Sebastian Gorka obscenities

Sebastian Gorka, former adviser to US President Donald Trump was interviewed on Channel 4 News last evening. It is believed he was fired from his job at the weekend.

Below are direct quotes from the interview.

This man [Trump] is unstoppable. This is going to be an eight year presidency.

You're not listening. 

You're clearly not listening. [To the interviewer]

A low level flunkey in the comms room. [A reference to why people are saying he was fired]

It's the left who have normalisd violence. The KKK are a joke.

Just keep spinning your left-wing wet dreams. You're clearly not listening.

A glmpse into the leadership team of the United States administration.

But his comments obviously suit the style and behaviour of the US President.

The language, style and behaviour of the man was obnoxious, nasty too. And add to that his arrogance.

It was shocking, worrying too.

Dressed for the occasion?

A picture tells how many stories?

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arriving in Texas yesterday to examine the damage from Hurricane Harvey.

Can Pope Francis bring about aggiornamento?

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

Michael Commane

I was ordained a priest in 1974. Paul VI was pope and the new wind of Vatican II was in the air.

There was a noticeable enthusiasm about. Paul VI was quietly but surely seeing to it that the windows and doors of the Catholic Church would stay open, windows and doors that Pope John XXIII had begun to open.

I lived in Rome between 1974 and 1976 and it was exhilarating to see signs of a new open church appearing.

Youth brings with it enthusiasm and excitement, also that feeling or belief that the old order can be changed and new horizons are within sight.

The mix of youthful vigour and a hope that a staid church was disappearing made it exciting times.

But there were the backwoodsmen, scared of any change.

However, the wind seemed to be in favour of change. It was as if a head of steam had built up and that it would now be difficult to close shut the doors and windows. It had taken time, patience and resolve to loosen some of those rusty hinges, but the hinges were falling off and the windows and doors were blowing in the wind. It was a time of aggiornamento or renewal.

Sacristies can be strange places and a lot of clerical gossip goes on in them. As a young priest visiting an unfamiliar sacristy it was intriguing to meet priests whom I had never met before. One could quickly enough sense the mood and know whether or not the changes happening were being appreciated and accepted.

Albino Luciani was elected pope on August 26, 1978. This smiling Italian, who had been loved and appreciated as patriarch in Venice was going to take the reforms to their next step.

It came to an abrupt end 33 days later when the world learned of the death of the 'Smiling Pope'.

Within a short time of Karol Wojtyla, archbishop in Cracow, being elected pope, I noticed a change when visiting sacristies. I'd often hear a certain style of priest say that this new pope would return the church to its ‘correct’ course. It made me nervous.

A centralised bureaucratic church was being 'restored'. The old guard were quietly smiling. And on it went, ever so slowly. But people, full of enthusiasm and hope, believed there could be no going back.

Alas, they were wrong. And for 35 years the church has been in a process of retrenchment.

As a German teacher I was interested in the idea of a pope from Bavaria. Benedict seemed a kindly man but there was too much of a German about him to open doors and windows.

Have we now come full circle? Is Pope Francis in the process of dismantling those hinges again?

On the day following the election of Donald Trump as US president Cardinal Raymond Burke said he believed that Trump could 'heal' America. Burke's comment was as ludicrous as the liturgical vestments he wears. Fortunately, Francis has told Burke to take a hike.

A Trump-like phenomenon has been germinating in the church over the last 35 years.

Francis is proving himself strong and wily, but he will need all the blessings God will give him to help make our church truly the Body of Christ, a friendly home for the ordinary 'Joe Soap', people like me, who are desperately looking for a kind place, somewhere where love and gentleness play a far bigger role than orthodoxy and procedure.

The church is the people of God, a place of mercy, where there is a warm and genuine welcome for the broken and fragile.

Policing personal data

The Irish Times on Saturday carried an interesting report on the need for a debate over the Public Services Card (PSC).

It's the card familiar to people who receive monies from the State in the form of unemployment benefit, pay related benefits, dole, the free travel card, etc.

It is not required by law to have the card and the Garda is specifically precluded from requesting an individual to produce a PSC as proof of identity.

But a spokesperson for the Data Protection Commissioner has admitted that the means of communicating what data was being collected, for what purpose and with whom it may be shared needed to be addressed adequately.

If there is a concern about how the State compiles and stores data on its citizens what is the situation with organisations, churches, instutions in how they manage information on their members?

What legal rights has any organisation to store data on another person?

What's the law concerning dioceses and religious congregations keeping files on their members?

Who has access to these files? What rights have the members to know how the files are being managed? Are there any sanctions on the mismanagement of these files? What happens if an individual is refused access to her/his file or there be an inordinate length of time between request and delivery?

