Reasons for Moorgate crash never discovered

On this date, February 28, 1975 a London underground train failed to stop at the end of the line station Moorgate.

Forty-three people were killed in the crash and many more badly injured.

Moorgate represents the highest peacetime loss of life on the London Underground in a single incident. 

The reasons for the crash have never been discovered.

The driver of the train was 56-yaear-old Leslie Newson.

He did not move or raise his hands to protect his face as the train crashed into the end wall of the tunnel. The first, second and the front-half of the third coach were crushed into approximately half of their original length.

The braking system was in full working order. They had not been applied by the driver.

There had been some suspicion that the driver may have taken alcohol that morning but never confirmed.

Was it suicide, a physical or mental disorder?

John McDonnell influenced by Hélder Câmara

In the current issue of The Tablet John McDonnell, UK shadow chancellor and lifelong Labour Party member quotes the well-known sound bite from the late Archbishop Hélder Câmara:

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.

"When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist".

McDonnell was born and educated a Catholic, enthralled by the Second Vatican Council. Today he does not believe in God.

The McCarricks go down the generations

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

Michael Commane

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin spoke on RTE Radio 1’s ‘Morning Ireland’ last Monday week about the meeting that was taking place later that week in the Vatican.

Pope Francis called for all the presidents of the Catholic bishops’ conferences of the world to meet in the Vatican to discuss the issue of sexual abuse by clerics of minors and vulnerable adults.

Also at the meeting were 21 eastern rite patriarchs and a number of ‘superiors’ of religious congregations.

Like the late Charlie Haughey I’m not impressed with that word ‘superior’. Worse again, is the title given to the boss of the Dominican Order. He is called ‘Master’. Then again the title Master in academia is also archaic but maybe these days it has lost its meaning, worth too?

On the ‘Morning Ireland’ programme, Diarmuid Martin asked why it had taken so long to sack Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

McCarrick was ordained an auxiliary bishop of New York in 1977 and was a bishop in a number of US dioceses until he retired as Archbishop of Washington in 2006 at the customary age of 75.

And even in that fact there is a hint that someone knew something. Many of the world’s bishops are left in situ for many years after they reach the retirement age of 75. It happens in Ireland, it happens everywhere. So, why did the Vatican act so quickly with McCarrick? Maybe there is a credibly perfect reason for his on-the-day retirement but I’m slow to go with that story.

For years there were rumours and stories about Theodore McCarrick and high clerics decided to turn a blind eye.

That’s the way it works in the church. It’s probably the way it works in all large organisations but it is particularly annoying to see how this is how life in the Catholic Church is.

We can only hope and pray that last week’s meeting in the Vatican will bear some good fruit.

Since the McCarrick story landed on the world’s media and then after his sacking as a priest many high clerics who worked close to McCarrick have denied knowing anything about his proclivities. 

Of course we should believe the words that people say but on this one I have to admit I find it most difficult to believe senior clerics in the United States had not heard rumours and stories about the bishop. It is correctly said that the worldwide Catholic Church has the best intelligence service in the world. And so it does. 

How come McCarrick had not turned up on the radar? Maybe the answer is that he was a senior person, a ‘superior’ and the people who were reporting him were little people. 

The church has a great knack in being far too deferential to ‘superior’ people. Probably the way of the world. But I thought it was part of the Gospel message always to be on the side of the poor and the little people?

What influence, what harm did the actions of McCarrick leave on the generations that follow him?

What sort of people are attracted to a church that has people like McCarrick at the helm?

What happens for instance if bishops, provincials or vocations directors are paedophiles? Does it mean that they can have an inordinately bad influence on generations of clerics who have come to priesthood or religious life because of these men?

Just as politicians can damage a political party for generations, the same too can, does and is happening in the church.

  

Anne Will discusses Vatican conference

The Anne Will programme on Germany’s ARD station last evening gave the entire show to the four-day conference on clerical child sex abuse.

The general consensus was that the Vatican was incapable of changing generations of wrong-doing in four days.

A victim of abuse at a Jesuit-run school in Berlin said the Vatican has an expertise at closing ranks.

