‘I don’t think this war is going to end any time soon’

This is a most interesting read by medical student Oran McInerney, who worked during the summer in Ukraine. You can picture the young man in the story at work and meeting people.

A Clare medical student, who spent the summer dodging Russian drones, cluster munitions and glide bombs on the frontline in eastern Ukraine, has received death threats after his personal information was leaked on pro-Russian Telegram channels.

Doonbeg student, Oran McInerney, has just returned to Ireland after a summer working as an unarmed, medical volunteer with Front Line Medics, a group that stabilises and evacuates injured Ukrainian soldiers from the frontline.

While in Ukraine, McInerney befriended 20-year-old Dubliner, Alex Ryzhuk, who was serving as a volunteer with the Ukrainian military. He last met Mr Ryzhuk just four days before the Ryzhuk was reported missing, presumed dead.

“Alex was fighting, so his situation was very different from mine. He was 20 years old, his mother and father are both from Ukraine. Alex went over there when he was 18 years old and he has been fighting there for the past two years or so, flying drones and doing a lot of crazy stuff. His stories would leave you speechless,” McInerney says.

“I met him for coffee, we took some pictures and he asked me for some medical supplies. We instantly got on. Some of the Americans who were with me were wondering why we got on so well, were we friends before this. And I was like, no, we’re Irish. If you meet another Irish person abroad, he is your friend.

“But he [Alex] had asked me for medical supplies, so I met up with him again with the supplies on a Wednesday or a Thursday. He went out on a mission a few days later and unfortunately he was killed on that mission.

“He is officially down as missing but I have heard from his friends that he was killed. He paid the ultimate price for European freedom. He was an amazing person, a great guy. It is so unfortunate but the reality is that a lot of people are dying out there,” McInerney says.

After his death, Ryzhuk was mocked by pro-Russian elements on a number of Telegram channels which list the names and identities of foreigners in Ukraine.

McInerney’s personal details, including pictures of him and his home address in Ireland, were also published on these channels, many of which have more than 45,000 members.

Killed

“It was surreal. There are a lot of pro-Russian people out there, as well as a lot of bots and people who the Russian government are essentially paying to put out a lot of pro-Russian stuff,” he says.

“The idea is that they share your information and they hope that you get killed in Ukraine. If you get killed, they put up another post mocking you. They say, ‘look at Oran, he came to Ukraine and he is dead now’.

“The whole point of that is to stop other people from coming to Ukraine and helping. Basically, ‘don’t come over here or you will die’. Unfortunately it is working, you see a lot of pro-Russian stuff in Ireland on Twitter pages that are fake. You can’t believe anything you read on it.

“But it was pretty scary. It doesn’t matter where you are from or what you are doing in Ukraine, you could be put up on that page.

“I can shrug it off, but you do wonder will these people show up at your house, will they show up to your family? Will it come back to haunt you.”

This summer was McInerney’s third visit to Ukraine over the past two years. Living in a bunker just 15km from the frontline, he was constantly in danger during his three month medical mission.

Death

His closest brush with death took place on a previous visit to Ukraine, however. He narrowly avoided being killed when a cluster munition detonated just behind his position while he was working with the Stop the War organisation.

“The cluster fell nearly on my head. Cluster munitions shoot forward, and this bomb missed our group by maybe 200m. The only reason that he [the Russian pilot] didn’t hit us was that he pushed the button a fraction of a second too late,” he says.

“We didn’t see the fighter plane, it was travelling too fast. We were on a firing range at the time so we were used to all of these explosions around us. We all just ran. I remember just running through a forest and then being evacuated. It was insane.

“The unit we were training at the time, unfortunately, I got word that a lot of them have been killed and wounded. The casualty rate is horrific at the moment, and you just don’t hear about it over here [in Ireland].”

According to McInerney, the Ukrainian people are tired of this conflict, but they have no choice but to continue.

“I remember talking to one of our medics and asking her what she wanted to do when the war is finished. She said that the first thing that she wants to do is to go to the graveyard and visit her friends. That really put it all into perspective for me,” he says.

“The people over there are absolutely resolute that Ukraine should be independent, they have their own democracy, their own culture and freedom. There is no real explanation for what Russia is doing.

“The Ukrainians are tired of the war, but more than that, they don’t want to be taken over by Russia. I don’t think this war is going to end any time soon.”

