The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has saluted former president Mary McAleese for "her tackling head on of the Vatican" in how it has dealt with various scandals.
Speaking in West Cork at the annual commemoration of the death of Michael Collins at Béal na mBlath, Michael Creed said that as a practicing catholic, he was deeply uncomfortable with the "official church" and its response to various scandals, its attitudes towards women and the LGBT Community.
He added that he also took great hope with a woman leading prayers in a Dublin Catholic Church, a veiled reference to his cabinet colleague Minister Josepha Madigan, who did so recently in her local church when then was no priest to say mass.
Mr Creed said that though there was discomfort about the Catholic Church, he believed a "céad míle fáilte" should be extended to Pope Francis this week.
He said: "we should use the opportunity to impart on the pope our deep felt collective hurt as a flock abandoned".
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Minister Creed also said today's landscape of religious practice and the climate in which it is practiced would be unrecognisable to Michael Collins, adding the dark chapter of abuse and cover up has seen a deep rift emerge between many of the faithful and the "official church".
Speaking about domestic politics, he said the confidence and supply agreement, which is the corner stone of support for the Government, has "delivered in spades for the country by enabling, at the most challenging of times, the Government to focus, undistracted by parliamentary arithmetic, on the many obstacles we face at home and abroad".
He added the last thing the country needs is a general election, noting neither the Government nor Fine Gael want a general election.
