'God aside, for whom does Justin Welby speak?'

An interesting read in today's Guardian.

Is it about the clash of cultures?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/14/god-justin-welby-archbishop-canterbury-gig-economy?CMP=share_btn_link

When grace and compassion are lacking we are lost

Dr Gabriel Scally in his report to Government said: "What was sadly lacking was grace and compassion."

He also remarked that a letter of apology from the head of the HSE 'means nothing' to these women.

"I think someone should say sorry who was actually involved in what went wrong," he added.

Doctors and clerics share that one word, arrogance.

Clerical child sex abuse in Germany

Later this month the German Bishops Conference will issue a report on clerical child sex abuse in 27 German dioceses.

Between 1946 and 2014, 1,670 priests, deacons and members of religious congregations sexually abused 3,677 minors, the majority of whom were boys.

The report finds that a significant number of files were destroyed by church authorities.

And then all the clerical pomposity and pious gibberish. The 'we-know-best for the people' nonsense.

Seamus Heaney on his faith

Jesuit priest Gerry O'Hanlon in an article of The Tablet of August 25 writes of the need for a synodal church in Ireland.

In talking about the state of faith in Ireland, he quotes Seamus Heaney:

There was never a scene/when I had it out with myself or with another./The loss occurred offstage/

Yet I cannot/disrespect words like 'thanksgiving' or 'host'/ or even 'communion wafer'. They have an undying/pallor and draw, like well water far down.

In so many ways it says so much.

In search of a former friend

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

Michael Commane 

I have once or twice mentioned my friend Jack in this column. He is a beggar man with a long grey beard who, up to some months ago, sat in the porch of a Dublin church. We had a falling out over a pair of shoes and he disappeared. In early spring I discovered he had moved to Dublin’s north inner city.

Deirdre is a young talented woman, just finished her doctoral studies at Trinity College and now working in the UK. She too knows Jack.

She is a dedicated environmentalist, who is critical of how we in the developed world squander our resources. She gave a short talk at the World Meeting of Families at the RDS.

Her enthusiasm for making our world a better place for all of us, her concern for and interest in Jack’s welfare is inspiring. She is genuinely interested in people who have hit on hard times and goes that extra proverbial mile to do what she can to make life that little bit easier for them.

There’s so much about her church, the Catholic Church, that she finds difficult to understand. She, like many, is angry and more than upset about all the cover-ups, how women are treated in her church, the absence of any real and meaningful dialogue or conversation, and how clerics make all the decisions.

We met up when she was in Dublin and she expressed a wish to meet Jack.

We arranged to meet on the Saturday before Deirdre returned to the UK. It was September 1 and the sun was blazing in the heavens as Deirdre’s train arrived at Connolly Station.

Thirty minutes earlier I had done a reconnaissance in the neighbourhood of Connolly Station. I cycled around Amiens Street, Sean McDermott Street and Seville Place but no sign of Jack. A young woman, who was begging on Amiens Street, told me that she often sees Jack but not today. 

Close to Sean McDermott Street I stop a young man, describe Jack to him. He immediately knows who I am talking about and replies: ‘that’s Jack the Pin, and he’s up the road’. Bingo. I have located him, delighted with myself.  No point in my going up to him because he will only roar and scream at me. I head back to the station, meet Deirdre, delighted with myself, and tell her that I have located Jack. 

We make our way to where I spotted him but he’s gone. We spend the best part of an hour walking around the area looking for him, asking nearly every second person we see if they know ‘Jack the Pin’ and if so, might they know where we could find him.

Right in the heart of Dublin everyone we ask knows who Jack the Pin is. At one stage I head up Talbot Street, stop an elderly woman, asking her if she knows Jack the Pin. It suddenly dawns on me my behaviour was getting very odd, stopping strangers on a busy city centre street, asking them if they know someone. Guess what, that woman directs me to a nearby coffee shop. But alas, no sign of Jack.

We never did find him. Deirdre headed for her bus and I cycled home.

That a young woman of Deirdre’s quality has trouble remaining a member of the Catholic Church surely has to be a serious warning and admonition to the management class of the Roman Catholic Church. 

But she is hanging in and that gives me hope.

Two KGB men: Sergei Skripal and Vladimir Putin

If it's all true, this is an interesting story, certainly a great read.

Two former KGB men and one who sharpens his skills in Dresden.

From The New York Times:

A Spy Story: Sergei Skripal Was a Little Fish. He Had a Big Enemy.

