The once-dominant Catholic Church in Ireland was trying to come to terms Sunday with an overwhelming vote in favour of gay marriage, saying it needed a "new language" to connect to people.
As jubilant "Yes" supporters nursed their hangovers after partying late into the night following Saturday's referendum result, the faithful attended mass to hear their priests reflect on the new social landscape in Ireland.
"The Church has to find a new language which will be understood and heard by people," Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, a senior Irish cleric, told reporters after mass at the city's St Mary's Pro-Cathedral.
"We have to see how is it that the Church's teaching on marriage and family is not being received even within its own flock."
He added: "There's a growing gap between Irish young people and the Church and there's a growing gap between the culture of Ireland that's developing and the Church."
READ: Cheers and tears as Ireland approves gay marriage
The majority of Irish people still identify themselves as Catholic but the Church's influence has waned in recent years amid growing secularisation and after a wave of clerical child sex abuse scandals.
During the campaign, bishops spoke against changing the law, while older and rural voters were thought to have accounted for much of the "No" vote.
Final results showed 62 percent in favour and 38 percent against introducing gay marriage in a country where being homosexual was a crime until 1993.
As Sunday's newspapers marked the result with colourful pictures of partying "Yes" supporters, they noted the heavy blow to Church authority.
Niall O'Connor wrote in the Sunday Independent: "The once unshakeable influence of the Catholic Church over Middle Ireland has been confronted."
Ireland will become the 19th country in the world to legalise same-sex marriages once the necessary legislation is approved as expected. The first weddings could happen within six months.
Alienating young people
Tony Flannery, co-founder of the Association of Catholic Priests, was stripped of his ministry in 2012 due to his outspoken liberal views on contraception and the ordination of female priests.
The Redemptorist priest, who voted Yes, said the Church needed to rethink how it approaches Ireland's youth if it is to reverse its waning position in society.
"The last thing the Irish bishops should be doing is further alienating the young generation who the Church, to a fair degree, has lost already," he told AFP.
All of Ireland's 43 constituencies except one voted in favour of the measure and the 60-percent turnout was far higher than in previous referendums, as thousands of expatriates returned to cast their ballots.
It was the first time ever that gay marriage had been approved by popular vote.
The gay marriage landslide has led some politicians to seek a further referendum on the Irish constitution's eighth amendment, which bans pregnancy termination.
Abortion is illegal in Ireland except where the mother's life is in danger.
Deputy Prime Minister Joan Burton told public broadcaster RTE that in the junior coalition party's 2016 general election manifesto, "we will be seeking, on behalf of women, to repeal the eighth amendment."
The Labour leader said Ireland was "now a rainbow nation, and that means a nation of inclusion and diversity".
Friday's referendum asked voters whether or not they approved the statement: "Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex."
Mixed feelings
Congratulations poured in to Ireland from around the world, including from British Prime Minister David Cameron and US Vice President Joe Biden.
In Australia, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Sunday his country would not follow Ireland's lead and hold a referendum on gay marriage, adding that any decisions would be made by parliament.
Gay marriage was explicitly outlawed in Australia under a 2004 revision of the national Marriage Act.
In Germany, Jens Spahn, a member of the executive committee of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, appeared open to change.
"One should think, what the Catholic Irish can do, we can too," he was quoted by Welt Online as saying, adding: "The population is often more ahead in these matters than we think."
Some citizens voiced mixed feelings as they went about their business in Dublin on Sunday.
"I'm saddened, because I don't think it was a good idea. I think there are much more important things to be looked after in this country," said one woman, Bernadette.
Another, Caroline, told AFP: "While I'm happy with the result, I don't think we should be voting necessarily on something which should be a human right anyway."
AFP
Mon May 25 2015
The majority of Irish people still identify themselves as Catholic but the Church's influence has waned in recent years amid growing secularisation and after a wave of clerical child sex abuse scandals.
P S Nathan umum lepaskan jawatan Presiden MTBC selepas 50 tahun
P S Nathan melepaskan jawatannya sebagai Presiden MTBC selepas 50 tahun menerajui badan sukan itu.
Kerajaan Sabah komited bina LRA di Pulau Banggi - Hajiji
Kerajaan Sabah komited untuk menyelesaikan masalah air yang dihadapi oleh penduduk menerusi pembinaan sebuah LRA baharu khusus untuk Pulau Banggi.
Piala Thomas: China kecewakan Indonesia, rangkul juara kali ke-11
Kejayaan ini diraikan beberapa jam selepas tuan rumah merangkul kejuaraan Piala Uber kali ke-16 selepas turut mengalahkan Indonesia 3-0.
UAE umumkan kejayaan hantar 400 tan bantuan makanan kepada penduduk Gaza
Penyampaian dan pengagihan makanan untuk menyelamatkan nyawa itu bagi 120,000 orang, sejajar dengan komitmen UAE.
Tiga maut, empat cedera pacuan empat roda terbabas, terhumban dalam parit
Insiden berlaku berhampiran Rumah Ngambang di Batu 72, Suai, Niah dekat Miri.
Tiada kesan sampingan daripada vaksin COVID-19 AstraZeneca di Indonesia - Suruhanjaya
Tiada laporan diterima mengenai kes trombosis dengan sindrom "thrombocytopenia" yang dikaitkan dengan vaksin COVID-19 AstraZeneca di Indonesia.
Johor peruntuk lebih RM1.9 juta sedia kemudahan Wi-Fi Premium Maju Johor
Kerajaan Johor memperuntukkan lebih RM1.9 juta bagi menyediakan kemudahan Wi-Fi Premium Maju Johor di 63 hotspot melibatkan 23 lokasi bermula Julai ini.
Kaum India jangan undi ikut emosi, terpengaruh hasutan boikot PRK KKB - Mugilaan
Komuniti India dinasihat perlu memanfaatkan undi dengan memilih wakil rakyat yang benar-benar dapat memberikan perkhidmatan terbaik.
PKBM sasar Mohd Azizulhasni raih pingat emas di Sukan Olimpik Paris
Amarjit berkata sasaran itu bukan dilakukan secara tiba-tiba malah ia realistik berdasarkan keadaan The Pocket Rocketman ketika ini.
Pelan tindakan rangsang ekonomi golongan asnaf sedang dirancang
Pelan tindakan yang akan direka untuk membantu golongan asnaf keluar daripada masalah kewangan akan segera dibincangkan.
Biarawati disimpan sebagai hamba seks oleh paderi
Pope Francis mengaku buat pertama kali bahawa wujudnya skandal biarawati didera secara seksual oleh para pendeta di Gereja Katolik.