Are the files properly maintained and what levels of security surround files on individual members?

Are there State rules and regulations concerning these issues? Is there a regulatory body policing the custodians of such files?

It is a worrying and grave issue that requires immediate State regulation and policing. 

Religions' weird followers

A self-styled Indian 'God Man' is creating something of a stir in India.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been found guilty of raping two women at his ashram,the sect's headquarters.

As a result of the verdict there have been clashes in Punjab and Himachal.

It is said Singh has 60 million devotees and surrounds himself with 400 castrated bodyguards.

He claims castration brings his followers 'closer to God'.

In the US a priest was found guilty of having images of child pornography on his computer. He said that he was annoyed with God, he having lost money playing poker.

In Ireland in a right-wing religious magazine a young woman, who is raped, is admired for not talking about it in public.

Religions seem easily to attract unusual people, ideas and customs.

Anniversary of the election of Pope John Paul I

Today is the anniversary of the election of Albino Luciani as pope.

Sixty five-year-old Cardinal Luciani was patriarch in Venice when he was elected pope on August 26, 1978.

He took the name John Paul I.

Thirty three days later the world learned of his death. He was succeeded by Karol Wojtyla, archbishop of Cracow.

Luciani was first appointed a bishop at age 45 when Pope John XXIII ordained him bishop of Vittorio Veneto in 1958.

Albino Luciani is the last Italian pontiff and was known as the 'Smiling Pope'.

Trump among the 'fools'

Overheard in a cafe in Dublin's Abbey Street:

Customer to attendant: Do you think Trump is a fool?

Attendant with a smile: Of coure, they're all fools

Disappearing daylight

Observing the days closing in is horrible and that's exactly what's happening in Ireland at present.

This morning street lighting was still on at 06.15, at least in parts of Dublin. The sensors spotted that at 06.21 there was enough daylight so off went the lights.

It is now galloping towards darkness, early and late in the day.

And not a chance of changing it by one second.

Not nice.

Clearly Bus Éireann has multiple accounting systems

This story in today's Irish Independent makes for an interesting read.

Earlier this year Bus Éireann drivers shut down the company in an extended industrial dispute.

The public was given every detail of the exact sums of monies drivers earned, down to the last cent. We were told the company was insolvent.

And then this. Obviously because of the largesse the pubic is not being told how much they are giving to the former ceo. All tax money, from every tax payer, ironically, including Bus Éireann drivers.

But that's how it always works, everywhere.

Anne-Marie Walsh

 
 

The Department of Transport queried the severance package that was given to the former chief executive of Bus Éireann Martin Nolan, who quit ahead of a major cost-cutting plan earlier this year.

Documents released following a Freedom of Information request reveal that senior department officials had asked the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to help them with questions that they had in relation to the calculation of the "proposed settlement". 

However, they were told that it was up to them to satisfy themselves that the details were "consistent with good governance" and any contractual obligations.

"We are not aware of the negotiations/agreement between the individual concerned and the company giving rise to below [the settlement]," said an official from the Department of Public Expenditure.

The two departments have refused to give details of the amount that was paid, on the basis that it was "personal information".

Mr Nolan stepped down a year before he was due to depart following the recruitment of senior executive Ray Hernan to implement some €7m in cuts to the payroll for the workforce of 2,600.

This led to a bitter dispute with unions, and strikes.

Bus Éireann was warned against giving senior executives "excessive" voluntary redundancy deals.

Wall art

Appearing on walls in Dublin postal districts  6 and 14.

Nice.

John Snow on Grenfell

Channel 4's News' anchorman Jon Snow talks in Edinburgh n the Grenfell fire.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/aug/23/jon-snow-grenfell-mactaggart-media-diversity?CMP=share_btn_link

RTE pays out large salaries for poor English

Congrats to the new Rose of Tralee, Jennifer Byrne, the Offaly Rose.

Interviewing Ms Byrne, at one stage RTE's Dáithí Ó Sé was joking about her father travelling to Trinidad to watch her compete in a sporting competition and said: ".... he wouldn't have went there.........."

Is it that the past participle is simply changing or is it that grammar at RTE leaves much to be desired.

At least it's annoying to hear.

Yesterday Ryan Tubridy referred to something as being 'sh..e'.

And then the salaries.

Schulz says no to nuclear weapons in Germany

Martin Schulz SPD Chancellor candidate for the upcoming German election on Sunday, September 24 made a hard-hitting speech in Trier yesterday where he criticised US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Erdogan.

He warned Erdogan not to interfere in Germany's internal politics.

Schulz promised voters at the rally in Trier that if elected Germany's next Chancellor he would immediately begin negotiations with the US administration to remove all nuclear weapons stationed in Germany.

