In the current edition of the Irish Catholic David Quin writes about the controversy happening between US Catholic politicians and the US hierarchy.
On ETWN at the weekend there were two Catholic bishops discussing Catholicism.
How come the deciding issues of whether one is a member of the church or not always seems to come down to issues concerning sexuality.
The usual suspects, gay marriage, abortion, etc are always and ever the issues that we are told are the defining issues as to whether or not we are catholic.
Has anyone ever heard of a bishop saying that tax fraud barred one from being a catholic? Has ever a bishop clearly and unambiguously spoken so strongly against the evil of poverty - one in six of the world's population are starving?
Living life is flux.
Is it not ironical that a hierarchical church that speaks so much on issues of sexuality has shown itself to be at such a loss when it comes to the practical every day living of a person's sexual life.
If bishops are so emphatic and certain about the 'thinking' of God on certain matters pertaining to sexuality how did they get it so wrong when it came to the present shambolic situation.
They keep saying that they did not know and that they depended on professional advice. Something odd here.
Also, is there not something unusual about bishops going on and on in such solemn tones on matters of sexuality while they adorn themselves with chains, crosses, rings and long frocks?
Is one ever struck by the visual appearance of so many bishops?
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Far too smart
How could a spokesperson for the diocese of Down and Connor have been allowed write this letter? Letter appeared in Tuesday's Irish Times.
Presumably Brendan Smyth had faculties to work as a priest in the diocese.
Madam, – Pat Buckley (Letters, January 13th) inaccurately stated that, at the time of his “sacking”, Fr Brendan Smyth “was ministering in Down and Connor with the knowledge and consent of its then bishop, Cahal Daly”.
It should be noted that Fr Brendan Smyth, a native of Belfast, was not a diocesan priest and never held any appointment in the Diocese of Down and Connor at any time. – Yours, etc,
Fr EDWARD McGEE,
Media Liaison Officer,
Down and Connor Diocese.
Presumably Brendan Smyth had faculties to work as a priest in the diocese.
Madam, – Pat Buckley (Letters, January 13th) inaccurately stated that, at the time of his “sacking”, Fr Brendan Smyth “was ministering in Down and Connor with the knowledge and consent of its then bishop, Cahal Daly”.
It should be noted that Fr Brendan Smyth, a native of Belfast, was not a diocesan priest and never held any appointment in the Diocese of Down and Connor at any time. – Yours, etc,
Fr EDWARD McGEE,
Media Liaison Officer,
Down and Connor Diocese.
There are always clues in language
Irish bishops are 'summoned' to Rome. They will meet 'senior Vatican officials'. "Bishops are good fathers to their priests".
Language tells its own story.
As to the 'senior Vatican officials' simply scary.
Are the bishops being called or summoned?
Bishops are not fathers to their priests. And how can ever such a general term be made. And this comment is reported to come from a Vatican cardinal. This is terrible language and an insult to my father.
Language tells its own story.
As to the 'senior Vatican officials' simply scary.
Are the bishops being called or summoned?
Bishops are not fathers to their priests. And how can ever such a general term be made. And this comment is reported to come from a Vatican cardinal. This is terrible language and an insult to my father.
Mercy sister turns to Google
Sister De Lourdes Fahy is keeping a close eye on developments in Haiti.
She was in the country in July 2006. She was the coach of the Gort Community School debating team that won the Concern Debates that year.
“This is all so shocking and sad. I keep thinking of the fantastic people we met when I was there with the school debating team.
“I could not believe the heat when we landed in the capital Port-au-Prince and there were people everywhere.
“We were met at the airport by our ‘twins’ who would spend the week caring for us and making sure everything went as per plan.
“Everyone was so welcoming.” Sister De Lourdes recalls.
And now she is scared that some of those people she got to know might be dead or badly injured. She is keeping a close eye on TV and in the newspapers but is also going on to the internet and googling names.
“I discovered that an American man, who worked at a children’s home is alive and well. He works with Hearts with Haitians. They have three homes in Haiti and two of them have been destroyed.
“A friend of his jumped from a window and survived.
“It is all so terrible and I can understand the people looting. I’d be looting too if I had no food and water.
“I am worried about the war lords who had been rounded up and imprisoned. They had been terrorising the people and now they are all out of prison,” Sister De Lourdes tells me.
“Before going to Haiti I read Garham Greene’s The Comedians, which is set in Haiti under the rule of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier and his secret police
so I had done some background on the history of the country. And that was a great help.
“I really was greatly impressed with the work Concern does in the country.
“In Saut d’Eau when I was there Concern had put in a water purifying plant and it meant the people now had clean water. Before that was there, they were using water from where the cows were drinking.
“I really liked the way Concern works with local groups. They really are doing amazing work,” she tells me.
And then she is back to her computer to see what’s happening.
The 73-year-old Mercy Sister has taken to googling no bother.
She was in the country in July 2006. She was the coach of the Gort Community School debating team that won the Concern Debates that year.
“This is all so shocking and sad. I keep thinking of the fantastic people we met when I was there with the school debating team.
“I could not believe the heat when we landed in the capital Port-au-Prince and there were people everywhere.
“We were met at the airport by our ‘twins’ who would spend the week caring for us and making sure everything went as per plan.
“Everyone was so welcoming.” Sister De Lourdes recalls.
And now she is scared that some of those people she got to know might be dead or badly injured. She is keeping a close eye on TV and in the newspapers but is also going on to the internet and googling names.
“I discovered that an American man, who worked at a children’s home is alive and well. He works with Hearts with Haitians. They have three homes in Haiti and two of them have been destroyed.
“A friend of his jumped from a window and survived.
“It is all so terrible and I can understand the people looting. I’d be looting too if I had no food and water.
“I am worried about the war lords who had been rounded up and imprisoned. They had been terrorising the people and now they are all out of prison,” Sister De Lourdes tells me.
“Before going to Haiti I read Garham Greene’s The Comedians, which is set in Haiti under the rule of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier and his secret police
so I had done some background on the history of the country. And that was a great help.
“I really was greatly impressed with the work Concern does in the country.
“In Saut d’Eau when I was there Concern had put in a water purifying plant and it meant the people now had clean water. Before that was there, they were using water from where the cows were drinking.
“I really liked the way Concern works with local groups. They really are doing amazing work,” she tells me.
And then she is back to her computer to see what’s happening.
The 73-year-old Mercy Sister has taken to googling no bother.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
A kind act
It would seem impossible for us ever again to complain about our weather and infrastructure after Haiti.
On Sunday afternoon a man called to my house. I had visitors at the time so he asked if I could come over to his car. I had no idea what was in store. He wrote out a check for a subtantial sum of money for Concern for Haiti.
Impressive.
On Sunday afternoon a man called to my house. I had visitors at the time so he asked if I could come over to his car. I had no idea what was in store. He wrote out a check for a subtantial sum of money for Concern for Haiti.
Impressive.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
How people are so scared to speak out
Sarah Carey's piece in Yesterday's Irish Times makes for great reading.
She comments how on a radio show on RTE 1 at the weeekend no one on the panel was willing to criticise comments made by Colm Tobin.
Obviously because of who he is panelists were afraid or simply unwilling to criticise him. It happens everywhere.
Ms Carey made no reference to his inappropriate comment on Pope Benedict. A pity she did not refer to that.
Great column. Thank you.
She comments how on a radio show on RTE 1 at the weeekend no one on the panel was willing to criticise comments made by Colm Tobin.
Obviously because of who he is panelists were afraid or simply unwilling to criticise him. It happens everywhere.
Ms Carey made no reference to his inappropriate comment on Pope Benedict. A pity she did not refer to that.
Great column. Thank you.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Either an effort at spin or nonsense
The article below this comment appeared in yesterday's Irish Times.
Has Garry O'Sullivan seen the pope's letter? Has the letter been written? It would be nice for the people to be the first readers of the letter. Is that not what letters are. a communication from the writer to the reader?
He tells the bishops and CORI members to stop bickering with one another. Surely the problem for far too long has been that bishops 'reigned' in an absolute autocratic manner.
The Irish church has never known any sort of 'collegiality' or consensus. People, including priests, were scared of their lives to stand up to bishops and probably still are.