He has asked the Vatican to open its archives.

Most members of the panel believe Pope Francis has missed a great opportunity.

Bishop Stephan Ackerman tried his best to speak positively of the conference. But he too saw its limitations.

Ackermann made reference to the polarisation that is taking place in the church, especially in the US and in countires which are more traditional in their Catholicism.

The bishop of Hildesheim was quoted as saying that child sex abuse is part of the DNA of the Catholic Church.

Imagine, all this about an organisation that has spent such enerrgy talking about ‘holy purity’.

A panelist gave the example of a senior surgeon losing his job in a Catholic-run hospital in Germany because he had married a second time, while at the same time priest abusers were moved from parish to parish.

The one woman on the panel of five found it absurd how the church is managed exclusively by men. She was raped by her parish priest when she was eight. In her journey of faith she has returned to the church of her birth.

This entire story is truly incredible.

Incredible too that Pope John Paul ll was canonised. He must have known.

Lotto loot

Irish people spend €800 million every year on the national lottery of which 22 per cent is spent on EuroMillions.

Chances of success from buying one EuroMillions ticket are just under one in 140 million.

Better odds to become a saint or dying from flesh eating bacteria than winning EuroMillions jackpot.

RTE news from February 23, 1999

An idea for RTE.

Why not show, maybe once or twice a week, the news for that date 20 years ago.

Say today at some time during the evening they showed the news of February 23, 1999.

It is something German television has been doing for at least the last 40 years.

It proves very popular with viewers.

Priesthood and sexuality

Thirty years ago I asked that the Irish Dominican province discuss issues concerning priesthood and sexuality.

What’s to do today? Smile, laugh, cry, feel angry?

The words of Jesus to Peter in yesterday’s Gospel might help.

It’s the pious humbug that’s almost impossible to take.

Nikita Kruschev and anonymity and fear

This  is an interesting story about Nikita Kruschev.

He was Soviet leader between 1953 and 1964.

Kruschev played an important role between politicians and Red Army staff at the battle of Stalingrad.

But eventually he was ousted by the old guard, the men who lie in the dark, never saying anything. And they are everywhere, State and church.

When Kruschev gave a speech criticising the previous regime, and someone shouted up, “Why didn’t you speak out back then?”, Kruschev looked down and asked, “Who said that?” A long, tense silence ensued. Finally Kruschev said: “That’s why.”

Indian religious sister accuses a bishop of raping her

BBC News last evening carried a story about an Indian religious sister accusing a bishop of raping her on a number of occasions.

The news programme showed a number of religious sisters demonstrating in Kerala in support of their fellow sister.

One sister spoke of how the church refused to answer their letters of complaint both at a national and Vatican level.

The Indian story  will be a sad, brutal and tragic story. And it will cover a long period of time.

To see Indian religious sisters demonstrating against the behaviour of official church behaviour must be a moment in history.

Karl Lagerfeld the joker

A quote from Hamburg-born Karl Lagerfeld who died yesterday.

"Everything I say is a joke. I am a joke myself."

Cyclists are dancing with death on our roads

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

Michael Commane

Over the years this column has on occasion concerned itself with road safety with specific reference to cyclists, indeed, it has provoked a number of letters to the editor.

I’m cycling a long time. I think I can say I have a good feel for the road and its users. Sixty-five years on a bicycle has afforded me an experience, which I think allows me talk with a certain degree of credibility.

Up to very recently I was advising all young people and not-so-young to take to the bicycle and get out there on the roads, whether going to or from work, or out and about for fun and relaxation.

I have stopped giving such advice. It’s got so dangerous on our roads I am now suggesting, especially to young work colleagues, to stop cycling on our roads.

Only last week cycling on a main artery into Dublin city centre at 7am, a parked car pulled out without indicating, it meant I had to swerve quickly. But what I did not know was that far too closely behind me were two cyclists. It was a close thing and scary. Had the three bicycles collided there would have been many broken bones.

And then all the anger and road rage from both those on bicycles and in cars. While cycling on a narrow road one evening some months ago a car came far too close to me. When I brought it to his attention at the next set of traffic-lights he became so violent that I was scared.

