sanctity of life and attempt to teach others the truth, showing them why it is the truth. The truth is important and cannot be ignored. For example, if a Catholic is personally pro-life but supports abortion, they are creating injustice because they ignore the truth. Christ says, “in so far as you did this to the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.” (Matt. 25:40) We must remember Christ’s words in how we vote.
There is one big problem which the church must address, that is its own failings. The pro-choice side often implicitly referred to the failings of the church in their arguments. For example, Una Mullally wondered what the pro-life would do for women and their crisis pregnancies if they won. She wondered if they would “Put them in homes. Sell them to Americans. Abuse them. Bury them in unmarked graves. Thrown them in septic tanks. Fight tooth and nail against their redress and compensation when they came forward and told their stories of trauma, of rape, of torture, of beatings.” Mullally does not explicitly mention the church but anyone who knows anything about the church in Ireland will know what events she is referring to. She is implying which is that the pro-life side is Catholic and that their worldview is abusive. The article’s implication is that removing the Eighth Amendment is the only way for progress, for a more caring society. I think anyone whether they are inside the church or not is right to criticise the Catholic church for the serious wrongs that they have done. I do not think that anyone should defend the serious abuses of the church and it must address its own failing. But contrary to what many might think those abuses by the Catholic Church are not in keeping with the Catholic Church’s theology which sees life as sacred. People have questioned whether the sexual abuse scandals had much of an effect on the outcome of the vote, it may be that the stories of women travelling to the UK had a greater effect. However, the scandals may have caused or furthered the disconnect between the church and the laity. Catholics are hurt and angry about what has happened and many feel that the church is not addressing the problems. Because of this, some may have come to the conclusion that they need not listen to the moral voice of the church. I do not know how the church can recover its moral voice. All I know is that victims must be listened to. Structures must be created to stop it from happening. Those involved must apologise and seek forgiveness. I do not suggest this as a means to an end, our motivation cannot be to restore the church but to seek forgiveness. If the church is to never recover I still know that it is right for the church to say that we have sinned.
The Catholic church in Ireland must not shy away from public theology. Secular arguments are really important, but the church has a particular moral voice which should challenge our culture and help us to discover the truth. The church faces an uncertain future and we have many problems -relativism, privatisation of religion, a legacy of church failure -but we cannot allow ourselves to be silenced. We must seek out the truth and encourage others to do the same. It may challenge us and others, but we cannot be afraid of it. We must be confident in the truth, subjecting it to public inquiry and help all to see it. I acknowledge that it is not easy, I still struggle to talk to people about my faith. But privatisation will not help the church, but likely make it weaker. Catholicism has something vital to offer the world, not just the individual believer, we cannot forget that.
