The view from 'The Irish Catholic' newspaper

Pope Francis in Rejoice and be Glad writes:

“God is mysteriously present in the life of every person, in a way that he himself chooses, and we cannot exclude this by our presumed certainties. 

"Even when someone’s life appears completely wrecked, even when we see it devastated by vices or addictions, God is present there. If we let ourselves be guided by the Spirit rather than our own preconceptions, we can and must try to find the Lord in every human life."

Reading the current issue of The Irish Catholic there is little evidence of the sentiment expressed by Pope Franics on any of its pages.

It has much more in common with Neues Deutschland, which was the party paper of the leadership in the former German Democratic Republic.

Is this paper really expressing the opinion of Irish Catholicism? It exudes a nasty right-wing over simplistic view of Christianity. Full of meaningless clichés too.

How self-assuring and patronising is the message on most of its pages.

And then the pomposity. It's always the little things that give us away: why spell 'faith' with an upper case 'f'?

Please, that is not,  and cannot be the way to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Does the teacher outdo Trump? Not at all

A former high school teacher who wrote to Mr Trump was unhappy with the letter she got in return. 

“Poor writing is not something I abide,” she said.

But in the quote below, the teacher uses the accusative case of the personal pronoun when she should be using the nominative case. Maybe the reporter misquoted her?

The letter stood in contrast to other letters she has received from politicians, Ms Mason said. Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, sent “beautiful” letters that struck a tone that “makes me more important than him,” she said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/27/us/politics/trump-letter-english-teacher.html

A prophetic word on skips

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

What do you remember from your school days? Is there anything that stands out for you that you heard from a teacher, a lecturer a trainer that you remember from your years at school, college, apprenticeship?

So often it is the ‘sideshow’ events we remember.

In preparing this column I asked a colleague, who had studied philosophy, what he remembered from his years at college. He thought for a moment and then recalled how a lecturer once told them that it wasn’t necessity that was the mother of all inventions, but instead laziness. Not really a world-renowned philosophical principle.

A friend recalled a Br Minogue in CBS Synge Street covering his ears and saying ‘hell is noise’. And the friend quipped: ‘and now I agree with him.’

I was a student at the Dominican house of studies in Tallaght between 1969 and 1974. Our student master, Fr Delaney, had the nickname Dux. Before coming to Tallaght he had been teaching at the Dominican-run Newbridge College, Latin being one of the subjects he taught. 

So the nickname Dux probably came from the Latin word meaning ‘leader’. But it may not have been as straightforward as that as he also had a pronounced waddle in his walk.

He was a kind man. Windows and doors were opening in the church and Dux was taking it all on board, even if he was a little nervous. He was a cautious man by nature. He could never understand why I had such long hair. If he were alive today he’d have no reason to suggest I get a haircut.

I remember next to zilch of the philosophy and theology I learned back then but I remember Dux making a comment about the advent of the skip.

Skips began appearing in Ireland as an everyday means of getting rid of rubbish in the early 1970s. I can still remember Dux announcing one day that skips were a sign of a throwaway society. He was not impressed. 

At the time we paid no heed to what he was saying. It was just an old man having a rant at a new-fangled idea. He was in his 40s at the time. What would he know about the modern world?

It seemed the skip was the perfect way of getting a job done in as convenient a way as possible. It was and is the modern way of doing things.

All true. But Dux was spot on: the skip is also a metaphor for our wasteful society. The word accurately represents the throw-away society. It has taken us close to half a century to realise that the goods of the world are not infinite and it’s time to rethink how we manage our waste.

As a young man I always fixed my bicycle punctures. These days I bring the bike to a shop, the tube is replaced with a new one and the punctured tube is binned. It makes no sense.

One third of the food we buy ends up in the bin. This can cost the average Irish household up to €1,000 per year. Approximately 50 per cent of Irish people throw away food regularly.

It’s cool to go with the flow. But to read the signs of the times requires wisdom and thought.

