Meanwhile, elsewhere in the church, in non-General Convention related news; the Irish Government has been given broad new powers to use police force to suppress “blasphemous statements”.
Jason Walsh writes in his report:
“Many are asking why on earth blasphemy should be criminalised, particularly at a time when the Catholic Church in Ireland is being investigated for widespread child abuse and its public image has hit rock bottom.
The government has responded to its critics by saying there is a constitutional requirement for a specific blasphemy law in Ireland. Indeed so: freedom of speech is guaranteed by Article 40.6.1 of the Irish constitution. However, it goes on to prohibit the publication of ‘blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter’ (2). One might call the Irish constitution a clear case of the left hand giving and the right hand taking away.”
Why do this now? Walsh:
Some commentators have sought to portray the blasphemy law as the desperate move of an unpopular ruling party, Fianna Fáil, playing to the conservative, rural gallery. It is true that country conservatives do form a significant proportion of the party’s support, but there are problems with this argument.
[snipping a great deal of material to get to the punch-line]
Rather than harking back to the days of God-fearing, or at least priest-fearing, Ireland, the blasphemy law has more in common with contemporary politically correct measures of social control.
The upshot?
[T]he Irish government is asking people to trust that it will be sensible – precisely what it won’t trust the public to be.
Read the full article here.