What does Mr O'Sullivan mean when he talks about Diarmuid Martin's experience of the European church?
Spin or nonsense?
Dublin archdiocese well positioned to lead on child protection
THE DUBLIN archdiocese got child protection spectacularly wrong as the Murphy report and the tsunami of outrage and disgust that followed it demonstrated.
However, there is an opportunity to position the archdiocese by this time next year, January 2011, as a national champion for children and propose that every other civil institution would be held to its standard.
At first glance this might seem hopelessly optimistic. Yet it is clear that Archbishop Martin in his comments on New Year’s Day has a vision of where he wants to go in 2010. Renewal will happen in more than just child protection structures he said “because when you have seismic moments you need a qualitative leap to a different view of church”.
It will not be too difficult to make a qualitative leap in terms of child protection; the Dublin archdiocese has structures in place that are beyond anything any civil institution currently has.
By establishing the archdiocese as a national leader in child protection Archbishop Martin would position himself as a champion for Irish children and challenge the State and its institutions to follow suit at a time when the State is cutting resources to social services..
If 4 per cent of abusers are clergy or religious (SAVI Report 2002), then who is championing the rights of the children affected by the other 96 per cent?
Reform of the archdiocese is actually a more difficult task however. The first step in this leap to a renewed church will be the pope’s letter, most likely on Ash Wednesday. It will acknowledge the tremendous contribution of the Irish to the church worldwide from the time of the golden age of monasticism to the modern missionary movement. The pope will express his complete abhorrence at clerical child sexual abuse. There may well be a call for a proper understanding of proper sexual health among clergy but also in society and a re-statement of the church’s position on healthy sexual morality.
He will commend the child protection initiatives taken to date and ask that they be brought to fruition within the church. Finally, he will call on the whole Irish church to sit in fellowship and ask that the Gospel be preached by clergy and religious, working together with the laity in order to bring about the renewal of Gospel values and faith in the Irish church.
In other words, there are great people in the Irish church, so face up to your problems, don’t run away from them but solve them, stop bickering (bishops and Cori) and make the Irish church accountable to the Holy See and civil society.
Archbishop Martin will push ahead with reforms in the Dublin archdiocese based on his experience of the church in Europe, removing the failed structures so clearly identified in the Murphy report and distancing the archdiocese as fully as possible from those priests who were “collectively responsible” for what his administration agrees was a “cover-up”.
He may go to each of the deaneries as he did before and try to rally the priests around a vision of the future. To bring his priests, indeed the archdiocese with him, he is going to have to overhaul the communications structure that so failed the diocese in the past.
His own communications style at present needs polishing; it is being openly criticised by his priests and indeed by many bishops. The handling of the auxiliary bishops is seen as being rough and priests are asking themselves if a bishop can be treated so, how would they fare.
That said, while priests are quick to point out that their archbishop has feet of clay, they are by no means demoralised.
Change is being talked about; the albatross of mismanagement is finally being removed, and the diocese will be positioned to expend all its energies in reaching out and ministering to people in the challenges of their daily lives, the life and death stuff that they, priests, were ordained for.
For the Dublin archdiocese and the Irish church, in 2010, at last, there will be good news.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Garry O’Sullivan is managing editor of the Irish Catholic newspaper
Has Garry O'Sullivan seen the pope's letter? Has the letter been written? It would be nice for the people to be the first readers of the letter. Is that not what letters are. a communication from the writer to the reader?
He tells the bishops and CORI members to stop bickering with one another. Surely the problem for far too long has been that bishops 'reigned' in an absolute autocratic manner.
The Irish church has never known any sort of 'collegiality' or consensus. People, including priests, were scared of their lives to stand up to bishops and probably still are.
What does Mr O'Sullivan mean when he talks about Diarmuid Martin's experience of the European church?
Spin or nonsense?
Dublin archdiocese well positioned to lead on child protection
THE DUBLIN archdiocese got child protection spectacularly wrong as the Murphy report and the tsunami of outrage and disgust that followed it demonstrated.
However, there is an opportunity to position the archdiocese by this time next year, January 2011, as a national champion for children and propose that every other civil institution would be held to its standard.
At first glance this might seem hopelessly optimistic. Yet it is clear that Archbishop Martin in his comments on New Year’s Day has a vision of where he wants to go in 2010. Renewal will happen in more than just child protection structures he said “because when you have seismic moments you need a qualitative leap to a different view of church”.
It will not be too difficult to make a qualitative leap in terms of child protection; the Dublin archdiocese has structures in place that are beyond anything any civil institution currently has.
By establishing the archdiocese as a national leader in child protection Archbishop Martin would position himself as a champion for Irish children and challenge the State and its institutions to follow suit at a time when the State is cutting resources to social services..
If 4 per cent of abusers are clergy or religious (SAVI Report 2002), then who is championing the rights of the children affected by the other 96 per cent?
Reform of the archdiocese is actually a more difficult task however. The first step in this leap to a renewed church will be the pope’s letter, most likely on Ash Wednesday. It will acknowledge the tremendous contribution of the Irish to the church worldwide from the time of the golden age of monasticism to the modern missionary movement. The pope will express his complete abhorrence at clerical child sexual abuse. There may well be a call for a proper understanding of proper sexual health among clergy but also in society and a re-statement of the church’s position on healthy sexual morality.
He will commend the child protection initiatives taken to date and ask that they be brought to fruition within the church. Finally, he will call on the whole Irish church to sit in fellowship and ask that the Gospel be preached by clergy and religious, working together with the laity in order to bring about the renewal of Gospel values and faith in the Irish church.
In other words, there are great people in the Irish church, so face up to your problems, don’t run away from them but solve them, stop bickering (bishops and Cori) and make the Irish church accountable to the Holy See and civil society.
Archbishop Martin will push ahead with reforms in the Dublin archdiocese based on his experience of the church in Europe, removing the failed structures so clearly identified in the Murphy report and distancing the archdiocese as fully as possible from those priests who were “collectively responsible” for what his administration agrees was a “cover-up”.
He may go to each of the deaneries as he did before and try to rally the priests around a vision of the future. To bring his priests, indeed the archdiocese with him, he is going to have to overhaul the communications structure that so failed the diocese in the past.
His own communications style at present needs polishing; it is being openly criticised by his priests and indeed by many bishops. The handling of the auxiliary bishops is seen as being rough and priests are asking themselves if a bishop can be treated so, how would they fare.
That said, while priests are quick to point out that their archbishop has feet of clay, they are by no means demoralised.
Change is being talked about; the albatross of mismanagement is finally being removed, and the diocese will be positioned to expend all its energies in reaching out and ministering to people in the challenges of their daily lives, the life and death stuff that they, priests, were ordained for.
For the Dublin archdiocese and the Irish church, in 2010, at last, there will be good news.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Garry O’Sullivan is managing editor of the Irish Catholic newspaper
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Radio Romance
Garrison Keillor's Radio Romance is a great read.
Keillor is a regular contributor to The Irish Times.
The setting for Radio Romance is the beginning of radio in the US - Mid West to be precise. It's a funny read - all about the link between real people and their persona in actors on the radio. The actors take on lives of their own.
Shortly before the death of one of the founding brothers, he claims his life concerned two things, radio and women.
It's a clever book and something of an insight into the 'emptiness' of all our lives. It's about how we are misunderstood. It has also something to do with standing back from what we do and seeing the futility of it.
The station is called WLT. And it stands for With Lettuce and Tomato.
In the days of non-stop stories and plays on radio it had great relevance. But maybe in today's world of live radio it has even more meaning?
Is the relationship between the fictional character and real person as real in live radio? Keillor is being deadly smart.
A great read and highly recommended.
Keillor is a regular contributor to The Irish Times.
The setting for Radio Romance is the beginning of radio in the US - Mid West to be precise. It's a funny read - all about the link between real people and their persona in actors on the radio. The actors take on lives of their own.
Shortly before the death of one of the founding brothers, he claims his life concerned two things, radio and women.
It's a clever book and something of an insight into the 'emptiness' of all our lives. It's about how we are misunderstood. It has also something to do with standing back from what we do and seeing the futility of it.
The station is called WLT. And it stands for With Lettuce and Tomato.
In the days of non-stop stories and plays on radio it had great relevance. But maybe in today's world of live radio it has even more meaning?