Sergei Skripal and Vladimir Putin, Soviet men of the same age, were raised to wage war against the West. After the Soviet Union collapsed, one rose. And one fell.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/09/world/europe/sergei-skripal-russian-spy-poisoning.html

Johnson as Bannon's lapdog

From The Guardian.

When Boris Johnson was in contact with Steve Bannon in July, the message Donald Trump’s ex-chief strategist had for him was straightforward: man up. Step up to the plate. Get off your knees. You can imagine this unpleasant challenge to Johnson’s virility by the self-appointed guru of the populist right. 

The apparent response has been no more pleasant to behold. Last month, the former foreign secretary was widely – and justly – condemned for writing that a Muslim woman wearing the niqab resembles “a bank robber” and that it is “absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes”.

In today’s Mail on Sunday he resumed his reckless use of political language, comparing Britain’s negotiating position with the EU on the Irish border to a “suicide vest”. 

I find it nothing short of extraordinary that a politician seeking the highest office in the land should deploy such a metaphor, less than 16 months after the Manchester Arena bombing.

Outrageous realities

In today's Gospel from Mark we read how Jesus makes "the deaf hear and the dumb speak".

In the next few days Idlib in Syria could become a humanitarian disaster.

There are close to one billion people in the world without enough food to eat.

Sixty-five million people are displaced and 750 million cannot read nor write.

A day when Concern Worldwide takes a well-deserved bow

Speakers at Concern Worldwide's conference yesterday at Dublin Castle to mark its 50th birthday were in unison in criticising the world's arms' industry.

President Michael D Higgins spoke of the scandal and madness of how the world's manufacturers of arms market and sell their tools of death in Africa.

He said that five member states of the Security Council are responsible for two-thirds of the world's weapons.

The President of Ireland stressed the importance of the role of women in conflict resolution and referred to the important work they played in the Northern Ireland peace process.

Former President Mary Robinson argued that we need a completely new mindset about human mobility, yes we need to manage borders but allow people to move.

When it comes to Europe's migration policy she commented:  "Europe is disgraceful."

There are 65 million displaced people in the world.

President Bill Clinton, who spoke for close to an hour immediately after lunch, told his audience that it was his third visit to Ireland this year and would only be delighted to find any excuse to come back as often as possible to the country next year.

In complimenting Concern, President Clinton quipped: "We [in the US] may need you now more than anybody".

RTE's Áine Lawlor was master of ceremonies. She managed to mix effeciency with a sense of humour. EveryThing flowed as day folows night. She was even able to joke about Bill Clinton's security detail, while at the sam time havi g a word in the man's ear.

She praised the work he did for Ireland and Bill Clinton appeared genuinely moved, even maybe embarrassed.

Irish business man Denis O'Brien introduced President Clinton.

The conference was possible because of Concern's partnership with Irish Aid, Microsoft, The Irish Times, Iris O'Brien Foundation, Web Summit.

Bill Clinton at Dublin Castle today

Comment from President Bill Clinton at Concern's 50th anniversary occasion at Dublin Castle today:

We are all tribal. The specific things about our own identity we should be proud of. We cannot wipe away our identity.

But the common humanity we share is what's most important.

'I am part of the resistance inside the Trump administration

This is the editorial in The New York Times yesterday.

A lovely piece of writing too: clear, simple and polite.

But such a pity it is anonymous..
________

I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration

I work for the president but like-minded colleagues and I have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html

Ordeal of married gay couple forced to flee Russia

This from yesterday's Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/05/alone-and-in-fear-ordeal-of-married-gay-couple-forced-to-flee-russia?CMP=share_btn_link

And then this on the far-right anti Pope Francis blog Rorate Caeli.

Will Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who brought to light the existence of corruption in the Vatican, singling out those guilty, beginning with the highest ecclesiastical authorities, be punished for telling the truth? Pope Francis is examining this possibility - if it is true, as several sources confirm -  that he has consulted Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmiero, and some other canon-lawyer, to study the possibility of canonical sanctions to inflict on the Archbishop, commencing with sospensione a divinis. If this news is confirmed it would be of extreme gravity, and somewhat surreal, seeing as the “expert” summoned to sanction Monsignor Viganò would be precisely Cardinal Coccopalmiero, who is being accused by the former-Nuncio of the United States, of being part of the “homosexual lobby” lording over the Vatican. It cannot be forgotten in any case, that the Cardinal’s Secretary, Monsignor Luigi Capozzi, is involved in a case of  homosexual orgy, in which the position of his superior has still to be clarified.  

