Many people, including the Irish themselves, look on Ireland as a highly conservative, rule-bound country. But Ireland has a record of dissent which is unequaled, dissent against policies of state and church. In Ireland, we have often had to make up our minds against the wishes and commands of officials of both state and church. And in the end, state and church have had to give in. In the northeast of Ireland now- the part controlled by London- there are over 60 different religious groups, some large, some small. One and a half million people with all those divisions must be part of a dissenting people! But all over Ireland, we are seeing the emergence of small groups who are exploring the meaning of life in an Irish context, a European context, and a world context.

There are groups of priests and members of religious orders finding new ways to minister in a church whose legal eagles look down on them from on high and do nothing to help them, groups exploring new theology and old Celtic spiritual meanings, groups moving from the defence of gay people to expressing the positive values of their lives, and groups determined to make life good for others no matter how the laws of church and state treat them. In Irish terms, this is a beautiful ferment of ideas. But because in Ireland, dissent and sometimes haughty confronting of bad power with good ideas is nothing new, some people are inclined to believe that nothing untoward is happening.

The big question always is "What can you do in face of so much power and resources concentrated in the hands of so few in church and state?" The answer is that where the people lead the officials follow- Eventually. A startling example has just appeared in Ireland where the bishops have made a statement about women and the sacred scriptures which talk about them. They have decided that some texts- we all know them already- detract from the dignity of women and should not be used in Catholic rituals anymore. Many clergy and others had quietly set them aside long ago, but for the bishops to say they are right to do it is new and interesting. This is an example of doctrine and practice being created by the people and not officials.

The Irish Bishops' statement will, of course, cause argument among members of the church, nothing terrible, just unease or crossness, relief on the part of many- clergy and others and perhaps a division of opinion among the bishops themselves, some of whom will be winging their way to Rome to ask for an intervention. And as happened in the past, Rome and Ireland may well disagree.

All this is part of the excitement. In the early 1960's, some Dutch theologians questioned, among other things, whether the church had the right to declare marriages invalid, or to forbid people, including priests, to marry. At the time, much of the church was slumbering and those who were not could not awaken them. So, little changed. Nowadays, faced with the possibility of losing our way and of the end of our world coming sooner than even God seems to have intended, people are waking up, not as Catholics, Protestants, or Jews necessarily, but as people who want to survive with dignity and reason. They are dissatisfied with finely chiseled answers to the wrong questions and want real answers to what everybody wants to know-    What is life about? Where are we going? What is the Jesus message when you scrape away the layers of varnish? In Ireland in the past, one often said one's say either with anger which forbade anyone to come near you, or in stealth which meant that few were listening. Nowadays, you can say what you want to say loudly in public or quietly from your hermitage whether the world seems to be listening or not. Somebody always is, and the Word has its own power. Provided we are confident enough in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, everything is possible. Making change is good. Enjoying it is better.

Des Wilson, Belfast