The Media and the Catholic Church in Ireland: Reporting Clerical Child Sex Abuse

Abstract

Insufficient attention has been paid to the relationship between the Church and the media. Using Ireland as a laboratory for study, we argue that the rise of the media as a public watchdog and social conscience of Irish society can be linked to the secularisation of Catholic Ireland, both at a macro-level in terms of the decline in the institutional power of the Church and at a micro-level in terms of the decline in institutional participation and trust. This article describes and analyses how the media in Ireland have become a major influence in shaping public opinion about religion: the Catholic Church is no longer able to limit and control the media as it once did. This transformation is most evident in reports of Clerical Child Sex Abuse (CCSA). Further analysis highlights a sharp decline in institutional religiosity during the 1990s, when reports of CCSA were commonplace. A less dramatic decline in spirituality suggests a shift towards more personal, privatised forms of religiosity.