Is the relationship between the fictional character and real person as real in live radio? Keillor is being deadly smart.
A great read and highly recommended.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
A Dublin bus driver in Dublin's snow
Yesterday afternoon close to 5pm a bus was parked up near the Dropping Well in South Dublin. The driver was unable to get the bus up the hill due to snow. We got chatting. He asked me if I had seen a young boy at the bus stop just some metres from where he was parked. He had let off all his passengers at the stop. He noticed that the boy, not Irish, was somewhat disabled and he was concerned for him. He felt that the young boy, once taken out of his routine would be experiencing difficulty. He went on to tell me that he managed to get the boy's mobile telephone and found his mother's number. So he called the number and told the boy's mother, who said she would come and collect him. A Dublin bus driver in yesterday's snow.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The story of every diocese
A number of auxiliary bishops in Dublin have tendered their resignations. They have done so for a number of reasons. Among the reasons is that they are perceived to have been part of a culture of cover up.
If that be the case and if the Irish hierarchical church is to be honest and indeed logical then surely every bishop in Ireland should resign. Every diocese in Ireland has been involved in a cover up. So why no more resignations?
There is a simple answer to that. The State authorities have not yet caught up on them. And does that not make it all so profoundly sad.
But really, is resignation the answer? It's doubtful.
If that be the case and if the Irish hierarchical church is to be honest and indeed logical then surely every bishop in Ireland should resign. Every diocese in Ireland has been involved in a cover up. So why no more resignations?
There is a simple answer to that. The State authorities have not yet caught up on them. And does that not make it all so profoundly sad.
But really, is resignation the answer? It's doubtful.
Death of Freya von Moltke
By STEPHEN MILLER
The widow of a German lawyer executed after the failed plot to assassinate Hitler, Freya von Moltke became an outspoken advocate of German democracy.
Ms von Moltke, who died January 1 at age 98, spent World War II tending to the farm at her husband's family estate in Kreisau, Germany, which became the meeting place for a group who opposed Nazism and plotted to re-establish German democracy.
But after the July 20, 1944, assassination attempt in which Hitler was injured by a bomb, the so-called Kreisau Circle was discovered. Ms. von Moltke's husband, Helmuth von Moltke, an expert in international law and counselor to the German Army's high command, was convicted of treason by a Gestapo "people's court" and hanged in early 1945. Ironically, he had opposed Hitler's assassination in part for moral reasons, says their son Helmuth.
View Full Image
Freya von Moltke Foundation
Freya von Moltke at the von Moltke family estate in Kreisau, Silesia, now part of Poland.
.In the aftermath of the war, Ms. von Moltke and her two sons were rescued by British troops and settled in South Africa. Ms. von Moltke undertook a U.S. speaking tour in which she elucidated her vision of a peaceful Germany. The 1949 visit inspired Eleanor Roosevelt to write in her newspaper column that Ms. Moltke "will do almost anything to feel that the land where her children should live has a chance of being a democratic, peace-loving country."
But Ms. von Moltke's dreams ran up against the South African apartheid state that instituted racial laws shortly after she arrived in 1947. In 1956, weeks after her oldest son graduated from secondary school, she moved the family back to Germany and then to the U.S. She settled in Norwich, Vt., where she lived with Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, a German-Jewish philosopher who taught at Dartmouth.
Born into a prosperous Cologne banking family, Ms. von Moltke studied at the University of Bonn and at age 20 was married to Helmuth von Moltke. They moved to Berlin, where he completed his legal studies.
Ms. von Moltke also earned a doctorate in law, but moved to the family estate at Kreisau after she had children. Her husband's international legal practice burgeoned and he was accepted as a British barrister, as he worked behind the scenes to oppose the Nazis. The Kreisau Circle met at the von Moltke estate several times during the war years and made plans for German democracy, which they assumed would follow the failure of the Nazi regime.
While Mr. von Moltke was in Berlin, the couple exchanged daily letters in which he asked after the sugar-beet harvest and questioned the wisdom of keeping a pair of ducks. He also expounded on his vision of a new Germany, and on the inhuman turn in German politics.
"How can anyone who knows these things still walk around free?" he wrote in one letter after seeing a German policeman kick a Jew. In another, he wrote of "a blood-guilt that cannot be atoned for in our lifetime."
Because their contents were potentially incriminating, Ms. von Moltke kept her husband's letters hidden in beehives on the estate. "Even the SS weren't brave enough to look there," she told Britain's Guardian newspaper in 1972. A selection of the letters was published in English in 1990 as "Letters to Freya."
After the fall of the Berlin Wall and Germany's reunification, Ms. von Moltke and her wartime experiences became better known in Germany, and politicians, including Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Chancellor Angela Merkel, consulted her.
But she initially turned down an invitation in 1989 from Chancellor Helmut Kohl to accompany him on a visit to the Kreisau estate -- now a part of Poland after borders were redrawn -- insisting that the invitation must come from Poland to honor postwar reconciliation. The Polish and German governments later joined to finance a reconstruction of the estate as the Freya von Moltke Foundation, which opened in 1994 to foster international discussion on peace and democracy.
In recent years, Ms. von Moltke said that she came to believe that Hitler should have been assassinated, and remained proud of her husband's wartime work.
"Even though we had no success," she told the congregation at a Berlin church in 2004, "and even though we were weak, we kept European humanity alive in Germany."
The widow of a German lawyer executed after the failed plot to assassinate Hitler, Freya von Moltke became an outspoken advocate of German democracy.
Ms von Moltke, who died January 1 at age 98, spent World War II tending to the farm at her husband's family estate in Kreisau, Germany, which became the meeting place for a group who opposed Nazism and plotted to re-establish German democracy.
But after the July 20, 1944, assassination attempt in which Hitler was injured by a bomb, the so-called Kreisau Circle was discovered. Ms. von Moltke's husband, Helmuth von Moltke, an expert in international law and counselor to the German Army's high command, was convicted of treason by a Gestapo "people's court" and hanged in early 1945. Ironically, he had opposed Hitler's assassination in part for moral reasons, says their son Helmuth.
View Full Image
Freya von Moltke Foundation
Freya von Moltke at the von Moltke family estate in Kreisau, Silesia, now part of Poland.
.In the aftermath of the war, Ms. von Moltke and her two sons were rescued by British troops and settled in South Africa. Ms. von Moltke undertook a U.S. speaking tour in which she elucidated her vision of a peaceful Germany. The 1949 visit inspired Eleanor Roosevelt to write in her newspaper column that Ms. Moltke "will do almost anything to feel that the land where her children should live has a chance of being a democratic, peace-loving country."
But Ms. von Moltke's dreams ran up against the South African apartheid state that instituted racial laws shortly after she arrived in 1947. In 1956, weeks after her oldest son graduated from secondary school, she moved the family back to Germany and then to the U.S. She settled in Norwich, Vt., where she lived with Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, a German-Jewish philosopher who taught at Dartmouth.
Born into a prosperous Cologne banking family, Ms. von Moltke studied at the University of Bonn and at age 20 was married to Helmuth von Moltke. They moved to Berlin, where he completed his legal studies.
Ms. von Moltke also earned a doctorate in law, but moved to the family estate at Kreisau after she had children. Her husband's international legal practice burgeoned and he was accepted as a British barrister, as he worked behind the scenes to oppose the Nazis. The Kreisau Circle met at the von Moltke estate several times during the war years and made plans for German democracy, which they assumed would follow the failure of the Nazi regime.
While Mr. von Moltke was in Berlin, the couple exchanged daily letters in which he asked after the sugar-beet harvest and questioned the wisdom of keeping a pair of ducks. He also expounded on his vision of a new Germany, and on the inhuman turn in German politics.
"How can anyone who knows these things still walk around free?" he wrote in one letter after seeing a German policeman kick a Jew. In another, he wrote of "a blood-guilt that cannot be atoned for in our lifetime."
Because their contents were potentially incriminating, Ms. von Moltke kept her husband's letters hidden in beehives on the estate. "Even the SS weren't brave enough to look there," she told Britain's Guardian newspaper in 1972. A selection of the letters was published in English in 1990 as "Letters to Freya."
