The churches are beginning to find their voices again, and not before time.Cowed into silence by the embarrassment and shame of the child abuse scandals of the recent past, church leaders had retreated into a world of their own, refusing to provide leadership on moral issues for fear of derision and cries of hypocrisy.
What moral leadership could come from an institution that had knowingly harboured serial abusers of children and which tried to frustrate proper investigations of that abuse?
The abusers were in the minority, but the cover-up was perpetrated by the church itself. As Fr Brendan Hoban said last week, "We were too careful, too afraid, too amenable to the wisdom of a narrow clerical world...and let's face it, too many of us were too ambitious at a personal level to upset the clerical consensus."
With the passage of time, however, has come both remorse and renewal. The Roman Catholic Church will never be free of the stigma of child abuse, but that does not mean that its voice must be forever silent.
As an institution, the Church of Ireland was not embroiled in the abuse scandals that so destroyed confidence in the Catholic Church, but it too noted the change in the public mood and stepped ever further away from controversy and public debate.
In recent weeks and months, however, both churches have shown signs of renewed confidence.
At the start of the month, Michael Burrows, the Church of Ireland bishop of Ossory, launched a scathing attack on this government's failure to honour its commitments to legislate for the consequences of the X case, including a limited right to abortion.
Burrows attacked the "systemic spinelessness" of politicians for their "hypocritical and ostrich-like" approach to an issue fraught with moral dangers.
It was a rare outburst, but a welcome one: unless constantly pressured to do their jobs, our politicians will undoubtedly fail to provide leadership on any divisive issue.
The bishop's call for legislation does not reflect an acceptance of abortion -- quite the contrary -- but it does reflect the need for legislators to do what they are paid for, and not leave all difficult decisions to the courts.
Diarmuid Martin, the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, has opened debate on other fronts, questioning the moral gap that prevents users of cocaine from understanding that their momentary pleasure is destroying lives across the country.
The gang wars of Limerick and Dublin exist because well-off consumers covet the drugs that are their currency.
You do not have to agree with Burrows or Martin, but we should be grateful that leaders within both churches feel that they can contribute positively again to the evolution of our society.
Church attendance has fallen significantly over the past 20 years and few young men and women come forward to join the priesthood, but the Christian church's voice still resonates.
The renewed confidence of the Catholic Church should be boosted further by the news that Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh is to become a Cardinal.
It is both a reflection of our past and of the church's future that his appointment should have generated such wide publicity, making front page news in our newspapers and leading the RTE bulletins.
Ireland has changed, but not that much.
The balance, though, has tipped inalterably.
The churches have a voice, but it is no longer the voice of absolutism.
The Catholic bishops can say that the right to life of an unborn child is 'absolute', but, as Burrows pointed out, the duty of our legislators is to legislate within the parameters of our constitution and not leave their 'dirty work' to the courts.
Strong opinions on the development of our society, on the role of citizens and on simple morality are to be welcomed, and should be engaged robustly.
The silence of the churches, after years of gruesome child abuse and cover-ups, was appropriate.
Now, with humility and remorse, they can be heard again and they can be valued again.
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