Mags Gargan
Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons has said that the Catholic Church is right to say abortion is a sin, because it harms women.
The Cork-based actor, who is married to Irish actress Sinead Cusack, said that while he believed “that women should be allowed to make the decision”, that he also believed the Church is correct to consider abortion a sin “because sin is actions that harm us”.
“Abortion harms a woman – it’s a tremendous mental attack, and physical, sometimes. But we seem to get that muddled,” he told the Guardian. “In a way, thank God the Catholic Church does say we won’t allow it, because otherwise nobody’s saying that it’s a sin.”
The actor, famous for his role as a Jesuit priest in the historical epic The Mission, also said that “society is based on a Christian structure”. “If you take those religious tenets away, then anything goes and it will become terrible – and you usually get into trouble.”