Ирландия Конституциясына енгізілген өзгеріс: Католик шіркеуінің ерекше статусы алынды

Amendment to remove certain references to the Catholic Church

The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1972 is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which deleted two subsections that recognised the special position of the Catholic Church and that recognised other named religious denominations. It was approved by referendum on 7 December 1972 and signed into law on 5 January 1973.

The amendment renumbered Article 44.1.1° as Article 41.1 and deleted the following two subsections from Article 41.1:

By 1972, an article once condemned by critics as liberal and indeed by some as offensive to Catholicism, had come to be seen as out of place, dated, and potentially discriminatory to Protestants. The "special position" granted to the Catholic Church, albeit in an undefined manner, was a special status that was out of step with post Vatican II Catholic thinking on the relationships between the churches. The Protestant churches, though they had declined in adherents, were more outspoken and willing to express their unhappiness than they had been in the Ireland of the 1920s and 1930s, when many were fearful that criticism of the Irish state would be seen as criticism of Irish independence and so implicitly a preference for the British regime that had ruled Ireland before 1922. In addition, in the rapprochement between Northern Ireland and what was by then known as the Republic of Ireland, many southerners perceived the "special position" as a barrier to an improved north–south relationship, and even a potential source of discrimination against minorities. In addition, the explicit recognition of certain denominations was seen as unnecessary because of the provisions Article 44.2, which contains guarantees of freedom of worship and against religious discrimination.

The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1972 was proposed by Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Jack Lynch. It was supported by the opposition parties Fine Gael and the Labour Party and passed final stages in the Dáil on 2 November 1972. It passed all stages in the Seanad on 3 November and proceeded to a referendum on 7 December 1972.

The Catholic Church did not voice any objection to the amendment, but it was opposed by some conservative Catholics. Some leading members of the Church of Ireland and the Jewish Community said during the campaign that while they appreciated the Article's recognition of their existence (and in the case of the Jewish Community, their right to exist, in contrast to anti Jewish laws in other states) in 1937, it was no longer needed in the 1970s and had lost its usefulness. The referendum on the amendment occurred on the same day as the referendum on the Fourth Amendment which lowered the voting age to eighteen. After its approval by referendum, the amendment was made to the Constitution after it was signed into law by the President of Ireland, who was then Éamon de Valera, the man who had drafted the original article.

+Results by constituency Constituency Electorate Turnout (%) Votes Proportion of votes Yes No Yes No Carlow–Kilkenny 59,415 55.2% 26,589 4,040 86.8% 13.2% Cavan 37,229 54.0% 16,775 1,838 90.1% 9.9% Clare 39,413 47.6% 15,099 2,389 86.3% 13.7% Clare–South Galway 34,820 52.6% 15,298 1,813 89.4% 10.6% Cork City North West 36,115 48.2% 11,821 4,805 71.1% 28.9% Cork City South East 36,476 53.9% 13,701 5,212 72.4% 27.6% Cork Mid 49,402 53.8% 20,430 4,571 81.7% 18.3% Cork North East 50,016 54.8% 20,986 4,640 81.9% 18.1% Cork South West 38,285 53.1% 14,620 4,545 76.3% 23.7% Donegal North East 37,924 43.4% 13,260 1,736 88.4% 11.6% Donegal–Leitrim 38,540 46.2% 14,705 1,937 88.0% 12.0% Dublin Central 46,775 43.7% 15,718 3,648 81.2% 18.8% Dublin County North 58,761 48.6% 23,804 3,897 85.9% 14.1% Dublin County South 45,289 55.5% 20,966 3,572 85.4% 14.6% Dublin North Central 49,073 49.4% 18,933 4,505 80.8% 19.2% Dublin North East 55,483 52.9% 24,128 4,450 84.4% 15.6% Dublin North West 44,369 46.6% 16,386 3,488 82.4% 17.6% Dublin South Central 50,400 48.7% 19,582 4,134 82.6% 17.4% Dublin South East 37,840 50.8% 15,267 3,138 82.9% 17.1% Dublin South West 41,740 45.0% 14,956 2,901 83.8% 16.2% Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown 56,151 57.7% 27,136 4,443 85.9% 14.1% Galway North East 34,358 47.1% 13,721 1,385 90.8% 9.2% Galway West 35,999 42.7% 12,903 1,813 87.7% 12.3% Kerry North 37,018 43.0% 12,886 1,946 86.9% 13.1% Kerry South 36,391 43.2% 12,642 1,940 86.7% 13.3% Kildare 40,065 50.6% 16,942 2,369 87.7% 12.3% Laois–Offaly 56,344 55.1% 25,171 4,452 85.0% 15.0% Limerick East 47,001 54.5% 18,109 6,133 74.7% 25.3% Limerick West 35,904 56.5% 16,327 2,772 85.5% 14.5% Longford–Westmeath 47,095 49.4% 18,592 3,141 85.5% 14.5% Louth 40,278 50.4% 16,449 2,811 85.4% 14.6% Mayo East 34,810 46.2% 13,729 1,376 90.9% 9.1% Mayo West 34,106 44.3% 12,593 1,419 89.9% 10.1% Meath 39,040 50.2% 15,689 2,577 85.9% 14.1% Monaghan 36,214 47.3% 13,987 1,901 88.0% 12.0% Roscommon–Leitrim 37,682 51.3% 15,421 2,416 86.5% 13.5% Sligo–Leitrim 38,049 48.8% 14,578 2,496 85.4% 14.6% Tipperary North 34,754 58.0% 15,578 3,014 83.8% 16.2% Tipperary South 46,127 58.6% 20,801 4,353 82.7% 17.3% Waterford 39,513 53.6% 17,174 2,902 85.5% 14.5% Wexford 49,881 52.3% 21,032 3,544 85.6% 14.4% Wicklow 39,389 52.0% 16,519 2,968 84.8% 15.2% Total 1,783,604 50.7% 721,003 133,430 84.4% 15.6%