Manchester University Press
12 Irreconcilable differences?
Abstract
Sharon Tighe-Mooney’s chapter sees the divorce, contraception and abortion referenda of the 1980s and 90s as a watershed for Irish women, as these were issues that impacted directly on their lives. Tighe-Mooney examines the events of the past four decades in Irish society in the context of the weakening hegemony of the Catholic Church juxtaposed with the growing realisation by women, especially when the child abuse scandals broke, that their lives had been framed by a celibate male-dominated institution that displayed serious double standards in the area of human sexuality. She argues that in order to survive into the future, the Church will be increasingly dependent on women remaining active within the institution. As Irish women Catholics are demanding a central role in the running of a Church that has shown itself allergic to change, especially when it comes to gender equality, Tighe-Mooney wonders what the future holds for both groups.
Abstract
Sharon Tighe-Mooney’s chapter sees the divorce, contraception and abortion referenda of the 1980s and 90s as a watershed for Irish women, as these were issues that impacted directly on their lives. Tighe-Mooney examines the events of the past four decades in Irish society in the context of the weakening hegemony of the Catholic Church juxtaposed with the growing realisation by women, especially when the child abuse scandals broke, that their lives had been framed by a celibate male-dominated institution that displayed serious double standards in the area of human sexuality. She argues that in order to survive into the future, the Church will be increasingly dependent on women remaining active within the institution. As Irish women Catholics are demanding a central role in the running of a Church that has shown itself allergic to change, especially when it comes to gender equality, Tighe-Mooney wonders what the future holds for both groups.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Figures and table ix
- Notes on contributors x
- Introduction 1
-
Part I Tracing change and setting the context
- 1 The times they are a changin’’ 23
- 2 Revisiting the faith of our fathers … and reimagining its relevance in the context of twenty-first-century Ireland 38
- 3 Dethroning Irish Catholicism 53
- 4 Refracted visions 70
- 5 Contemporary Irish Catholicism 89
-
Part II Going against the tide
- 6 The poetry of accumulation 105
- 7 Prophetic voices or complicit functionaries? 117
- 8 Tony Flannery 132
- 9 ‘Belief shifts’ 145
-
Part III Challenges in the here and now
- 10 Faith, hope and clarity? 163
- 11 The people in the pews 176
- 12 Irreconcilable differences? 192
- 13 The Catholic twilight 209
- Index 226
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Figures and table ix
- Notes on contributors x
- Introduction 1
-
Part I Tracing change and setting the context
- 1 The times they are a changin’’ 23
- 2 Revisiting the faith of our fathers … and reimagining its relevance in the context of twenty-first-century Ireland 38
- 3 Dethroning Irish Catholicism 53
- 4 Refracted visions 70
- 5 Contemporary Irish Catholicism 89
-
Part II Going against the tide
- 6 The poetry of accumulation 105
- 7 Prophetic voices or complicit functionaries? 117
- 8 Tony Flannery 132
- 9 ‘Belief shifts’ 145
-
Part III Challenges in the here and now
- 10 Faith, hope and clarity? 163
- 11 The people in the pews 176
- 12 Irreconcilable differences? 192
- 13 The Catholic twilight 209
- Index 226
