Quinn in support of Crean

David Quinn writes in this week's 'The Irish Catholic' that the church needs to stand up for itself more in the media.

He commends the Bishop of Cloyne, William Crean, for his recent comments, which are reported on this blog on June 1.

Some years ago the Bishop of Cloyne, when parish priest in Cahersiveen, wrote a letter to 'The Kerryman' about comments I made in a weekly column. Fr Billy Crean also sent the letter to the then provincial of the Irish Dominicans.

It was a nasty letter and 'The Kerryman' did not publish the letter in its entirety. Might it have been more helpful for Billy Crean to have written to me directly?

Also in this week's issue of 'The Irish Catholic' there is a report on the Dominican sisters from Nashville moving in to the Dominican priory in Limerick.

It is unfortunate that 'The Irish Catholic' did not do more homework before writing the story.

David Quinn's criticism of a biased media is certainly to be seen clearly in this week's 'The Irish Catholic'. Ironic.

Maybe it is that the people of God need to be more interested in searching and living the Christian message.

It's time to stop blaming others.

Conor Brady and Justin McCarthy's pieces in this week's 'The Sunday Times' are worth reading.

McCarthy quotes Kevin Coleman, who was an adviser to the reporting team at The Boston Globe:

"[Crean's] claim that the political and media classes of Ireland are trying to destroy the Catholic Church is a variation of a theme we heard in the midst of our reporting."

Cullen argues that the church hierarchy is responsible for alienating many people.

An accurate comment.

We owe a debt of gratitude to those with healing hands

 This week's INM Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane
Have you ever watched Channel 4's 'The Supervet'? It profiles the work done by Laois man Noel Fitzpatrick and his team in 'fixing' animals. It's a programme about love, skill, dedication and technology.

After last week's programme a friend of mine, who has had a knee replacement operation, had seen the 'Supervet' programme, phoned me to say how amazing she found it.

I knew exactly what she was saying because I have seen the programme and also saw Noel Fitzpatrick being interviewed on television. He comes across as a remarkable man. He refers to vets as gatekeepers of unconditional love. If someone says that they are 'only animals' he immediately points out that we are all 'only' animals and we are all gong to die.

I remember my late father saying how important it is for children to be around pets as it helps them to learn how to be kind. "People who are not kind to animals will not be kind to humans," he would say. How true.

Just as the vets with their skill and kindness fix animals, likewise doctors and care professionals fix humans. They do an extraordinary job.

Like everything else in our lives, when things are going well and we are in good health we can easily take our doctors and nurses for granted. Okay, I hear you say that our doctors are well paid for the work they do but so often their dedication is way and above the call of duty.

My friend who had her knee replacement has been through the mill and the pain has been horrific.

But all the time she has placed her complete confidence in the doctor who performed the operation.

Last week on returning from a consultation, she expressed the confidence he had given her. He told her she was doing well, that the operation had been a great success. Those words made her feel good and gave her the strength to throw away one of the crutches.

His skills and the skills of his team, plus their dedication and genuine concern for their patient was always a confidence-building experience for her.

Some years ago I moved from Kerry to Dublin. It meant I had no doctor. In the last few months I have found a new GP. I can't get over his kindness. I take his expertise and professionalism as a given. Some weeks ago I was worried about a health issue. I was almost embarrassed to face him about it and yet he made me feel completely at ease and dealt with the situation.

Exactly what he does is replicated across the country. Of course some doctors and vets are better than others. But in the main it seems to me that our doctors do a great job.

There is a young doctor who lives in my neighbourhood. I think he's still in training but not sure. I'm an early riser and try to be out walking my dog before 06.30. I see him most mornings heading off in his car just as I leave my house.

Doctors work hard and then to think of all the pain and human suffering they see every day. They have to go to tell mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, husbands and wives about death, brain injuries, losing limbs. It's a long list. No matter how often they tell such terrible stories it must always be emotionally draining for them.

That, mixed with their expertise, surely makes them special people. They deserve our gratitude. They mend us. It's that mending that makes Noel too such an inspirational person.

Appalling PR service from the national rail company

On the closed door at Sandymount Iarnród Éireann station there is a detailed notice in Irish and English informing passengers that the station is closed June bank holiday weekend due to enginerring works.

