The Angelus chimes broadcasted several times daily on RTE, the Irish State funded broadcasting system, remind the Roman Catholic faithful to recall and perhaps to recite a traditional Roman Catholic prayer. The prayer recalls the annunciation of the good news of the impending birth of the Saviour Jesus Christ to the immaculately conceived Virgin Mary. The prayer reminds Roman Catholics of the high position of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic pantheon and of the honour due to her. RC people often describe the BVM as and address her in prayer as the “Mother of God” particularly in the “Hail Mary” prayer which is an integral part of the “Angelus” prayer. RC dogma teaches infallibly that the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived immaculately, that she is uniquely free from original sin, and that she was assumed body and soul into heaven after her earthly life was complete. For Roman Catholic people, the Blessed Virgin Mary is Queen of Heaven and has legendary powers of intercession with the Deity.
The Angelus chimes were not present on the Irish broadcasting system from the beginning. The bells began in the Holy Year 1950. Broadcasting the bells was suggested by the Roman Catholic Archbishop John Charles McQuaid. In 1950, Pope Pius XII declared infallibly that the doctrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven was an obligatory belief for the Roman Catholic faithful.
Perhaps the introduction of the broadcast Angelus bells marked the high point of the Roman Catholic Irish sense of “difference” from and “religious superiority” over other people living in the British Isles. The Republic of Ireland had been declared on 21st December 1948. The monarchy had been abolished and the last vestiges of the Dominion status Irish Free State finally ended. The Irish Republic left the British Commonwealth. The UK Government passed the Ireland Act 1949 to recognise these facts. In a remarkable act of kindness and pragmatism, Irish people were not to be regarded as aliens in the UK. The UK's Ireland Act also gave a legislative guarantee that Northern Ireland would continue to remain a part of the United Kingdom unless the parliament of Northern Ireland formally expressed a wish to join a United Ireland.
Was the new Republic of Ireland not very much an “Irish Catholic state for an Irish Catholic people” at first? Perhaps the worst fears of the Northern Irish Unionist people had been confirmed in 1950. The Irish Free State had demonstrated by adopting the 1937 Constitution that “Home Rule was Rome Rule”. The introduction of the Angelus bells on Radio Eireann in 1950 was highly symbolic therefore. Ireland was a Roman Catholic country. The views of others simply did not count.
Broadcasting the Angelus bells is regarded as a sectarian act by some Protestant people in Ireland. Spokespeople for RTE deny this, but as I have attempted to explain above, the bells are symbolic and invite people to consider a uniquely Roman Catholic prayer based on uniquely Roman Catholic dogma. How can this broadcast NOT be sectarian therefore?
Coming from a Roman Catholic background, the theological issues involved are not strange or unusual for me. But, I find the lack of respect for the beliefs of those in other faith groups, whether intended or not, both disturbing and of course incompatible with the diverse multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-faith and multi-racial nation Ireland always was but much more obviously so now. A State-funded broadcaster has no business promoting the interests of one faith group over and above any other in a non-sectarian state.
I find the broadcast Angelus bells remind me of an Ireland I would rather forget. They remind me of an Ireland of poverty, division, ignorance, intolerance, prejudice, violence, aggression, constant economic difficulties and emigration. They remind me of a dictatorial RC Hierarchy. They remind me of an Ireland in which the RC Church and State worked hand in hand. They remind me of an Irish State whose founding political ethos of self-styled, selfless sacrifice even unto death for ideas of freedom which turned out to be less than the pre-existing freedoms enjoyed by Irish people and which gave rise to an on-going culture of violent aggression against and hatred towards friendly neighbours and towards all those who saw things differently. They remind me of an Ireland based on the fascist values of family, work, fatherland and faith rather than the true values of the enlightenment - liberty, equality and fraternity. They remind me of an Ireland which denied rights to children, which denied women and men rights to divorce, contraception and abortion and which denied rights to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. They remind me of an Ireland whose legislators viewed everything from a Roman Catholic moral and social perspective and where the secret influence of a Bishop could scupper legislation.
I find myself increasingly offended by these minutes of free advertising for a religious organization so badly in need of internal reform. Very unwillingly, the hierarchy of Roman Catholic Church in Ireland has revealed great shortcomings in internal governance. The RC laity in Ireland has no say whatsoever. RC bishops are summoned to Rome to consider the future of the Irish Church but Rome has invited neither victims’ representatives nor any lay people to this dialogue so far. Accountability would not appear to be on the agenda. True internal reform of the RC church appears as far away as ever. The Angelus bells on RTE remind me daily of the emotional, spiritual, physical and sexual abuse so many Irish people and others around the world have endured from this flawed dictatorial organization. How sad that very important religious beliefs based originally on concepts of love, hope and faith in an all-loving all-forgiving creator and love and respect for neighbors have been brought into such disrepute by the actions of a few!
Should the RTE Angelus bells be phased out gradually or ended?
I would suggest either course of action is appropriate now. Announcing cessation of the Angelus may give rise to determined opposition from a small minority. Perhaps a gradual omission of the Angelus might be best. Let discussions overrun or music play into the time allocated for the bells and just forget to play them. RTE might just forget to include “The Angelus” in program scheduling from time to time and then drop it completely.
Another solution might be to consider consolidation of the Angelus broadcasting time and eventually using the new space for a “Thought for the Day” given by people from various faiths and from humanist and atheist backgrounds.
Jerry Walsh
25th January 2010.