After the fall of the Berlin Wall and Germany's reunification, Ms. von Moltke and her wartime experiences became better known in Germany, and politicians, including Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Chancellor Angela Merkel, consulted her.
But she initially turned down an invitation in 1989 from Chancellor Helmut Kohl to accompany him on a visit to the Kreisau estate -- now a part of Poland after borders were redrawn -- insisting that the invitation must come from Poland to honor postwar reconciliation. The Polish and German governments later joined to finance a reconstruction of the estate as the Freya von Moltke Foundation, which opened in 1994 to foster international discussion on peace and democracy.
In recent years, Ms. von Moltke said that she came to believe that Hitler should have been assassinated, and remained proud of her husband's wartime work.
"Even though we had no success," she told the congregation at a Berlin church in 2004, "and even though we were weak, we kept European humanity alive in Germany."
World-wide readership
This blog is now being read in 51 countries around the world. It is read in Russia, in 43 states of the United States of America. It is read in 17 of the EU nations. And it is read on all five continents.
Happy New Year to all our readers.
Happy New Year to all our readers.
A man who believes his every word is profound
Reverend Doctor Vincent Twomey's belief in the power of his own word is reaching new heights.
This letter appears in today's Irish Times.
Madam, – Since I am on record as calling for the resignation of the bishops mentioned in the Murphy report (December 3rd), I should have expressly excluded Dr Martin Drennan. The present Bishop of Galway was not found guilty of either negligence or cover-up by the Murphy commission. The one substantial reference to Bishop Drennan in the report (51.1-51.2) indicates that, when he was Auxiliary in Dublin, he acted appropriately in the case in question. The report concludes, “The Archbishop acted correctly in immediately addressing the concerns and suspicions in this case.” This amounts, if I am correct, to a recommendation of Bishop Drennan’s initial response with regard to a young priest acting suspiciously with young males.
Calls for his resignation are unfounded. If I was in any way guilty of inciting such calls, I am sincerely sorry and ask forgiveness. – Yours, etc,
REV DR D VINCENT TWOMEY, SVD,
Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology,
Divine Word Missionaries,
This letter appears in today's Irish Times.
Madam, – Since I am on record as calling for the resignation of the bishops mentioned in the Murphy report (December 3rd), I should have expressly excluded Dr Martin Drennan. The present Bishop of Galway was not found guilty of either negligence or cover-up by the Murphy commission. The one substantial reference to Bishop Drennan in the report (51.1-51.2) indicates that, when he was Auxiliary in Dublin, he acted appropriately in the case in question. The report concludes, “The Archbishop acted correctly in immediately addressing the concerns and suspicions in this case.” This amounts, if I am correct, to a recommendation of Bishop Drennan’s initial response with regard to a young priest acting suspiciously with young males.
Calls for his resignation are unfounded. If I was in any way guilty of inciting such calls, I am sincerely sorry and ask forgiveness. – Yours, etc,
REV DR D VINCENT TWOMEY, SVD,
Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology,
Divine Word Missionaries,
Full of bluster
This news item appeared in Saturday's Irish Times.
Does the weakness of the article, the fact that it carries no news and tells the reader nothing, lie with the journalist or with the archbishop?
Dermot Martin talks about the late Cardinal Daly as an 'extraordinary man' but then later admits he was 'away' when asked about other issues.
ARCHBISHOP OF Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said Pope Benedict’s pastoral letter to Irish Catholics is likely to be sent before Lent.
Ash Wednesday this year is on February 17th and he has also indicated that a synod of the Irish Catholic Church is unlikely.
On December 11th, following publication of the Murphy report, Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady and Archbishop Martin met Pope Benedict at the Vatican.
Afterwards the Pope said in a statement that he planned issuing a pastoral letter “to the faithful of Ireland” in which he would “clearly indicate the initiatives that are to be taken in response to the situation”.
Archbishop Martin was chief celebrant at a World Day of Peace Mass at the Sacred Heart Church in Dublin’s Donnybrook yesterday morning.
Speaking afterwards to The Irish Times he said the pope’s pastoral letter could be expected “maybe even before Lent.” He hoped it “would contain some indications as to how we go into and celebrate Lent because Lent is a period of penance. Lent is a period of renewal. Lent is a period which leads us to the resurrection of Easter.”
As to the current situation in the archdiocese he said: “Well, the auxiliary bishops of Dublin are still auxiliary bishops until their resignation is accepted or not accepted by the pope. And we’ll have to wait and see. This is Christmas time and it’ll be some time, as I’ve said, before we have an indication.” Asked whether he had any comment to make on the position of the Bishop of Galway Martin Drennan, he said “no”.
As to whether a synod was likely he was “not too sure we’re quite ready for a synod of the Irish church and I’m not too sure if people quite understand what a synod of the Irish church might be like”.
He continued: “It could be anything from a very traditional canonical synod to an assembly of the Irish church. But I’ve said an ongoing talk shop may not be the answer either. I think that we do requires leadership and some of us are called to do that. That’s what I’ll try and do.”
He recalled that “in the Pro-Catherdal at Christmas I said one thing which I’ve been reflecting on myself and that is in the history of God’s relations with his people that there’s been a history of infidelity on the part of his people but of fidelity by God, and that when we talk about reform and change and renewal of the church we have to turn there, to God, to give us the leadership and to open our hearts to a conversion of ourselves.
“That, for me, is the challenge to see how we can get the entire believing community in Dublin to renew itself in its faith.”
He said: “When I talk about renewal it’s not simply about renewal of child protection structures it’s a much deeper renewal. The church in Dublin, the church in Ireland really needs that and we’ve to start looking in ways that are very different.”
He added: “Cardinal Daly, in that sense, was a person who was ahead of his times in the way he thought.
“He was open to other traditions in Europe and I think we have to start, we are moving out of an . . . occasionally you have to have these seismic moments when you have a real change in the way . . . a qualitative leap to a different view of church.
“I’ve been reflecting a lot. I’ve been talking to people about it. But I’m not going to make any statements until I have something to say on a broad range of issues.”
On Cardinal Daly in particular he said the he was “a man who spanned a huge range of Irish, recent church history, both in his academic life and as a bishop in three dioceses.
“He went to be cardinal in Armagh when he was quite on in years and wasn’t well. But he accepted responsibility and leadership. Very, very much so.
“He was a man . . . an extraordinary man in his rejection of violence. That didn’t make him popular with everybody, the rejection of violence, but he was absolutely consistent in that.”
Asked about the late cardinal’s handling of allegations of clerical child sex abuse, he said “I can’t say, honestly. I was away at the time. I just don’t have any . . . I have no idea what the situation there was in his .”
Does the weakness of the article, the fact that it carries no news and tells the reader nothing, lie with the journalist or with the archbishop?
Dermot Martin talks about the late Cardinal Daly as an 'extraordinary man' but then later admits he was 'away' when asked about other issues.
ARCHBISHOP OF Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said Pope Benedict’s pastoral letter to Irish Catholics is likely to be sent before Lent.
Ash Wednesday this year is on February 17th and he has also indicated that a synod of the Irish Catholic Church is unlikely.
On December 11th, following publication of the Murphy report, Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady and Archbishop Martin met Pope Benedict at the Vatican.
Afterwards the Pope said in a statement that he planned issuing a pastoral letter “to the faithful of Ireland” in which he would “clearly indicate the initiatives that are to be taken in response to the situation”.
Archbishop Martin was chief celebrant at a World Day of Peace Mass at the Sacred Heart Church in Dublin’s Donnybrook yesterday morning.
Speaking afterwards to The Irish Times he said the pope’s pastoral letter could be expected “maybe even before Lent.” He hoped it “would contain some indications as to how we go into and celebrate Lent because Lent is a period of penance. Lent is a period of renewal. Lent is a period which leads us to the resurrection of Easter.”
As to the current situation in the archdiocese he said: “Well, the auxiliary bishops of Dublin are still auxiliary bishops until their resignation is accepted or not accepted by the pope. And we’ll have to wait and see. This is Christmas time and it’ll be some time, as I’ve said, before we have an indication.” Asked whether he had any comment to make on the position of the Bishop of Galway Martin Drennan, he said “no”.
As to whether a synod was likely he was “not too sure we’re quite ready for a synod of the Irish church and I’m not too sure if people quite understand what a synod of the Irish church might be like”.