A late convert to Croke Park

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

Michael Commane

I have been asking people to guess where I was on Sunday afternoon, August 13.

Sounds a silly thing to do but it's all been a bit of fun.

I was in Croke Park at the All-Ireland hurling semi-final between Waterford and Cork.

It was my second time in Croker since the stadium was redeveloped. As a child I can remember going there on a number of occasions. My uncle, John D Hickey covered GAA for the 'Irish Independent' so I have vague memories of playing under the seats in the press box. I must have been very young.

I went to the hurling game with a Dominican friend, who knows the game inside out. His parents were from West Cork and his loyalties are with the Rebels. From my ignorance of both hurling and football I am forever amazed with Donal's knowledge of the game. I felt sort of misplaced sitting beside him on the Hogan Stand, he an expert and I a 'plonker'.

He explained to me how Waterford were using a sweeper to great advantage but that system would only work if Waterford were in the lead. I half-understood what he was saying and at the time it made sense to me. But please don't ask me to explain it to you or write down how it works.

At half-time Waterford were one point in the lead but Donal felt quite confident about Cork's chances of victory. The first few minutes of the second half Cork were on top of their game. Donal gave me a nudge, quietly confident that it was going to be Cork's day.

Once Damien Cahalane was red-carded Donal began to get worried and also realised that Waterford's sweeper system would make victory nearly impossible for Cork.

I watched every puck of the ball during a thrilling 70 minutes. I too was disappointed that Cork were beaten. Loyalty is a funny thing. I spent five years living in Cork and I got to love the city and its people. I had some great fun on Leeside. Indeed, while I was at UCC Cork hurlers won the All-Ireland three times in a row. I can still remember the buzz that was about in the county. Great times. Poor Cork, they are having a bad run but this team has many new young players. The future is looking good.

Really so funny, here I am, commenting on the Cork hurling team and I know nothing about the game. See, what one visit to Croke Park can do.

It was such a laugh listening to the comments of those sitting in my vicinity. At one stage a Cork supporter felt, and passionately so, that a Cork player had been fouled but did not get a free, so he shouts out advising, indeed, commanding, the referee to get a whistle. The man beside me was a Waterford supporter, who was listening to the game on his radio. At one stage the radio aerial nearly went up my nose. It reminded me of a scene from 'Only Fools and Horses'.

And then leaving the stadium and walking down Jones's Road, mingling with Cork and Waterford supporters. All good fun and not a hint of nastiness or ill-humour between the waring sides.

I can't believe how I got caught up in all the action. It was a magic afternoon. Later it dawned on me how watching the game completely dominated all my thoughts and not for a second was I thinking or worrying about so many of the thoughts that swirl around in my head.

It comes highly recommended.

Czechoslovakia invasion

On this day, August 21, 1968, the Soviet Army entered Czechoslovakia.

It was originally planned that the first troops to enter the country would be NVA troops - GDR Army. They were in place on the border but were suddenly stood down and in fact never took part in the Warsaw Pack invasion of the country.

Irony woud have it that, 23 years later, also on August 21, this time 1991, the Baltic state of Latvia declared independence from the USSR.

More poor grammar on RTE

Marian Finucane interviewed Cody Keenan on her RTE Radio 1 show yesterday.

Cody Keenan was Director of Speechwriting for President Barack Obama.

Keenan will be talking at the Kennedy Summer School in New Ross.

It was an interesting interview and well worth a listen. During it Marian was discussing with Cody about the difference between speeches with particular reference to the President's press speech and his State of the Union address.

At one stage she asked: ".... which did you most (sic) dread?"

RTE and its grammar.

That little terrier, his master and those morning smiles

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

Michael Commane
It's always noticeable how the tiniest gesture of friendliness, a smile, a gentle word, a kind remark can be reciprocated. And it does good too.

This day last week early in the morning while cycling to Heuston Station I spotted a man out walking his dog at the junction of Marrowbone Lane and Robert Street. Both were stopped on the footpath waiting to cross the road. The little black terrier, without a lead, was sitting and as soon as the man said 'go', the dog crossed the road with him.

Seeing this I was intrigued at how obedient and well trained the dog was. I looked over at the man and complimented him on his training and went on to tell him that my dog would not do that in a million years. He began to smile and assured me that his dog was a 'fits and starts' merchant when it came to obedience. I told him that if my Tess saw a cat she'd be gone if I had not got her on a lead. The man smiled: "Ah, this thing plays with cats".