'Pope Francis can't afford to remain silent'

This from CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/04/opinions/pope-cannot-remain-silent-gagliano/index.html

Shakespeare's King Richard III and evil

In The Tablet of August 25 Irish Dominican Paul Murray writes on the 'The humanity of monsters'.

The article is about the evil character of Shakespeare's King Richard III.

....scarce half made up

And that so lamely and unfashionable

The dogs bark at me as I halt by them.

"In spite of all that we know about Richard, and the horrific damage he has wreaked on so many lives, it's impossible not to acknowledge the pain, the desperate anguish contained in these words."

Murray argues that Shakespeare never allows the disturbing criminals he creates to become caricatures of themselves.

Nor does he ever encourgae us to despise them.

A look back at Pope Francis's visit to Ireland

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

Michael Commane

The Aer  Lingus Airbus A321 lifted off the ground, its undercarriage retracted and within seconds the plane was into the clouds above Dublin. Pope Francis was on his way back to Rome.

Heavens, much has been said and written about the papal visit, can anything else be said?

Now that he has come and gone this might be an opportune time to express a few thoughts. Maybe over the coming weeks I just might say something about aspects of the Catholic Church that have intrigued and interested me over many years. Some of the questions that I asked back in the 1980s now seem to be on the lips of many people.

From what I read and see about Pope Francis he seems kind and genuinely interested in people. I like the man. I also had a grá for Pope Benedict, that probably had something to do with my German links and he being German. Pope St John Paul never impressed me and I’m still shell-shocked that they made him a saint with such alacrity. Did they not break their own rules canonising him?

The moment Pope Francis said Buona Sera in St Peter’s on the evening of his election on March 13, 2013 he caught my attention. Also, being a Jesuit, one immediately knows that he is no fool.

On the Monday before he came to Ireland he wrote a letter on clerical child sex abuse to all Catholics. Media outlets quoted from it but nowhere did I see the following extract quoted or spoken about: ‘Clericalism, whether fostered by priests themselves or lay persons, leads to an excision in the ecclesial body that supports and helps to perpetuate many of the evils that we are condemning today.” 

In that same letter he stresses how the church is made up of all the people of God. 

‘Indeed, whenever we have tried to replace, or silence, or ignore, or reduce the people of God to small elites, we end up creating communities, projects, theological approaches, spiritualties and structures without roots, without memory, without faces, without bodies and ultimately, without lives.’

Inspiring words. Powerful too. The church is the people of God, elites prove disastrous. Since he became pope he has been waging a war against clericalism. But I can imagine to lance the boil must be like attempting to turn an aircraft carrier out at sea. It takes a long time.

RTE coverage was wall-to-wall and the station has to be complimented. But would it not have been better to have had a native English speaker translating his Italian into English?

I wonder does the viewer get somewhat tired of all the usual familiar faces saying the same things over and over. Surely it gets boring.

At the Croke Park event, Pope Francis was flanked by Cardinal Kevin Farrell and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. Imagine the PR coup it would have been had he had a woman sitting next to him, a Sister Stan or someone such as Marie Collins?

During the pope’s visit I experienced how Dublin is divided. On the Saturday I cycled from Dame Street into O’Connell Street with no security check. An hour later entering O’Connell Street on the north side I was requested to open my bags.

If I hear once more how Ireland has changed since 1979 I’ll scream. Change is part of being alive.

And I was delighted to see Pope Francis did not kiss the ground or wear silly shoes.

I like Pope Francis and wish him well.

Ryan Tubridy in Berlin

Ryan Tubridy gave a short account today of his visit to Berlin on Friday.

He made some remarkable statements.

"I generally feel if you have been to a city do you need to go back.?" But in the case of Berlin he plans to return.

He also spoke about the Topography of Terror Museum. About the museum he said: "... But the museum itself is boring.... and I would not recommend it."

He assured his listeners that the rest of the city is vibrant.

Ryan Tubridy earned himself top marks in ignorance and silliness on his Berlin comments.

He is able to recommend the 'rest of Berlin' after a visit of how many hours?

And his comments on the museum are crass.

It is embarrassing that tax money is spent on this type of radio.

A rabbi's prophetic and wise words

The hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on yesterday's BBC Radio 4 programme 'Sunday'.

