Ireland and the Vatican: The Politics and Diplomacy of Church-State Relations, 1922-1960 by Dermot Keogh

Abstract

Ireland and Vatican: The Politics and Diplomacy of Church-State Relations, 1922-1960. By Dermot Keogh. (Cork: Cork University Press. 1995. Pp. xvi, 410. L37.50, $62.00 hardcover; 17.50 paperback.) Ireland may still be known to some as the island of saints and scholars, but few would know of extraordinary importance that Irish diplomats placed upon Ireland's relationship with Holy See in regard to international affairs. The tendency of Ireland's accredited representatives to Holy See to view Irish foreign policy as an adjunct to that of Vatican, highlights profound influence of Catholic Church upon Irish people. This tendency and its eventual demise are examined in Dermot Keogh's meticulously researched and illuminating study of diplomatic relations between Holy See and newly independent Ireland. It is only in recent decades that Ireland has shed some of its traditional piety as a concession to modern consumer culture and Europeanization. However, for all change that has occurred, including recent successful referendum on divorce, Ireland remains to this day most devout Catholic nation in Europe. The Irish people continue to find great solace in their faith, and it can be argued that this condition exists due to strenuous efforts of successive Irish governments to cultivate and encourage role of Catholic Church in Irish society in period under study. Keogh's focus is designed to illuminate nature of `high politics' between Ireland and Vatican, and as a result, there is little to be found concerning role of clergy in local politics-where priests and nuns carry considerable weight on advisory boards and councils and in local organizations. Yet, as such matters are not proper focus of Keogh's study, this is hardly unexpected. The concern for a moral and civil body politic since founding of Ireland as an independent nation in 1922 seems to have been uppermost in minds of both statesmen and churchmen alike. It was not enough for Irish men and women to be solid citizens; they were to be servants of God as well. Clearly,the pageantry and solemnity of 1932 Eucharistic Congress held in Dublin combined to serve as a vast profession of faith in which politics and spirituality combined to reinforce devotion to both church and state. Prominent Irish leaders, such as Eamon de Valera sought to protect nation from crass materialism and moral decadence of outside world by asserting right of state to ensure spiritual development of population, by recognizing special position of Catholic Church in Irish society. …