Kant’s message on morality of war has lessons for today

This is a gem. It appears in The Irish Times yesterday. Written by Joe Humphreys.

German philosopher’s belief that we have a duty to hope has rarely been more relevant

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You rarely hear the term “Judeo-Christian values” these days, but in the decades immediately after the second World War it was widely used as shorthand for the best of western civilisation.

George Orwell is credited with first using the term in print as a way of emphasising the shared moral traditions of Jews and Christians. While some zealous members of each faith objected to being lumped together, the joint-identity encapsulated a common commitment to defending equality and the dignity of human life. Christianity is today a much weakened force after years of church scandals, while Judaism is increasingly politicised by the Israel-Palestine conflict. “The centre cannot hold,” said WB Yeats. Sure enough, the threads of a once dominant Judeo-Christian consensus have come apart.

Moral principles once universally accepted are now up for debate. And some of the loudest voices in Christianity and Judaism are hardliners – from evangelical Christians seeking to restrict the freedom of women and minorities, to fundamentalist defenders of Israel who cry “anti-Semitism” over any criticism of that country’s military activities.

What ever happened to the credo of Leopold Bloom? “Force, hatred, history, all that. That’s not life for men and women, insult and hatred. And everybody knows that it’s the very opposite of that that is really life . . . Love.” So declared James Joyce’s “everyman”.

Golden rule of ethics

What ever happened to the golden rule of ethics? Consider others as yourself. Or, rephrased in Jewish scripture: “That which is hateful to you, do not do unto your fellow.” What ever happened to the prohibition on treating people as dispensable units in political calculations? “Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means but always at the same time as an end,” said the philosopher Immanuel Kant.

The latter principle is worth added attention as we approach the first anniversary of the October 7th Hamas terrorist atrocity that has led to an unfathomable degree of killing by the Israeli military.

Kant believed freedom “is central to what makes us a person,” says Trinity College Dublin academic Lilian Alweiss, an expert on the German thinker.

“This leads Kant to articulate the formula of humanity: we do not only have a duty to respect our own agency, but we also have a corresponding duty not to undermine the agency of others. When we use others simply as means to our own ends, we do precisely that: we undermine their agency.”

Crucially, according to Kant, who was born 300 years ago last April and died at the dawn of the 19th century, “the dignity of the person is a supreme principle that has no borders as it concerns not some but all, ie, humanity at large”.

Kant’s formula is a challenge to anyone at war. “He thinks just war theorists are mistaken,” says Alweiss, an assistant professor in philosophy. Rather, “wars are essentially barbaric. This is why we have a duty to understand war in terms of its opposite: perpetual peace”.

Collateral damage

Kant says we should not ask: what amount of collateral damage is morally justifiable? Rather, “the question should be instead: is the effect on civilians and the civilian infrastructure excessive to its military purpose to stop the aggression and create the conditions for a lasting peace for all?”

Alweiss continues: “It is important to note that Kant’s ‘morality’ of war – which is based on the principle of peace – does not depend on the conduct of the other party, but purely on the question whether the conduct is consistent with the aim of ending the conflict in such a way that co-operation is possible to achieve perpetual peace for both parties.”

It is tempting to write off Kant as a dreamer. Or as weak-willed in the face of threats from murderous aggressors. But he asks us to reflect on whether the ultimate answer to war is more war.

When did we stop thinking of “peace on earth” as a realistic goal?

“Kant shows us that we face an existential choice: we can either seek to end hostilities by force and create ‘a vast graveyard of the human race’ or we can uphold our belief in the humanity of the enemy. The message is: we have a duty to hope as without hope all is lost,” says Alweiss.

“I don’t think this makes Kant old-fashioned, if anything, it turns him into a thinker who refuses to get old – precisely because he refuses to make do with the status quo by telling us that we have a duty not to give up on hope, even in times of utter hopelessness.”

Why do our tribal instincts come alive at England games?

This week’s Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column.

Michael Commane

I’m no football follower. Yes, I watch the big games in Croke Park and in the Aviva. I much prefer to call it Lansdowne Road but I don’t think that’s allowed these days.

On the Saturday of the Ireland England game in Dublin I made it my business to get home on time to watch it on television. I was late for the analysis and interviews before the game, something I like watching. 

I turned on the television just as President Michael D Higgins was shaking hands with the two teams. It seemed as if he were having a friendly and pleasant chat with each of the players and with some of the young people too.  It was a lovely cordial moment.