He continued: “It could be anything from a very traditional canonical synod to an assembly of the Irish church. But I’ve said an ongoing talk shop may not be the answer either. I think that we do requires leadership and some of us are called to do that. That’s what I’ll try and do.”
He recalled that “in the Pro-Catherdal at Christmas I said one thing which I’ve been reflecting on myself and that is in the history of God’s relations with his people that there’s been a history of infidelity on the part of his people but of fidelity by God, and that when we talk about reform and change and renewal of the church we have to turn there, to God, to give us the leadership and to open our hearts to a conversion of ourselves.
“That, for me, is the challenge to see how we can get the entire believing community in Dublin to renew itself in its faith.”
He said: “When I talk about renewal it’s not simply about renewal of child protection structures it’s a much deeper renewal. The church in Dublin, the church in Ireland really needs that and we’ve to start looking in ways that are very different.”
He added: “Cardinal Daly, in that sense, was a person who was ahead of his times in the way he thought.
“He was open to other traditions in Europe and I think we have to start, we are moving out of an . . . occasionally you have to have these seismic moments when you have a real change in the way . . . a qualitative leap to a different view of church.
“I’ve been reflecting a lot. I’ve been talking to people about it. But I’m not going to make any statements until I have something to say on a broad range of issues.”
On Cardinal Daly in particular he said the he was “a man who spanned a huge range of Irish, recent church history, both in his academic life and as a bishop in three dioceses.
“He went to be cardinal in Armagh when he was quite on in years and wasn’t well. But he accepted responsibility and leadership. Very, very much so.
“He was a man . . . an extraordinary man in his rejection of violence. That didn’t make him popular with everybody, the rejection of violence, but he was absolutely consistent in that.”
Asked about the late cardinal’s handling of allegations of clerical child sex abuse, he said “I can’t say, honestly. I was away at the time. I just don’t have any . . . I have no idea what the situation there was in his .”
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Christmas greetings
A happy and holy Christmas to all readers of this blog.
That's what we said at home so it's good enough for me. It surely has to be better than 'have a good one'.
Has any one noticed, at least in Ireland, there has been a move away from 'merry' and back to 'happy' Christmas.
This blog is now being read in 50 countries around the world.
That's what we said at home so it's good enough for me. It surely has to be better than 'have a good one'.
Has any one noticed, at least in Ireland, there has been a move away from 'merry' and back to 'happy' Christmas.
This blog is now being read in 50 countries around the world.
The art or madness in following leaders
The news on the Irish hierarchical church is relentless. It has become somewhat like dashing down a hill with people on both side hurling stones at you. They never stop, they keep coming, in all forms and shapes.
What must it have been like west of Stalingrad on December 24 1943? The German troops, starving, dying, wounded, still managed to decorate their trenches with Christmas things - the few things they had left. They, at least the sensible ones, knew it was all over. They were surrounded. In 21/22 days time they would be prisoners of war.
Some days earlier, Paulus, or at least some high ranking officer at command HQ on the steppes, wrote a note to Hitler assuring him of the loyalty of the Sixth Army and the bravery of the troops. The soldiers were experiencing minus 38 degrees Celsius. They were filthy, covered in lice, few clothes and little or no ammunition.
But for Zhukov, Hitler may well have had his way. The discipline, intelligence, dedication and ruthlessness of Zhukov in everything he did between the Don and the Volga paid off. And he had to deal with Stalin. The Soviet Army was cruel, cruel to its soldiers. No mercy was ever shown. It was brutal and violet.
Hitler brought them to this place, on the banks of the Volga. Millions followed his madness. What is it about people who hand over their minds and hearts to absurd and ridiculous systems?
Why do we give such authority to people?
This is the season of bishop bashing and it is probably unwise to join in the melee. But anyone who looks back in Ireland since the foundation of the State has to ask why did the Irish people give these men such power. It was absurd, probably sinful.
Why did I not stand up in public and demand an apology from Archbishop McQuaid the day he 'savaged' my hair?
Yes, I laughed at some of them behind their backs and spoke out about them in a quasi public manner but I too was afraid. It's so easy to say we are children of our generation.
What must it have been like west of Stalingrad on December 24 1943? The German troops, starving, dying, wounded, still managed to decorate their trenches with Christmas things - the few things they had left. They, at least the sensible ones, knew it was all over. They were surrounded. In 21/22 days time they would be prisoners of war.
Some days earlier, Paulus, or at least some high ranking officer at command HQ on the steppes, wrote a note to Hitler assuring him of the loyalty of the Sixth Army and the bravery of the troops. The soldiers were experiencing minus 38 degrees Celsius. They were filthy, covered in lice, few clothes and little or no ammunition.
But for Zhukov, Hitler may well have had his way. The discipline, intelligence, dedication and ruthlessness of Zhukov in everything he did between the Don and the Volga paid off. And he had to deal with Stalin. The Soviet Army was cruel, cruel to its soldiers. No mercy was ever shown. It was brutal and violet.
Hitler brought them to this place, on the banks of the Volga. Millions followed his madness. What is it about people who hand over their minds and hearts to absurd and ridiculous systems?
Why do we give such authority to people?
This is the season of bishop bashing and it is probably unwise to join in the melee. But anyone who looks back in Ireland since the foundation of the State has to ask why did the Irish people give these men such power. It was absurd, probably sinful.
Why did I not stand up in public and demand an apology from Archbishop McQuaid the day he 'savaged' my hair?
Yes, I laughed at some of them behind their backs and spoke out about them in a quasi public manner but I too was afraid. It's so easy to say we are children of our generation.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
At last people begin to speak their minds
What's happening in the Irish hierarchical church when Jim Cantwell in a letter in today's Irish Times refers to the 'megaphone' behaviour of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin? Elsewhere in the letter he refers to the behaviour of the archbishop as being 'graceless'.
Bishops Drennan and Walsh have also called into question the behaviour of Diarmuid Martin.
Did it take this disaster to help rid the church of clone bishops.
Hopefully, Irish bishops will in the future think for themselves and speak their own minds.
It was a horrible phoney clerical world. Hopefully the church has the power and will to change. But what are all the silent men thinking, the ones who never speak their minds, the men who work in darkness?
Bishops Drennan and Walsh have also called into question the behaviour of Diarmuid Martin.
Did it take this disaster to help rid the church of clone bishops.
Hopefully, Irish bishops will in the future think for themselves and speak their own minds.
It was a horrible phoney clerical world. Hopefully the church has the power and will to change. But what are all the silent men thinking, the ones who never speak their minds, the men who work in darkness?
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Another example of lazy journalism
Probably part of the human make-up but there seems to be an abundance of 'laziness' when it comes to the Irish media.
The recent events in Listowel, the statement of the Bishop of Kerry and the subsequent resignation of the acting parish priest of Castlegregory, deserved a far closer analysis than they received.
It seems so often that few journalists give too much time or attention to the underlying events that cause things to happen. Listowel is a case in point.
The recent events in Listowel, the statement of the Bishop of Kerry and the subsequent resignation of the acting parish priest of Castlegregory, deserved a far closer analysis than they received.
It seems so often that few journalists give too much time or attention to the underlying events that cause things to happen. Listowel is a case in point.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Acting Castlegregory pp in the news
Today the acting pp of Castlegregory has hit the national headlines.
It appears Fr Seán Sheehy gave a character witness to a man who was convicted in court of a sexual assault.
It is reported that Fr Sheehy referred to the 'alleged' assault subsequent to the man being found guilty of the crime.
What communication exists between priests and bishops and or provincials?
It appears Fr Seán Sheehy gave a character witness to a man who was convicted in court of a sexual assault.
It is reported that Fr Sheehy referred to the 'alleged' assault subsequent to the man being found guilty of the crime.
What communication exists between priests and bishops and or provincials?
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Burkas and religious habits
In Europe, especially in France, there has been much discussion on the wearing of the burka. In Poland and Germany there has been controversy over displaying the cross in certain public places.
We in the western world 'pride' ourselves in the tolerance we have for freedom of expression.
Not so long ago there was the uproar over images in a Danish newspaper.
Freedom of expression is a key aspect to open and honest democracy. People are entitled to say what they wish and also wear the clothes they wish. Or are they?
