8th Anniversay of losing the 8th Amendment.

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]Today is a very sad anniversary. It's exactly 8 years since we celebrated this.

[00:00:33]In case people aren't aware, the Irish Constitution up to 2018 protected the right to life of the unborn child. So the the the the child in the womb was protected in an Irish constitution much um well it was detested this this this ref this article in the constitution was detested by the well those that were pushing the the abortion um agenda and you know there have been various various uh attempts to remove it and there were there was attempts to allow people to to travel to England to get an abortion and were traveling and so forth. So finally they they managed to push this referendum through to uh to the Irish population into 2018. Now look, I'm not going to comment on the whole political ramifications of all this because I'd say a lot of other commentators will comment on it, but like I just remember very very vividly I wasn't really involved in the pro-life movement up until I realized, oh gosh, they're actually going to do a referendum to remove the right to life of the unborn child from the constitution. This is actually actually going to happen. I always voted Catholic pro-life candidates, you know, uh Darra Kiri here, Fina Fall for example, until he turned ship, you know, pattern in me, we we would have all always supported him even though we never supported Chinfane.

[00:02:04]But anyway, one thing that was interesting that day was after the results came out, Archbishop Aean Martin happened to be in Knock. And I'm just going to play you this clip because I think it's it's interesting that, you know, I include this in this podcast because I kind of really want to reflect on this and I and I kind of want to keep it as a record for future generations on on really what Ireland did when it came to removing human rights from the unborn child. The primate of all Ireland said he was challenged by the personal stories shared in the referendum campaign and that it made him realize how little he personally knows about the pressures women can be under. I would hope that those who advocated and know during the campaign will now uh work very actively to try to ensure that the legislation that is passed as the t-shock himself said allows for abortion which is rare uh which is safe and which is legal.

[00:03:11]When the vote had finished the day previous to the to the results, there was an exit poll that that that suggested that it the yes campaign had won. But it was only on the Saturday that we fully realized that the the the amount of people that had actually voted for this in this referendum, it had it had been a massive uh result uh a massive swing. Um it wasn't tight. it was 66% of the vote had v voted for abortion. There was a a an extremely well-run uh campaign for abortion in Ireland. Uh and the social media aspect if you were if you were to promote anything on Facebook which I did pro-life air page had about 20,000 people on it but anytime you tried to promote anything the you would just get censored you the the page got you know banned and censored. So many times, you know, it's very hard to when you're up against the the the Twitters and the Facebooks and all of the social media uh well apparatus to get a message across.

[00:04:25]But when I heard Archbishop Aean Martin, and I'm sure if he could go back in time eight years ago, he would have said things differently because those remarks in knock were extremely clumsy.

[00:04:38]Catholics can never ensure that abortion is rare, safe, and legal by law. We can never implement or vote for laws that allow for abortion in rare, safe, and legal circumstances.

[00:04:52]You know, it is pretty clear. Our teaching is pretty clear. And as this is a Catholic podcast and I'm speaking to a Catholic audience, I just want to kind of educate you on this on what we say in our in our teaching, our Catholic teaching. And we have a whole few paragraphs, five I believe on abortion on this exact topic. So you can it's from 22707172737475.

[00:05:23]Um, I'm just going to read you the these out because this is to inform people because we weren't informed in the church to be clear. We were not taught.

[00:05:36]Our shepherds failed us.

[00:05:40]You know, on paper, we're supposed to have how many million Catholics? You look up the the the Catholic directory.

[00:05:47]Where were the Catholics eight years ago?

[00:05:52]How many priests voted for abortion? The Catholic Priest Association said they could not be dogmatic on this because they've never read the catechism.

[00:06:02]And it's it's important to understand that when it comes to abortion, you are committing murder whether you think it or not or this goes directly against the fifth commandment. And if you're complicit in this act, you've committed mortal sin and you're going to hell. I know people don't like to hear this.

[00:06:22]It's not popular.

[00:06:24]Uh but again, if we're preaching to Catholics, baptized Catholics, we should be able to give Catholic teaching to own Catholics.

[00:06:33]And yet the Catholics, baptized Catholics, abandoned Catholic teaching for what? 10,000 abortions.

[00:06:44]Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person among which is the inviable right of every innocent being to life.

[00:07:03]Thankfully, Pope Leo in his encyclical yesterday reiterated this exact point again.

