It's the most played item on TV and radio in the Republic. Every day, twice
a day, the Angelus bells wash over the airwaves.
Bong! Bong! Bong! They last for about 75 seconds at noon and tea-time, so
the six o'clock news becomes the oneminutepast-six news.
The Angelus is a Catholic prayer in praise of the Virgin Mary. RTE has just
rejected a demand to drop it. Imagine the outrage there'd be if BBC Northern
Ireland decided to broadcast a Protestant prayer in such a manner? There'd
be pickets outside Broadcasting House and a deluge of letters and phone
calls. Angry from Andytown would be working over-time. And s/he would be
right.
A State broadcaster shouldn't endorse any religion. The Republic is meant to
be a secular state. If the Catholic Church thinks its members must hear
these bells twice a day, let it set up its own TV or radio station, or
supply the Angelus on the internet so anyone interested can get their daily
fix.
The Reform Movement, a group committed to a "post-nationalist, pluralist
Irish State", had written to RTE demanding the Angelus be dropped. It
pointed out that there are now 166 different nationalities living in
Ireland. Around half a million people in the Republic are not Catholic.
There are 50,000 Chinese and 20,000 Muslims. Anyone visiting Dublin can see
the wonderful mix of African, Asian, and South American faces on the street.
The Reform Movement pointed out that local residents prevented Muslims from
having their call to prayer broadcast from their mosque in Dublin.
Admittedly, there is much more hostility to immigrants here than in the
Republic. The case against the Angelus shouldn't be exaggerated.
It doesn't ruin the lives of non-Catholics or makes them feel deeply
excluded and alienated. But it does cause some unease, discomfort and
irritation. It's also a false reflection of Irish life. Nobody says the
Angelus these days. The Catholic Church has lost control over even its own
flock's private lives. There is no reason for RTE to effectively defer to
it.
No other public service broadcaster in European countries, including Spain,
Portugal, Italy and Poland - with their huge Catholic populations -
broadcasts the Angelus. Indeed, Vatican radio only bothers with it on feast
days. The last European country to broadcast it on a State-owned public
service was Franco's Spain.
The Angelus is an anachronism. Its removal wouldn't suddenly swing Northern
Protestants behind a united Ireland. But by dropping it, the Republic would
be taking another step away from an exclusive Catholic, Gaelic mindset and
one towards embracing the vibrant, multi-ethnic society it is becoming.
The Angelus bells were originally accompanied on TV by a picture of the
Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. Now, RTE is more PC. It uses a series of
soft-focus images of the Irish countryside and people pausing from their
daily activities for a moment's contemplation. One of these individuals is
always from an ethnic minority.
So far, though, that man in a sash and bowler hat hasn't been used. Ask not
for whom the bell tolls...
