The power of the Catholic Church in Ireland today.

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The power of the Catholic Church in Ireland today.

Religion exists in all known societies, although religious beliefs and practices vary from culture to culture. All religions involve a set of symbols, involving feelings of reverence, linked to rituals practiced by a community of believers.

Sociological approaches to religion have been mostly influenced by the ideas of three ‘classical’ thinkers: Marx, Durkheim and Weber. None of the three were religious, and all thought that the significance of religion would decrease in modern times. All held that religion is in a fundamental sense an illusion. They believed that the ‘other’ world which religion creates is our world, distorted through the lens of religious symbolism.

For Marx, religion contains a strong ideological element: religion provides justification for the inequalities of wealth and power found in society.

For Durham, religion is important because of the cohesive functions it serves, especially in ensuring that people meet regularly to affirm common beliefs and values.

For Weber, religion is important because of the role it plays in social change, particularly the development of western capitalism.

Ireland’s religious profile is unusual in a number of respects. It is the only country in the English-speaking world which has a catholic majority.  All of the controversy over divorce and abortion and issues dealing with sex abuse in the Catholic Church and women’s role in the Catholic Church interested me, and this is why I chose this title for this essay.  

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The Irish Catholic Church has a dreadful history of child sex abuse perpetrated by priests; it is outrageous for the Catholic Church to persist in stone-walling efforts to probe the sordid history of abuse by the clergy. The harrowing experiences of generations of children preyed upon by priests and brothers are a damning indictment of how the Irish Church has dealt with abuse, merely by moving the offenders from parish to parish. In many instances, little or nothing was done by the authorities to bring perpetrators to justice. Shamefully, in some cases, instead of helping Garda, information was actually withheld ...

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