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Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin slams decision to close Ireland’s Vatican embassy

Archbishop Martin labels closure as ‘strange’

By
CATHAL DERVAN,
IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Wednesday, November 9, 2011, 7:46 AM
Updated Wednesday, November 9, 2011, 10:09 AM

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Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin
Photo by REUTERS Tony Gentile


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The Archbishop of Dublin has again criticized the Irish government’s decision to close its Embassy at the Vatican.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny has insisted the decision was made purely on economic grounds as he looks to cut costs.

But Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’s latest comments will only fuel the suspicion that relations between Church and State are at an all time low.

The leader of the Catholic Church in Dublin said it was a ‘strange’ decision but ‘indicative of a view that saw religion as belonging to the private sphere’.

Archbishop Martin added: Underlying the recent decision of the Government to close the Irish Embassy to the Holy See one can find something of this mentality in which the function of diplomacy is reduced to what is quantifiable in economic terms as if somehow spiritual matters did not belong to the real world.

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“It is equally strange that the decision was made at a time in which in general there has been a growing awareness in international diplomatic circles of the importance of the factor of religion in anunderstanding of international security and peaceful coexistence among people.”

The Bishop made his comments as he addressed a meeting of parish councils in Dublin and admitted the Church in Ireland is changing.

“Societies like our own where faith and the Christian life once flourished and faith communities were strong are now undergoing a far-reaching transformation,” added Archbishop Martin.

“The reality of God is slowly being eclipsed and people are living their lives as if God does not exist. It is not so much an atmosphere of hostility towards faith but an attitude of indifference or one which tolerates a presence for God in the private lives of individuals but much less within the realities of our society.

“Some who felt that religion was destined to be relegated to the purely private sphere are surprised by the fact that religion has come back to centre stage in international relations.

“This is not just about a surge in forms of fundamentalism. Faith is not just part of the problem; religion is so central in the life and mentality of many that it cannot but be part of the solution to central problems of international relations today.”

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15 Comments

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helmet365 | Nov 12, 2011, 04:55 PM EST
eiriamach, Another well balanced post and so true.

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eiriamach | Nov 12, 2011, 08:59 AM EST
After the physical, spiritual, and psychological harm done to the victims, the worst effect of the abuse revelations is the blunting of conscience that's happening now. arkansas tries to convince himself/ herself that only 4 in 10 claims of abuse are true and 60% are lies. Like many, arkansas cannot take the painful horror of the truth and must blame the victims for causing this pain. The abuse stories send some people into full denial. At least in this way it is comparable to a Holocaust-- too painful to read of one after another case coming to light and the abusers having escaped justice while victims were silenced, ignored, bought off, or disbelieved and left alone with their memories. So in the 'States, Herman Cain jokes about sexual harassment and the Penn State admin treats the rape of a 10-year-old like a frat house prank-- "dead conscience" reactions. It's not the loss of a Vatican embassy that puts us in danger of turning away from God, but this relentless assault by facts that can force us to retreat from truth into denial and excuse-making. A deadly combination of crime and cover-up repeated can corrode the conscience at last or "make a stone of the heart." Better to rant and rage about it than to let denial take over or, like Archbishop Martin, to complain about the people who turn away from church in "indifference," numbed by the reality of this evil, to look for God and justice elsewhere.

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johnnydale | Nov 10, 2011, 05:23 AM EST
I agree that is was a disgusting decision to announce the closure of the Vatican and Iranian embassies at the same time. This implies that Iran is bad as the Vatican.

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cillowen | Nov 09, 2011, 10:37 PM EST
Joe Paterno is the Popeterno character for Americans to gnaw on. What he knew and when did he know it. The News of the World featured stories of Vicars doing their dirty for years upon years. The sick is not unique to just these. Child abuse has been a forever disease and any fair minded soul just knows this being true.

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arkansas | Nov 09, 2011, 10:28 PM EST
joeustance, Don't you wish the church was handling this situation you would be assured that the victims would get paid handsomely, and not have a large fight on their hands. Believe it or not I happen to believe that better then 60% of the victims were lying and most every body knows it. It's time the church stands up and starts to fight back and forget about turning the other cheek.

