Category Archives: Catholic Action
Irish Hierarchy’s Statement on the Intoxicating Liquor Laws
The following statement was issued in 1959 by the Irish hierarchy at their June meeting in St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth:
The Irish hierarchy has had under consideration the reports of the Commission of Inquiry into the operation of the laws relating to the sale and supply of intoxicating liquor.
The proposal of the majority of the commission to alter these laws has very grave moral, religious and economic implications.
The hierarchy is chiefly concerned with the moral and religious aspects of the proposed legislation.
It is a matter of deep regret that the Report should have confined its attention so largely to drunkenness — a relatively rare occurrence nowadays — rather than to drinking habits or addiction to alcohol.
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Will the Irish Stay Christian?
by Desmond Fennell,
Doctrine and Life; May, 1962.
There is no reason to suppose that the Irish Catholic people will continue indefinitely to be believing Christians. In Europe during the last one hundred and fifty years the majority of people have abandoned Christian belief and practice; there is no reason why the same should not happen here.
Sweden is often cited as an extreme example of modern paganism. But eighty years ago it was the scene of impassioned public controversies about the nature of Christ’s Redemption and the proper ordering of the Communion service; wide sections of the people believed these matters to be of urgent concern.
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The Treatment of Immigrants
The following statement was issued by the Catholic hierarchy of England and Wales during their Low Week meeting, 1954.
In accordance with the wishes of the Holy See we desire to draw attention to the situation arising in England and Wales from the presence here of a large number of refugees and of emigrants who have left their own countries in search of better conditions.
From the Continent, and especially from countries enslaved by Communists, there have come to this country some 200,000 Catholics. One hundred thousand of these are Poles and 25,000 Ukrainians, and there are considerable numbers of Latvians, Estonians, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Yugoslavs and Rumanians. Nor do we overlook several thousand Italians, Germans and Austrians.
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