Irish Church-State Relations As Reflected In The 1996 Divorce Legislation

As a traditional Catholic country, Ireland had recognized the supreme political salience of the Catholic Church since the nation gained independence from its former colonial master. Catholic teachings were enshrined in Irish laws and constitution and became Irish people’s code of conduct. However, at the turn of the millennium, the Catholic Church lost its influence in social affairs significantly due to the secularization process which came along with Irish economic development. This decline of Catholic authority rendered a new pattern of church-state relations come into being. At this point, the passage of the divorce legislation in the 1990s provides a good breakthrough point through which this changed nexus could be examined. Issues concerning marriage and family had long been a traditional domain of the Catholic Church. Catholic teachings on marriage and family were enshrined in the 1937 Irish constitution and divorce was prohibited. Nonetheless, it is a sign that the authority of the Catholic Church weakened as the Irish government proposed to remove the constitutional ban on divorce in the early 1980s. After two referenda, the divorce act finally came into effect in 1997. The government efforts accounted for a large part of its success, which indicated a loosened Catholic control and the formation of a new pattern of church-state relations. However, though the study of church-state relations in this period constitutes an important part of Irish history, it had not received much attention.This thesis attempts to probe into the changing church-state relations and to dig out what had been changed as reflected in the 1996 divorce legislation by examining the active role Irish government had played in promoting the passage of the divorce act, and by making comparisons of the political influence of the Catholic Church before and after the divorce proposal. This study finds out that the passage of divorce act in 1996 referendum suggested a decline of the church’s influence and increased government control on social matters.This thesis adopts historical analysis as the main research method, and tries to integrate content analysis and secularization theories. Primary sources used in this paper include Dail debates, acts concerning marriage and family 1980-1996, Irish constitution, church files. Large amounts of reliable secondary sources are also used in the study.