[00:07:11]Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you. My frame was not hidden from you. when I was made in secret intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.

[00:07:26]It's a quote from Psalm 139:15.

[00:07:31]The next article, since the first century, the church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion.

[00:07:37]This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable.

[00:07:41]Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or as a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law. You shall not kill the embryo by abortion, and you shall not cause the newborn to perish.

[00:07:56]That is a quote from the Diddikay, one of the earliest apostolic teachings. God the Lord of life has entrusted to men a noble mission of a safeguarding life and women and and men and women must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves.

[00:08:12]Life must be protected from the with the utmost care from the moment of conception. Abortion and infanticized are abominable crimes.

[00:08:25]That is uh a quote from let me just get it here. Sorry.

[00:08:37]Gaimites as far as I'm aware from sec 2 second Vatican 2.

[00:08:43]The next article 2272 there's only there's only four four of these four of the sorry six of these. I think it's important that we we we remind ourselves we educate ourselves. Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latest sentencia by the very commission of this offense and subject to the conditions provided by canon law. The church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed and the irreparable harm done to the innocent which is put to death as well as to the parents and the whole of society. Now, it's important to understand formal cooperation with abortion.

[00:09:39]When you vote for abortion and legislate for abortion and introduce the supply chains and the hospital facilities for abortion, that constitutes formal cooperation in an abortion.

[00:09:57]You know, before the hospitals can do it, you have to pass the laws. And so when a politician who is pro-life, for example, like Darra here in Balan, who used to be pro-life, voted for the legislation, he entered into formal cooperation in in an abortion.

[00:10:20]He passed and supported the legislation.

[00:10:23]You cannot abnigate your Catholic responsibilities just because the majority want abortion.

[00:10:32]What is wrong is wrong no matter how many people vote for abortion. You probably will never hear this homaly in a single church in Ireland because our priests and our bishops like church comfortable.

[00:10:47]You know, we we we we want to be friends with everybody.

[00:10:51]We want comfortable Catholicism.

[00:10:54]And comfortable Catholicism means being quiet about the things like abortion.

[00:11:00]was simple as most bishops. I think Bishop Kevin Dorne said that people that voted for abortion after the referendum needed to go to confession. But he was one of the very very few voices. There was the odd priest who denied communion to the politicians that voted for the legislation.

[00:11:20]You know how many how many titties had the guts to stand up like Pabin and said no, we're not voting for this legislation. No matter how many people how many what much of democracy the democratic vote wanted this a human life is a human life is a human life you know and it's once it's one thing to have the the secular political debate in in our parliament and it's the other thing in the church to be so quiet on this because the common good was we went from 2,000 abortions people traveling for abort abortion 2000 before the referendum to 10,000 abortions. The year later when the when the first year's abortion figures came out in 2020 reflecting on what happened in 2019, it was 6,666 abortions. More demonic number you could not find.

[00:12:17]I do not kid you. But it's important that that that note in the catechism 2272 when it speaks about formal cooperation with abortion is not just the nurses and the doctors and and the person looking for an abortion in in an operating room or or do you know what I mean? It's if you're dispensing abortion medications in a pharmacy which manyarmacies do that is for formal cooperation with abortion.

[00:12:46]If you're passing legislation that is formal cooperation with abortion, you know, if you voted for abortion in that referendum, that was formal cooperation with abortion.

[00:13:01]And it's it's one thing p if you did this privately, you can go privately to confession and you know, you can put yourself right. But if you are a public figure that voted for abortion, legislated for abortion, and then suddenly you have a change of conscience and you decide, well, no, I shouldn't have done that. You can't just privately go to a priest and go to confession. No, you meet you need to make public reparation for the public damage that you did. But again, our bishops and pastors do not teach you this and will never teach you this in in in an Irish homaly. It's uncomfortable because people people voted for this and we we like comfortable Catholicism in Ireland. I'm sorry to be a little bit irked about this but as as a as a parent with children where we were faced with the abortion question where you know a doctor they said well if you were this was in 200 six a doctor said well do you know what if in other place in other countries we would recommend you to have a termination because of a situation my wife was facing at the time but in Ireland at the time you couldn't have an abortion So like we were faced with this question of course no we're not going to have an abortion like we're not going to kill the child in the womb but like again this is where we we arrived and you know you will face eternal judgment and you'll face God and you will have to to answer to why you voted for this amendment. I'm in a minority. I'm in the 33% a Catholic blogger 33% you know I'm it doesn't matter which camp I find myself in it matters the truth when does life begin when does that unique life begin with its unique DNA its unique possibilities its unique future when does it begin when should it be protected You know, um, 2273, the inaliable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and its legislation. The inaliable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. The human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents. Nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state. They belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by the virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights, one should mention in this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from con moment of conception until natural death.