Off I cycled over to Heuston Station. And that happened sometime close to 06.30. All completely unannounced, two strangers, one on a bicycle, the other walking, a two-minute conversation and you should have seen the smile on the man's face as I cycled off. And I too felt the better for it and was even thinking how Tess would manage at home the day without me. Of course, Tess is my elderly untrained Labrador.

And so it is with our lives. Most times we are kind and friendly with people they will respond accordingly. It's the exception where a grunt is the reply to a friendly smile.

Rules and regulations, orthodoxy and observance no doubt have their roles to lay in the affairs of mankind, but the more I see of the world and its workings I'm far more inclined to come down on the side of kindness, gentleness, friendship too.

Anyone who looks at tomorrow's Gospel surely is bound to see the kindness of Jesus. The Gospel account (Matthew 15: 21 - 28) may have deep scriptural significance but to the casual reader or the person listening to it in church one can't but be struck with the fabulous and simple humanity of Jesus.

The woman pleaded with Jesus to cure her daughter. He at first explains that he "was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel". She was a Canaanite. But when he sees how she behaves he replies: "Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted." Jesus is a man of mercy and kindness.

Anywhere there are human beings there are those who will become obsessed and over-rigid about rules and regulations. For many they can become the norm. But rules, regulations, codes, and the observance of all the rules and regulations are most unlikely to be the driving force that will make us kind, gentle and good people. And surely that should be our ambition, our aim to be kind people. Can there be a possible better epitaph about a person, a better phrase to write on someone's headstone than 'She/he was a kind person'?

Wednesday, August 9 was the anniversary of the death of Edith Stein, who was gassed on that day in 1942 at Auschwitz. She said: "It has always been far from me to think that God’s mercy allows itself to be circumscribed by the visible Church’s boundaries. God is truth. All who seek truth seek God, whether this is clear to them or not.”

And so too it is with kindness and indeed, all those characteristics, attributes and yes, gestures that bring out the goodness and love of other people. During these last 12 months, I have been privileged and fortunate to see first-hand the love and kindness of people when faced with pain and suffering.

Everything else seems to fade into insignificance.

And it certainly speaks much louder than any words or orders that come from rule books or quoting clauses from doctrinaire manifestos. I'm still thinking of my friendly encounter with the man and his dog at the Marrowbone Lane-Robert Street junction.

Vanier's wise words

The current issue of The Tablet carries an interview with Jean Vanier.

It is a great read. The interviewer, Maggie Ferguson, has been working with Vanier for more than 20 years.

Vanier:

My life in L'Arche has taught me that everybody is beautiful. Everybody.

So to love people is to reveal to them that they are more beautiful than they dare believe.

Is anybody beyond love? People say, 'How can we love terrorists?' But most terrorists have been deeply wounded, or humiliated, living in lands where people reject their cultures. We must pray for them.

Elsewhere:

By opening ourselves to others' pain, we are drawn into the mystery that suffering and joy are symbiotic

When you begin to let people who are 'no good' into your life, you are transformed.

Burke is not alone

The nonsense of Cardinal Raymond Burke seeing Donald Trump as a 'healer' is an interesting insight into the mindset of the man.

But it also gives some idea of what can and does go on inside the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church.

Burke has many followers in the Catholic Church. His disciples talk the same nonsense in every diocese, in every religious congregation around the world.

And right now it seems they are in the ascendancy.

Cardinal Raymond Burke sees Trump as a healer

The piece below has extensively used material from The National Catholic Register, which is owned by EWTN.

It appeared immediately after the election of Donald Trump. As US president.

Cardinal Raymond Burke has said Donald Trump’s election on Tuesday is a sign that the United States’ political leaders need to listen more to the people and return to safeguarding life, marriage, the family and religious liberty.

In an exclusive interview with the Register on November 9 Cardinal Burke said he was confident Trump would be able to help heal divisions in the country, that he has a “great disposition” to listen to the Church’s position on the moral law, and hopes he will “follow the principles and dictates of our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.” 

However, aware of inevitable areas of divergence with Church teaching, Cardinal Burke stressed the importance of Catholics continuing to make objections known whenever necessary.

I think that the election of Donal Trump is a clear sign of the will of the people. 

I understand that the voter turnout was stronger than usual, and I think that the American people have awoken to the really serious situation in which the country finds itself with regard to the common good, the fundamental goods that constitute the common good, whether it be the protection of human life itself, the integrity of marriage and the family or religious liberty. 

That a candidate like Donald Trump — who was completely out of the normal system of politics — could be elected is an indication that our political leaders need to listen more carefully to the people and, in my judgment, return to those fundamental principles that safeguard the common good that were so clearly enunciated at the foundation of the country in the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution.

Burke said that Trump's election was a clear sign that the silent majority had spoken.