TD Eamon Ryan refers to his late Dominican uncle

This is a link to an address given by Green Party TD Eamon Ryan in the Unitarian church some days befor Pope Francis came to Ireland.

In it he refers to his late uncle, Dominican priest Innocent Ryan.

This is the sound link to the talk by Eamon Ryan. It is 13 minutes long.

You can listen here or read the text here . 

Alan Rusbridger at his brilliant best

A brilliant piece in yesterday's Guardian.

Anyone who tries to say anything about the times in which we live has to find Alan Rusbridger's piece exceptionally interesting.

Rusbridger is the former editor at the Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/aug/31/alan-rusbridger-who-broke-the-news?CMP=share_btn_link

Blogpost comment on a spiritual occasion

A reader added a comment to a blogpost of February 11, 2017.

Thank you.

Recalling Diana's death

• On this day, August 31, 1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Fayed and their driver Henri Paul died in a car crash in central Paris.

And on this date in 1939 German troops dressed in Polish uniforms attacked the radio station at Gleiwitz, giving the German government an excuse to attack Poland the next day. The first day of World War II, during which approximately 50 million people lost their lives, of whom over 20 million were citizens of the Soviet Union.

Devastating report on Benedictine schools

In an article in The Tablet of August 18 Catherine Pepinster writes on a report into sexual abuse at two Benedictine schools, Ampelforth and Downside.

In the piece, Richard Scorer, who is a solicitor and has worked for many years on abuse cases and represented several survivors, is quoted.

He believes that celibacy is a problem: “I’ve been struck by psychological studies that suggest that once you have crossed the boundary of celibacy, a person does not have the understanding of how to behave.

A theologian suggested the problem went further than celibacy; there was a problem with Catholic theology on sex. “These monks had been led to believe that only sexual intercourse is sex, and so long as they refrained from that, it wasn’t a sin. So you have all kinds of abuse, but they still avoid heterosexual intercourse. The church needs to revisit what it teaches."

Priests at war

Comment:

The big row in the Catholic Church may well be between conservative closet homosexual clerics and liberal heterosexual clerics.

Click on 'Who is Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano?' to open.

Who is Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano?

by Brian Roewe

To the 2012 "Vatileaks" and other controversies that have enwrapped Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano in recent years have been added the release and reaction to the publication Aug. 26 of an 11-page letter from the 77-year-old prelate that accuses dozens of high-level church officials of a sex-abuse cover-up over allegations against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

A lovely kind act of a young man

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

Michael Commane

It really is amazing the wonder that is in front of our eyes. And what’s shocking is how often we miss it, pass it by, ignore it, simply don’t bother about it. It’s so true, we don’t see the nose on our face.

There must be something in the human psyche that sends us off chasing rainbows, always looking out for the extraordinary great things when so often it’s the little things, those seemingly inconsequential moments, events, acts of kindness, that bring joy to our lives.

The river Dodder rises in Glenasmole, meaning Glen of the Thrushes in Irish, flows into the Bohernabreena reservoir, which supplies water to Dublin, and on to Tallaght, Rathfarnham, Milltown, Ballsbridge and into Dublin Bay.

Over the years the relevant county councils have done great work in developing walk/cycle-ways along the river Dodder.

On Saturday, August 18, I cycled from Tallaght to Orwell Bridge. 

Most of it along the Dodder in open parkland, away from roads and traffic. The six kilometre cycle brought me through open countryside, nature at its best.

Along the cycle-way there are barriers or stiles, in place to keep cars and motorbikes away from the track.

It means the cyclist has to dismount and negotiate through the barrier, opening and closing it so as to negotiate the bicycle through. They are clever mechanisms, that is, when they work.

Going through one of these barriers I had trouble manoeuvring my bicycle.

Ahead of me were two boys, probably between 15 and 18.

One of them was 100 metres from the barrier when he saw that I was having difficulty at the barrier. I saw him throw his bicycle on the ground and coming towards me to help. 

My immediate reaction was to tell him I was okay. My pride had been hurt and felt that I didn’t need his help. But he insisted and explained that that particular barrier was a nuisance. Within seconds he had the bike over the barrier.

Of course I thanked him and then quickly asked him how long did he think I was cycling. He replied: ‘forty years’. ‘No’, I said, ‘I’m cycling 64 years’.

At this stage he was back at his bike about to ride off and as he cycled off he shouted: ‘fair fucks’.