The moment the English anthem began the crowd booed from beginning to end. It was awful, outrageous. I could not believe my ears. It was followed by the playing of the Irish anthem, which received the respect it deserved. 

The RTÉ commentators resumed their work. I was again dumbfounded. Not a word from them about what had happened. At least that’s my memory of it. 

Maybe I missed it but I don’t think so. That they did not criticise what had happened was almost worse than the booing itself. I didn’t see the subsequent panel discussion. Did they comment on it?

The following day I was chatting with a young man, who had just done his Leaving Cert. He had been at the game and when I expressed my horror at what had happened he vehemently disagreed with me and thought it was only right and proper that they should have booed. I was speechless. 

His argument was that England had terrorised us for 800 years and all we were now doing was booing at their football team. If my memory serves me, he said they deserved every bit of it.

When I asked him if the Poles should boo at the German anthem when their team plays Germany he said that was different and it didn’t last 800 years.

I’m told it’s almost custom and practice for all  sorts of chanting at football games, especially at English soccer games. But surely that doesn’t make it right or correct.

People might say it’s better to boo on the playing-field  than to kill and maim on the battlefield.

Does this mean there is some sort of seminal hatred deep inside all of us? How long does it last before old wounds and grievances are healed and forgotten.

And that thought made me move on to think about the madness, nastiness and badness that appears on social media every day and night. Maybe after all, that is no blip, not just a few cranks letting off steam. 

If that be the case it is extremely worrying.

The day after the Ireland England game there was an inspiring reading in the liturgy from St Mark’s Gospel talking about the importance of listening to the other person. 

If only we had the ingenuity and wisdom to listen to the other person we might live in a better world. Booing of its nature excludes listening. 

Surfing the clouds heading to the west

On this day, September 16, 1979 two families from the German Democratic Republic escaped to West Germany in a homemade hot air balloon.

The link below tells the story, which makes for a great read. Films have been made on the escape.

escape from East Germany 

Money makes the world go round

According to The Irish Times yesterday, religious congregations have cash, land and property assets valued at well over €1 billion.

The Irish State pockets €13 billion as a result of European Commission’s ruling Apple underpaid tax due to Ireland.

Elon Musk is about to become the world’s first trillionaire. 

Former taoiseach has sold the rights to his memories for a substantial six-figure sum after a bidding war involving nine publishers.

The minimum hourly wage in Ireland is €12.70.

Fr Terence McGuckin RIP (1950 - 2024) - an obit

Terence McGuckin spent a number of years with the Irish Dominicans in St Mary’s Pope’s Pope’s Quay and in St Mary’s Priory, Tallaght.

The following obituary was sent to this blog by a fellow Dominican, who did not write it.

We announce the sad death of Fr Terence Anthony McGuckin. Fr Terry died peacefully on Wednesday, August 14,  2024, in hospital.

Fr Terry was born in Cork, Ireland on  May 18, 1950 and ordained to the priesthood in Dublin on  June 8, 1980. He had been living in retirement in Coventry.

Condolences are extended to Fr Terry's family and to friends and colleagues and all who knew him in the parishes where he served in the Diocese and in the seminaries where he taught in London and Rome.

Fr Terry's mortal remains were received at the church of Christ the King, 14 Westhill Road, Coventry CV6 2AA on Wednesday, September 4, at 6pm with a Requiem Mass.

The Funeral Mass was at Christ the King on Thursday September 5 at midday with Bishop Paul McAleenan presiding. 

We pray for the repose of Fr Terry's soul with words from the Responsorial Psalm at Mass this evening, the Vigil of The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary:

Your priests shall be clothed with holiness,
your faithful shall ring out their joy.
For the sake of David your servant
do not reject your anointed.
For the Lord has chosen Zion,
he has desired it for his dwelling:
‘This is my resting-place for ever,
here have I chosen to live.

May the soul of Fr Terence, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Academic qualifications are a testament to Fr Terence McGuckin’s intellectual giftedness: BA, BD, STL, MA, MLitt, DD. He shared his knowledge and his love of theology generously with seminarians in formation for priesthood, both in London and Rome. It was study and teaching that motivated Fr Terry’s life as a priest. When periods of uncertainty about his vocation surfaced he immersed himself in reading and research to grow in his appreciation of the reality of God and God’s purposes. Because he had his own struggles he was able to reach out to other people who were struggling, either with their faith or their studies or their search for the purpose for which they were created. Countless seminarians, priests and others will have gratitude for the part Fr Terry played in their lives and his enduring influence.