A prime summer bank holiday weekend. Temperatures in the high 20s and no rail service to places such as Seapoint to go swimming.

It is understandable that Irish Rail have to do track maintenance, which means hiring contractors well in advance. Nor can they forecast the weather.

But to do it on the DART line on the June bank holiday weekend?

And even if they have do do it this weekend, how good was their PR in telling their passengers/customers?

Does it mean anytime someone now wants to use the DART they firstly have to check the IR website?

The closure received little or no mention on media outlets over the weekend.

Could they not have had this information on electronic boards across the city?

If the service were closed because of industrial action Iarnród Éireann would place full page adverts in national newspapers apologising to their 'customers' for the break in service and explain it was due to the striking drivers.

Surely not a way to run a railway company.

"I felt totally abandoned by my church" - Cork priest

This is from the website of the Assocation of Catholic Priests (ACP).

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/features/2/8464/guilty-until-proven-innocent

Tim Hazelwood reflects on the terrible situation in which he was unjustly placed.

Experience and reflections of a priest who fought to clear his name.

This ordeal began on the 20th of March 2010 when I was informed by the Child Protection Officer of the diocese that they had received an anonymous complaint against me some time previously. This is the story and a reflection taken from the perspective of a priest who was wrongly accused and who has fought and succeeded over six years to clear his name.

Despite the fact that the accusation was anonymous, the accuser had not come forward, and the National Board for Safeguarding Children advised that no action should be taken, my diocese proceeded to inform the Police (Gardai) and the Health Board, giving them my name. Why, when I was entitled to my good name? Canon 1717 says, “Care is to be taken that this investigation does not call into question anyone’s good name.” My right to my good name and reputation was clearly disregarded.

Despite the scant information given to me I was able to identify my accuser and was at a total loss to understand the motivation behind the claims being made. The vulnerability of my position was further played on when a campaign of harassment and intimidation by the accuser was initiated with phone calls, to me and others and an anonymous letter.

When the website of the Association of Catholic Priests was contacted and my name given it was time to act. With the support of the association I contacted their solicitor who advised me to make a complaint against the accuser. The result was that my accuser was questioned by the Gardai (Police) about the harassment but the Director of Public Prosecutions advised that the intimidation was not sufficient to gain a conviction.

At this stage my desire to clear my name was stronger than ever and consequently lodged a civil action in the High Court. Despite the huge financial risk I needed justice to be done.

In the preparation for the case I requested my file and any notes that might help my case from the diocese. I was met with a complete and total lack of cooperation, even to the extent of feeling threatened and bullied by the Child Protection Officer. With persistence I eventually received a redacted version, with the important and what might be helpful parts excluded.

In my attempt to defend myself not only was I unsupported but clearly frustrated. Significantly from the scant information I did receive, I discovered that I had been blatantly lied to as well.   A later revelation shocked me further in that my accuser had informed the diocese that he had been stalking me and I had not been informed.

After six years my accuser has now settled the court action I had taken. I have received a detailed signed retraction and admission that lies  had been told and a signed apology was received. My legal fees were paid and a generous donation to my nominated charity has been paid.

While I have no understanding behind the motives of my accuser my reflections are mainly around my church which I felt “cut me loose”, hung me out to dry, disowned me and left me feeling very alone. I struggled between my desire to clear my name and the expectation to lie low and to say nothing, hoping that it will go away.

However, as I reflect on these years and the position in which I found myself, I am thinking about the sad reality of the darker side of our human narrative. Huge damage has been done by clerical sex abuse and I believe that a majority of complaints are genuine. 

Today the issue remains current, allegations against ‘celebrities’ in England, and in Ireland the lid is being lifted on abuse within foster care. While these tragedies continue natural justice nonetheless needs to be done for both accused and accuser.

From my own experience I am led to think particularly of the accused person who is innocent.

Is he in fact presumed guilty until proven innocent?

Does he have rights even to view his own file?

Does he have a right to know that he has been accused, before his name is filed and passed on to authorities?

Has he a right to know an organisation’s or Church’s safeguarding policy?

