Ireland voted to legalize same-sex marriage on Friday. Afterward, Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin spoke with The New York Times.
"The church needs to take a reality check," he said. "It's very clear there's a growing gap between Irish young people and the church, and there's a growing gap between the culture of Ireland that's developing and the church."
The archbishop said the church needs "a new language that will be understood and heard by people." Many young people, he said, "go in today and find a church that is for the like-minded" as opposed to being inclusive.
"For many, and I've said this before, inside the church becomes almost alien territory to them in today's society," he said. "If the leadership of the Irish Catholic church don't recognize that, then they're in severe denial. Have I got a magic formula? Certainly not."
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[Vinnie Rotondaro is NCR national correspondent. His email address is vrotondaro@ncronline.org.]
