Joyce does not solely blame the British empire for the degraded condition of Ireland. He anatomizes his society by showing various oppressive forces acting in it. Church, politics, and culture together are responsible for social oppression in Ireland. In Ulysses, significantly, all oppressors are described as unconscious collaborators of imperialism. Though the Catholic Church`s relationship to the British government is mixed, Joyce consistently insists that these two powerful institutions have colluded in oppressing the Irish people. The first vignette of "Wandering Rocks" episode succinctly shows not only Father Conmee as a representative of the Church but also the Church`s collusion with the State, thereby creating a microcosm of Joyce`s representation of the world of the Irish priest. The Church`s position in Irish society in relation to the State is shown by analogy through Conmee`s meditation on several people-such as Cunningham, a policeman, Cardinal Wolsey, Mr. David Sheehy M. P., Bernard Vaughan, and members of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy-who represent each institution crucial to its political role at the turn of the century. Father Conmee`s contemplation on the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, whether of ancient or modern times, implies his equivalence to that class with dominating and leading the Irish people and, after its extinction in consequence of independence, the Catholic priests` social role in general. The Church sees the world as dichotomous, which is congruous with the first principle of imperialism. Ultimately, Conmee is associated and paralleled with the British viceroy. For Joyce, independence from Britain is not enough to guarantee a better future largely because independence brings forth another kind of domination, where colonialism`s native counterpart, the Catholic Church, replaces the role of British governments in oppressing Irish people. Joyce, therefore, demonstrates that the Catholic Church is more oppressive force than the British government.