The Republic's leading churchman last night criticised Catholics who pretend to practise their religion only to secure a "veneer" of social respectability. Speaking in Dublin, at Trinity College, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin acknowledged that Ireland was undergoing a transition in its attitude to religion after a long period in which the Catholic Church was a dominant influence on Irish culture and society.
But he asked: "Would it be better if people would only bring their child for baptism as a true act of faith rather than as a social gesture?
"Would that not make it clearer to all what baptism and Church membership were about?"
Dr Martin told students he was tempted to think that his spiritual task "would be easier if we lived in a more secularised country, where there was no need to pretend a type of religious veneer as a form of external social trapping".
He was taking part in a debate on the place of religion in the public square which was held in honour of South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, whom Dr Martin lauded for his role in helping to end apartheid.
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(Source: II)