Francis Xavier Carty

The Impact of the Second Vatican Council on the Archdiocese of Dublin: Issue and Relationship Management in Turbulent Times Francis Xavier Carty

Mention Archbishop John Charles McQuaid of Dublin to Irish Catholics old enough to remember the 1960s and they will say he came back from the Second Vatican Council and declared there would be no change. Pope John XXIII's Council, with its spirit of aggiornamento, or updating, was a landmark attempt to modernise the Catholic Church. How did this controversial, but theologically conservative, prelate translate the Council for his people? How did his priests and laity respond? Dr Carty's research is based on the extensive archives of the Archdiocese of Dublin and in-depth interviews with many who knew and worked with McQuaid and some who strongly opposed him. This research applies public relations theories on issue management, publics and relationship management to a religious context, one where relationships might be distorted by the religious faith, authority and obedience on which they are based, and which is different from the commercial environment within which they were framed. Dr Carty explores the shift, if any, in relationships between archbishop, clergy and laity and whether the media of communication influenced these relationships more than what the Archbishop said or did.