So often it’s those throw-away comments from our teachers, those in charge of us, which leave lasting impressions on us.

A day seldom passes without my thinking about Dux and his comment on skips. A wise man indeed.

Pope Francis has a lot to do

Below is the editorial in the current issue of The Tablet.

A great read.

Surely it's as clear as day that Pope Francis is aware of all the nonsene that goes on in the clerical church and he is determined to play his part in changing matters

Those who oppose the papacy of Francis will have been dismayed by his announcement that he is naming 14 new cardinals, 11 of whom will be eligible to elect his successor. They include bishops from Iraq, Pakistan, Portugal, Peru, Madagascar and Japan – and the papal almoner, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, who works among the poor people of Rome. They are all pastoral shepherds who know “the smell of the sheep”.

Francis has now created 47 per cent of the voting cardinals – those under 80 – which should more or less guarantee that the next pope will continue on the course this one has set. Some of his opponents have given up expecting him to change direction, but until now have hoped that a new pope would reverse some of his positions. 

In particular, they oppose Francis’ moves to admit divorced and remarried Catholics to Holy Communion under certain conditions, which the two previous popes had ruled out.

This week, he again vexed his enemies, in the not unrelated area of same-sex relationships. 

Traditional Catholic teaching says that while homosexually orientated men or women must be treated with respect, if they engage in sexual activity with someone of their own sex they are guilty of grave sin. This distinction between sexual orientation and its expression dismays many Catholics. 

One gay Catholic likened it to praising a talented figure-skater while prohibiting them from going near an ice rink.

Behind the teaching is a presumption that the physical expression of love between people of the same sex is unnatural, contrary to God’s intention. Pope Francis does not seem to think so. 

When he met Juan Carlos Cruz, the principal Chilean sex abuse survivor, he reportedly told him in private: “Juan Carlos, that you are gay does not matter. God made you like that and he loves you like that and I do not care.” 

The words: “God made you like that”, assuming he said them, undermine the traditional position that homosexuality is unnatural. And if the condition is not unnatural, then how can homosexual acts still be regarded as unnatural? It seems the main theological objection to homosexual activity would fall away. Skaters would be free to skate.

A reassuring remark made in a pastoral context falls short of a definitive treatise on the mystery of human sexuality. But the Pope will not be unaware that opinion among the Catholic laity, and many priests, is somewhat ahead of him. 

Catholic attitudes to homosexuality at the grass roots have changed fundamentally in the last two decades. The distinction between the homosexual condition and homosexual activity is increasingly regarded as irrelevant, not least because most Catholics no longer accept the teaching of Humanae Vitae that every sexual act must be “open to the transmission of life”.

If this is the direction of travel of Pope Francis’ own thinking about sexuality, his opponents are right to worry. But the majority of lay Catholics worldwide long for the day when Catholic teaching on sex corresponds to their own experience of it, because then the Church will have listened to them at last.

What humans do

Humans make up a mere 0.01 per cent of life on the planet and have destroyed 83 per cent of all wild mammals on earth.

The Trinity a sign of unity and accord

The 'Thinking Anew' column in The Irish Times today.

Michael Commane

Cycling one morning on a main road I came to a junction. A car approached on the minor road, did not stop and came very close to hitting me and knocking me off my bicycle. I was shocked and shouted at the driver. He immediately saw what he had done, stopped and apologised. 

In response I relented and thanked him for his kind words. We chatted for a moment, smiled and parted. So easily it could have been a different story. We could both have lost our tempers, shouted expletives at each other, got angry. Instead, it turned out a pleasant encounter.

Right now the world seems to be so full of anger and hatred. Maybe it's always been the case but the level of palpable explicit disharmony around the world is scary.

Every day we read and see terrible acts of violence and hatred.

On Monday, May 14 the US opened its new embassy in Jerusalem. It was all done in great style and splendour. Present at the occasion were Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. Ivanka dressed to perfection and husband Jared perfectly groomed. 

