Date of Award
5-1984
Degree Type
Master's Essay - Restricted
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
Abstract
When an overwhelmingly Catholic country struggles to assert its national identity and throw off the yoke of its non- Catholic oppressor , the institution of the Roman Catholic Church finds itself on the horns of a dilemma. 1 Though committed doctinally [sic] to the conservative Biblical approach that since all authority comes from God to rebel against the constituted authority is to attack God, the Church cannot afford to deny the national aspirations of the people and run the risk of alienating its Catholic subjects. Complicating the problem is the fact that the Church's role in a struggle of this sort is crucial in terms of both the institutional means at its disposal to facilitate and spread the cause--such as priests , sermons , newspapers, and organizations--as well as the moral weight which its pronouncements carry with an orthodox and obedient people. It is not surprising then that the foreign master of a rebellious Catholic country , aware of the conservative predilection of the institutional Church and the power of its clergy , should try to enlist the very representatives of the religion of the rebels to help undermine the rebel cause.
Recommended Citation
King, Suzanne C., "The Catholic Dilemma and the British Response: The Attitude of the Irish and American Catholic Churches toward the Anglo-Irish Struggle 1919-1921" (1984). Master's Essays (1922 - ). 1350.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/essays/1350