There are libel and slander laws to protect the good name of people. There are codes of dress, which are applicable and appropriate and conform with the custom and practice of society.
There are those who see the wearing of the burka as some sort of statement. Some see it as a type of 'fundamentalist' statement, which might well be seen as not in keeping with the society in which they are living.
What about young men expressing a wish to wear a religious habit in a public place?
Will it be worn in select occasions and in select places? And why? Will it be worn for instance in expensive restaurants and chippers? Will it be worn in pubs and homeless hostels?
Who are the woman who insist on wearing the burka and the men who insist on wearing their religious habit in public places?
In both cases they are people who subscribe to a religious belief.
In the context of wearing the religious habit, it would seem that giving witness to the message of the Gospel, it is far more important to be concerned with empathising and being with the 'little people'.
In the Ireland of now surely habits and burkas place us at a distance from the majority of the children of God.
We in the western world 'pride' ourselves in the tolerance we have for freedom of expression.
Not so long ago there was the uproar over images in a Danish newspaper.
Freedom of expression is a key aspect to open and honest democracy. People are entitled to say what they wish and also wear the clothes they wish. Or are they?
There are libel and slander laws to protect the good name of people. There are codes of dress, which are applicable and appropriate and conform with the custom and practice of society.
There are those who see the wearing of the burka as some sort of statement. Some see it as a type of 'fundamentalist' statement, which might well be seen as not in keeping with the society in which they are living.
What about young men expressing a wish to wear a religious habit in a public place?
Will it be worn in select occasions and in select places? And why? Will it be worn for instance in expensive restaurants and chippers? Will it be worn in pubs and homeless hostels?
Who are the woman who insist on wearing the burka and the men who insist on wearing their religious habit in public places?
In both cases they are people who subscribe to a religious belief.
In the context of wearing the religious habit, it would seem that giving witness to the message of the Gospel, it is far more important to be concerned with empathising and being with the 'little people'.
In the Ireland of now surely habits and burkas place us at a distance from the majority of the children of God.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Meeting with Pope Benedict
Had Cardinal Sean Brady and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin been accompanied by Marie Collins on their visit to Pope Benedict, then one might have every reason to beleive that something could happen.
Again, Irish journalists seem too lazy or maybe simply incompetent to ask the queswtions that need asking.
Again, Irish journalists seem too lazy or maybe simply incompetent to ask the queswtions that need asking.
Army chief disagrees with minister
Followers of German affairs will surely be observing the current scandal over the Afghan bombing on September 4.
The affairs has so far claimed the defence minister of the time, a senior ministry official and the head of the defence forces, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, a highly-decorated Bundeswehr soldier.
The latest sensation is that Wolfgang Schneiderhan has gone on German television and said that the denfence minister's version of events is untrue.
The defence minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a rising star in German politics.
It must be of historical significance to see a former head of the German armd forces in public disagreement with the defence minister.
The affairs has so far claimed the defence minister of the time, a senior ministry official and the head of the defence forces, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, a highly-decorated Bundeswehr soldier.
The latest sensation is that Wolfgang Schneiderhan has gone on German television and said that the denfence minister's version of events is untrue.
The defence minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a rising star in German politics.
It must be of historical significance to see a former head of the German armd forces in public disagreement with the defence minister.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Bishop Éamonn Walsh speaks out
Below is an interview with Bishop Éamonn Walsh, an auxiliary bishop in Dublin. The interview appears in today's Irish Times.
Bishop Walsh makes a very strong case which appears to be plausible and the veracity of the man must be accepted. But why did Archbishop Diarmuid Martin not make this clearer in his interview on Prime Time?
'If I had done any wrong I'd be gone' - Dr Walsh
Patsy McGarry started by asking Bishop Walsh about suggestions he was “under pressure”
“Yeah, well, you and your newspaper have put me under pressure and I’m the kind of person that if I have something to say I say it very directly.
“If I had done any wrong, I’d be gone. And the other thing is that my record on child protection goes back a long way and it’ll continue. And if on the other hand the perception continued among the people that I was somebody who was complicit in all of this, then that would be a barrier in my ministry and I couldn’t even minister as a priest or a bishop if that were to continue.
“So I have to do everything in my power to assure people of my earnestness in the past, in the present and, while I may be contaminated in people’s mind by association, I consider a lot of the things that have been written have been at least disingenuous, have been an ingenious way of twisting facts.
“They are not satisfied with what’s in the Ferns report, where I gave a co-operation beyond what any court could compel. Even when there was the part of the appendix that was due, as the judge called it, an unfortunate but a genuine error, that still has not been accepted by some commentators. And I find that an attack on my personal integrity, and if I haven’t my integrity I have nothing. The easy thing for me would be to walk away. That’d be the easy option. And I will have to consider if my personal integrity and the continuing perception of me as a priest – if I haven’t got that I have nothing.”
You can understand probably why, considering the findings of the commission of what went on in the Dublin archdiocese from 1975 to 2004 – that basically there was a cover up – I’m not insinuating that you were party to it, but you were secretary to Archbishop McNamara, who took out insurance in 1987. You were secretary to Cardinal Connell before you became auxiliary bishop in 1990. You can see why people ...[might have a particular perception]...
Bishop Walsh cut in to reply at this point:
“I can see that absolutely. I’ve no problem seeing that and the perception they have of a secretary and the perception of the kind of table we have, a sort of board of management. But as far back as 1990, I wasn’t a month in the job as a bishop, and I stood up at a meeting and I said that not alone should the police, who were already informed about an individual, but we should say where he was living and the number of his car, because I felt he was a danger.
“A certain person, who is now deceased , wrote in horror to the archbishop that somebody could even think that way. That was the culture of the time. I did everything I could, but if I am contaminated by association, then I have to accept that and I will let the people judge, the people in my area. But at the end of the day I have to make whatever decision and, as I said, the easiest thing would be for me to walk away.”
The commission report refers to one particular allegation in one instance where you advised a woman to write to the chancellor. Did you report that to the Garda?
“Can I answer that very clearly. That was post the framework document (1996) and what I said to the woman . . . she rang me on a Saturday. She was a nun. She was a social worker and she said I have a concern, could you advise me? And I said what is it, and she said there is a priest who has offended and I said is he alive and she said he is. Is he in ministry, she said he is. Then you must act right away and this is how you proceed. You go to the chancellor who is the delegate and write to him and I will check to see he acts on it.
“He did act on it but it took about six months for the woman to actually get the name of the complainant and you can’t go to the guards with a third-party concern. So the spin that was put on that yesterday morning (in an article on Tuesday in The Irish Times by One in Four founder Colm O’Gorman) was most disingenuous and outrageous.”
To address the Ferns inquiry . . . the uncovering of those eight separate files you had not submitted to the Ferns inquiry until this lady went to the One in Four organisation [with an allegation of clerical child abuse in April 2005]?
“They’re very conveniently trying to claim the credit for everything there. As soon as that came to our attention we went to Judge Murphy [retired Supreme Court judge Frank Murphy, chairman of the Ferns inquiry team]. He has in the report acknowledged that this was a genuine, regrettable error. It did not affect the findings and he said that my integrity was totally intact and referred to the co-operation I gave. You know, the world knows the level of co-operation that I have given. And again, I find it amazing that a person who would write in the dedication of their book to me ‘To Eamonn, in truth and respect’, Colm O’Gorman, could try and speak from the other side of his mouth and put another interpretation on that.
“I find that just scandalous for a person who stands for what we call an international organisation called Amnesty. And to behave in that kind of an unjust way is beyond words from me. I’ve no more to say.”
Bishop Walsh makes a very strong case which appears to be plausible and the veracity of the man must be accepted. But why did Archbishop Diarmuid Martin not make this clearer in his interview on Prime Time?
'If I had done any wrong I'd be gone' - Dr Walsh
Patsy McGarry started by asking Bishop Walsh about suggestions he was “under pressure”
“Yeah, well, you and your newspaper have put me under pressure and I’m the kind of person that if I have something to say I say it very directly.
“If I had done any wrong, I’d be gone. And the other thing is that my record on child protection goes back a long way and it’ll continue. And if on the other hand the perception continued among the people that I was somebody who was complicit in all of this, then that would be a barrier in my ministry and I couldn’t even minister as a priest or a bishop if that were to continue.