I tried on three occasions to gain this information from the National Board but was fobbed off. What is the Church’s policy on anonymous complaints? What support system is in place for priests wrongly accused and who choose to fight for their good name?

I felt totally abandoned by “my Church” and often thought about people on death row who had committed heinous crimes and yet are not abandoned by family and friends. Where does duty of care to members come in?

To my mind a pastoral rethink is more than in order. Even larger questions need to be asked. How is it that this culture exists within the organisation?

While my accuser is no longer an ongoing issue my journey continues. There have been many learnings for me from the experience. My foremost challenge now is to deal with the hurt and resentments I am left with. I believe that mercy and forgiveness are as important as truth and justice. But justice also involves accountability and an admission of the wrongs that have been done both by the organisation and by individuals.

But can that or will that happen? I have my doubts. I hope and pray to be proven wrong.

Tim Hazelwood.

Parish Priest of Killeagh Co Cork. Ireland.

Please don't do this

This sign was on a glass counter in an upmarket bakery in Rathgar.

Certainly a new idea on how to use the apostrophe.

Catholic garden and house

The ad below appears in this month's free-sheet Alive!

Is it the garden or the house that is for Catholics?

Usually houses and gardens are measured in square metres.

And what's 'ready cash'?

Muhammad Ali

My late mother, who knew nothing about boxing, called her children, who also knew nothing about the sport, in the middle of the night to listen to Muhammad Ali fight.

He refused to go to Vietnam. He fought against racism.

He floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee.

Bye bye Muhammad.

Seventy four too young to die.

"I am America. I am that American you don't want to recognise. Get used to it."

"Why would I go to Vietnam? No Viet Cong ever called me a nigger?"

There was no one like him.

There seems to be a go-slow on episcopal appointments

Brendan Hoban's weekly column.

A great read.

Fr Brendan Hoban

Who would want to be a bishop? Plenty it would seem, as there is very little evidence to suggest that dioceses remain permanently vacant because of a lack of candidates. Candidates, yes. Suitable candidates, well that’s another question, as it goes without saying that those who regard themselves as suitable and willing are probably the worst possible choice in the long run.

That’s not to say too that, like the famous Mr Hacker in ‘Yes, Prime Minister’, there aren’t plenty of candidates who spend almost every waking hour carefully placing themselves in pole position for any episcopal vacancy.

How? By oiling the appropriate wheels, not saying anything that anyone, here or in Rome, might take exception to and indicating that while they know they’re not worthy of the august position, they’d be prepared, reluctantly of course, to embrace high office for the good of the Church. God help us.

There is no more pathetic species of clerical life than the ambitious cleric, waiting for every opportunity to ingratiate himself with the people who matter, carefully honing every comment to fit the official CV, fine-tuning his existence in expectation of a life-changing call from the nuncio to his residence on the Navan Road – even possibly planning a wardrobe-enhancing visit to Rome.

Of course, Pope Francis regularly excoriates the ambitious clerics in the Vatican who prowl the corridors of power, seeking preference because he has come to believe that careerists are the bane of the Catholic Church. So we know what he thinks of the home-grown version.

However, at present in Ireland something strange seems to be happening about the appointment of bishops. For whatever reason there’s an unexpected go-slow at the moment. In less than five years since his appointment in November 2011, Archbishop Charles Brown, the Papal Nuncio (who plays a key role in bishops’ appointments) has co-ordinated the filling of nine dioceses (Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, Cashel, Cloyne, Derry, Elphin, Kerry, Kildare, Killaloe and Waterford) and is, presumably, at present in the process of appointing five more (Clonfert, Cork, Meath, Killaloe, Raphoe).

Some of the dioceses, for example Raphoe and Clonfert, have bishops well beyond the usual retirement age of 75, which has led one clerical wag to suggest that, as someone said once about the Leitrim team, it seems to be harder to get off the episcopal bench it than to get on it.

The presumption is that vacancies remain unfilled because those being asked to take them are turning them down. That’s one interpretation for the present go-slow. Another is that Pope Francis may have declared a moratorium on bishops’ appointments because he’s happily stealing even more of the clothes of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP)?

