‘The Times they are a Changing’ by Joe McVeigh

However, their response to the disgraceful British involvement and policy in Ireland speaks for itself from the founding of Maynooth College in 1795 to the centenary celebration of Partition in 2021. Instead of challenging British government’s involvement in Irish affairs and their engagement in terrible violence against Irish citizens they remain silent or openly support their policies.

 

They have consistently taken a politically conservative position -in effect giving support to the enemy of the Irish people- a foreign government which over the centuries has done so much damage to the fabric of Irish society and caused so much death and destruction. They consistently condemned those who rebelled against British oppression and brutality in Ireland and who saw no other way to bring an end to oppression. In doing so they aligned themselves with the British government which welcomed their support for their brutal policies.

In my book ‘A Wounded Church’ published in 1989 by Mercier Press, I criticised their role in Irish political life and their sympathy for the British and their opposition to Republicanism and Socialism. My late friend Fr Des Wilson once said to me, “Not only that, they were also opposed to democracy.” He added, “you should have called your book ‘A Wounding Church’.

The Bishops refused to allow Veritas bookshops to sell my book and took whatever copies they had off the shelves. 

But now in 2024 in their recent pre-Election statement “To Be a People of Hope “, I detect a slight shift in their politics. Their recent statement is more nuanced and more realistic and less dogmatic. They highlight the failure of the established political parties FF and FG to deal with homelessness and the many issues that affect the poor and the working class. The only people who have been highlighting these serious failures are Sinn Fein and parties on the left.

Why the change by the bishops?

I think the majority of the Irish Catholic bishops now realise that they have been out of step with the young generation who have, in the last decade or two, become politicised and radicalised. Many now support Sinn Fein or another left of centre party.

It is clear to me that the young (aged 14-20 years) have been politicised as a result of the issue of the homeless, the cost of living, the climate change debate, and have moved away from the more conservative politics of their parents and established political parties to the more radical politics of left -leaning parties.

Many bishops have witnessed this trend and are now catching up –for they know that the stakes are high. The Church could lose another generation of people if they are seen to be out of touch with the reality of life on this island. Already it is evident that a large section of the working class in the six counties have opted out of the Church. Many are spiritual people who believe in the God of Justice and Love. They just do not believe that their Church is interested in their deep concerns about the social, cultural and political future of this country.

I should also say that the collaborative role of the English, Welsh and Scottish Catholic bishops and other religious leaders with regard to British actions and involvement in Ireland has been disgraceful. 

I hope this recent statement from the Irish Catholic bishops is the beginning of a new approach to the issues facing the Irish people. I hope I am right in thinking that in the words of Bob Dylan’s song,  ‘The Times they are a changing.’