The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, yesterday called for "new forms of structural dialogue" between church and state.
Arguing that "honesty, trust and transparency" form the basis for healthy church-state relations in a modern, pluralist democracy, Dr Martin pointed out that "times have changed" since the days, early in the history of the State, when the interests of the Catholic Church and Ireland were so "entwined" as to be almost indistinguishable.
Archbishop Martin was speaking at a ceremony in the Irish Pontifical College in Rome to mark the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ireland and the Holy See 75 years ago.
Looking at church-state relations in Ireland today, Archbishop Martin suggested that the Catholic Church did not "seek a position of privilege" with regard to other religions but rather sought to find new forms of dialogue with the State.
In that context, he had been surprised to hear fellow bishops claim that it was easier for them to communicate with the Northern Ireland Office and administration than with the Irish State.
Arguing that much useful dialogue took place out of the public eye, Dr Martin suggested that, in his experience, churchmen instinctively tended to "avoid direct confrontation" with the state.
Mr Dermot McCarthy, secretary general to the Government, said the proposed EU Constitutional Treaty provided for "open, transparent and regular dialogue" with churches.
Perhaps the time had come, he said, to consider "such an arrangement" in the domestic context, too, Mr McCarthy added.
Dr Martin said it was not surprising that the Irish Hierarchy at the time were "reticent" about the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1929.
That reticence, which was focused much more on the figure of the Papal Nuncio in Ireland than on the Irish ambassador to the Holy See, was understandable given that the Irish church had for so long fought off British attempts to influence church appointments.
Prof Dermot Keogh, author of Ireland and the Vatican, recalled how, on the eve of the 1948 general elections in Italy, the then Irish ambassador to the Holy See, Mr Joseph Walshe, invited Pope Pius XII to take up residence in exile in Ireland in the event of a communist coup in Italy.
Mr Walshe's report stated that the Pope thanked the Irish government, saying: "Ireland is the only place I could go to - only there would I have the atmosphere and the sense of security to rule the church as Christ wants me to rule it."