I put my hands up and admit that I am no saint. But I hope I am learning and these days show more care and understanding.

The following incident is not a good story about me.

It was early in the morning last week. A car passed me on a narrow road. The vehicle was travelling at great speed, certainly at a speed above the limit. I could hear the violence of the car coming behind me and then as it passed I observed that there was no rear right light on the car.

I caught up with the car at the next set of traffic-lights. I beckoned to the driver, who opened the window of the car and I said: ‘I suggest you drive the car at a slower speed and you have no rear right light’. That was all. I cycled off.

I have been thinking of my action ever since. A young woman was driving the car. Had it been a man who was at the wheel would I have done what I did, especially after the experience I mention above?

The previous weekend a cousin of mine over from London for the Ireland England rugby game mentioned this very point to me. He cycles in London, never enters into any sort of discussion with male drivers but can be confrontational when women drivers break the rules of the road.

I was polite and did not raise my voice when I spoke to the woman driver. Nevertheless, I was acting as a bully as most likely I would not have said it to a man.

It set me thinking about my behaviour.

At this stage of my cycling career I am beginning to think that it has got so dangerous on our roads is it time for the State to insist that cyclists are required to pass a road test and obtain a cycling licence?

And should cyclists be required to have a bicycle insurance? 

The Cardinal McCarrick debacle

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin spoke wise words on Morning Ireland today.

He wonedered out loud why it had taken so long to sack US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

It is close to impossible to believe senior clerics who now say they were not aware of McCarrick's proclivities.

There have been far too many lies told by clerics in this long sad story. And too much silence too.

It should also be noted that right now the Irish Catholic Church is being far too strongly influenced by elements and aspects of  a right-wing pompous American Catholic Church.

What influence has McCarrick had on generations of US clerics?

What happens when vocations directors are paedophiles? What lasting damage is spread down the generations?

And it's all wrapped up in silly pious humbug. And humbug it is.

A subject that needs great debate.

Overheard

Overheard:

Sex is the price a woman pays for marriage.

Marriage is the price a man pays for sex.

Simon Harris and the truth.

Minister for Health Simon Harris said on the Marian Finucane programme on RTE Radio 1 yesterday:

The great thing is when you are telling the truth the answer does not change.

It was a central tenet of the Staatssicherheitsdienst der DDR (former East German Ministry of State Security, the Stasi) that if someone keeps to the same story all the time without ever changing it then they are lying.

The Stasi were the world's best in that game.

Worrying rise in antisemitism

According to a report in yesterday's Guardian, antisemitism is rising sharply across Europe.

France reports a 74 per cent increase in the number of offences against Jews last year and Germany said the number of violent antisemitic attacks had surged by more than 60 per cent.

Hungary's Victor Orbán attacked philanthropist George Soros at an election rally last year, saying: “We are fighting an enemy that is different from us. Not open, but hiding; not straightforward but crafty; not honest but base; not national but international; does not believe in working but speculates with money; does not have its own homeland but feels it owns the whole world.”

Similar to the language used by Adolf Hitler when speaking about the Jews.

Shocking and worrying.

Another great plane bites the dust

In yesterday's 'Der Spiegel'

'Breakfast Martini at the Bord-Bar, a hot shower at 14,000 metres. For frequent flyer Christoph Lausberg Airbus A380 was the plane of all planes.'

European consortium Airbus has decided to discontinue production of the A380.

It's the third great aircraft to fail in modern history. The other two being the supersonic Concorde and the Tupolev.

'Four in every five priests working in the Vatican are gay'

Some of the most senior clerics in the Roman Catholic church who have vociferously attacked homosexuality are themselves gay, according to a book to be published next week.

The piece below appears in Tuesday's Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/12/four-in-five-vatican-priests-are-gay-book-claims?CMP=share_btn_link

Clear signs that it's not working

Between the rail station in Waterford and Waterford University Hospital there is not one road sign directing a cyclist how to get to the hospital.