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arkansas | Nov 09, 2011, 10:17 PM EST
come on helmet365 if you don't believe then be man enough to stay away from mass you don't believe in. At the good bishop belives in what he is saying. Apparently your good wife believes in the church and the sacraments good for her, their might be help for you, maybe.

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arkansas | Nov 09, 2011, 10:10 PM EST
Edna Kenny shot himself in the foot and dosen't know it, but he will find out soon enough. He thinks that having the controvercy with the vatican will heal all the financial problems he has I have news for him he kicked the wrong dog, and this dog will bite him in the ass.

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helmet365 | Nov 09, 2011, 05:25 PM EST
The good Ashbishop uses the word faith many times. A very dangerous word that has given the Catholic Church the licence to make up anything over time in the 'name of God'. Mother Teresa in her life doubted the truth of her religion even the existence of God. A good Italian Bishop she corrosponded with could only reassure her with 'have faith'. Follow the sheep and you will become enslaved. This is why most men including myself stand up the back at Mass,our minds are miles away. But the wife needs a lift. The younger generation do not buy it. Poor things they do not know what they are missing out on. They don't have guilt,sin,judgement, burning fires to dodge , a homophobic chauvanist God to believe in. They don't know what they are missing out on. We have to get them back, selfish things they are. There is plenty of room up the back fellas!

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AengusOg | Nov 09, 2011, 03:47 PM EST
Show me the money! If the closing of the embassy was really motivated by the church's intransigence in the face of the child abuse scandal, and the cost-cutting simply a cover story, the Archbishop's statements are quite similar. He is bemoaning the loss of revenue to the church with a cover story about lost spirituality.

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rainbowbrew | Nov 09, 2011, 01:47 PM EST
All states then need to have embassies for all the other religions. if one is treated in a special way then all should get the treatment. let's see; Judism, Mulum, Buddhist, presbyterrian, baptist (can't forget them), lutherns, etc etc. Why is the catholic religion/business so special?

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eiriamach | Nov 09, 2011, 11:58 AM EST
I agree with the Archbishop: the decision to close the embassy is unusual at a time when "there has been a growing awareness in international diplomatic circles of the importance of ... religion in an understanding of international security and peaceful coexistence among people.” But I do NOT agree that it follows from the closure decision that "The reality of God is slowly being eclipsed and people are living their lives as if God does not exist.... an attitude of indifference or one which tolerates a presence for God in the private lives of individuals but much less within the realities of our society." Understandably, the Archbishop has a narrow view of the sources of morality and the life of the spirit. He probably thinks these cannot exist without his Church being at the center of public life. In this opinion, he's completely wrong. A moral approach to governing is much more likely to prevail when the playing field has been leveled and each religious tenet must compete on the same grounds-- acceptance by the people on the basis of reason, history and culture (context), values and moral principles that all citizens can *freely* embrace. It's not the various religions that compete in the public forum, but various views of what is right and good in law, the public welfare, the ethos of the nation. Religious practice belongs in the private sphere, but the Spirit of God is everywhere and at work even when atheists write the laws. Can anyone deny that the Irish state has done far more good lately in setting out principles of justice and destiny-in-common than the Irish bishops have done in dealing with crimes of child abuse?

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ancavker | Nov 09, 2011, 11:56 AM EST
cillowen: What exactly are you talking about? Or are you just talking to yourself?

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cillowen | Nov 09, 2011, 10:57 AM EST
The answer is to eliminate all aspects of St. Patrick related connections and replace it fully with the Henry VIII type papacy as symbolized by Queen Elisa - bring her back regularily. It should please the natives who were largely upset at the 1916 bother boys. How stupid were those fools to cause pain to their Mother.

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joeustace | Nov 09, 2011, 09:43 AM EST
Typical, playing the God card and blaming the victim. He should be grateful the Irish government is not frankly stating the reason for the withdrawal of relations, which goes without saying at this point. P.S. Who is handling the Penn State/Joe Paterno scandal? The Church?

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CaptainCon | Nov 09, 2011, 09:15 AM EST
Is Archbishop Martin offering to pay for the funding of the Irish embassy to the Vatican?

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