O’Connor Was a Lonely Voice for Change — Until Ireland Changed With Her

Sinead O’Connor shocked her strongly Catholic country when she tore up the pope’s picture. But the Church’s sexual abuse scandals made Ireland more secular, and more understanding of her criticisms. When Sinead O’Connor tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live” in 1992, her protest caused an even bigger uproar in her native Ireland than in the United States. Thirteen years earlier, more than a million people — roughly a third of Ireland’s population — had gathered in Dublin to hear that same pope celebrate...