Born on  May 18, 1950 and brought up in Cork city, Terence McGuckin was one of five children born to Cornelius and Ellen McGuckin. He was educated locally at the North Presentation Convent and then, for secondary schooling, at the North Monastery Christian Brothers School. He went on to study at University College, Cork and then with the Dominicans in Tallaght, Dublin before studies at Trinity College, Dublin. He intended to be a Dominican. From 1971-77 he was a member of the Irish Province and took temporary vows. In Dublin his focus became research on medieval biblical exegesis and patristics. He was praised by his tutors for the originality of his research. Between philosophical and theological studies Terry went to Tanzania, from June 1974-June 1975, as an envoy for the Legion of Mary. In 1977 he took time out from formal formation and took employment with the Department of Social Welfare in Dublin. After a year he left this work and went to All Hallows Seminary in Dublin in September 1978. Having left the Dominicans, amicably, Terry was accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of New Orleans, having gone there to experience parish life over the summer. While at All Hallows Terry taught French to seminarians who wanted to learn from him. Terry was fluent. However, visits to London prompted Terry to seek acceptance by the Diocese of Westminster and this was granted. But Terry was still uncertain and he considered both Dublin and New York as possible places for him to request acceptance for future ministry. He settled on Westminster and came to the Diocese early in 1980, to St Margaret’s church, East Twickenham. The Parish Priest there reported that Terry was an excellent communicator with people of all ages. He took a keen interest in the parish youth club, and in the programme of preparation of young people for Confirmation. The Parish Priest wrote, ‘I have no hesitation in recommending him for work with young people’. Terry’s sense of humour ‘…will always prove an asset in the rough and tumble of parish life’ and his commitment to regular prayer was also praised. Terry returned to All Hallows for ordination to the diaconate in June 1980. His studies continued and he was ordained to the priesthood in the college chapel on 8th June 1980 by Bishop David Cremin, an Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, originally from Limerick, and who had studied at All Hallows.

Fr Terry’s first appointment was to St Joseph’s, Bedwell, one of four parishes in Stevenage. As well as ministry in the parish, Fr Terry was appointed to serve as Chaplain to the two Catholic secondary schools in the town and to have oversight of youth ministry in the four parishes of Stevenage and more widely in the deanery. His ministry would be ‘cross-parish’, and ‘experimental’, with the support of neighbouring Parish Priests. He was to take up his appointment in January 1981 but the requirements of study for his MLitt on medieval penitential psalms meant his appointment was put back to Easter. It was agreed that further studies remained a possibility. By the summer of 1981 Fr Terry again had doubts about the nature of his vocation. He went to the Benedictine monastery, Glenstal in Ireland, and spent time there discerning his future before returning to Bedwell. He made known to Cardinal Hume OSB, Archbishop of Westminster, his preference to be in London rather than Hertfordshire for his next appointment, without dismissing a possible Benedictine vocation. Cardinal Hume wrote to Fr Terry: ‘I think that you are wise to go rather slowly on the OSB thing’. Fr Terry was appointed Assistant Priest at St Paul’s, Wood Green where he served from 1981-82. He then returned to Glenstal but soon became unwell and had to leave the monastery. He gave thought to returning to the Dominicans. He was advised by Cardinal Hume to have a period of rest before returning to the Diocese. But Fr Terry remained unsettled and contemplated the possibility of ministry in the Diocese of Brooklyn. This did not happen and his next appointment was to Our Lady of the Rosary, Marylebone to give temporary assistance. Conversations about his future ministry continued and it was agreed that Fr Terry should pursue further studies, a Licentiate course in theology in Rome, from September 1983, while residing at the English College. Fr Terry flourished in Rome as a priest of the Diocese studying for a Licentiate in Dogmatic Theology at the Gregorian University with the possibility of continuing to study for a Doctorate. Fr Terry was a valued member of the seminary community. The Rector wrote, ‘He relates well to the students, is friendly with the staff and fits in well…he is an outstandingly good preacher… pursues his studies conscientiously and enthusiastically….a natural academic. He counsels some of the students with great common sense.’ He was asked to do some teaching at the College, and also at the Gregorian University and the Beda College in Rome. He went on to study for a Doctorate. His fine thesis, published in 1989, was ‘The Eschatological Effect of the Cross of Christ in the New Testament Commentaries of St Thomas Aquinas.’ 