At the road entrance to the hospital there is a directional sign to the main reception. Eventually it disappears and one ends up at the mortuary.

What is it about Ireland and signage?

Certainly frustrating and most annoying.

Our phones and human rights

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

Michael Commane

My relationship with the world of telephony technology has changed forever.

Until last week I was the proud owner of a nine-year-old iPhone 3. Any time millennials saw it they would express astonishment, that is, after they finished howling with laughter. They could not believe that such an old phone was still in use.

A kind friend gave me a gift of an iPhone 8. I was told that it was a ‘multi-generational’ jump.

Naïvely, I thought it was a matter of simply inserting the old SIM card into the iPhone 8. The new SIM card was much smaller. But that change was easy-peasy. It took approximately two hours to change from one phone to the other, to transfer all the data from the old iPhone 3 to the new iPhone 8.

All done by a super smart millennial. While he was doing it I pretended I knew much more than I actually did. Every now and again I would utter words such as connectivity, 4G, iCloud and Bluetooth. All my data from the old phone had been save on to the iCloud. I have no idea how that happened.

After two hours of hard work everything was working on the new phone except I could not make phone calls on it. Isn’t that somewhat odd, as it is, after all, a phone. 

My installer-friend phoned Vodafone, my provider but he was told it was not possible via a phone call to activate fully the new SIM card. Next day I managed to do what he could not manage. 

That made me feel good.

The phone is now up and running, in full working order.

But another problem; new phone is 4G technology, the old phone is 3G. Where I live there is poor reception. I have a mechanism in my house that boosts the Vodafone signal. Alas, the booster is only compatible with 3G telephony.

I phoned Vodafone. On the first attempt I’m told they don’t have a booster for 4G phones. Call again next day with more questions but also throw in the 3G/4G problem. Great news. I’m informed the new phone can also be operated using 3G technology.

When you phone Vodafone and there is no representative available, an automatic recording asks you to give a time you would like a call back. And it works. Sounds a good idea to me.

Calls to Vodafone from Ireland are routed to a call centre in Egypt. The Vodafone team, all Egyptians, speak perfect English although some of them have never lived in an English speaking country. They must have a top-class education system.

On a more serious note. What about the ethics of Vodafone having a call centre in Egypt? The Egyptian authorities are not at the top of the class when it comes to treating all its citizens with respect and dignity.

Some human rights groups estimate that up to 40,000 political prisoners have been detained in the country.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s government has been accused of human rights violations.

My new Apple phone is the latest word in technology but what price are we paying for our luxuries?

It was assembled in China and I am thinking of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, who won the prize for his writings promoting democracy. He died at 61 in 2017 having spent many years in prison. His ‘crime’ was his life-long and non-violent struggle for human rights in China.

Really, for how long and how far can we ride the tiger?

At last #MeToo moment for religious sisters

The breaking news story of religious sisters being raped by priests and bishops is yet another horrific detail of behaviour in the Catholic Church.

Back in the 1970s there was a scandal of young religious sisters from Kerala in India being sold to European dioceses and convents.

It was dubbed the Kerala nun-running story.

The Vatican appointed a cleric to examine the story and write a report.

The man appointed was someone whose track record did not merit such a position, indeed it was similar to appointing the fox in chatge of the henhouse.

The appointment of the priest was itself a terrible scandal.

Reservoir ramble

Staff at St Luke's Hospital in Rathgar has formed a walking club.

The second walk was yesterday - a two-hour ramble at the Bohernabreena reservoir.

Water level at the two lakes is back to a healthy level.

New spy HQ in the heart of Berlin opens its doors

Yesterday in central Berlin, close to the former Berlin Wall, German Chancellor Angela Merkel officially opened the new BND (Bundesnacthrichtendienst) - German Intelligence Service headquarters.

The €1 billion new HQ will be the workplace for 4,000 employees, most of them secret agents or spies

The building was originally scheduled to be opened in 2011

In 2015 thieves stole taps from toilets throughout the building, resulting in flooding and damage, in an incident nicknamed “Watergate” in the German press.