“So I have to do everything in my power to assure people of my earnestness in the past, in the present and, while I may be contaminated in people’s mind by association, I consider a lot of the things that have been written have been at least disingenuous, have been an ingenious way of twisting facts.
“They are not satisfied with what’s in the Ferns report, where I gave a co-operation beyond what any court could compel. Even when there was the part of the appendix that was due, as the judge called it, an unfortunate but a genuine error, that still has not been accepted by some commentators. And I find that an attack on my personal integrity, and if I haven’t my integrity I have nothing. The easy thing for me would be to walk away. That’d be the easy option. And I will have to consider if my personal integrity and the continuing perception of me as a priest – if I haven’t got that I have nothing.”
You can understand probably why, considering the findings of the commission of what went on in the Dublin archdiocese from 1975 to 2004 – that basically there was a cover up – I’m not insinuating that you were party to it, but you were secretary to Archbishop McNamara, who took out insurance in 1987. You were secretary to Cardinal Connell before you became auxiliary bishop in 1990. You can see why people ...[might have a particular perception]...
Bishop Walsh cut in to reply at this point:
“I can see that absolutely. I’ve no problem seeing that and the perception they have of a secretary and the perception of the kind of table we have, a sort of board of management. But as far back as 1990, I wasn’t a month in the job as a bishop, and I stood up at a meeting and I said that not alone should the police, who were already informed about an individual, but we should say where he was living and the number of his car, because I felt he was a danger.
“A certain person, who is now deceased , wrote in horror to the archbishop that somebody could even think that way. That was the culture of the time. I did everything I could, but if I am contaminated by association, then I have to accept that and I will let the people judge, the people in my area. But at the end of the day I have to make whatever decision and, as I said, the easiest thing would be for me to walk away.”
The commission report refers to one particular allegation in one instance where you advised a woman to write to the chancellor. Did you report that to the Garda?
“Can I answer that very clearly. That was post the framework document (1996) and what I said to the woman . . . she rang me on a Saturday. She was a nun. She was a social worker and she said I have a concern, could you advise me? And I said what is it, and she said there is a priest who has offended and I said is he alive and she said he is. Is he in ministry, she said he is. Then you must act right away and this is how you proceed. You go to the chancellor who is the delegate and write to him and I will check to see he acts on it.
“He did act on it but it took about six months for the woman to actually get the name of the complainant and you can’t go to the guards with a third-party concern. So the spin that was put on that yesterday morning (in an article on Tuesday in The Irish Times by One in Four founder Colm O’Gorman) was most disingenuous and outrageous.”
To address the Ferns inquiry . . . the uncovering of those eight separate files you had not submitted to the Ferns inquiry until this lady went to the One in Four organisation [with an allegation of clerical child abuse in April 2005]?
“They’re very conveniently trying to claim the credit for everything there. As soon as that came to our attention we went to Judge Murphy [retired Supreme Court judge Frank Murphy, chairman of the Ferns inquiry team]. He has in the report acknowledged that this was a genuine, regrettable error. It did not affect the findings and he said that my integrity was totally intact and referred to the co-operation I gave. You know, the world knows the level of co-operation that I have given. And again, I find it amazing that a person who would write in the dedication of their book to me ‘To Eamonn, in truth and respect’, Colm O’Gorman, could try and speak from the other side of his mouth and put another interpretation on that.
“I find that just scandalous for a person who stands for what we call an international organisation called Amnesty. And to behave in that kind of an unjust way is beyond words from me. I’ve no more to say.”
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
100 dead soldiers
Today's Guardian newspaper carries the photos of the 100 soldiers killed this year in Afghanistan.
Of the 100 dead men, six were officers and of those six, one was in a senior command position.
Of the 100 dead men, six were officers and of those six, one was in a senior command position.
Many words nothing new
Fr Vincent Twomey has an opinion piece in today's Irish Times.
He argues that there are too many bishops in Ireland. He has not too much to say about how bishops are appointed.
Fr Twomey is a retired professor of theology at Maynooth. Presumably he was many years teaching in Maynooth and under many 'leaderhsip regimes'. 'The dogs on the street' knew that all was not well in Maynooth for decades.
Any thinking person, who stood inside the main door at Maynooth had to be forced to ask pertinent if not 'treasonable' questions. What did the upper echelons know?
Every priest who was ever appointed to a senior position in Maynooth was sure to be the 'safest pair of hands'.
The problem of the institutional hierarchical Irish church is far deeper than Vincent Twomey suggests in his opinion piece.
His comment about the 'civil role' of Irish bishops must be of great concern and worry to anyone who hopes we live in a republic.
He argues that there are too many bishops in Ireland. He has not too much to say about how bishops are appointed.
Fr Twomey is a retired professor of theology at Maynooth. Presumably he was many years teaching in Maynooth and under many 'leaderhsip regimes'. 'The dogs on the street' knew that all was not well in Maynooth for decades.
Any thinking person, who stood inside the main door at Maynooth had to be forced to ask pertinent if not 'treasonable' questions. What did the upper echelons know?
Every priest who was ever appointed to a senior position in Maynooth was sure to be the 'safest pair of hands'.
The problem of the institutional hierarchical Irish church is far deeper than Vincent Twomey suggests in his opinion piece.
His comment about the 'civil role' of Irish bishops must be of great concern and worry to anyone who hopes we live in a republic.
Worldwide readership
This blog is being read in 44 countries around the world and in 41 of the 50 states in the United States of America.
It is read on all five continents.
It is read on all five continents.
A morning salutation
An elderly man walking down Rathgar Road this morning shouted across the road to a young family going to school. 'Good morning how are ye', were his words. Cycling down the road I just managed to catch his smile and hear a response from the other side of the road. Rathgar Road is a wide road and I cycling, made it difficult to catch it all.
But it was just a great moment. And the man when he was making his greeting, waved his folded-up newspaper. I saw his smile.
A lucky man presumably. And then I began to think of the British soldier who was killed in Afghanistan yesterday, the bishops and all their nonsense. I remember once taking the mitre off a bishop the wrong way. I was later told it had been done the 'wrong way'. Why did I not have the wisdom to tell him to take it off himself.
Then on British television last evening there was a high-ranking officer of the British Army 'explaining' about Afghanistan.
Bishops, commanding officers, let them look after themselves. I like the man with his newspaper.
But it was just a great moment. And the man when he was making his greeting, waved his folded-up newspaper. I saw his smile.
A lucky man presumably. And then I began to think of the British soldier who was killed in Afghanistan yesterday, the bishops and all their nonsense. I remember once taking the mitre off a bishop the wrong way. I was later told it had been done the 'wrong way'. Why did I not have the wisdom to tell him to take it off himself.
Then on British television last evening there was a high-ranking officer of the British Army 'explaining' about Afghanistan.
Bishops, commanding officers, let them look after themselves. I like the man with his newspaper.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. The day the church celebrates its belief in the mystery of Mary being conceived free of original sin.
The majority of Catholic schools in Ireland are closed today in honour of the feast. And yet it is quite likely the majority of students who are off school today know little about today's feast.
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
Mary teaches people to treat others with respect, pope says
Pope Benedict rode in the popemobile from the Vatican to the heart of Rome's tourist and shopping district to pay homage to Mary at a statue erected near the Spanish Steps.
"The mother of God teaches us to open ourselves to the action of God, to see others as he sees them -- starting from the heart. And to look upon them with mercy, with love (and) with infinite tenderness, especially those who are most alone, despised and exploited," the pope said.
Rome, like any big city, is filled with people who are invisible until some scandal lands them on the front page of the newspaper or the television news where they are "exploited to the very end, as long as the news and images attract attention," the pope said.
"It is a perverse mechanism, which unfortunately is hard to resist," he said. "The city first hides people, then exposes them to the public -- without piety, or with false piety."
But within each person, the pope said, there lies a strong desire "to be accepted as a person and considered a sacred reality because every human story is a sacred story and requires the utmost respect."
Pope Benedict said that with so many stories of evil and scandal filling the news, it's easy for people to think those things only happen to others. But the little good or little evil that everyone does has an influence on others and contributes to the overall tenor of society, he said.
