Church reels after Ireland's huge 'Yes' to gay marriage

The once all-powerful Catholic Church in Ireland was trying to come to terms today with the country's overwhelming vote to allow gay marriage and confront the "social revolution" behind it.
As jubilant "Yes" supporters nursed their hangovers after partying long into the night following yesterday's referendum result announcement, the faithful were going to mass to hear their priests reflect on the new social landscape in Ireland.
Bishops spoke against changing the law and older and rural voters were thought to have accounted for much of the "No" vote.
Final results showed 62 per cent of votes in favour and 38 per cent against introducing gay marriage, in a country where being homosexual was a crime until 1993.

As today's newspapers celebrated the result with colourful pictures of partying "Yes" supporters, they noted the heavy blow to Church authority.
The Irish Sun today newspaper said in its editorial: "Ireland officially emerged from the shadow of the Catholic Church yesterday to show its love and respect to people who have suffered here for centuries."

Niall O'Connor wrote in the Sunday Independent: "The once unshakable influence of the Catholic Church over Middle Ireland has been confronted."
Ireland will become the 19th country in the world to legalise same-sex marriages once the necessary legislation is approved as expected in the coming months.

Adopting gay marriage is a seismic change in Ireland, where the Catholic Church has traditionally been hugely influential.
The majority of Irish people still identify themselves as Catholic and abortion is still banned except in cases where the mother's life is in danger.
But the Church's influence has waned in recent years amid growing secularisation and after a wave of child sex abuse scandals that discredited the clergy.
"I think the Church needs to do a reality check right across the board... Have we drifted away completely from young people?" Diarmuid Martin, the Archbishop of Dublin, told national broadcaster RTE yesterday.

He warned against the Church in Ireland becoming "a safe space for the like-minded rather than the Church which Pope Francis is talking about, which is reaching out."
All of Ireland's 43 constituencies except one voted in favour of the measure and the 60-per cent turnout was far higher than in previous referendums, as thousands of expatriates returned home to cast their ballots.
It was the first time ever that gay marriage had been approved by popular vote.