The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has said it should be "clearly and fully explained" why a constitutional amendment was the only solution to "the high risk of \ women being used and exploited" by being sent here to have their babies.
Speaking in a wide-ranging interview, published today in the Weekend section of The Irish Times, he said changes to the Constitution should not be taken lightly.
It was very different from ordinary law in that it was an expression of fundamental values and part of the system of checks and balances which restrained elected representatives.
However, he would not say how people should vote on the issue, nor would he say how he intended to vote himself.
The church's role in the debate was to help "illustrate the issues involved", he said.
Where celibacy, women priests, and inter-communion were concerned, he revealed himself as very much a traditionalist by conviction.
And where Catholic politicians, or other Catholics who took public positions contrary to church teaching, were concerned, he believed it was not authentic for them to receive Communion.
In the event of their doing so they should be spoken to by church authorities rather than being refused at the rails, he said. He didn't wish "to see the altar become a battleground". He disclosed that the Dublin archdiocese has, to date, paid €2.5 million in compensation to victims of clerical child sex abuse, with an additional €1 million in legal costs. Seven of Dublin's priests have been convicted in the courts in relation to such offences.
And he said he had no objection to Bishop Eamonn Casey returning to live out his retirement in Ireland, "provided he is left alone".
Interview: WeekendReview