Ireland in the twentieth century: The role of the Catholic church

Résumé du document

The first document we have is the Pastoral letter written on 10 October 1922 by Catholic Bishops of Ireland. This letter was published in the Irish times the next day. This letter denounces the anti-treaty campaign led by the IRA which is very violent. To understand such reaction on the part of the Catholic Church it is essential to bear in mind that it supported the Free State at the time of the treaty debate. In this letter, the Catholic bishops explain how appalled they are in such circumstances.

Indeed, they consider that the anti-treaty protagonists do not have the legitimacy to create such chaos in Ireland. They criticized their behaviours because they refused to respect what had been decided with the adoption of the treaty by the Dail and its approval by most people. The anti-treaty people are blamed for creating more damage in a few months than the British authorities over the past decades. Their behaviour takes part to the ‘great misfortune' that is spread in Ireland at this time. The bishops consider that ‘the killing of National soldiers is murder before God, the seizing of public and private property is robbery, the breaking of roads, bridges and railways is criminal'.

In this letter, the bishops themselves insist on the importance of their role for Irish people. They consider themselves they have responsibility to ‘teach truth in such grave crisis, no matter what the consequences.' They want to restore peace within the mainland and ask people to respect the will of God. What is interesting with this document is to see that the Catholic Church already has a very crucial political role. It supported the Free State negotiated with the British, and above all, they were in favour of peace.

Extraits

[...] Indeed, it is one of the countries where the very high level of religious practice has not declined as in other European societies. The third document is a table which show the evolution (1945-1986) of the number of pilgrims on three-day pilgrimage to Lough Derg. The figures show that the number of pilgrims has increased in the 1950s. For instance, there were 21,883 people doing this pilgrimage in 1945 and 34,039 in 1954. Irish people started to undertake pilgrimage in the 1950s because their practice was still very high. [...]

[...] Furthermore, popular catholic celebrations were often organised to stimulate this collective belief in God, which gathered Irish citizens. For example, Maurice Hartigan argues that scale and depth of popular devotion was manifested most spectacularly by the mass displays of religious fervour that took place in the centenary celebrations of Catholic Emancipation in 1929 and the Eucharistic Congress in 1932' (p. 331). Later, in the 1950s, Irish workers and employees were only interested in their Catholic practice and not in the Marxist class struggle. [...]

[...] What is interesting with this document is to see that the Catholic Church already has a very crucial political role. It supported the Free State negotiated with the British, and above all, they were in favour of peace. Such letter was very important at the time because the Church was (and is probably still) considered as a legitimate authority of the highest importance. Moreover, most politicians were catholic at this time so this letter had certainly a considerable impact on public opinion and among politicians (cf texte 1). [...]

[...] It is said that two reports made about this piety could be consider as highly valuable guide to the present power of the Catholic Church in Dublin'. Popular piety is a fundamental aspect of Irish life and it has influence even in politics. Hence, the Catholic Church had a considerable role in influencing the Irish population, in both everyday life and more spontaneous events, as we saw with the Irish civil war. Documents commented - ‘Full Bishops' letter', from the Irish Times, Dublin October 1922. [...]

[...] Ireland in the twentieth century: the role of the Catholic Church I have chosen a number of documents who show how significant has the influence of the Catholic Church on Irish history, especially in the course of the 20th century. Indeed, the Catholic Church has played a crucial in both everyday life and bigger historical events which affected Ireland. The first document we have is the Pastoral letter written on 10 October 1922 by Catholic Bishops of Ireland. This letter was published in the Irish times the next day. [...]