[00:16:06]The moment of positive law deprive The moment a positive law deprives a category of human beings of the protection from civil legislation ought to accord them, the state is denying the equality of all before the law. When the state does not place its p when the state does not place its power at the service of the rights of every citizen and in particular of more vulnerable, the very foundations of a state based on law are undermined, which is what happened in Ireland.

[00:16:38]As a consequence of the respect and protection which must be ensured for the unborn child from the moment of conception, the law must provide appropriate penal sanctions for every deliberate violation of human rights.

[00:16:55]Isn't it incredible?

[00:16:57]You know, when somebody is pregnant and they want the child, they'll do everything for the child. They they'll, you know, be preparing for the child and have gender revealed parties and god knows what if they want the child. And if they don't want the child, what what what does it mean? And yet it's the same is the it's ontologically, physically, humanly, it's the same being. It's the same human being. The only thing that's difference is we don't want that child. So it doesn't have any rights. It's it's it's a nothing. It's it's medical waste. It can become it can be turned into medical waste or it can be cherished and loved.

[00:17:37]You know 2274 since it must be treated from conception as a person the embryo must be defended in its integrity cared for and healed as far as possible like any other human being. Prenatal diagnosis is morally listened if it respects the life integrity of the embryo and the human feces and is directed towards its safeguarding and healing as an individual. It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion depending upon the results. A diagnos must not be equivalent to a death sentence.

[00:18:17]We kill off most down syndrome kids.

[00:18:20]We'll test. Ah, you pass. Ah, you fail.

[00:18:24]Get rid of you. We've had kids been being aborted that were perfectly healthy because of failed diagnos diagnostic tests. They've gone to the courts and they've got um they've got well compensation.

[00:18:41]It's quite amazing.

[00:18:44]2275. One must hold as listen procedures carried out on human embryo which respect the life and integrity of the embryo and do not involve disproportionate risks to it but are directed towards its healing and improvement of its condition of health and of its individual survival. It is immoral to produce human embryos intended for exploitation as disposable biological material. Certain attempts to influence chromos chrom mo chrom mosaic and genetic inheritance are not therapeutic but are aimed at producing human beings selected according to sex and other predetermined qualities. Such manipulations are contrary to the personal dignity of the human being and his integrity and identity which are unique and irrep unre repeatable.

[00:19:44]So that those are the the entries that that speak about um abortion and this is in the part of the catechism because it goes through the ten commandments.

[00:19:58]it go. We're talking here about the the part of the catechism that is uh you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

[00:20:06]Um we're also talking about the the commandments that you shall not kill.

[00:20:11]And since the early times of the churches, the church we we didn't teach that abortion was uh you know was possible. It also speaks about euthanasia and and uh the respect for the souls of others etc. Suicide I thought it was important that you know I read out the catechism because again as a Catholic channel with what 660 what 767,000 people subscribed from around the world that you understand what our Catholic teaching is but this Catholic this Catholic teaching builds on natural law right anybody can arrive to this truth that the human life in the womb is a human being you do not it's Not because it's a Catholic teaching that it's right or wrong. It is because it's this is this is naturally we we can see the human life begins at conception and end and ends at natural death. Um and it's important that we understand this and that as as a humanity we we respect the human life of everybody not just the people that have money not just the people who are born in certain locations not just the people that want their babies. You know we also have this phenomenon of procured children uh you know surrogate children that can be bought. Isn't it incredible? On the one hand we are we are tripping over ourselves to to introduce abortion and at the other hand you know facilitating the procurement for with money of children. You know it beggars belief.

[00:21:48]But I suppose the only the only message I could send to the Irish church and I and I know eight years ago the Irish church wasn't in a great a great situation with the abuse scandals and so forth and I suppose many clergy felt well who are we to stand up and give a moral teaching on abortion when we we had covered up uh child sex abuse.

