Marriage in Ireland: “These ruins are still charged with a great mission!” -Pope St. John Paul II
by: Edel McDonough
“I see Daddy on the TV!” I wildly exclaimed to my mother as she juggled a new baby and a wriggling toddler. We were eagerly searching our 70’s TV screen for my father who, along with 1.25 million others, had flocked to the 1979 papal Mass with Pope John Paul II in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. I was only two and a half years of age, but I reckon this was my very first memory. Little did I know then that the two men I sought to see, my own dear father Tom and “Papa” John Paul II, would be critical father figures in my life who would help steer me ever closer to my true Father in heaven.
I was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1977. I like to think that’s relatively recent, but our children like to remind me that it’s almost half a century ago! The Ireland I grew up in was very different to the Ireland our children are now growing up in. As a young child, 91% of the Irish population regarded themselves as practicing Catholics. Our churches were full to capacity on Sundays, the family rosary was recited widely, and the teachings of the Catholic Church were widely upheld. Upon his 1979 papal visit to Ireland, Pope John Paul II was greeted in person by over half the population of our nation who enthusiastically journeyed to welcome our beloved pope to our land. The faith was being practiced culturally by the multitude, but it was as though the pope knew this practice was often only at a superficial level. At the ancient monastic site of Clonmacnoise in Ireland, he declared, “These ruins are still charged with a great mission” (Clonmacnoise, September 30th, 1979). Pope John Paul II recognised the great significance of these 6thcentury ruins. They marked the site of St. Ciarán’s great centre of evangelisation which sent missionaries throughout Europe and, in turn, greatly aided the building of Christendom in Europe. It is believed that Pope John Paul II could trace the faith of his forefathers in Poland back to this very monastic site. I firmly believe that he foresaw the need for a new era of evangelisation and role the church in Ireland would play in this. Pope John Paul’s words resonated in the hearts of many of the faithful and were words I was often reminded of throughout my faith journey, “These ruins are still charged with a great mission.”
Four years after this uplifting papal visit in 1983, over 66% of Irish voters voted in favour of the 8th amendment to the Constitution of Ireland, establishing the equal right to life for the mother and the unborn child and prohibiting abortion unless a “real and substantial risk” to the mother’s life existed. What an accomplishment! What a win for life and love! How beautiful it was to have a constitution which respected the dignity and sacredness of life from conception to natural death. Three years later, in 1986, the Irish people also rejected a proposal to remove the constitutional ban on divorce. However, the pressure was on, and the tide was beginning to turn as the country grew in wealth and stature.
Fast forward another 9 years, and in 1995 the divorce referendum was very narrowly passed with 50.28% of the electorate voting in favour of the legalisation of divorce. I can vividly remember the tension in the lead up to this referendum and the shock and disappointment that followed the devastating result. This day marked the beginning of a very notable public turn away from the Church in favour of secularism. The Celtic Tiger, an era of rapid economic group in Ireland (1995-2007), had taken hold of the hearts of many. On a personal note, I completed my high school education during this time and, thankfully, remained strong in my faith. I went on to train to be a primary school teacher and in, 1998, found myself in California doing a master’s degree in education. There, the lovely Tom and Cheley Spencer introduced me to Love and Responsibility written by Karol Wojtyla, later to become Pope John Paul II. I was only 21 years old but as I recall my first reading of this masterpiece, I find myself proclaiming with the apostles, “Did our hearts not burn within us” (Luke 24:32). My heart was on fire with a mission I did not yet understand.
In 2020, I eagerly made my way to see Pope John Paul II in Rome for the Millenium World Youth Day. There our dear holy father challenged us, “Do not be afraid to be the saints of the new millennium” (Tor Vergata, August 20th, 2000). It’s a rather long story, but a few friends and I, along with our courageous spiritual guide, Fr. Aidan Carroll, came home from this great event and set up Pure in Heart, a youth movement dedicated to educating, inspiring, and empowering young people to embrace the virtue of chastity and understand the true meaning of human sexuality. This movement was largely inspired by Pope John Paul II’s theology of the body and 26 years later is still going strong. As Pure in Heart unfolded, my own personal vocation unfolded, too. I met my wonderful husband, Fergal, through our faith community, and we were married in July 2005.
Meanwhile, in mainstream Ireland, the Celtic Tiger was raging. Our wonderful nation, where divorce was illegal and the unborn child was fully protected by our constitution, soon became the first country in the world to approve of same-sex marriages by popular vote in 2015. Only 3 years later, on May 25th, 2018, 66.4% of the electorate voted in favour of removing our beautiful 8th amendment from the Constitution, legalising abortion in Ireland for the first time. I personally cried for three days after the results of this referendum were released. I was simply shocked that it had come to this in such a short space of time. In this same time period, the practice of the faith had dropped from 91% of the population to a mere 27%, with only 7% of youth in 2020 practicing their faith.
These are the stark statistical figures. Thankfully, on the ground, the reality of the situation is not so stark. The people, particularly the youth, are beginning to experience dismay at the empty promises of our secular society. The faithful are digging deep and truly seeking God and His will in the midst of a society that seems to have rejected Him, but is crying out more than ever for His tender care. In these past couple months alone, my husband Fergal and I came to learn of the work of the Wojtyla Community and Institute. Something in its mission resonated deeply in our hearts and, once again, we were reminded that, "These ruins are still charged with a great mission."
We have no doubt that God has a plan to "restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish" His kingdom here again and that great Pope St. John Paul II is interceding for us before His holy throne (1 Peter 5:10). His "Rule" for marriage seems such a fitting and timely answer to prayer. We are very excited to see how this mission will unfold and help renew marriages, family life, and the wider Church at large.