The following day newspapers printed pictures of the of the event side-by-side with photos of unfortunate Palestinians demonstrating at the fence dividing Palestine from Israel. On that day 61 Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers. The juxtaposition was startling. Splendour and glamour next door to alienation and frustration.

The animosity, the hatred between the two waring factions regularly comes to the surface. And the sight is ugly.

Nasty, ugly confrontations exist around the world, in our own country, in our communities, in our families. It's part of life these days. Maybe because of modern communications and especially with the dominance of social media, anger and hatred among peoples easily shows its ugly face.

Tomorrow is the feast of the Blessed Trinity. It's a feast which seems to get little attention. 

Theologians talk about it as being a mystery and for generations upon generations 'experts' have entered the world of mental gymnastics in an attempt to give some sort of meaning to the idea of three persons in one God. 

There is a long tradition in the church of talking about the Trinity in terms of relationships and processions. Once we say anything about God we say it in terms of analogy. The theological refinements of what we claim about the Trinity can easily leave us mystified. Nevertheless, the communitarian aspect of the Trinity could and should be a great source of inspiration and encouragement to us. 

The Trinity, indeed, everything to do with the Christian faith is deeply centered on community, people living in harmony, respect and love with one another. The Trinity is about perfect harmony being realised in unity. It is about the mutual indwelling of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. In modern vocabulary, accepting difference within community.

Imagine a world where diverse people lived in harmony and respect. It was that ideal that inspired the founding members of the European Union.

These days we place great stress in the importance of role models. And when they let us down people feel greatly deflated. The trinitarian understanding of God provides a role model towards which we can have the temerity to strive. And we can be assured that we will never be let down.

Two of the most basic Christian prayers are the Sign of a the Cross and the Glory be to the Father. 

The next time you say them, why not say them slowly, thinking of what you are saying and then realising that when we attempt to live in union and respect with one another we are complementing those prayers.When there is a sense of unity and respect between peoples we have a far better chance of making our world a finer place.

We should ask our political leaders to work for unity, to help bring people of different views and opinions to respect and understand one another. The best of leaders show their strength and wisdom when they support the weak and fragile in society.

We are all God's children. If only we could realise that in our dealings with our friends and those who are not our friends.

Let the wonder of the Trinity impress us in our search for unity and accord in a world so often frightened and broken by disunity and discord.

And always remember the last verses in St  Matthew's Gospel: "Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time. (Matthew 28: 19 - 20)

Getting to work in Dublin in 2017

Last year 29.2 per cent of commuters in Dublin used the car, 28.8 per cent the bus. Bicycles were used by 5.9 per cent, 16.3 per cent travelled by rail and 5.7 per cent depended on the Luas.

Another 11.8 per cent walked to work, while 0.7 per cent drove motorbikes.

Philip Roth on truth and lies

“There is truth and then again there is truth. 

"For all that the world is full of people who go around believing they've got you or your neighbour figured out, there really is no bottom to what is not known.

The truth about us is endless. As are the lies.”

Philip Roth, who died in New York on Tuesday.

Hurley on Grant

Elizabeth Hurley on Hugh Grant:

"Having these kids has transformed him from a very miserable person into a fairly miserable person. It's improved him. He's gone up the scale."

Difference in unity

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

Stopped at traffic lights on Dublin’s Dame Street last week I had a fleeting chat with another cyclist. I thought he was Chinese but no, he was from Mongolia. I quickly said to him ‘ah Ulan Bator is the capital of Mongolia’. 

His response was an immediate smile. We exchanged a few kind words. The lights changed to green, we bad adieu and off we went. A fleeting moment of pleasantness. Two people from different parts of the world engaging in friendly talk. A life-enhancing experience.

That same day newspapers in Ireland and around the world carried photographs of Ivanka Trump with her husband Jared Kushner. Side by side with these pictures were photos of demonstrating Palestinians being fired on with plastic bullets, water-cannon and live ammunition. The previous day the Israeli army killed 60 people and wounded large numbers of demonstrators. Not one Israeli was killed.