The current president of the BND, Bruno Kahl, was on hand to answer questions to journalists at the official opening in Berlin yesterday.

Striking INMO nurses

Striking nurses from St Luke's Hospital, Rathgar on picket duty yesterday on Highfield Road.

The focus is back on nuclear weapons stored in Germany

With the Russian decision to exit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in six months the cold war mentality is about to return.

For the Germans it means the silos with US nuclear weapons stored on German soil are back in focus.

The weapons are stored at Büchel, a small town with a population of just over a thousand people, between Koblenz and the Belgian and Luxemburg borders.

German plastic bottles

On German television on Monday evening environment minister Svenja Schulze said that Germany produces one billion plastic bottles annually.

The Germans have decided to stop mining coal and generating electricity from coal in 2038.

The charming friendship of Stan and Ollie

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

Michael Commane

I went to see ‘Stan and Ollie’ in late January.

I had seen actors Steve Coogan and John C Reilly being interviewed on ‘The Late Late Show’ and they did catch my attention.

Over the years I have seen bits and pieces of Laurel and Hardy films. They were black and white and from another era. They were funny.

Englishman Stan Laurel and American Oliver Hardy were at the top of the film industry between the 1920s and ’40s. It could be described as slapstick comedy, Laurel, the childlike friend of plump Hardy doing silly things to make people laugh.

Along come Steve Coogan and John C Reilly telling the story of the dynamic between the two men.

Laurel and Hardy gave great entertainment with all their stunts, codology and gags. But these two stage clowns were the best of friends in real life, a friendship that lasted to the grave.

After Hardy got sick and could act no longer he was replaced by another actor but it turns out that Laurel was simply unable to work with him and Laurel never acted again after the retirement of his friend Hardy.

There is great acting in the film, smart one-liners but above all, at least for me, it is a film about friendship.

It’s a mark of a film if it sets you thinking about something and since I’ve been to the film I’ve been thinking about friendship.

You can scroll through zillions of quotes about friendship but surely it’s only when you have been in that place that you know what it means.

I remember a friend with whom I walked in the hills, who has unfortunately died, was nervous how we used the word. He felt it was a most misused word. I still remember him saying to me one day: ‘We meet someone on the street and the next day we are friends. But that can’t be.’ He had a point. Anytime I log on to social media and see the word ‘friends’ I’m reminded of my friend and wonder what he would say of the social media phenomenon.

His understanding of friendship complements what Aristotle said about it - “A friend to all is a friend to none.” 

Maybe we should make more use of the word acquaintance than we do and reserve friend for those special people in our lives. We can count the number of friends on our fingers.

It’s often said that we can’t choose our family but we can choose our friends. It may sound somewhat harsh, even sad at times, but it’s true.

In wedding speeches brides and grooms regularly say that their new spouse is also ‘their best friend’. It’s a moment that catches attention. It stresses the depth of their relationship.

Is there ever any explanation or rationale that brings people together? Of course there are all sorts of reasons. But when friendship kicks in we know exactly what it means. And when friendships break down we know that trauma. 

Stan and Ollie have their difficulties with each other. There are misunderstandings, times when they don’t express their inner feelings to one another. There’s jealousy, competition. But their friendship is stronger than all the obstacles thrown their way.

The saying that a dog is a man’s best friend captures the idea of how unconditional friendship is. It’s never contrived. Our friends offer us a great sense of safety and comfort. We enjoy one another’s company. And that’s so well portrayed in ‘Stan and Ollie’.

Open letter to Cardinal Reinhard Marx

In an open letter to Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who is the archbishop of Munich and Freising, in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday Newspaper nine theologians and people in leading positions in the Catholic Church in Germany have called for reforms in the church.

They call for a new start in the area of sexual morality, a better assessment and proper understanding of homosexuality.

They also call for the priestly ordinaruon of women and the abolition of mandatory celibacy.

Below is the letter in full, which appeared in the Frankfurt newspaper yesterday.