Fr Terry continued to have bouts of ill health and he returned to the Diocese for ministry in Marylebone, serving as the Assistant Priest from 1999-2001. His next appointment was to serve as Parish Priest at St James, Twickenham. However, his time in Twickenham was cut short due to health issues and, in 2002, he resigned on health grounds and went to live in the presbytery at Brook Green. In 2004 he was well enough to be appointed Parish Priest at Queensway where he remained until 2009 when he returned to Marylebone as Parish Priest. Once again various health issues necessitated stepping down from his appointment, in 2012, to enable Fr Terry to receive the treatment and support that was needed. In 2015 he re-located to Coventry to benefit from residence with the charitable community of Open Hands. There he found support and stability. He showed his ability to communicate with the diverse community of the charity and showed empathy and compassion in his dealings with others. As his health deteriorated he had several admissions to hospital, the last was on 14th August, the Vigil of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Fr Terry died peacefully in his sleep.

Essentially shy and sensitive, Fr Terry’s ministry was sustained by his academic interests and his desire to share knowledge. Pastoral endeavours were often hampered by ill health. Also sustaining was his devotion to Our Lady, as expressed through his work with the Legion of Mary before and since ordination. As well as his service as an envoy of the Legion in Tanzania he was involved in Cork and in Dublin and, in the summers of 1970 and 1972, with Westminster Cathedral’s praesidium. He was key in the foundation of a seminary praesidium in Rome, in 1987, and he served as Chaplain. His hobbies included music, sports, reading and travel. On his application form, when seeking acceptance by Westminster, he wrote, ‘I enjoy music and sports but am not personally musical or very good at sports’. His passion was theology, professionally and as a leisure pursuit, and he also enjoyed socializing with friends at home and overseas.

May the soul of Fr Terry rest in peace and rise in glory. 

The Khrushchevs strong opponents of Russian leaders

On this day, September 13, 1953 Nikita Khrushchev was appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. 

Stalin  ruled from 1924 to 1953. Georgy Malenkov succeeded Stalin for a brief period before Khrushchev took the top job. He was removed as Soviet leader in 1964 when Leonid Brezhnev replaced him.

Khrushchev introduced a number of reforms and undid the cult of Stalin.

He was the Soviet commissar at the battle of Stalingrad.

His granddaughter Nina Khrushcheva is a strong opponent of Vladimir Putin.

A plus for public transport but D- for TFI app

Public transport is improving by the day across the country. Frequencies have improved and there are new bus routes making villages and towns accessible to larger towns and cities.

In Dublin there has been a large increase in the number of buses, including hybrid and all electric vehicles. The buses, trains and trams are kept in good condition and always clean.

Unfortunately, the TFI app leaves much to be desired. In the last few days the app has been extremely inaccurate.

On Tuesday and Wednesday the TFI app was totally unreliable and sent passengers on the most circuitous routes imaginable when far more direct journeys were available.

Surely there must be a mechanism available to inform intending passengers that there are more direct ways to get from A to B.

Toxic silence, anonymity, obsessive secrecy

Below is an excerpt from Fintan O’Toole’s column in The Irish Times yesterday.

Two words stand out large: TOXIC SILENCE.

That toxic silence reigns supreme right across the clerical Catholic Church, and add to that: ANONYMITY and OBSESSIVE SECRECY. 

The words historical and shocking should never be used when talking/writing about clerical child sex abuse.

Toxic silence, obsessive secrecy and anonymity are deeply embedded in clericalism. These terms have nothing at all to do with confidentiality.

Many of those who were experiencing abuse report entering a state of mental dislocation, forcing their minds to sunder themselves from their tormented bodies. But even those of us fortunate enough not to have been abused were also forced into distorted states of consciousness – suppressing what we were seeing, colluding with abusers by being glad they were picking on someone other than ourselves, learning early the required habits of toxic silence.

Too many flip-flops at Bank of Ireland

This week’s Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column

Michael Commane

On Tuesday, August 27 I received an email purporting to be from Bank of Ireland, offering a luxury getaway for two to Powerscourt Estate. It had the correct BoI logo. It asked for my card number. 

And just at that moment I thought it might be a scam. I closed the email. The following day I called the bank to ask was it a scam. Before the agent could answer that question he asked me for some personal details. 