The juxtaposition was striking. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were at the opening ceremony of the United States embassy in Jerusalem. It was an elegant affair, Ivanka dressed to perfection and husband Jared perfectly groomed. 

The splendour and wealth of the occasion at the US embassy was in stark contrast to the Palestinians protesting at the fence dividing Palestine from Israel. They looked poor, beaten, angry and frustrated. And why not when one considers the lives they lead. 

Approximately two million people are locked into a small area of land where the basic necessities of life are in short supply.

In many ways the problems of the Israel Palestine conflict tell in graphic detail what happens when people hate one another, when societies are incapable of living in peace and harmony.

Good and wise governance requires all sorts of skills and it also involves large doses of truth, honesty and justice. Opposing sides will always try to claim that truth and right is on their side. 

At the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the world truth was on the side of Israel. He used the word truth many times while at the same time his army was using live ammunition against poverty-stricken people.

What is it about humans that sees us in various degrees of conflict? It happens at all sorts of levels, in families, among friends, within countries. 

Since Easter Sunday the liturgy in Christian churches has been emphasising different aspects of the Trinity. 

For most people it is probably true to say the Trinity is some obtuse mystery they have heard mentioned in church. Since the foundations of Christianity the Trinity has afforded theologians the possibility of infinite discussions and mental gymnastics trying to get their heads around the greatest and most challenging Christian mystery. These days the Trinity seems to be out of fashion.

And yet it is centre stage in Christian theology. It’s about how perfect unity exists in God. It is a fabulous reminder or example to us how people have been called to live in unity and harmony, respecting in justice and truth one other’s differences.

It’s striking how the doctrine of the Trinity is not spoken about in these times of such brokenness and disunity.

Christianity offers the world amazing gems. What a shame we don’t try to live out the Trinity in our families, in our country, on the world stage.

Instead the world spent €1.7 trillion last year on armaments. We can do better. We have to do better.

My fellow cyclist from Mongolia and I deserve better, demand it too.

 

No comment from bishop

The editorial in the current issue of Kerry's Eye.

Heard on Radio Maria

Comments heard while listening to Radio Maria.

There is no competition between us and God.

As Catholics we believe when God made us he made us good.

God, the Holy Spirit as he enters into our lives doesn't do any damage to our humanity.

We must be aware of our disquiet.

You put all this stuff into your mind.

When a bishop says something he is not just a politician.

I'm not sure I read it [The Catechism of the Catholic Church] through in one go.

The church teaches us we can be moral.

When you rob €2 you become a robber.

Abortion referendum

Editorial in the current issue of The Tablet.

Ireland deserves admiration for the dignified and intelligent manner it has debated the abortion issue 

Ireland deserves admiration for the dignified and intelligent manner in which it has debated the abortion issue. It has not forgotten the first principle – the sacredness of all human life; it is prepared to scrutinise church teaching for its realism and humanity; and it is aware of the strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the argument. Of course there are passions on both sides, and the issues are certainly serious enough to justify them.

The referendum next week will decide whether or not to repeal the eighth amendment to the Republic of Ireland’s constitution, which places equal weight in law on the life both of a mother and of her unborn child. This constitutional clause prevents the Irish parliament from even considering any proposal to allow direct abortion, whatever the circumstances.

What may yet tip opinion against repeal is the fact that the government is preparing legislation for when and if the amendment is repealed, and the expectation is that that would allow abortion on demand up to the 12th week of pregnancy. But this is not on the ballot paper. Without some such law, even after repeal abortion would remain illegal with very few exceptions.

The bishops have stood a little back from the fray, despite the fact that the eighth amendment clearly reflects Catholic teaching. They are aware that the moral authority of the Church has been tainted by repeated child abuse scandals. They may also have recognised that the Catholic moral landscape is shifting once more, and, as Pope Francis has pointed out, the reality of people’s complex lives cannot always be boiled down to a simple textbook formula.

