When
Bishop Diarmuid Martin was asked by Pope John Paul II in 2003 to leave
his post at the Vatican and return to Dublin to eventually become its
archbishop, the pope also lobbed this question at him: “How is it that
secularization came to Ireland so quickly?”
Martin has said that his unvarnished answer to that question would have been, “Your Holiness is wrong,” although of course he didn’t say that exactly. But he did tell the pope that secularization had been on the Irish radar for many years, even if few had realized it.
http://www.uscatholic.org/articles/201503/dublin-archbishop-diarmuid-martin-catholic-church-ireland-29888
Martin has said that his unvarnished answer to that question would have been, “Your Holiness is wrong,” although of course he didn’t say that exactly. But he did tell the pope that secularization had been on the Irish radar for many years, even if few had realized it.
http://www.uscatholic.org/articles/201503/dublin-archbishop-diarmuid-martin-catholic-church-ireland-29888