[00:22:12]But the reality is this Catholic teaching doesn't depend on on on your on us.

[00:22:23]The right to life. It has to be preached. It has to be taught.

[00:22:29]You know what I mean? It it we can't have comfortable Catholicism in here.

[00:22:34]You can't have a person that go that voted for abortion, legislated for abortion, go up for communion like so many of our pro-abortion politicians.

[00:22:44]You know, two or three years after this re referendum, how many of them go up to mass, go up to communion and receive communion even though they they they firmly hold the conviction of being pro-choice, pro-abortion.

[00:23:03]you know, they haven't changed their minds and and our shepherds are called to shepherd and it will be unpopular.

[00:23:14]You know, this teaching on abortion is not popular as we saw in the last referendum. Definitely wasn't popular, but it is the truth.

[00:23:25]It is the truth. I'll still say it. I would die for this teaching. Uh do you know what I mean? You know, people say, "Oh, look, what if the life of the mother is at risk? What if uh you know, the whole Sarvvesa case in Ireland, there was this there was this woman that was miscarrying, obviously miscarrying, and um she was she was denied appropriate care at the time.

[00:23:51]Um and she died from an infection. And the the pro-abortion movement used the Sarvvesa case uh to push in abortion.

[00:24:00]It's amazing how medical mismanagement in that case, which it definitely was.

[00:24:07]They would highlight so much the med and yet there's been dozens if not hundreds of people that have died from medical mismanagement in Ireland. People that go they're left in trolleys. They're not they're not seen. They're not cared for.

[00:24:21]You know what I mean?

[00:24:23]You know the right to life of the unborn child does not mean that the mother must die if there's a if there's a complication of course you look to save both lives but you always ensure that the mother stays alive do you know what I mean respecting both lives you know it's not an eitheror if you can save the child you sh you you save the child but if it's not possible because the the the mother is infected as that as as Servita was then you you you should you you should they should have sa saved her life. They should have they should have cared for her. But again uh you know it's they they used Irish medical mismanagement as a case for for abortion which is quite quite amazing.

[00:25:08]When, for example, an Irish lady went to London for an abortion and died from a postabortion infection. Not a peep, which actually happened, you know, you know, not a peep about uh the women who had an abortions died from an infection. Oh, no, not no.

[00:25:29]Sorry. Well, that it happens, you know.

[00:25:31]It's it's amazing. It's it's quite amazing. Do you know what I mean? Um, again, I just put it on the record as kind of a blog entry this evening, but it's kind of to call Catholics to to to attention on the on this this very subject. You know, the greater good in Ireland would have been served by retaining that amendment in the Constitution because we went from 2,000 abortions to 10,000 abortions. It wasn't It's not rare.

[00:26:04]We've seen our the the our the Irish population um births plummet and we're only able to maintain a our economy with inward immigration which brings all of its problems and so forth eventually when you have cultures that are radically different to mine or ours and struggle to integrate into Ireland.

[00:26:28]And again, I'm not xenophobic or or against immigration. God forbid, you know, how many people in my family are not from Ireland. But it has to be managed correctly. It has to be it has to be done with caution. Otherwise, massive influx of populations creates imbalances and creates divisions in Ireland.

[00:26:50]But you know on the one hand the same people that voted that voted for the abortion they they never answered the questions why abortions increased five times since the legislation was incre was introduced. You know is this is this good for Irish society? I don't think so.

[00:27:08]I never think so.

[00:27:11]Um, and there's still a large proportion of of Catholics that go to to Catholic mass. You know, it's it's no harm for a priest to dig out the catechism on one Sunday every year. Maybe the the weekend after this weekend, you know, the weekend after commemorating the the the vote to dig out the C and to remind people at mass, you know, to remind them it's going to be unpopular. You're going to get people that will stand up and walk out of the mass.

[00:27:47]Yeah, you will. You will get if you preach on this, people will walk out of that chapel.

[00:27:54]But what is the truth we're supposed to teach?