After acknowledging that “our defence of the innocent unborn needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life”, Francis observes: “Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection” (Gaudete et Exsultate, 101).

Both the “right to life of the unborn” and the “right to choose”, juxtaposed in this Irish debate, are relatively modern concepts. Before about 1970 the Catholic emphasis would have been on the gravity of the sin of abortion rather than on the rights of the foetus, which were almost forgotten; while the insistence on choice reflects the contemporary swing towards individualism, consumerism and personal autonomy. That right to personal freedom cannot be unlimited. A right to an abortion obligates society at large to provide one, without questions or conditions. That is asking a lot – even the more liberal abortion law in England, Wales and Scotland does not go that far.

The Irish instinct is for the sacredness of life, but also for sincere compassion towards any woman who has been put in an impossible position by an unexpected and unwanted pregnancy. They may be difficult to reconcile, but we should hesitate before dismissing either perspective as un-Christian.

A horrible evening for Dublin Bus passengers

Dublin Bus services were paralysed yesterday evening.

Services out of the city which should normally run every five to ten minutes were running at intervals of 30 and 40 minutes. Some not running at all.

Buses appeared and disappeared on the real time destination boards.

Not a word of apology from Dublin Bus.

It would have been so simple for them to have put up an apology on the real time destination boards.

Also, the City Council and Dublin Bus knew for a long time that the Rolling Stones were playing Croke Park last evening.

Dublin Bus could easily have operated buses from outside the canals.

Another example of how poor management can paralyse a company or organisation. Arrogance too.

The truth

On Monday Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu used the word truth many times while attending the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

At the same time Israeli troops were killing Palestinian protestors.

Over-use of the word 'truth' is always dangerous.

The word 'truth' is the motto of the Dominican Order.

Time to swim

Yesterday's newspapers reported that water at a number of Irish beaches fail to meet EU standards for clean water.

On full tide Seapoint is a great place to swim. Clean too.

One would expect water at Seapoint to be warmer than lake water. But these days the water in Lough Dan in the Wicklow hills is warmer than at Seapoint.

Surprising.

Below, the waters of Lough Dan.

Spring in poetry

On this fine spring morning in Dublin, Lines written in early spring by William Wordsworth

I heard a thousand blended notes, 

While in a grove I sate reclined, 

In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts 

Bring sad thoughts to the mind. 

To her fair works did Nature link 

The human soul that through me ran; 

And much it grieved my heart to think 

What man has made of man. 

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower, 

The periwinkle trailed its wreaths; 

And ’tis my faith that every flower 

Enjoys the air it breathes. 

The birds around me hopped and played, 

Their thoughts I cannot measure:— 

But the least motion which they made 

It seemed a thrill of pleasure. 

The budding twigs spread out their fan, 

To catch the breezy air; 

And I must think, do all I can, 

That there was pleasure there. 

If this belief from heaven be sent, 

If such be Nature’s holy plan, 

Have I not reason to lament 

What man has made of man?

'The apparel oft proclaims the man'

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

I was reminded of that line in Shakespeare’s Hamlet ‘the apparel oft proclaims the man’ when I was walking behind a middle-aged man in the first week of May.

There was a hint of some good weather after our long cold wet winter, people were beginning to shed their winter woollies.

We were both in a public building. He was wearing a pair of shorts and was dressed for the great outdoors.

Maybe it was because he was dressed differently from everyone else around us that I was made conscious of the role fashion plays in our lives.

The clothes we wear play a part in expressing who we are. When we wear clothes that we like it gives us a feeling of wellbeing. Doesn’t everyone like to be told that they are looking well?

It adds to the general feel-good of our surroundings when people look well.

World famous designer Coco Chanel said that fashion is not exclusive to clothes: “Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.’

The clothes we wear originate firstly in the mind of a designer. And most of us want to portray ourselves as best we can. It’s an interesting balance between wanting to express our uniqueness and at the same time be part of the fashion of the day. Someone who dresses out of synch with the culture or fashion will always manage to turn heads.

