Rite and Reason: From a country whose identity was strongly linked to Catholicism, Ireland is justifiably described as post-Christian and post-Catholic, writes Éamon Maher
The past couple of decades have seen a shift of seismic proportions in many areas of Irish society.
Nowhere has change been more keenly felt than in the realm of organised religion.
From being a country whose identity was strongly linked - sometimes with disastrous consequences - to its Roman Catholic heritage and allegiance, the Ireland of today is now justifiably being described in some quarters as post-Christian and post-Catholic.
A thoughtful new study, A Whisper of God: Essays on post-Catholic Ireland and the Christian Future (Columba Press), written by the Bishop of Meath, the Most Rev Richard Clarke, is a timely moment, as we face into the Christmas season.
Nothing strange in that, you will say. I agree, except that the bishop in question does not belong to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the Church of Ireland. Dr Clarke does not see "church" in narrow, sectarian terms.
Rather, he identifies with post-Catholic Ireland, believing that what is happening to the main Christian denomination is in no way confined to it: "With every passing day, I believe more firmly that the Irish church - and by this I mean the wholeness of the Irish church and not any particular tradition within it - faces a Dantesque moment of truth in this opening decade of the 21st century."
Dr Clarke sees the present position as the almost inevitable culmination of how the whole church believed that "it was somehow above and beyond accountability, perhaps even an accountability to God himself".
This fall from grace may therefore prove to be a blessing in disguise, as a humbler church begins to emerge, one that is closer to the marginalised, the victims of society, the ones whom Jesus loved in a special way.
Given the preparedness of Jesus to place himself at a remove from the centre of society, one could reasonably question how the church of which he is the founder could ever have found itself in a comfortable arrangement with the ruling classes, secure in its privileged position in society?
Equally, one is entitled to ask if the message of the Gospel, which is essentially about uprooting and spiritual rebirth, was ever intended for the purpose of proclaiming laws and obligations? Jesus, I seem to recall, hated the sin, but loved the sinner.
The strong reaction to the various scandals in the Irish Church in recent times was partly the result of a "resentment of what was seen as the control the church exercised both over its members and within the government of the State".
With the rampant secularism that pervades Irish life at present, Clarke recognises that it is difficult for sincere voices within the church to make themselves heard. In this regard, he points to how the praiseworthy commitment of the Conference of Religious of Ireland to justice and equality can be safely sidelined, even ignored, by those in power.
Equally, there is a tendency among certain elements to deride and even demonise what they cannot understand, most notably freely chosen celibacy.
Dr Clarke, a man who obviously revels in his role as husband and father, demonstrates sympathy for his Roman Catholic counterparts whose celibacy in contemporary, sex-fixated Ireland, is seen as unhealthy and incomprehensible.
At the same time, he expresses an inability to view loving, faithful relationships between those of the same gender "as intrinsically wrong".
"The church must be able to defend its teaching on matters of sexual practice . . . not as mandatory because the church says so, but because it may well make sense in terms of public and private health."
This book, as the second part of its title suggests, is an attempt to spark debate about the future of Christianity in Ireland.
It might at this point be beneficial if one of the Roman Catholic bishops now emerged from that hierarchy to provide a similarly prophetic witness.
Their case needs to be put also, provided it is expressed in a language liberated from the shackles of the past.
• Dr Éamon Maher is lecturer in humanities at ITT Dublin (Tallaght). He is the co-editor (with John Littleton and Louise Fuller) of Irish and Catholic? Towards an Understanding of Identity (Columba)