Irish institutional church simply doesn't get it

Two stories in today's Irish Times give a very minor glimpse where the Irish church is.

On pages one and five there is the horrific story of the abuse case of ex priest Paul McGennis against a young girl in Dublin.
The newspaper prints her victim impact statement.

The woman said she lived in fear of the priest, who had threatened that her family would be expelled from the church if she told anyone.

It is a monstrous story. But were we all not threatened? Were we not told we would go to hell if we missed Sunday Mass etc?

Then on page nine there is a report of an article written by Irish Missionary Union chief executive, Fr Eamon Aylward, who says, "it appears now that it is acceptable for media to pronounce any individual as guilty without the necessity of going through any form of judicial procedure."

Eamon Aylward has been on both Irish radio and television in recent weeks.

If what Fr Alyward suggests is true, then it is not just the media who 'pronounce on individual as guilty...".

These days that is exactly what church leaders do. There are priests in Ireland about whom allegations have been made, they have been found innocent and even having been found innocent Irish church leaders stay well clear of them.

If the media is doing what Fr Alyward says, that is more or less what they and society did in the past. Back then they canonised the priest without knowing the first thing about him - just because he was a priest.

Did Irish church leaders back then suggest to the people not to judge their priests?

The issue has much to do with protecting the institution - at any cost. In the past the priest was moved from place to place. Today he is immediately 'taken out of service'.

The institutional church has to be protected.

There is something systemically out of kilter with the Irish institutional church.

Patchwork solutions don't work. And the crass lack of sensitivity shown by Fr Liam Alyward tells its own story but is also shocking.