In varying degrees, we all like to make an impression. Some people are more forthright in doing so, others more reticent. We wear clothes to influence. Isn’t that part of the explanation of uniforms? 

When we see a garda on the street we at once recognise her or him by the uniform. That uniform immediately sets up a relationship between the person and the garda. Uniforms give people a title, they tell us who they are.

Somewhat more extreme: it’s understandable why shops and public buildings do not allow entry to people wearing motorbike helmets with the visors pulled down. The same applies to people wearing hoodies. It always makes more sense when we are identifiable. There is nothing good about being anonymous.

Our clothes say something about our identity, our individuality. They give people some idea about who we are. But they never tell the full story. There is nothing about our lives that tells the complete story as to who we are.

And it is also true that there is always the danger that we become slaves to fashion. The fashion industry is big business and like all businesses it always has to keep its shareholders and investors happy. 

On a personal note I am lost to understand why so many people have gone for overall body tattoos. Is the genesis of body art to be found in football fashion? No, it goes back much further than that.

What happens when tattoos go out of fashion? It’s easy to change a coat or a jacket. Not so a tattoo.

There is more to us than the clothes we wear. And just as fashions change so too are our ideas on life and how we manage our affairs. There is something whimsical, accidental about our lives. What we wear can easily mirror all that is accidental and whimsical about our lives.

While fashions change style always catches the eye. There is something nuanced about our lives and reality, so too with style.

‘The apparel oft proclaims the man’

 

Tessa Jowell 1947 - 2018

Former British Labour cabinet minister Tessa Jowell died late on Saturday evening.

Some months back she spoke in the House of Lords about her cancer. In an unprecedented response to her speech she received a standing ovation.

In her address she spoke of how life is not just about how it is lived but also how it draws to a close.

The piece below is from The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/13/tessa-jowell-my-friend-who-never-forgot-the-human-sized-picture?CMP=share_btn_link

Bus fares

Dublin Bus collected close to €6 million in unclaimed  bus fare change in six years.

What happens the money? Does Bus Átha Cliath keep the money or does the company pass it on to the Exchequer or give it to charities?

Priestly information

Is it time for an outside agency to do a root and branch study of priestly formation?

There is something systemically out of order within priesthood. The issues are never discussed in any real manner.

The idea of young men attending a Mass to celebrate 50 years of 'Humanae Vitae' tells its own tale.

If it all were not so sad and tragic it would be hilarious.

What is it that attracts so many gay men to priesthood?

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/two-trainee-priests-sent-back-to-ireland-after-being-found-in-bed-together-1.3491779#.WvYDVRWF7mM.mailto

Pope Francis and his postal service

From the current issue of The Tablet.

ONE CARDINAL described it as “incomprehensible”. An anonymous church source was quoted as saying that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has been “reduced to the role of a postman”.

These were some of the reactions following a summit here between a delegation of German bishops and a group of senior Vatican officials over the bishops’ plans to loosen the restrictions on Protestant spouses of Catholics being admitted to Communion when they attend Mass together. The critics were unhappy because Pope Francis had not issued a clear “Nein” to the German hierarchy’s proposal. Instead, Francis urged the bishops to seek an agreement that would be as “unanimous as possible”.

Under previous pontificates, the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation has been expected to issue crisp, crystal-clear directives to local bishops on matters such as Communion for interchurch couples. But this Pope insists that “not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues” need to be settled by Rome.

Dutch Cardinal Willem Eijk says he can’t understand Francis’ approach to the Germans’ proposal to relax the rules on intercommunion. He argues that the situation resembles the end times, when falsehoods will be dressed up as truth. He and other critics want the Pope to “act more like the Pope”, promptly issuing clear directives to bishops when disputes arise.

The cardinal’s uninhibited criticisms of the Pope reveal the serious internal tensions between senior figures in the Church. Francis must tread carefully. But his direction of travel is clear. He is keeping his balance, holding on to unity of the Church on the one side and faithfulness to tradition on the other.

