Senator Ivana Bacik has called for a public debate on the relationship between Church and State in Ireland.
She was reacting to the meeting in Rome between the Pope and the Irish hierarchy. Senator Bacik said she wants to see the continued involvement of the Church in education debated, as well as the broadcast of the Angelus by RTE.
She said: “Now would be an appropriate time for us to debate the relationship between the Church and the State in modern Ireland. We should debate this relationship in the context of the education system, in particular.”
She criticised the decision to grant approval to the building of two new Catholic primary schools even though the Church is already patron to 92 percent of primary schools.
However, the Church says that in new areas there are often no Catholic schools at all and that in those areas there is still demand for a Catholic education.
Senator Bacik also called for an amendment to Article 41 of the Constitution which commits the State to upholding the place of the woman in the home and not requiring her through economic circumstances to have to work outside the home against her wishes.