Readers of this column will know that in the 2015 AGM of the ACP, members passed a strong resolution objecting to some of the policies being pursued by the present nuncio in relation to the appointment of bishops in Ireland: the lack of any credible process of consultation; the preference in the main for candidates drawn from a particular mindset; the apparently haphazard ‘American’ policy of appointments to distant dioceses that pays little regard to the traditions and heritage of a diocese; and not least the choice of candidates who seem to be out of sync – sometimes spectacularly so – with the realities of life in Ireland today and uncomfortable with the openness of Pope Francis to change and reform in the Church.

It wouldn’t be the first time Francis purloined our policies though it gives, I have to say, a quiet satisfaction that a platform so obviously out of sync – when the ACP was founded five years ago – with the mind-set of the John Paul/Benedict approach is now in danger of becoming mainstream.

But I’ve wandered. To get back to the question, who would want to be a bishop? It’s a fair question because it’s an impossible task. For one thing the ground has shifted under bishops’ feet in recent years, robbing them of authority and even influence. An episcopal statement in support of something can be the kiss of death, as happened in the recent same-sex referendum. And Catholicism is now a very broad Church and achieving a balance, as bishops are supposed to do, between disparate perspectives and groups, is becoming increasingly difficult if not impossible.

On the one hand, the Catholic Church is being blamed for almost everything that’s wrong in Ireland, apart possibly from the weather, and on the other, instead of defending ourselves we seem to have developed an unerring tendency to shoot ourselves in the foot at every opportunity. A recent example was the decision of a priest in Cobh to ban a reader at Mass, a member of the Social Democrats, because of his party’s support for removing the Eighth Amendment. Who would want to be a bishop? Who would want to be bishop of Cloyne?

Once when someone was appointed a bishop, he could be sure of two things in life: one, he would never again be told the truth; and, two, he would always be sure of a good dinner. Unfortunately, now both of those are untrue: the former as bishops are now in receipt of oceans of advice, much of it unsolicited and a lot of it delivered uncompromisingly from the hip; and the latter is also untrue as more and more bishops are sampling the limited delights of episcopal cuisine.

So who would want to be a bishop? Well, a few of us might even at this late hour be prepared, for the good of the Church and reluctantly, of course, to accept high office though in advanced years, as Archbishop Joe Cassidy used to say, the colour purple does very little for the complexion. So if the nuncio is really, really stuck, I have a few in mind who would loosen things up a bit.

Priestly 'vocations'

David Quinn writes on vocations to priesthood in the current issue of The Irish Catholic.

The heading on the piece runs: 'Dynamically orthodox seminaries attract vocations: Is Maynooth one of those?'

At one stage in the article he tells the reader that if he were honest he doesn't like writing about Maynooth.

It's a flimsy piece, based on some of his hunches but all the time influenced by a worrying understanding of church, laced with a theme of right-wing palaver.

David Quinn keeps referring to the US church as a template. No, thank you.

Why the particular stock picture?

In another article in the same paper Gerard Dunne, former vocations director with the Dominicans writes:

What the Church wants are holy priests, men of prayer with a deep relationship with God. If seminaries are looking for anything other than that, then the calibre of future priests in Ireland and beyond will be lacking.

Some weeks back respected Jesuit priest Peter McVerry in an interview on RTE Television spoke how his understanding of God has changed over the years. He explained how these days he has stopped looking up to the heavens to find God, instead he finds God in the world in which he lives.

Surely a priest, above all, has to be interested in people?

A seminary that does not look for that aspect in a man's character must be suspect.

Paul Hynes OP

Today is the anniversary of the death of Irish Dominican Paul Hynes.

He died in Dublin in his early 50s in 1985.

He was a man of vision and hard work. His early death was and is a terrible loss to the Irish Dominicans.

What would he say of the events of today?

Bishop Crean's comments

Yesterday's Irish Times carried a report on comments made by Bishop of Cloyne William Crean.

Might it be that it has been the hierarchical church that is helping to bring about the destruction of the church and its elimination from public debate in Ireland?

It's diffiuclt to listen to these words.

And even if what Bishop Crean is saying were true, saying it as he does will be of little or no influence.

Alienating words and hurtful too.

