On May 23, Ireland became the first country to legalize gay marriage by popular vote. Irish citizens approved the 34^th amendment to the constitution by referendum with a 62 percent vote for the Yes position and only one district out of 43 failing to pass the measure. According to 2013 figures, 84 percent of the population is Catholic.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin called the vote “a social revolution,” particularly among the young. Martin maintained his rejection of same-sex marriage but called for a “reality check across the board,” noting that “most of these young people who voted Yes are products of our Catholic schools for 12 years,” the Irish Times reported. He also commented to AFP, “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.”

Vatican Radio attributed the outcome to high voter turnout among the young. L’Osservatore Romano, the semi-official Vatican newspaper, called the margin of victory “too large not to be accepted as a defeat,” showing “the distance, in some areas, between society and the Church.” Pope Francis has yet to comment on the vote.

Tony Flannery, cofounder of Ireland’s Association of Catholic Priests, told AFP that he voted yes. Flannery, who has been censured for speaking out against church teachings on contraception and women’s ordination, said that the hierarchy should pay close attention to the referendum results moving forward. “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.”