Ireland's referendum legalizing same-sex marrage is striking, precisely because it's Ireland.
It is difficult to think of a more Catholic country, including Italy, but they voted overwhelmingly against the stated position of the church.
I have to think that the scandal of sexual abuse by priests over the years - a scandal that roiled Ireland more profoundly than any other country - was probably decisive in making the Catholic church's position untenable for politicians in Ireland. Simply put, the Irish Catholic church has no more moral authority on issues of sexuality.
Pope Francis clearly understands this in a way that his predecessors did not, and he is clearly trying to move the church in a different direction. I hope he succeeds, because the world needs a religious organization that is mobilized for the poor and not against certain sexual preferences.
But when an organization whose authority rests on its moral legitimacy, how does the Church recover that after it's lost?
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