“‘Easter 1916’ by William Butler Yeats is one of the most famous poems written in English in modern times. It commemorates the doomed Irish rebellion that occurred at Easter a century ago….One of the Irish leaders was Patrick Pearse, who was obsessed with ideas of redemption through blood….Following the logic of his teaching, on Easter Monday 1916, Pearse joined other nationalists, both Catholic and secular, in a suicidal rising against British power” (Phillip Jenkins, Easter 1916: Blood, Sacrifice and Holy War, Aletia, 3/28/16).
Tomorrow marks the 100th anniversary of that so-called “Easter Rising.” While some Americans of Irish descent may have romanticized notions of what took place, Micheal Kelly asks: "Is Catholicism being scrubbed from Ireland’s ‘Easter Rising’?" (Crux, 4/21/16):
"2016 marks the centenary of the Irish ‘Easter Rising’ that paved the way for much of the island to win independence from Great Britain. But, commemoration of the event is exposing sharp differences in modern Ireland about how the influence of Catholicism is being marked.
"Whilst the uprising was a failure from a military point of view, it inspired a whole new generation of activists who engaged in a guerrilla campaign that saw 26 of the country’s 32 counties win effective independence in 1922.
"But, a century on from that uprising, there is tension in how the event is remembered and how the history of 20th century Ireland is recorded.
"Nowhere is that clearer than in the role of the Church and individual priests both around the events of Easter Week 1916 itself, and ecclesiastical influence in the nascent Irish State....
"official ceremonials around the centenary have tended to play down the Catholic nature of the Rising.
"For [Greg] Daly, Catholicism is key to understanding the Rising.
“'Time and time again we read of ordinary rebels going to Mass, receiving Communion, and making sure their Confessions were heard before they left their homes for perhaps the last time,' he writes....
“Given how the rebels attempted to justify their Rising in terms of just war theory, and deliberately wanted an Easter rebellion to signify national resurrection, it could even be argued that for most of the rebels of 1916 the Rising was theologically justified, liturgically timed, and devotionally experienced,” he adds....
“The Rising was an overwhelmingly Catholic rebellion. It’s impossible to miss this as you work your way through the myriad first-person accounts of the Rising, whether in books and magazine articles, witness statements, or even letters and diaries from the time,” Daly insists."
If Ireland is indeed downplaying the role of Catholicism in the Easter Rising, we need to consider whether that may be more than a mixed blessing! The suicidal undertakings of Padraic Pearse and others would not not stand up to a Catholic “just war” analysis:
"The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time:
- the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;- all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;- there must be serious prospects of success;- the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.
"These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the ‘just war’ doctrine.
"The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2309).
For those of us of Irish descent, the Easter Rising did NOT mark our forebears' finest hours. On the other hand, we should be abundantly proud that - at least until very recent - the Republic of Ireland stood as a bulwark against anti marriage/family initiatives:
- contraceptives were illegal until 1979;
- divorce was illegal until 1996;
- at the time that Ireland changed its civil definition of marriage, the author of the Lady of Knock hymn had become well know in Irish politics, offering brave positions on human life and marriage/family:
"It is universally accepted that the 'best practice' for the well-being of a child, its parents and society is for that child to be raised in a family with its biological parents. We know that this 'best practice' is not always attainable and we acknowledge the great care provided to children by adoptive and foster parents and by often heroic single parents. Nonetheless, the gift of a mother and a father to a child is something that should never be prejudiced or undermined by anyone and to do so cannot be in best interest of the child.
"In every other sphere of life - from medical care to the worlds of business, agriculture, finance and politics - 'best practice' is held up as the gold standard that we must not only aspire to, but do everything possible to achieve and maintain. Why then would we seek to discard the gold standard for marriage, the family and our society?
"Our Irish Constitution enshrines that 'The State pledges itself to guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the Family is founded, and to protect it against attack' (Art 43.1.1.). This legal binding pledge is not made on religious grounds but because, 'The State recognises the Family as the natural primary and fundamental unit group of Society and as a moral institution possessing inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent and superior to all positive law' (Art 41.1.1)
"The family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman, predates our state and religions. Throughout world history it has been recognised as the fundamental building block of society and that what happens to it, reverberates throughout society.
"As a dear friend, who happens to be homosexual, has said 'the marriage of a man and woman is a stand-alone institution which should not be interfered with or changed by anyone, for any reason'.
All of Ireland's sons and daughters need to pray that Ireland and the world embrace God's loving plan for marriage/family.
"In Ireland's great future we cannot forget its past. Marriage between a man and a woman has certainly served us well as a nation throughout our history and it deserves to be protected and maintained."
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