A deep appreciation for Catholic Church

THERE is no disputing the change in attitudes both towards and within the Catholic Church in this country over the past few decades. Indeed, last year’s Census showed a drop of six percentage points in the number of people who call themselves Catholic. This only amplifies the findings in today’s Irish Daily Mail Ireland Thinks poll that almost nine in 10 people are in favour of Pope Francis’s planned visit to Ireland next year.

It is a testimony to the affection and high esteem in which the people of this country hold Pope Francis – and more broadly the charitable and beneficial work of the Catholic Church.

Against that backdrop, it is an even greater shame that Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan, the head of the Waterford and Lismore diocese, who spoke out last week against the HPV vaccine, still seems uninclined to withdraw his remarks, despite fresh criticism from his peers in the clergy. The remarks were widely lambasted, and were branded ‘ignorant’ and ‘pathetic’ by Health Minister Simon Harris and ‘outdated’ by the HSE.

Even though the jab protects against cervical cancer, he warned that it could lead to promiscuity in young girls and women due to unspecified claims that it ‘changes the mentality’ in terms of sexual activity.

Not only were his comments unhelpful, they were also extremely poorly judged. Remarks of this nature have the potential to put the lives of countless females in jeopardy.

And so, yesterday’s intervention by the Association of Catholic Priests is to be greatly welcomed. The organisation, which represents more than 1,000 clerics, has called on the bishop to withdraw his comments on the grounds that they are ‘illinformed and dangerous’. They also say that parents tempted to follow his advice could be putting their children ‘at risk’.

Few could have predicted the extent of the Catholic Church’s decline in this country over the past quarter of a century.

Since a position in the early 1990s when its authority seemed almost unassailable, it is now a pale shadow of its former self. Attendance at Mass has dropped massively and vocations are now down to what can only be described as a trickle.

It hardly needs saying that Church authorities largely have themselves to blame for this sorry state of affairs. The various clerical scandals were, of course, horrific enough in themselves.

There is no question that we now live in a more liberal, pluralist society than was the case in previous decades. But the results of today’s poll clearly show that not only have we not abandoned our Catholic heritage, but we retain a deep appreciation and respect for the benefits it has brought us.

We can only pray that Bishop Cullinan reciprocates that respect by withdrawing his dangerous comments and refraining from offering such ill-informed ‘medical advice’ to a diminishing flock in future.