Rupert Murdoch and John Magee

Below is the Thinking Anew column in today's Irish Times.

Rupert Murdoch and John Magee are household names in Ireland these days. Household names for different reasons but  both men in some way or other might well  have considered  themselves untouchable.  Murdoch  built up one of the world's largest media corporations. And John Magee was a serving bishop in one of the world’s most influential and enduring organisations.

A colleague of mine who worked for a Murdoch-owned newspaper was of the opinion that News Corporation executives believed that their boss was infallible, and so could never err.  And  for that reason  subordinates were always slow to  challenge or sack appointments  made by him and his senior people.   People forget Hans Christian Andersen’s fable about the “emperor who had no clothes”.  It is generally accepted that Murdoch sought world domination in the media business. He got close to it.


It may be that John Magee, the former bishop of Cloyne, felt he was above the law of the land, and so dodged and fudged when it came to reporting matters of child sex abuse to the relevant authorities. He placed himself and the church above democratically appointed institutions. And this dangerous notion affected part of Rupert Murdoch’s business empire too, as we have seen in the past weeks.

Even today practising Catholics, including priests, are slow to criticise bishops. In the not-too-distant past people, especially priests, lived in dread and fear of their bishop. It was a most unhealthy relationship, which inevitably led to serious problems.

In tomorrow's Gospel, Matthew tells us that “the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13: 45 - 46)


No matter who we are or how important the world or our fellow citizens may consider us, we at all times are challenged by the Word of God to offer our allegiance to truth. Nothing else. Alas, far too often all of us are distracted in our search for the truth. And so too is the world.
As Christians we believe we fail and err - all of us. But far too often we make heroes of people and organisations.  For a while they can do no wrong.  The media have been adept at making "heroes"   and so too the church.
And when  the truth emerges,  and it all comes crumbling down in front of us, institutions and organisations go to great lengths to absolve themselves.

All the time the message of the Gospel is that our search, our loyalty is to the Word of God, who is truth and goodness and love.

Yes, we believe that we are a fallen people but we also believe because of the grace that God offers us we are capable of great goodness. So when ‘ordinary people’ are confronted with crime, dishonesty, cruelty, they innately see the wrongness of it and set about putting things right.

The hidden treasure that Matthew talks about is the treasure that fascinates all of us. Life throws up all sorts of confusions and distractions. But no matter how bad things may be, we believe in the word of God. who is always offering us the possibility and the chance to decipher the real pearls and treasures in life.

Sadly but so often the case, we offer undue loyalty to people and organisations. Far better to offer our loyalty to the truth, and in doing that we can be assured of the grace of God.

Something in the human psyche is vulnerable to and tempted by the trappings of power and importance. It happens all the time wherever there are human beings. When it happens in the church, with its arcane hierarchical structures,  traditional sycophancy and secrecy can make a bad situation a thousand times worse.

The Gospel is the story of God revealing divine truth, love and mercy. It challenges us to search for truth, even if this means standing up to the great and powerful, whoever and wherever they are. It also calls on us to be kind and merciful.
Treasure at times can be difficult to discern and many of us invariably miss it. Prophets are few and far between

The Jesus of Bethlehem, the Jesus of the Gospel,  leaves us with no alternative. That same Jesus spent his life being critical of the ruling classes. His inclination, temperament, his ideology was to side with the sick, the   suffering, the disenfranchised and marginalised.

And that’s the calling of every Christian.

-MC