Imagine the goodness and kindness of that young man. He was spectacularly obliging. The two of them had been messing about on their bicycles, maybe even doing wheelies, they were enjoying the fine weather in a beautiful setting. And then one of them saw me in my difficulty and came to my ‘rescue’.

I was flabbergasted by his kindness. Having recovered from my immediate silly pride I was greatly taken by his action.

Two days later I was negotiating that same barrier, successfully this time, but of course I was back thinking of the genuine kindness of the young man.

It’s most unlikely that he or his friend will see this column, it will not appear on the news. In many ways it is a non-event and it certainly is not going to set the world on fire. And yet, that small tiny insignificant event was for me something marvellous to experience.

St Therese of Lisieux says that it is not the extraordinary things that matter but the ordinary things that we do extraordinarily well.

My ‘rescue’ along the banks of the Dodder was just that.

Thank you, young man, and remember Aesop’s words, ‘No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted’.

Pope Francis leaves Ireland on an Aer Lingus Airbus A321

Pope Francis is back in Rome.

He seems a kind and friendly person, who is genuinely interested in people, especially the marginalised.

For an 82-year-old man he had a gruelling schedule in Ireland.

How good it would have been for his PR to have had a woman sitting beside him at Croke Park, instead it was Cardinal Kevin Farrell and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.

The optics were wrong.

Half the world's population are women. And then the sea of male clerics surrounding Pope Francis. It looks odd and it is odd.

Would all that has happened have happened if more women were watching?

Pope Francis in Dublin

Best to wait till after the Mass in the Phoenix Park before people comment on Pope Francis and clerical child sex abuse.

Large crowds on Dublin's O'Connell Street yesterday.

In typical Irish style, people coming into the street from the northside had to go through a security barrier. Such was not the case for people entering from Dame Street.

RTE made a serious mistake not having a native English speaker translating Pope Francis yesterday.

Hope they change that today.

Pope Francis hits the ground running

At least Pope Francis did not kiss the ground on arrival in Dublin nor was he wearing silly shoes.

Interesting watching the welcoming party at Dublin Airport. The papal nuncio seems to have been left on his own.

Among the clerics present was Cardinal Sean Brady, retired archbishop of Armagh.

Also there was Irish ambassador to the Holy See Emma Madigan. She will be replaced in September by Derek Hannon.

Church of Ireland Archbishop Michael Jackson was one of the welcoming party to greet Pope Francis at the airport.

"They take great care in flying the pope around",  comment by editor of The Irish Catholic on the Alitalia pilots who fly the pope. No doubt they take 'great care' with all their passengers.

The monsignor's 'body therapy'

French priest Monsignor Tony Anatrella has been accused of 'body therapy' in order to 'heal' homosexuality and having been involved in sexual abuse for more than 15 years.

Paris archbishop Michel Aupetit has said that Anatrella is no longer permitted to minister as a priest. Nor is he to carry out ' therapeutic activity'

Could one make it up?

What is it about priesthood and closet homosexuality?

Alcohol industry needs heavy drinkers

The  Guardian this week reports that revenue from alcohol sales in England would plummet by £13bn if customers complied with the recommended drinking guidelines, according to a study, that condemns the industry’s role in regulation.

Academics from the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) and the University of Sheffield’s Alcohol Research Group say their analysis shows the scale of the conflict of interest afflicting producers and retailers and that they should not be allowed to influence government policy on risky drinking.

The researchers found that if everyone stuck to the recommended limit of 14 units a week, alcohol sales revenue would decline by 38 per cent. 

To claw that back they would face increasing the average price of a pint of beer in a pub by £2.64 and the average price of a bottle of spirits in supermarkets by £12.25.

This morning BBC Radio 4 carried a story from The Lancet that claims it's possible that any intake of alcohol can cause damage to a person's health.

Pope Francis criticises clericalism in his letter

Pope Francis in his 2,000-word letter on Monday to all Catholics around the world writes: 

"Clericalism, whether fostered by priests themselves or lay persons, leads to an excision in the ecclesial body that supports and helps to perpetuate many of the evils that we are condemning today.” 

In that same letter he stresses how the church is made up of all the people of God. 

“Indeed, whenever we have tried to replace, or silence, or ignore, or reduce the people of God to small elites, we end up creating communities, projects, theological approaches, spiritualties and structures without roots, without memory, without faces, without bodies and ultimately, without lives.”

Remembering Michael Collins

On this date, August 22, 1922 Michael Collins was shot dead at Beal na Bláth in West Cork.