THERE was a touch of Sandra Bullock’s character in ‘Speed’ when Minister Josepha Madigan stepped up to take the wheel because there was a no-show by the priest at her local church in Mount Merrion.
As word got out that the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht had led the congregation in prayers, there were inevitable headlines about her ‘saying Mass’. It raised the ire of the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, particularly when Minister Madigan suggested that the episode highlighted the need for women priests to halt declining vocations.
In a strongly worded statement, the Archbishop claimed her comments had caused her parishioners in Mount Merrion and further afield “considerable distress”.
“Many have contacted my offices to express their hurt and upset at the Minister’s comments, as reported in the media,” he said.
He insisted there was no shortage of priests in the Archdiocese of Dublin for the celebration of Sunday Mass and explained that the priest had failed to turn up for the Saturday evening service due to “a misunderstanding”.
“It is in no way correct to say that the Minister ‘said Mass’,” he added, before accusing Madigan of using the occasion “to push a particular agenda”.
“Her expressed view that a mix-up in a Dublin parish on one particular Saturday evening should lead to the Universal Church changing core teachings is bizarre,” he continued. “Minister Madigan might consider listening to the voices of those people who disagree with her public comments; she might consider the hurt she has caused to parishioners who deem her actions deeply disrespectful.”
Not surprisingly, the Dublin Rathdown TD was unrepentant, suggesting that the role of women in the Church should be raised with Pope Francis when he visits these shores next month.
The phenomenal demand for tickets to see the Pope shows that Catholicism is still very much alive in Ireland. But Minister Madigan’s comments, which appeared to have the backing of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, is a clear sign that the State no longer bends the knee to the Church on matters of morality or equality.
Welcome as it was, it will take much more than Minister Madigan’s intervention to move the Catholic hierarchy from its entrenched position when it comes to the place of women in the Church today.