[00:27:58]What is the the the teaching that that the earliest church believed in? It's interesting some of the some of the what you call the the proabortion people, they say, "Oh, Christ never said anything about abortion." Nothing. Nothing in the gospels about abortion. Nothing. It's interesting in the writings of Maria Vtor Christ does mention this uh as he catechized you know in the first year of his public life in the Maria writings of Maria Vtor that you know I know it's private revelation special revelation that uh you know sits on the margins but I think Christ spoke about the the the issues that people faced do you know what I mean and and as Catholics we're called to elevate ourselves to take up a cross. Sometimes life is not always going to be plain sailing.

[00:28:53]How do we navigate an unexpected pregnancy uh or a problem in our marriage? Do you know what I mean?

[00:29:04]Catholic teaching can can help. I like I know many people that have had surprised pregnancies, you know, unplanned pregnancies which, you know, were very difficult at the time.

[00:29:17]Maybe you didn't have home, money, whatever. Ex. But the amount of women that I've met that 20 years later, they would never regret the child that they had.

[00:29:28]It might have been difficult, but like, and this is the new the other point.

[00:29:34]This is the last point. I'm going to finish here, but I I really need to stick it in. People know that I'm very against the senodal process.

[00:29:44]So, over the last eight years, you know, we had the the referendum and then we kicked off during co this this listening process, this cenodal process.

[00:29:55]And I thought for sure the abortion question might come up that it might be a section in this Irish nodal process that it would be the right to life would be preached that it would be taught that we we would we would stand firm on this.

[00:30:11]Nothing nothing.

[00:30:14]When the first andal synthesis report came out in Ireland I remember screaming at the this document. I said, "The Irish church has lost it.

[00:30:24]Has completely lost it. What are you discussing?"

[00:30:32]You know, but again, I don't think I don't think our pastors actually believe what they teach what they teach or what they don't teach. I don't think they believe I don't think they actually believe in hell anymore.

[00:30:46]I think they think it's like it's like a I don't know if you saw this village by Might um Might Shamlan um it's called the village uh he he did other he did other uh movies love great director but the village is is a fascinating story in which you know a group of people disaectionate disaffected with society that they they go out and they form a this enclosed to community to kind of protect themselves from the world. And in order to keep people in the community, they invented this this this demon and and and somebody in the community would dress up like this demon and frighten people and keep them in the community and until somebody uh realizes, you know, that that it's it's it's a story, he's not real, we've invented him, right?

[00:31:42]I think some people think that Satan and hell is just a human invention that it's not actually real. That Christ, what he Christ spoke about in the gospel wasn't actually real.

[00:31:54]And yet we will face ourselves before God in judgment. And God will ask ask us what we did, how we lived our faith. you you what legislation we passed, who we hurt and who we killed and who we didn't help.

[00:32:12]You know, we can sin by we can sin in in many ways and one of them is by omission. We can fail to do the good we should have done, you know, and we should have voted for the right to life of the unborn child.

[00:32:28]This these paragraphs should have been printed out and distributed to every Catholic in Ireland at every mass the week before. You have a moral duty to protect the life of the unborn. And yet, as a Catholic church, we completely failed in this task.

[00:32:48]If I was to rate how if I was to rate our our leaders in the Catholic Church 10 out of 10, you would get a two.

[00:32:56]Simple as for the the amount of like even standing with us at at a protest or or a march or something like this. You were they were nowhere.

[00:33:09]It's a political issue. It's it's a political issue. Robert, this is what one clerk said. Look, I can't comment on politics, Robert. It's a political issue. Let everybody decide themselves.

[00:33:22]Yeah. It's a political issue. Yeah.

[00:33:24]Yeah. Satan is very good at at at at making abnating our responsibilities with with nonsensical arguments like that. We can't be dogmatic on abortion like the priests here in our dasis said.

[00:33:37]Can't be dogmatic.

[00:33:39]We're just owl celibate men that never got married. We can't be dogmatic on abortion. And I'm sorry. What was your vocation to be as a priest to be?

[00:33:50]You know, the human being isn't actually a dogma first of all, you know, the dogmas are how are are signpost for us to arrive to God. But when we when we deny a human being the right to life, then the, you know, it's it's incredible. I'm sorry to be a bit irky and I and I generally don't like criticizing the Irish church because I don't think criticism goes very far, but it's important that we we put it on the record of how we felt as ley back in 2018 and the people know how we felt uh you know and and you know it's it's it's important you know but again I'm just one of the few voices that that will voice my thoughts on this. Anyway, God bless you. Take care.