No, Mr Trump, we're not the same as the neo-Nazis

Great piece in The Guardian by Emily Gorcenski.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/15/mr-trump-were-not-same-neo-nazis-charlottesville?CMP=share_btn_link

Trump speaks his mind

African American Mike Townes from Charlottesville tweeted yesterday on President Donald Trump:

I'm actually glad he's saying it. It is showing this country who he truly is. He represents the people who came to my community as supremacists, David Duke was right about him.

An interesting comment. At least people are getting to know who exactly Trump is. Obviously he is a nasty individual, who is right-wing.

What about his fellow journeymen, who say nothing?

And that profile is alive and well but silent and secret within Catholic priesthood.

Below is a Trump comment. It is fabulous.

I didn’t wait long. I didn’t wait long. I didn’t wait long. I wanted to make sure unlike most politicians that what I said was correct. Not make a quick statement ... It takes a little while to get the facts. You still don’t know the facts and it’s a very, very important process to me ... You don’t make statements that direct unless you know the facts ... When I make a statement I like to be correct ... Before I make a statement, I need the facts ... so making the statement when I made the statement, it was excellent. In fact the young woman who I hear was a fantastic young woman ... her mother wrote me and said, through I guess Twitter, social media, the nicest things and I very much appreciated that ... Her mother on Twitter thanked me for what I said. And honestly if the press were not fake and were honest, the press would have said what I said was very nice. I’d do it the same way and you know why? Because I want to make sure when I make a statement that the statement is correct.

Donald Trump, Steve Bannon and Charlottesville

Trump has built his presidency by catering to the interests and prejudices of his core base, rather than by trying to expand his field of supporters.

The link below is to an article in The New Yorker.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/donald-trump-steve-bannon-and-charlottesville

RTE and its past participle

On RTE's Morning Ireland today in the 'What's on in the Newspapers' section Deirdre Purcell said when reporting on the Trevor Deely story: "..... had showed ......"

Ouch, RTE and its past participle. The mistake is being regularly made and becoming more frequent.

An imperious wave of the hand from Kevin Myers

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

Michael Commane

Journalist Kevin Myers has had wall-to-wall media coverage in recent weeks. The commentariat have been talking about him and he has been talking too about himself.

His column in the Irish edition of 'The Sunday Times' crossed a line, well, two lines. The piece was deemed anti-Semitic and also misogynistic.

It's baffling how the article managed to appear in the paper. I worked as a subeditor at 'The Kerryman' newspaper and from what I know about subediting if such an article arrived on my desk my immediate reaction would be to pass it on to the editor. And if the editor wasn't happy with it she/he would seek advice. And usually newspapers err on the side of caution.

It is a mystery how the article saw the light of day.

Myers has a penchant for causing controversy but it's doubtful he realised that there would be such a furore and that he would lose his job with Murdoch as a result of what he said in the column.

The vast majority of comment has strongly condemned Myers on his reference to the highly-paid women employees at the BBC, who are of the Jewish faith.

I have been to Auschwitz, was there in 1987, saw the remains of the horror. I have also been to Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. I have seen the name plates on the footpaths in Berlin, marking the houses from which victims, including large numbers of Jews, were savagely taken to the death camps. And I have read Hans Fallada's 'Alone in Berlin'.

People of the Jewish faith have suffered far too much. And it's only right and proper that a single word, phrase or gesture, which hints at anti-Semitism is treated as it should be - banished from the face of the earth.

Nor can there be a hint of misogyny. Women have suffered far too much at the hands of men. Indeed, they still suffer. Over 60 million girls worldwide are married before the age of 18. Women account for 70 per cent of the world’s population living in absolute poverty, which means less than 85 cent a day.

It will be 20 years in November that Kevin Myers turned his guns on me. I had completed a post-grad course in journalism, spent three months working with 'The Irish News' newspaper in Belfast. 

And as a result of those three months I wrote 'An Irish Man's Diary' about my experience in Belfast. Within two days Kevin replied in his column.

I was a novice at writing, Kevin was a seasoned and established journalist. Ouch, did he attack me and indeed, the Dominican Order of which I am a member. It's fair to say he accused me of 'tribal sneering'.

Of course, it was all part of the 'banter' of journalism. But I felt it was a little like using a sub-machine gun to take out a fly.

Then some months later while we were both speaking at a Goldsmith Summer School I mentioned in good humour the spat that we had. Gosh did he dismiss me with a wave of his imperious hand. And that's alright too. I can fight my own corner.

But what must it be like for the really little people who have no one to speak up for them.

And that happens all the time. Isn't that why so many people feel alienated and get angry?

We can never go far enough to protect victims and support the weak and fragile.