While the Pope’s determination to give more freedom to bishops’ conferences may be disconcerting, it is rooted solidly in the Catholic tradition. Communion with Rome, the argument of the reformers goes, has traditionally  not meant bishops being told what to do by curial officials. It is expressed in Rome’s support for local Churches as it applies theological principles to real-life situations. It balances the needs of the local and the universal.

In Germany, a three-quarters majority of the bishops voted to relax the rules around intercommunion. Seven from the minority then wrote to the CDF, asking it to intervene. In response, the Pope has urged the German bishops to iron out their differences and seek unanimity. Unity of the bishops is vital; church history teaches that splits between them can quickly lead to further fractures.

Francis has been careful not to take sides, even though his sympathies appear to lie with those wishing to expand access to the sacraments, who include Cardinal Reinhard Marx, a close papal adviser. But Francis is also refusing to “outsource” theological decisions to the CDF. While some lament the downgrading of the congregation, this marks a return to the traditional understanding of the CDF’s role. Until 1968 the Pope was its prefect, and it was never intended to operate as a separate theological fiefdom. Like the rest of the Roman Curia, its job is to serve the papacy.

Marx condemns Bavarian crosses

Bavaria's new  Minister President Markus Söder has said that the cross is a fundamental symbol of Bavarian identity.

The Bavarian state has ordered all government buildings to display a cross at their entrance.

The decision has been criticised by Archbishop of Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx.

He told the Süddeutsche Zeitung  that the decision has triggered "division, trouble and played people off against one another."

Trump scares the world on an historic day

Seventy three years ago today, May 9, 1945 Germany surrendered to the Soviet Union at Soviet headquarters in Berlin-Karlshorst.

Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signed on behalf of Germany and the Soviet Union was represented by legendary Red Army Marshal Georgii Zhukov.

The previous day in Reims, France there was also a document of unconditional surrender signed by representatives of the armies of Germany, the Allied Expeditionary Force and the Soviet Union.

Seventy three years later to the day, US President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran. 

Israel and Saudi Arabia support the Trump decision. 

France, Great Britain, Germany, Russia, China and Iran, the other signatories to the deal, oppose the US President's move.

The ugly face of raw racism

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

On Sunday April 29 I travelled by rail from Kent Station Cork to Dublin Heuston. Somewhere north of Thurles I was forced to think of the meanness and nastiness of how human beings can behave.

There were few passengers in my coach. Some seats back I overheard a conversation. At one stage a man said that he had no time for people from Poland and a few minutes later I heard him criticise Arabs and pronounce on their behaviour: ‘I can’t stand f…… Arabs’.

I was on the verge of telling him that I’d prefer if he did not speak in such a way about people. But on second thoughts I decided to say nothing. He was a tall strong man. I’m still wondering did I do the right thing. I was a coward not to object to the explicit racist behaviour of the passenger.

The previous day in ‘The Irish Times’ Berlin-based journalist Derek Scally wrote about the increasing number of attacks committed against Jews in Germany. There are now close to two attacks every day in Germany against Jews and Jewish venues.

On April 30, 1945 soldiers of the Soviet Army hoisted the Red Flag aloft the Reichstag. That same day Hitler and his wife of two days took their lives.

Since the end of World War II the former ‘West Germany’ was meticulous in making sure that the Holocaust could never happen again on German soil. Former ‘East Germany’, while condemning what happened, attempted to forget its past wrongs.

Scally in that same article reported a 60-year-old man shouting at a Jew in Berlin before Christmas: 

‘Money is all you Jews have on your mind. You’ll all land in stupid gas chambers. Nobody wants you here.’ 

The terror of those words resonated in my ears when I heard my fellow rail passenger talk about the ‘f…… Arabs’.

For most of my life racial prejudice was something that happened in far off places or in the past in Nazi Germany.

