Opinion

Patrick Murphy: Maternity hospital row another sign Catholic Church in south losing its relevance

Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy is an Irish News columnist and former director of Belfast Institute for Further and Higher Education.

The National Maternity Hospital is to be located at St Vincent's Hospital in south Dublin. Picture: Google Maps
The National Maternity Hospital is to be located at St Vincent's Hospital in south Dublin. Picture: Google Maps The National Maternity Hospital is to be located at St Vincent's Hospital in south Dublin. Picture: Google Maps

Did you ever think you would see protests in Dublin against nuns? Well, there were last week, when hundreds of demonstrators assembled outside the Department of Health.

In fairness, they were not protesting against all nuns, just the Sisters of Charity. The reason was that the Dublin government has agreed that the sisters should inherit the earth, or at least a €300 million, state-funded maternity hospital on a part of the earth which the nuns happen to own. Somewhere deep in Irish government there remains residual, religious sentiment.

The protesters have two objections. The first is that the sisters apparently owe the state at least €3 million, as part of their €5 million payment towards government compensation for child abuse in their former institutions.

Opponents of the deal argue that giving the nuns a hospital just because they own the land on which it is to be built, is a bit too charitable.

The second argument suggests that a religious order should not have any role in a maternity hospital in view of its likely Catholic ethos, which would not necessarily be shared by all taxpayers who use the service.

This issue arises from the historical Irish practice of religious organisations providing social, medical and educational services on behalf of the state. (In the north, the Church still provides education.) Begun in the nineteenth century, it has become a huge business.

For example, on the site where the new maternity hospital is planned, the Sisters of Charity already own two existing hospitals, one private, one public, with a total capital value in excess of €400 million.

The Sisters of Mercy also own three Dublin hospitals, valued at €650 million. They were to pay €128 million to government in compensation, but paid only €25 million because, according to reports, contributions were related to property price fluctuations. (Nuns seem particularly good at finance. Maybe we need a few in government?)

The religious ethos argument is sometimes extended to suggest that the Sisters of Charity should not be allowed near mothers or children, after their record in the Magdalene laundries and, in any case, nuns should have no role in maternity service provision.

Some complain that this last point is a bit like suggesting that only those who have had cancer should treat cancer patients. Others, such as the former master of the National Maternity Hospital asks: "Why do the Sisters of Charity want to own a maternity hospital?"

He suggests that a Catholic hospital would be unlikely to allow in vitro fertilisation, sterilisation or abortion.

Bishop Kevin Doran appeared to confirm this view when he suggested that a Catholic-owned hospital would be required to observe Church rules. Public funding, he said, does not change that responsibility.

Supporters of the project claimed that the hospital would always operate within the state's current legislative framework, but publication of the state-church agreement has provided little legal clarification.

Just at that point in the argument, the Dáil's Citizens' Assembly recommended the introduction of unrestricted abortion in the south. So would the new maternity hospital offer abortion in circumstances not currently covered by existing legislation?

It would be surprising if a referendum approved abortion on demand, but it is almost certain that there will be some relaxation of the current law. If so, the Church will have lost out on opposing legislation on contraception, divorce, same-sex marriage and now abortion.

Its role in covering up child abuse and in failing to offer leadership during Ireland's economic collapse has left the Church battling for relevance. This is not quite its last stand (that will come later on education) but the downside is that it is rapidly running out of clergy.

The upside is that support will arrive from Rome next year, with a likely papal visit. It will be interesting to see the government's timing of the referendum in relation to the visit. Irish politics and religion are about to mix in a very big way.

The real political importance of the Pope's visit will now be in the south, rather than the north. The two states appear set to be divided by a hard border on abortion and same sex marriage, as the DUP remains opposed to legislative change in the north.

Indeed, partition may help to preserve much of the Irish Church's remaining influence. It is now more likely to thrive in the north, where despite theological differences, its moral authority in society is bolstered by conservative Presbyterianism.

So, with a bit of help from fundamental Protestantism, it is hard to see the day when there will be protests against Catholic nuns in Belfast.