Isn't that one of the basic mission statements of Christianity -  take care of the little person. Be kind to the weak and stranger. The day we are glib about that we have lost our moral compass.

Secularisation

Surely it's better and safer to live in a secular society than in a religious-run State?

Is it not true to say that many people who criticise 'secularisation',  they themselves live off the backs of everything that has to do with secularisation?

The Berlin Wall

August 13, 1961 fell on a Sunday and on that Sunday morning the perople of Berlin woke to discover that their city was being divided by barberd wire.

It would later develop into the Berlin Wall that divided West Berlin from the capital city of the German Democratic Republic.

It lasted 28 years, falling as a result of peaceful means in 1989.

The German Democratic Republic referred to the Wall as an Antifaschtischen Schutzwall - an anti-fascist protection wall.

The Catholic Church was one of the few, if only, organisation that spanned the Wall. The cardinal bishop of all Berlin lived in Bebel Platz, off Unter den Linden and the diocese of Berlin included both East and West.

During the period of the Wall the German Dominicans were particularly generous to Dominicans in Warsaw Pact countries.

On a regular basis, indeed, every few weeks, a truck-load of provisions were sent from the Dominican Priory in Berlin's Oldenburger Strasse to the Dominican Priory in Cracow.

The Christian churches in the West, but specifically the German churches, gave generous financial support to countries east of the rivers Elbe and Oder.

Cork-bound seagull? Hardly

Spotted on top of coach F on the 07.00 ex Heuston Cork train service today.

The seagull is hardly travelling but, if so does it have the Travel Pass?

Ah most unlikely, the train is now nearing Sallins and no footprints to be heard overhead.

Travelling in perfect comfort. The first train in the morning to Cork has to be a traveller's delight. Coach G, right behind the locomotive and the furthest up the platform.

What must it be like in a queue at Dublin Airport and then the terror of everything that is about flying, sparse legroom, crowded planes, playing a significant role in helping destroy the planet? Rail travel on the 07.00 Dublin Cork service is fit for a prince.

And along this track one can see right over to Turlough Hill. Above over the clouds not a single air passenger can even get a hint of the beauty of Ireland this morning.

Shush, not a word about the difference in price. Always vulgar to talk about money.

Flying can be a mug's game.

But not for the seagull, of course and that's probably what she/he is doing right now but closer to Dublin no doubt.

What the CDF can do

I felt, and continue even today to feel, like a broken man who can never fully recover from the suspicion, which the authority of my church - a church which I love and have served during my whole life - has thrust upon me. The joy of living has gone, perhaps never to return.

Words from the Belgian Jesuit, the late Jacques Dupuis, on the devastating impact made by the CDF's attacks on his work, and of his disgust at the way Cardinal Ratzinger defended an unjust and dishonest inquiry.

That same broken feeling has been experienced by a number of Irish theologians and writers.

And then the Catholic Church wonders 'what's gone wrong'.

So much.

They don't do 'religion'

The cover page  of the current edition of The Tablet.

A Very British Coup

The link below is to a piece in yesterday's Guardian.

It recalls the excellent 1988 TV mini-series A Very British Coup.

Labour leader, Harry Perkins, played by Ray McAnally, is elected prime minister. He proves a great PM. The establishment decides to get rid of him.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/09/prime-minister-corbyn-very-british-coup-establishment-backlash?CMP=share_btn_link

Edith Stein was gassed on this day in1942 in Auschwitz

The Catholic Church celebrates today the feast of Edith Stein.

She was born in Breslau, then part of the German Reich, today in Poland, in 1892 into a family of the Jewish faith.

She was a philosopher, rubbed shoulders with Martin Heidegger.

Became an atheist, then a Catholic. Joined the Carmelites.

She was gassed on this day, August 9, 1942 at Auschwitz.

"God is truth. All who seek truth seek God, whether this is clear to them or not,” Edith Stein.

Just a thought on the anniversary of the day she was gassed by the Germans at Auschwitz, and on the day after United States President Trump has spoken of unleashing a “fire and fury this world has never seen”.

Clever cycling quotes

This appears in the bicycle shed at St Vincent's Hospital. Clever.

The Einstein quote is: Lif is like a bicycle - in order to keep your balance you have to keep moving.

What must Francis think of his US pro Trump bishops?

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

Michael Commane

Some weeks ago an English Catholic magazine referred to Steve Bannon as a practising Catholic. When I read that I nearly choked on my porridge. It really was hilarious. Steve Bannon has married three times and has divorced three times. Then again, these days, people are talking about ‘alternative facts’. But I have to admit that the piece confused me.