Last week on a US radio station a talk show presenter used the expression ‘not our people’. He tried to ameliorate his tone or sentiment but he was expressing downright racist views. The same station on a daily basis abuses and denigrates people who they believe do not support their political ideology. It would be impossible for such a station to obtain a broadcasting licence in Ireland, certainly at present.

Are we heading towards a violent racial conflagration? It certainly seems that some sort of genie is currently being released from the bottle and slowly but surely it is becoming okay to make racial slurs.

There is something about the Trump presidency that seems to give people a confidence to condemn ‘the other’, to blame them for all their woes. We always seem to need a scapegoat and in the era of Trump, maybe Brexit too, it’s getting easier to say nasty things about those we consider ‘not our people’.

My saying nothing to that man on the Dublin-bound train reminded me of the lines penned by German Lutheran pastor and theologian Martin Niemöller:

‘First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—/Because I was not a socialist./Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—/Because I was not a trade unionist./Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—/Because I was not a Jew./Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.’

More poor design on Luas

More poor design on the Luas.

Behind one of the cross rails there is an electronic destination board. The design fault means that the destination board is not visible to a significant  number of passengers.

Yesterday evening it took an evening Luas 42 minutes to travel from Broombridge to Milltown.

On a quiet Bank Holiday Sunday that seems too long to travel such a distant.

ACP statement on referendum on Eighth Amendment

Below is the ACP statement on the upcoming Eighth Amendment.

In the midst of the debate and discussion in our country about the forthcoming referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment of the Constitution, we, the leadership of the Association of Catholic Priests, issue the following statement.

As an association representing Catholic priests we fully endorse the Catholic teaching that all human life, from beginning to end, is sacred, and that every human person shares in the fundamental right to life.

We are also aware, and are constantly reminded in our ministry, that human life is complex, throwing up situations that are more often grey than black and white and that demand from us a sensitive, non-judgemental, pastoral approach. Also, as leadership of an association made up of men who are unmarried and without children of our own, we are not best placed to be in any way dogmatic on this issue.

We do not wish to tell anyone how they should vote. But we encourage both ourselves and any citizens who may be interested in our viewpoint, to do the best we can to acquaint ourselves with exactly what we are being asked to vote for, and what the possible consequences of our vote may be. 

Having done that to the best of our ability, and following it with the, often painful and difficult, task of consulting our conscience, let us cast our vote.

A vote cast in accordance with each person’s conscience, whatever the result, deserves the respect of all.

There is undoubtedly a moral content to this referendum, but as with many other issues, there are also social, political and pastoral dimensions. For that reason we are concerned that some Catholic parishes are allowing their pulpits to be used by campaigners during Mass. 

As there are, among faithful, Church-going Catholics, a great variety of opinions on this vote, we believe this is inappropriate and insensitive and will be regarded by some as an abuse of the Eucharist.

We believe it would be better if this practice ceased for the rest of the campaign.

We wish the Irish people well in this immensely important decision awaiting all of us. The leadership of the Association of Catholic Priests will have no further engagement in this debate.

Catholic Church does not do 'open discussion'

There is at present a row going on among the German bishops about a newly agreed handout on Communion for inter-church couples.

A group of German bishops were in Rome on May 3 to discuss the handout.

The bishop of Münster Felix Genn writes:

"I can understand that [the signatories] are troubled by questions of conscience but I am not happy about the way they expressed their objections.

"I would have wished for an open discussion before the letter was sent"

Does Bishop Genn not realise that the Catholic Church does not do 'open discussion'?

Worldwide  boss of the Dominican Order Bruno Cadoré visited the Irish province of the Order in March.

He subsequently wrote a letter criticising the lack of communication within the province.

Does Fr Cadoré not realise that the Irish Dominicans do not do 'open discussion?

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German philosopher Karl Marx was born 200 years ago today in Trier in the Kingdom of Prussia.

He studied at the universities of Bonn, Berlin and Jena.

Marx was a distant relation of the German Romantic poet Heinrich Heine.