With the partition of the island in 1922 and the achievement of independence by the South, the southern dioceses (of the Church of Ireland) saw their numbers decline dramatically. The foundation of the Irish Free State was traumatic. Many members of the church fled the country for political and ideological reasons. While numerical decline was largely due to emigration and migration, it was also due to the Catholic canon law (Ne Temere) whereby both partners in a mixed marriage had to give a written pledge to raise their children as Catholics.
For many years the Church of Ireland was perceived as the church of a privileged unionist minority. Archbishop Gregg, Archbishop of Dublin between 1920 and 1938 and Archbishop of Armagh between 1938 and 1958, emerged as a true guardian of the church while pleading for the recognition of an Irish Protestant identity and managing to convince the Anglican community to acknowledge the new institutions of the Irish state.
It took the Protestant minority half a century to accommodate itself to the new Irish state. However, since the 1970s Protestants have been seeking a place within the State which could be defined as integration without assimilation. While the church had often sheltered itself in the Republic, its members have changed their attitude to the State considerably and many of them are active locally and nationally.
It is now generally admitted that the Church of Ireland has been acknowledged as a fully-fledged partner in a multi-denominational dialogue. Its dual heritage of authority and independence gave it the conviction that it could act as an arbiter in the evolvement of an ecumenical policy and could bridge the gap between Protestants and Catholics. There has been, on the initiative of the Church of Ireland, a number of experiences in the development of community ministry which involves members of different congregations.
It has taken up liberal positions on central issues and on a few occasions has emerged as the champion of the rights of minorities. With increasing confidence it now believes that it can make a unique contribution to contemporary Irish society on the grounds that Protestant values are easily adapted to modern pluralist democracies where different traditions may live side by side, each bringing its contribution to the global society.
The Church of Ireland has developed a new strategy: during debates on major social issues it does not hesitate to declare itself in favour of liberal measures while guarding itself against any accusations of permissiveness. In support of all minorities it defended its medical system and ethics during the controversy surrounding the moving of the Adelaide hospital to Tallaght and in the defence of denominational education.
In the culture of a changing Irish society it has taken a few bold initiatives over the last decade. The decision to allow the ordination of women priests placed it to the forefront of the western Christian world. The submission presented to the General Synod in 1989 provoked intense controversy and was eventually passed with a large majority in 1990.
After more that 20 years of discussion, involving the work of three different commissions, the delegates to the 1995 Synod passed a Bill - by an overwhelming majority - which allowed for remarriage in the church of divorcees after a period of probation.
The new legislation catered for those cases which were considered a fait accompli. Advocate of the motion, the Dean of Cork (now Bishop Richard Clarke of Meath) declared that the vocation of the Church of Ireland was not "to reprimand but to defend the integrity of all relationships". Every remarriage was however to be submitted to the discretion of the parish priest who could apply to his bishop for advice but was free to refuse to celebrate the marriage.
The church has produced evidence of its efforts to build bridges between the different communities in Northern Ireland. It has insisted on the necessity to accommodate different legitimate points of view from the two voices of nationalism and unionism. The evolution of the Southern Protestant has, however, generated tensions with their Northern counterparts and there often seems to be two distinct sections of the same church which find it increasingly difficult to understand each other.
The problem of mixed marriages still severely affects the Church of Ireland community as the children of these marriages are disproportionally brought up as Catholics. Mixed marriages have had a profound effect on the numbers of births and birth rates associated with the minority religious communities, especially in more recent decades.
The provision of the Roman Catholic Church, whereby the Catholic partner must promise verbally to raise the children as Catholics, still plays an important part in the numerical decline of the Church of Ireland minority. However it seems many couples are tending to go the Church of Ireland way even if they do not always formally identify with it. It may be that the present statistics can be misleading and the numbers of signed-up Protestants have stabilised and in some places have even increased slightly.
Once the symbol of oppression for the Catholic majority, the Church of Ireland has somehow managed to build up a new tolerant image and is open to dialogue. It has initiated bold measures to adapt to a changing culture. It has fought for the recognition of minority rights, has revealed its commitment to pluralism and the recognition of all persuasions. It has been active in seeking peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. Despite some tension within, its mood is positive in the Republic and it is increasingly confident of its place in Irish society.
This is an edited version of an article by Marie-Claire Considere-Charon, of the University of Haute-Alsace, Mulhouse, France. It was written before Drumcree this year and appeared in the summer edition of Studies.