Leaving aside his marital status it’s plain to see that Mr Bannon, a trusted adviser and friend of President Trump is a right-wing zealot who wants to destroy all and every trace of anything that smacks of liberal or moderate thinking. Bannon was a founding member of far-right Breitbart News, which is racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic. It would appear Bannon does not believe in compromise.

If Steve Bannon is what Catholicism is about then it’s time for me to leave the church. It really is amazing the latitude many church people can give to extreme right-wing thinking.

We really are being battered from every side. It’s difficult to remain sane in the days that are in it.

The Trump administration is not noted for telling the truth. I’m reminded of that infamous comment from Vladimir Lenin that a lie told often enough becomes a truth. Is that what alternative facts are?

When Anthony Scaramucci, otherwise known as the Mooch, gosh please don’t confuse him with our Gooch, lost his job in the White House, it was reported that President Trump said that he had to go because of inappropriate language he had used. 

I have heard of examples of the pot calling the kettle black but this really takes the biscuit. Trump sacking someone for inappropriate language. He’s talking about pardoning himself. Maybe he needs to think about sacking himself. The language Trump has used has been every bit as inappropriate as anything Scaramucci has said, maybe even worse.

Trump and his team cleverly pandered to an American religious extreme right wing coalition and managed to garner their votes. But he also picked up a wider Christian vote. In an opinion piece in The New York Times on August 2, Ross Douthat talks about a ‘cheerfully pagan Trump’ getting the religious vote. Douthat points out that as politics in the US has grown more polarised, the Catholic position has become ‘more difficult and perplexing’.

Sometimes it might seem that the President says the first thing that comes into his head. But most likely he is far more thoughtful than we think. If you look at his team you will quickly realise they are right-wing. And he now has four army generals in his cabinet. One might be forgiven for thinking that the US has been taken over by an army coup.

Trump’s popularity is now on the floor. Yes, he still has a fanatical support base but that can’t last too much longer. When the coal mines stay idle and the factories in the rust belt remain closed even his die-hard support will begin to wobble.

History tells us that going to war boosts the popularity of a leader.

North Korean President Kim Jong-Un is proving to be the perfect bogey man for the Trump administration.

While the shenanigans in the White House may make for fun television every evening, we are living in scary times.

Trump has not shown any signs of being good at diplomacy, something that the world needs in spades in the current tension-filled atmosphere.

All the time Mother Russia and The Middle Kingdom or China watch on. And what must Pope Francis think of the alignment between Trump and some of the US bishops?

The wrong people in jobs

Two most readable pieces.

The first comes from The New Yorker and is a damning comment on the Trump administration.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-is-donald-trump-still-so-horribly-witless-about-the-world

The second article is from The New York Times.

It is a commenatary on how conservative Catholicism is out of kilter with the views and opinions of Pope Francis.

Alas, is the hope that Francis is offering the church too late for the Irish Catholic Church?

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/world/europe/vatican-us-catholic-conservatives.html?_r=0&referer=https://t.co/MY85t7wMrR

False allegations

This is a link to a piece in the Irish Independent and worth a read.

Fr Tim Hazelwood is a priest of the diocese of Cloyne.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/youre-presumed-guilty-and-priests-are-terrified-irish-priest-falsely-accused-of-sexually-abusing-a-child-35972984.html

Transfiguration

Imagine to be transfigured, to be changed, to change, to grow and develop into something better and stronger.

Imagine not to be afraid, imagine to be excited about heading out on an adventure, taking on new projects, turning our backs on the staid and failed ways.

Inspector Franey speaks wise words to church 'leaders'

There is a feature piece in The Irish Times today about Garda Inspector Paul Franey, who is one of eight gardaí taking part in today's Belfast's Pride march.

While the page-long piece is about what life is like for a gay man in the Garda it also offers exceptionally wise words on the importance of Human Relations in any organisation.

Inspector Franey writes:

HR taught me that all the problems and all the solutions in the Garda at the moment revolve around HR issues. They revolve around people. The Garda is a very people-based organisation.

And then later he writes:

I saw it in HR - you put the right sergeant on to a unit, it'll be a fantastic unit. Stick the wrong person in and the unit simply won't work.......

There are many similarities between gardaí and priests.

Is there one single Irish priest whose specific work is HR. Is there a diocese or religious congregation who gives a moment's thought to HR?

Most unlikely. Priests attempt to study many 'ologis' but it would seem there is no attention at all given to HR.

Management skills in the Irish Catholic Church are abysmal. And probably a significant reason why the church is where it is today.

Elsewhere in the piece Inspector Franey writes:

How do you show people in an organisation that's as important as ours, doing work that's as important as ours, how valuable the work that they do is for communities, for people who are victims of crime.

