To outsiders looking in, or even insiders taking stock, there appears to be little to argue with within the National Synthesis report on the role of the Catholic Church in Ireland, and how it needs to change to stay relevant to the faithful or become relevant once more to those who have lost theirs.
The report was sent to the secretary general for the Synod of Bishops in the Vatican, Cardinal Mario Grech, having been signed off by the Irish Primate, Archbishop Eamon Martin, a man not renowned for his radical views. It recommends immediate change on the Church’s dealings with women — up to and including ordination.
That Irish Catholics have participated freely in a broad discussion which has ended up recommending the Church change its attitude towards women, LBGTI+ people, those who are divorced or remarried, and single parents, is something which could not even have been countenanced 10 years ago.
So too the fact that the Catholic hierarchy here has — in the final report sent to Rome — recognised the hurt suffered by those abused by its servants, and has called for fresh models of responsibility for men and women in the Church and an “outreach” to those who have left the Church behind or otherwise felt ignored, forgotten, or excluded.
It is essential that the Vatican pays heed to what is essentially a cri de coeur when next year’s Synod in Rome, called together by Pope Francis, takes place. If not, it risks the further alienation of its flock.
As an organisation which is slow to accept change, much less adopt it, the Catholic Church faces a moment of truth where it accepts the need for radical transformation, or veers towards irrelevance. It is beyond time for it to step into the modern world.