There is little or nothing to say today on this blog on this Ascension Thursday.
Maybe one sentiment and that is that all forms of clericalism will be banished from the face of the earth. Alas, the signs are not good.
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6 comments:
Michael, I wonder if you could explain what you mean by clericalism because it means different things to different people. And can you explain why you want clericalism in all its forms to be banished from the face of the earth?
Thanks. Confused Catholic.
Presumably you are saying that the report on abuse in industrial schools is somehow beyond words? But there have been helpful reflections in the past few days from Breda O'Brien, Eoghan Harris and now the Archbishop of Dublin this morning (Monday). Do you think the Church is disintegrating, with the bishops distancing themselves from the religious? Maybe they are fed up with being allowed to take most of the negative stuff over the years while the religious fancied themselves as the 'prophetic' wing of the church. Their justice desk has nothing to say about this but lots to say about justice matters elsewhere in Irish society. The English bishop should have stayed out of it but at least his comment raised this question: has any Church leader or group shown courage at any point in this whole long scandalous story of the collapse of Irish Catholicism? which was never really Catholicism of course but as Eoghan Harris put it a form of Jansenistic Calvinism - Vincent Twomey makes a similar argument in his book and Breda O'Brien talks about Irish Catholicism's 'violent theology' ... is violence (anger, humiliation) at the heart of being post-colonial [almost] Irish? The man whose daughter was abused by a priest in Cloyne spoke gently but critically about the 'politics-speak' of bishops (Diarmuid Martin actually) but wondered where the gospel teachings were gone ... obviously those teachings were completely absent from the original cruelty but they also seem absent in the present response to it which seems to owe more to legal and financial considerations than to anything of the gospel .... sorry for going on but if you're not going to say anything ...
Some remarks.
Firslty it is a pity people 'go anonymous' But I respect that and once the comments are not offensive this will blog will continue to publish them.
To the 'confused Catholic' I will try to formulate in words what 'clericalism' means for me. But I am also scared to say too much.
To David Quinn, please send me your email address, not for publication of course, and I will reply to you.
To 'Anonymous', having read Fintan O'Toole, Kevin O'Connor, Tony Flannery and Elaine Byrne in today's 'Irish Times', maybe it is time to say something.
Thank you for your piece but unfortunatley I have not yet read Saturday's 'IT'. Have it at home and will read it ASAP. That means Friday next.
"Maybe they are fed up with being allowed to take most of the negative stuff over the years while the religious fancied themselves as the 'prophetic' wing of the church."
This comment could only eminate from the mouth of one of those clerical mindsets,namely a diocesan priest, you so often refer too in your blogs.
We are still awaiting your explanation of 'clericalism' that you want banished
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