That makes me think of a story of my wife’s uncle who was an, apparently somewhat heretical, Irish priest. Effectively telling a parishioner who was pregnant and would not be able to be able to support another child, nor any health complications that might arise, that if the local bishop was so concerned that she carry the child to term, maybe said bishop should be the one to take responsibility for the care of the child.
Not sure when for certain but likely 70s or 80s Ireland.
Ireland was more or less entirely run by the unseen hand of the church until, I’d say, the 70’s and to some extent the early 80’s. Sure they even had a special position for the church in the original constitution in 1937.
In the early 80’s people were becoming very wary and then all the various scandals broke loose, coming thick and fast in what seemed like a never ending flood at the time. In the space of the 30 years between 1970 and 2000 the country essentially became irreligious as a result.