"Often we lament the pollution of the air, which in certain parts of the city is impossible to breathe. It's true, the commitment of everyone is necessary to make the city cleaner," he said.
"But there is another kind of pollution, less perceptible to the senses, but just as dangerous. It is the pollution of the spirit; it makes our faces less smiling, darker, and stops us from greeting each other and looking each other in the eyes," Pope Benedict said.
The pope said that on the day dedicated to remembering how Mary was preserved from sin, he wanted to honor the many citizens "who have understood that it is useless to condemn, complain and recriminate, but better to respond to evil with good."
"This changes things; or better, it changes people and, consequently, improves society," he said.
Earlier in the day, the pope recited the Angelus with visitors gathered in St Peter's Square for the feast, a major public holiday in Italy.
Pope Benedict said all Christians should rejoice in having Mary as their mother.
"Every time we experience our fragility and temptation, we can turn to her and our hearts will receive light and comfort. Even in the midst of the trials of life, in the storms that shake our faith and hope, we remember that we are her children," he said.
"The church itself, even if it is exposed to the negative influences of the world, always finds in her the star which will lead her to follow the route indicated by Christ," he said.
At the end of the Angelus, the pope greeted 85-year-old Polish Cardinal Andrzej Deskur, president of the Pontifical Academy of the Immaculate, which promotes academic studies of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and pastoral initiatives in favor of Marian devotion.
The cardinal, seated in a wheelchair, and other members of the academy were in St Peter's Square for the midday prayer.
The majority of Catholic schools in Ireland are closed today in honour of the feast. And yet it is quite likely the majority of students who are off school today know little about today's feast.
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
Mary teaches people to treat others with respect, pope says
Pope Benedict rode in the popemobile from the Vatican to the heart of Rome's tourist and shopping district to pay homage to Mary at a statue erected near the Spanish Steps.
"The mother of God teaches us to open ourselves to the action of God, to see others as he sees them -- starting from the heart. And to look upon them with mercy, with love (and) with infinite tenderness, especially those who are most alone, despised and exploited," the pope said.
Rome, like any big city, is filled with people who are invisible until some scandal lands them on the front page of the newspaper or the television news where they are "exploited to the very end, as long as the news and images attract attention," the pope said.
"It is a perverse mechanism, which unfortunately is hard to resist," he said. "The city first hides people, then exposes them to the public -- without piety, or with false piety."
But within each person, the pope said, there lies a strong desire "to be accepted as a person and considered a sacred reality because every human story is a sacred story and requires the utmost respect."
Pope Benedict said that with so many stories of evil and scandal filling the news, it's easy for people to think those things only happen to others. But the little good or little evil that everyone does has an influence on others and contributes to the overall tenor of society, he said.
"Often we lament the pollution of the air, which in certain parts of the city is impossible to breathe. It's true, the commitment of everyone is necessary to make the city cleaner," he said.
"But there is another kind of pollution, less perceptible to the senses, but just as dangerous. It is the pollution of the spirit; it makes our faces less smiling, darker, and stops us from greeting each other and looking each other in the eyes," Pope Benedict said.
The pope said that on the day dedicated to remembering how Mary was preserved from sin, he wanted to honor the many citizens "who have understood that it is useless to condemn, complain and recriminate, but better to respond to evil with good."
"This changes things; or better, it changes people and, consequently, improves society," he said.
Earlier in the day, the pope recited the Angelus with visitors gathered in St Peter's Square for the feast, a major public holiday in Italy.
Pope Benedict said all Christians should rejoice in having Mary as their mother.
"Every time we experience our fragility and temptation, we can turn to her and our hearts will receive light and comfort. Even in the midst of the trials of life, in the storms that shake our faith and hope, we remember that we are her children," he said.
"The church itself, even if it is exposed to the negative influences of the world, always finds in her the star which will lead her to follow the route indicated by Christ," he said.
At the end of the Angelus, the pope greeted 85-year-old Polish Cardinal Andrzej Deskur, president of the Pontifical Academy of the Immaculate, which promotes academic studies of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and pastoral initiatives in favor of Marian devotion.
The cardinal, seated in a wheelchair, and other members of the academy were in St Peter's Square for the midday prayer.
German film festival in Dublin
German film festival is on in Dublin this week.
More information under, http://www.irishfilm.ie/cinema/season2_07.asp?SID=186
More information under, http://www.irishfilm.ie/cinema/season2_07.asp?SID=186
Irish Rail timetable in tatters
Irish Rail introduced a new timetable at the beginning of December.
It is already in tatters. Trains are running late on a regular basis, indeed, so late that on occasions bus transfers are required. How much is all this costing the company? Will anyone ever be told?
When the company introduced the new Spanish fleet on the Cork route and the subsequent hourly service they had Dublin Cork, Cork Dublin trains stopping at no more than three stations. They argued that with an hourly service it was not possible or workable to have trains stopping at any more than two or three stations.
In the new timetable, the 16.30 ex Cork, stops at Mallow, Charleville, Limerick Junction, Thurles, Templemore, Ballybrophy, Portlaoise, Portarlington, Kildare, Newbridge. Yesterday this train was 30 minutes late.
Is what they said two years ago inaccurate or is what they are now doing incorrect? Both ideas cannot be correct?
And the 'famous' curtains. The first day they were a waste of money. Where are they now and how much did they cost?
The introduction of their barrier system at Heuston was obviously not properly planned and executed. How much is the ensuing inefficiency costing?
The company deserves praise for its online booking service. It works well. But why such expensive paper when you collect your ticket at a booking office? What happens if there is no booking office or the office is closed?
It is already in tatters. Trains are running late on a regular basis, indeed, so late that on occasions bus transfers are required. How much is all this costing the company? Will anyone ever be told?
When the company introduced the new Spanish fleet on the Cork route and the subsequent hourly service they had Dublin Cork, Cork Dublin trains stopping at no more than three stations. They argued that with an hourly service it was not possible or workable to have trains stopping at any more than two or three stations.
In the new timetable, the 16.30 ex Cork, stops at Mallow, Charleville, Limerick Junction, Thurles, Templemore, Ballybrophy, Portlaoise, Portarlington, Kildare, Newbridge. Yesterday this train was 30 minutes late.
Is what they said two years ago inaccurate or is what they are now doing incorrect? Both ideas cannot be correct?
And the 'famous' curtains. The first day they were a waste of money. Where are they now and how much did they cost?
The introduction of their barrier system at Heuston was obviously not properly planned and executed. How much is the ensuing inefficiency costing?
The company deserves praise for its online booking service. It works well. But why such expensive paper when you collect your ticket at a booking office? What happens if there is no booking office or the office is closed?
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Perfect time for prophetic stance
There are a number of pictures in this week's issue of The Kerryman. In one picture there is a guard of honour for Bishop Kevin McNamara.Fr, now Bishop Dermot Clifford may be in the same picture.
The nonsense of it all - giving guard of honours to these men. And it was the people who did that. How come no one stood up to them and told them to know their place.
How prophetic it would be now for a bishop or an archbishop to resign his post. Every bishop and archbishop in Ireland has been appointed to that position through a most non-transparent method. Every single bishop and archbishop in Ireland is in his job because he has proved one hundred per cent loyal to the institutional hierarchical church. Not only that, but they have passed the rigorous test on all matters dealing with the church's views on sexuality. Every single Irish bishop and archbishop has been ordained a priest before 1974 and they have been party to how the church operates. They have got their jobs because of their proven loyalty to 'mother church'.
How can anyone of them now distance themselves and dare say, they did not know?
The nonsense of it all - giving guard of honours to these men. And it was the people who did that. How come no one stood up to them and told them to know their place.
How prophetic it would be now for a bishop or an archbishop to resign his post. Every bishop and archbishop in Ireland has been appointed to that position through a most non-transparent method. Every single bishop and archbishop in Ireland is in his job because he has proved one hundred per cent loyal to the institutional hierarchical church. Not only that, but they have passed the rigorous test on all matters dealing with the church's views on sexuality. Every single Irish bishop and archbishop has been ordained a priest before 1974 and they have been party to how the church operates. They have got their jobs because of their proven loyalty to 'mother church'.
How can anyone of them now distance themselves and dare say, they did not know?
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