"A Catholic bishop has accused politicians and media in Ireland of seeking the destruction of the church and its elimination from public debate.

“Ireland through its political and media establishments seems determined to eliminate the engagement of the Catholic Church in the public sphere,” said Bishop of Cloyne William Crean."

He went on to say: "There are many in these systems who have developed a gratuitous cynicism towards the Catholic Church and desire its destruction............."

If there is that 'cynicism' present might Bishop Crean ask why so is the case?

The hierarchical Irish church on the backfoot yet again.

Embarrassing.

Terrorism slows down fast travel gained by jet engine

This week's INM Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

They called it the American Wake. Young Irish people forced to leave Ireland to get work in far off places such as the US, Canada and Australia said good bye to their family and friends before leaving home. They never expected to be back in Ireland so the goodbyes were in a real sense a final farewell, hence the 'Wake'.

Aer Lingus began to fly across the Atlantic in 1958 with Constellation aircraft and then two years later they acquired Boeing 720s, which allowed them fly from Dublin and Shannon to New York and Boston in approximately seven hours.

The introduction of the jet plane was the final nail in the coffin of the American Wake. The world was getting smaller and people were finding it easier and quicker to get back home.

I went to Rome in 1974 and knew when I was flying out from Dublin Airport that it would be a year before I'd be back home.

Nothing is simple and the pendulum goes back and forth. The jet engine facilitated our fast travel but terrorism is now slowing it down.

These days Rome is one of the many cities which is a weekend destination for large numbers of people.

The world has become a small place and in one sense there is no longer anywhere on the planet that is 'exotic'. Airplanes and cheaper fares mean the world is our oyster.

If we can't physically be on the other side of the world we can have instant communication with anyone anywhere in the world. Back in 1974 I couldn't phone home without having to go through an operator. The letter from Dublin was one of the highlights of the week.

The first years of the Eurovision Song Contest was sensational television because it was our first time to see live what was happening in far off paces. That was an essential ingredient to the magic of the event. It's passé today.

A colleague of mine is just back from a weekend in Dubrovnik. He wisely pointed out how it is somewhere that was once geographically, politically and culturally so far away and now it's a hop-step-and-jump away. Easily 'doable' over a long weekend.So the world is our oyster. Or is it?

The Euros begin in Paris on June 10. Thousands of Irish people are planning to travel to France to support both Irish teams. Yet there will be many who have decided not to travel in fear of being victims of a terrorist attack.

These days anytime I travel abroad there is somewhere at the back of my head a lingering fear that I could be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Of course it can happen anywhere, anytime.

As the world becomes that global village we are forced to reconsider where we can and cannot go. I doubt if many people are going to Syria this year and favourite holiday destinations such as Turkey and Egypt are being crossed off the places-to-go by many people.

Even the intrepid adventurer might be slow to trek across Afghanistan. I knew someone who in 1977 bused it from the Indian border to Iran.

So too with all our modern communication. At least in western democracies there was little chance that our letters were being read. These days we have no idea who is scanning our emails or reading our SMSs.It seems it's part of the human condition that there's

always a snag somewhere.

Robert Burns' lines come to mind: 'The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.'

No perfection on earth?

Conservative priesthood

This is about paedophilia in the conservative branch of priesthood - The Society of Pius X.

Why would the reader not be surprised?

Google translate should do the needful. Lies, that feeling of superiority, and arrogance are the same in all languages.

It is worth noting how these chaps feel so confident and certain about everything to do with God. They tell people to say their prayers but once they are caught they call in the best and most expensive legal teams. In the meantime and afterwards they really dress up well.

It has to be all a farce. A dangerous one too.

http://spon.de/aeJQF

Why not we?

Incorrect or do the rules of grammar change?

Surley it should be the nominative case?

Irish Dominican speaks to Islamic scholars in Tehran

On Thursday Irish Dominican Paul Lawlor spoke to a group of Islamic scholars from Qom at the church of the Irish Dominicans in Tehran, the capital city of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Paul, who speaks fluent Farsi, spoke to them for over an hour about Christianity. They expressed great interest in the topic. It was a special moment in Christian Islamic relations.

Paul Lawlor with Islamic scholars at the Irish Dominican priory in central 
Tehran. Paul is on the left, wearing a Dominican habit.

