ON Tuesday night the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Connell, spoke his thoughts on contraception and created much controversy. This was clearly intended by his communications office, which contacted the various media outlets to draw attention to the forthcoming speech, and which it then posted on the Internet.
However, this work was not carried out by the normally articulate and accessible spokesman for the archbishop, Father John Dardis, who was not even in the office that day, although he was there on Wednesday to assist with the fallout. Is there any significance in his absence when this important statement was made? Father Dardis is a Jesuit.
How the Archbishop will react to Senator Dr Mary Henry's Bill on the Regulation of Assisted Human Reproduction can only be imagined. The Bill was given a big boost this week when the Minister for Health, Brian Cowen decided it should go to second stage debate. It deals with all the thorny subjects such as donors and surrogacy but doesn't go into the technicalities, Dr Henry says, because the techniques are changing so fast.