Why should I have to give any details about myself in order learn if this email was genuine? When I explained I considered such information was irrelevant he eventually agreed and was happy if I gave him my phone number. He told me he did not know and suggested I take a screenshot of the email and forward it to the bank with a covering note. 

The agent with whom I spoke was friendly and did all he could to help. I emailed the screen shot with a covering note. 

Within minutes I received a standard automated verbose reply, not answering my question. I immediately phoned the bank, went through all the usual rigmarole before I got speaking to a real time human voice. 

The agent at first told me she did not know whether or not it was a scam but would check and call me back. Some minutes later the agent called to tell me it was phishing, in other words a scam. 

Between the two phone calls I spent 30 minutes looking for a yes or no to a very simple question. 

Later that day I received an email from the bank: ‘Hi Michael, thanks for checking with us. You’re right to be careful but that is a genuine email.'  Just a first name, no surname. Not a word of apology. Within a five-hour period Bank of Ireland told me: one, they did not know; two, it was a scam and three, it was not a scam. 

Was this latest email a scam? 

On Thursday I called again for clarification. The agent was not pleased with my attitude and terminated the call.

On Friday I received conflicting answers to my question. Eventually I was told the advert was a genuine Bank of Ireland promotion.

So much for telling us the Bank will never ask for card numbers. The agent with whom I spoke on Friday was perplexed by it all and apologised. 

Fortunately for me, they had a recording of my calls and I was informed that it was incorrect of Thursday’s agent to terminate the call.

Customers are being treated like slaves. We have to give our life-story before we can say a word to these banks and companies. Is this what technology does? 

What happens when AI arrives? It took three days to discover the advert was genuine. And all of it is Bank of Ireland’s fault.

I’d like to be known by the name my mother and father gave me rather than a 16 digit number.

Paula Poundstone’s comment that she doesn’t have a bank account because she doesn’t know her mother’s maiden name is apposite. She’s an American comedian, author and commentator. 

The Scoping Inquiry Report

Why is the State and church when referring to the Scoping Inquiry Report calling it ‘historical abuse’?

What does that mean?

A changing demographic

Last year more children were born in Nigeria than in the whole of the continent of Europe.

Timothy Radcliffe stresses the importance of listening

Timothy Radcliffe on BBC Radio 4 this morning.

"We need to listen to those with whom we disagree."

"Religious life should be filled with the joy of God and others.”

He linked obedience to listening and how the world right now needs to listen rather than shout at each other.

Bad behaviour at Lansdowne Road at England Ireland game

While the English anthem was being played at Lansdowne Road yesterday before the England Ireland game the crowd booed.

It was rude, unfriendly and certainly a most unwelcoming gesture towards the visiting team and their supporters.

And that the RTÉ commentary never mentioned a word in condemnation of the behaviour of the crowd was shocking. 

Thoughts on the Scoping Inquiry Report

The Scoping Inquiry Report is available online.

US vice-presidential candidate Tim Waltz has made the word weird popular.

Is there not something weird about close to 2,400 allegations made of sexual abuse of children in in over 300 schools run by religious congregations?

The clerical church pronounced on every aspect of sexuality. There were and are far more sexual don’ts than dos in the catechism. People of a certain age will remember the reign of terror. That is over because the people have spoken with their feet.

Does it make sense to allow or ask a young person to make a lifelong solemn vow of celibacy?

Thirty, 40, 50 years ago a job was for life. That is no longer so. People move around and it’s good to change jobs if one can afford it. Our lifestyles have changed beyond belief.

Modern medicine, modern psychiatry, modern psychology is constantly throwing new light on everything to do with the human body, including our sexuality.

Is a person who takes a vow of celibacy better, holier than the person who doesn’t?  Young men studying for priesthood were told that the vow had an eschatological value and allowed the priest not to be distracted in his work, in other words they would have more time and space to work harder than their married sisters and brothers. In practice, is the opposite not the case?

As for the eschatology reason, it seems a strange understanding of grace and human nature.

The Scoping Inquiring Report mentioned nothing of the secrecy that exists within religious congregations and the clerical world in general.

 

Obsessive secrecy, anonymity are the oxygen that helped feed the sexual violence and evil that occurred in religious-run schools.

Why has there been no report on non-Catholic-run schools and diocesan-run-schools? Who made that decision?