Inspector Franey will have no idea of the prophectic words he is writing to the Irish Cartholic Church.

When ever does a bishop or a provinical pick up the phone to say a word of support to a foot-soldier? When does a bishop or provincial drop by for a cup of tea or coffee? 

Certainly, it doesn't happen in the organistion of which I am a member.

Dominicans get mention in 'The Tablet' of July 29

A few interesting references to the Dominicans in The Tablet of July 29.

The Dominican philosopher Antonin-Gilbert Sertillanges wrote in reply  Pope Benedict XV' call for peace in World War l:

Most Holy Father we cannot for an instant entertain your appeals for peace. Like the apparent rebel in the Gospel, we are sons who reply, 'No, no.

In another article in the same edition there is a profile of the new Master of Balliol College, Oxford, Dame Helen Ghosh.

While a student at Oxford along with meeting her husband, she also encountered the Dominicans at Blackfriars, who have provided her with spiritual nourishment ever since.

Oxford has been her home for many years and she has kept up links with the Dominicans, including chairing their charity, the Blackfriars Overseas Aid Trust.

She has spent most of her working life as a civil servant. As Home Office Permanent Secretary she did not manage to get on too well with her political boss, Theresa May.

Usain Bolt runs his last

God put me on this earth to run, and that's what I am going to do.

Usain Bolt, is about to run his final 100-metre race in the World Athletics in London.

He'll be missed.

Request to Brendan Walsh, new editor of 'The Tablet'

A call to Brendan Walsh, the new ediotr of The Tablet.

Is there any possibility that cirulcation of The Tablet could be improved?

On one occasion two arrive the same day, on another occasion two editions arrive within two days.

And the name of the country in the English language is Ireland and Éire in Irish. Why does The Tablet insist on printing Éire, especially since it is posted in Ireland to its Irish readers?

Social media

The social media is the coward's charter.

Maurice Manning Chancellor of the National University of Ireland.

Professor Manning made the statement in an RTE interview discussing the controversy surrounding former taoiseach Brian Cowan receiving an honorary doctorate from NUI.

God protect us from further lurches to the right

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

Michael Commane

US Senator John McCain cut a noble figure last Tuesday when he returned to Washington to vote in the Senate on a health bill.

The 80-year-old Republican Senator from Arizona made some powerful remarks on the floor of the US Senate just a few short days from surgery having been diagnosed with a brain tumour.

At the end of his talk he quipped that he was going home for a while to treat his illness but that he had every intention of returning to the Senate and 'giving many of you cause to regret all the nice things you said about me'.

The thrust of his speech was on the importance of cooperating and trusting one another, no matter what ones's politics or beliefs are.

'I hope we can again rely on humility, on our need to cooperate, on our dependence on each other to learn how to trust each other again and by so doing better serve the people who elected us. 

'Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and the internet. To hell with them. They don’t want anything done for the public good. Our incapacity is their livelihood.

'Let’s trust each other. Let’s return to regular order. We’ve been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle. 

'That’s an approach that’s been employed by both sides, mandating legislation from the top down, without any support from the other side, with all the parliamentary manoeuvres that requires.'

I'm sure I stated it here before that I bought myself an internet radio and came across a US station called 'Patriot Radio'. It is almost impossible to describe it. It is wall-to-wall screaming and roaring. 

A non-stop barrage at everyone and everything that is not in agreement with its right-wing  philosophy.

The night that Trump won the US presidential election I stopped listening to it but just last week I tuned in again.

According to 'Patriot Radio' everything that Trump says is correct and everyone who disagrees with him is a source of ridicule, laughter and fun. It is shocking stuff and exactly the sort of 'bombastic radio' that John McCain criticised last week.

It is sneering and nasty and has some weird ability of giving the impression that it is taking the moral high ground.

It really is crazy radio but it has high listenership ratings in the US.

Unfortunately, there seems to be something about the ultra right-wing that gives people the impression that they are talking in the name of justice and right, that they are actually the mouthpiece of all that is correct.

Alas, nothing could be further from the truth. Maybe I am being somewhat biased but I can't help but believe that extreme right-wing politics and religion express the nastiest and most insidious ideas that plague the earth.

They manage to create an atmosphere of hate and intolerance that is never matched by left-wingers or wishy-washy liberals. And they always seem to be united in a way that is the envy of any so-called left-wing or middle-of-the-road organisation.

It's a philosophy or way of thinking that is merciless.

It is a mood or a trend that is currently gaining ascendancy within different belief systems, including the Christian churches. At the best of times churches tend to be right-wing. God protect us from further lurches to the right.

It would be interesting to know exactly what Pope Francis thinks of so much of the right-wing thinking and practices that go on within the Catholic Church.