Lieber Herr Kardinal Marx,

der sexuelle Missbrauch von Schutzbefohlenen durch katholische Kleriker und die Versuche im Verantwortungsbereich der Bischöfe, solche Taten zu vertuschen, haben viel Unheil in das Leben der Betroffenen gebracht und im weiten Umkreis den Glauben von katholischen Christen erschüttert. 

Ende Februar werden die Vorsitzenden der nationalen Bischofskonferenzen mit Papst Franziskus über die Krise beraten und Vorkehrungen treffen, dass Schutzbefohlene in Zukunft geschützt werden und nicht geschädigt. Das ist dringend notwendig. Menschen dürfen nicht in der Kirche den Guten Hirten suchen und dabei unter die Wölfe kommen.

Wir bitten Sie darum, in Rom freimütig den wichtigsten Ertrag der MHG-Studie zur Sprache zu bringen: Missbrauch in unserer Kirche hat auch systemische Gründe. Die Versuchung des Klerikalismus folgt dem Klerus wie ein Schatten. Die Aussicht auf Macht in Männerbünden zieht Menschen aus Risikogruppen an. Sexuelle Tabus blockieren notwendige Klärungs- und Reifungsprozesse.

Die deutschen Bischöfe sind seit 2010 mit der Prävention und Sanktion von Missbrauchstaten gut vorangekommen. Sie haben nach der Veröffentlichung der MHG-Studie im September 2018 Betroffenheit zum Ausdruck gebracht und Abbitte geleistet. Aber sie wissen auch, dass Worte allein jetzt nicht mehr weiterhelfen. Der Eindruck, es solle am Ende doch alles beim Alten bleiben, hat das Misstrauen gegen die Amtskirche bei vielen Zeitgenossen zementiert. Und anders als früher macht das Misstrauen an den Türen der Kirche nicht halt.

Die aktiven Katholiken in Deutschland tragen in ihrer großen Mehrheit die vormoderne Ordnung der Kirche nicht mehr mit. Sie ertragen sie nur noch. Und jedes Jahr sind es Zigtausende, die die Last abwerfen und austreten.

Manche Verantwortliche wiegeln ab und sagen: Die Skandale sind nicht alles. Die Medien bauschen das auf. Die Hauptsache ist das normale Leben in den Gemeinden und Einrichtungen der Kirche. Es stimmt – da wird von Berufs wegen und ehrenamtlich Tag für Tag viel Gutes getan. Aber gerade dort hat sich tiefe Enttäuschung breitgemacht. Die Sonne der Gerechtigkeit kommt nicht mehr durch. Unter einem bleiernen Himmel verkümmert die Freude am Glauben.

Wir appellieren deshalb an unsere Bischöfe: Vertrauen Sie dem Glaubenssinn Ihrer Gläubigen, und gewinnen Sie der Kirche Wahrhaftigkeit und Weite zurück, ohne die das Evangelium nicht atmen kann! Nehmen Sie Ihre geistliche Vollmacht für mutige Reformen in Anspruch: Binden Sie sich selbst durch echte Gewaltenteilung – das passt besser zur Demut Christi und in den Rahmen der für alle geltenden Gesetze. Bauen Sie die Überhöhungen des Weiheamtes ab, und öffnen Sie es für Frauen. Stellen Sie den Diözesanpriestern die Wahl ihrer Lebensform frei, damit der Zölibat wieder glaubwürdig auf das Himmelreich verweisen kann. Hören Sie auf das Zeugnis der Bibel und auf die Erfahrungen von Gläubigen, und machen Sie einen Neustart mit der Sexualmoral – eine verständige und gerechte Bewertung von Homosexualität inklusive.

Lieber Herr Vorsitzender, liebe Herren Bischöfe – Sie können mit uns rechnen. Wenn Sie sich an die Spitze der Reformbewegung setzen, haben Sie uns entschlossen hinter sich. Aber wir zählen auch auf Sie. Die Bischöfe haben das Heft in der Hand. Bitte zögern Sie nicht. Schlagen Sie eine neue Seite auf, schreiben Sie "2019" darüber, und fangen Sie an.

