PICTURE the following fictional scene if you will. It is a pleasant Sunday morning and our Taoiseach Enda Kenny
is attending Mass. The organ plays quietly and there is the usual coughing and shuffling as the people begin to move quietly to receive Holy Communion.
Without ostentation, Mr Kenny takes his place in the middle of the queue – neither too early nor too late. The priest stops in front of Enda Kenny, hesitates and then raises his hand to make a quick sign of the cross, before moving onwards.
The Taoiseach waits another moment, then blesses himself, before moving at an even pace toward the back of the church and the exit. Perhaps only a dozen people clearly see what has happened – but the church is quickly abuzz with chatter.
The report headlined "Taoiseach is refused Communion" leads all the radio news bulletins across the nation within an hour. All reports note the ongoing conflict between the Government and the Catholic bishops over new abortion legislation.
A fanciful scenario, we hear you say.
Well, you are very probably right, though none of us can say that with 100 per cent certainty right now.
But two events at Knock this past weekend – one on Saturday at the Basilica and the second at Knock Airport Sunday – put an interesting focus on important changes in church-state relations in Ireland.
On Saturday, Cardinal Sean Brady and other senior churchmen welcomed 4,000 people to the Marian Shrine at Knock for a day of special prayer vigil dedicated to the right to life for mothers and babies.
Speaking to the media, Cardinal Brady said their aim was to convince the electorate and, by extension, the country's lawmakers not to go ahead with the draft legislation published last Tuesday night.
Dr Brady said that the proposed legislation was morally wrong and the church was obliged to point this out to everyone concerned.
When the cardinal was pressed on the issue of excommunication, he insisted that their focus for now was to mobilise as much opposition to the legislation as possible.
Any talk of excommunication for politicians voting in this new law might be for another day, he indicated.
Mr Kenny was not present at Saturday's event – though his old boss and former Taoiseach John Bruton,
who has clearly said he opposes the draft legislation, was there.
But
the Taoiseach did attend an equally interesting event at Knock
Airport which revealed another side of the church-state dynamic away
from the moral trinity of abortion, contraception and divorce.
Yesterday's
event was the unveiling of a large statue of the late Monsignor James
Horan, the formidable founder of Knock Airport and the man who out-foxed
all the nation's politicians from the early to mid-1980s.
Enda Kenny, a
government backbencher in 1983, could not stop Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald removing funding for the project on the reasonable grounds that the country was flat broke.
But Mr Kenny later conceded that the issue set back Fine Gael's fortunes in Co Mayo for another decade. He did not need to add that this also set back his own hopes of government office.
So,
it seemed apposite that it was here the Taoiseach was asked for his
reaction to Cardinal Brady's comments the previous day at the Basilica.
Mr Kenny repeated his by now oft-heard assertion that the new law will
not change the law on abortion – it will merely codify and clarify the
position in line with the Irish Constitution and the wishes of the people expressed in two referendums.
The
Taoiseach expressed the hope that he can still bring all his TDs and
senators with him on this one. He also rejected the prospect of an
'automatic repeal clause' if large numbers of abortions result.
So
what of the prospect of excommunication for those voting for this new
legislation? "Well, I have my own way of talking to my God. And it's not
for me to comment on that," the Taoiseach told reporters.
It
was a polite but firm message to any senior churchman who might think
of deploying that crozier as in days of yore.
It was a markedly
different attitude from the man who sent in more support letters than
any other TD calling for the original abortion referendum in 1983. It
was a marking out of boundaries by a man who has always presented
himself as a practising Catholic.
Clearly, Mr Kenny is
working on the assumption that the Catholic bishops also have a good
grasp of realpolitik. The bishops know that this legislation will be
passed by the Dail and Seanad by a comfortable majority before the
summer recess.
Their work now is about speaking to their
own traditional true believers and making the best fall-back stand they
can on behalf of the Catholic Church.
It will be surprising if we hear
too much more from Cardinal Brady and his fellow bishops about the
prospect of excommunication for our politicians.
The
bishops must surely know that any such tactic is now well beyond its
expiry date.
Enda Kenny is most unlikely to be denied Holy Communion –
but he appears set to be the unlikely driver of a new church-state
dynamic in Ireland.