Gute Reise nach Rom und herzliche Grüße an Papst Franziskus

Johannes zu Eltz, Frankfurt

Gaby Hagmans, Frankfurt

Bettina Jarasch, Berlin

Claudia Lücking-Michel, Bonn

Dagmar Mensink, Frankfurt

Klaus Mertes SJ, St. Blasien

Jörg und Ingrid Splett, Offenbach

Ansgar Wucherpfennig SJ, Frankfurt

Der Offene Brief erschien zuerst am 03.02.2019 in der Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung.

An exciting journey

Contemplation is not a technique to be mastered but a journey inside ourselves to become one with what already is.

The late Fr Daniel O'Leary.

Remember where hatred can lead

The 'Thinking Anew' column in The Irish Times today

Michael Commane

Last week in the Bavarian Parliament in Munich members of the far right AfD Alternative for Germany walked out in protest as a Holocaust survivor accused the party of trivialising the crimes of the Nazis.

Charlotte Knobloch is an 86-year-old Jew who managed to escape the Nazi terror by being adopted by a Catholic family in northern Bavaria who pretended she was their illegitimate daughter. Knobloch accused the AfD of basing its politics on hatred and exclusion.

She called on politicians to "stand against hatred".

Hatred is not something new. We all have the facility, the potential to hate. 

Fortunately, since the end of World War II, at least in most parts of the developed world, there has been an attempt at bringing people together. The great aim of the founding members of the European Union was to heal the wounds of war and bring the opposing parties together. 

The vision of the European Union is to give people in all its member States the possibility of realising their potential and improving the quality of life for everybody.

It is a lofty ideal and throughout my lifetime it has blended in somehow or someway with the environment in which I found myself. There was also an excitement and energy from getting to know other people and groups, people who live different lifestyles.

  

Only last week Christian churches celebrated the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity. It grew out of the Vatican Council and its purpose was that Christians of different denominations would learn more about each other, pray together and maybe eventually join hands and share the one Eucharist. A communion of peoples.

But alas the original enthusiasm for praying for unity has lost its momentum. Unfortunately, the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity has become now a much more timid affair.

These days the world seems to give far more attention to the loudness and vulgarity of leaders, political and not political, who focus their attention on hatred and exclusion. The 'outsider', the asylum seeker, those looking to live better lives in the developed world are easy prey on to which to load all the woes of the world.

Meanwhile the world's 26 richest people own the same wealth as the poorest half of the world's population, which is 3.8 billion people.

Social media is on fire with stories of hatred. Sadly, some never miss the slightest opportunity to disseminate the ugliest and most brutal of stories. The more graphic the evil the more newsworthy is the story. 

Sensible, 'ordinary' people are shocked by what's happening, but it seems to be relentless. It's fashionable to be angry and okay to hate.

Last Sunday was World Holocaust Day. It was on January 27 that the 322nd Rifle Division of the Red Army arrived at the gates of Auschwitz and liberated the remaining inmates of the German death camp.

It's essential that we never forget what happened in Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, in all the places where people were starved, brutalised and murdered. 

Because by not forgetting, we have some chance of preventing it happening again. In the current climate of hatred and all forms of extremes we need to be reminded how easy it is for human beings to slip into barbarism. The Nazis managed to spread a gospel of hate in Germany, blaming the Jews and the outsider for all their problems.

In tomorrow's Gospel reading Jesus impresses his listeners because he speaks kindly to them. ."And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips." (Luke 4: 22)

Also, in tomorrow's liturgy, St Paul tells us that there are three things that last, "faith hope and love; and the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13). 

Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia says that love abhors making others suffer, it is not rude or impolite. 

Tomorrow's readings, as with everything about the Christian message, offer us great support, great hope in a time when hatred, vulgarity, and blaming the other is in the ascendancy.

Difficult to understand why the gracious words of Jesus are not being shouted from the rooftops in these times when the world is so in need of healing and soothing words to stem the flow of an ever increasing and angry mood. How we need to listen to the gracious words of Jesus and then speak and live them.

Diversity improves decision making

According to IMI research ethnically, racially and gender diverse teams will make better decisions 87 per cent of the time.

What does that say about Catholic priesthood?