Lady Gaga and Communion

Today's 'Irish Times' Thinking Anew column.

Michael Commane

When anything to do with the Eucharist gets media attention it's mainly 'negative' material or else stories that are really peripheral to the sacrament.

A couple of scenarios come to mind: when a celebrity or a well-known Catholic receives Communion in a non-Catholic church and then the annual dress-up day when we see and read about young children making their first Holy Communion and some of the practices that surround the day.

There is also the phenomenon of people receiving Holy Communion who are 'deemed' ineligible to receive the Eucharist.

Lady Gaga was in the news some weeks ago when she posted a story on Facebook praising a Fr Duffell for saying that the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect but the food that God gives us.

Perspicacious of Lady Gaga to quote the wise words of her favourite priest. 

We don't often hear sensible or real words about the Eucharist in the public forum.

Tomorrow is the feast of Corpus Christi or the Body of Christ. According to Canon Law it is one of five days in the year when a diocesan bishop is not to be away from his diocese unless for a grave or urgent reason.

In tomorrow's Gospel St Luke (9: 11 - 17) tells us how the disciples of Jesus were able to feed a large crowd with five loaves and two fish. It certainly is a remarkable achievement.

Without in any sense taking away from the 'traditional' meaning or understanding of the Eucharist surely it is important to try to place the Sacrament in the context of the world in which we find ourselves. In other words to make an attempt to giving it meaning for people who think of it only in terms of Communion dresses and how it can create controversy.

The Catholic Church believes that Christ is really and truly present in the Eucharist. That the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ.

What exactly does that mean for the majority of people who particiapte at Mass on the feast of Corpus Christi in Catholic churches around the world?

Yes, it means that Christ is really present. But Christ is not physically present in the same way that I am sitting down writing these words. Christ is present sacramentally in the Eucharist.

But consider the meaning of the word 'Communion'? Surely it is about people living in communion and harmony with one another. And like all the sacraments, the Eucharist is both a sign but it also helps bring about the reality of that sign.

Maybe part of the miracle in tomorrow's Gospel is the fact that the crowd realised that there was a large number of people present so in order that everyone would have enough to eat they had to make it their business to share the little they had.

Imagine if that ethos prevailed in our society, in our world. Can we really feel easy receivng the Eucharist while at the same time allowing one billion people on our planet live lives close to destitution?

The Eucharist is about communion, commuion with God, but that means communion with one another.

Is there really any point in 'looking up' towards heaven if we do not play our part in bringing about the beginnings of the kingdom of God in this world, in the here and now in which we find ourselves living out our daily lives?

Well done to Lada Gaga for quoting Fr Duffell in pointing out how the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect. Indeed, it is anything but. Instead it is part of that sacramental story of the church to bring a broken and fractured world into the arms of an all-merciful God.

Gorki's relative in Dublin

Maybe an intersting piece of information for some readers: the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Ireland, Maxim Peshkov is a relative of the Russian/Soviet writer Maxim Gorki, (Alexi Maximovich Peshkov) who died in 1936.

'Guests travelling on the 17.00 service please.....'

Long long ago we were passengers when we travelled by bus, train or plane. Then we all became customers. That change probably came in the era of British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

Aer Lingus is currently running an ad in the Irish media where the reader is told: "91% of guests who flew with Aer Lingus.........."

And now we are guests.

Dublin murders

In the last few days Irish media is talking non-stop about the murders that are happening.

Journalists, gardaí, lawyers have been talking about everything except the why.

Surely it's as clear as day the oxygen that feeds all this horror is poverty and deprivation.

Irish society created this horror.

The politicians are telling us that they 'visited' the area. Stomach churning.

Unemployment rate in the inner city? Number of school-going children going to Germany or France or Italy this summer to improve their language skills?

The talk on the radio and in the newspapers is simply insulting, annoying too. 

'The sense of an ending'

The last bits and pieces of the Redemptorist home at Marianella on Orwell Road.

It might all be gone by the end of the day.

LATER
At midday the building had been leveled.

Churches and service

.... whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you shall make himself slave to all.

Those lines from Mark's Gospel are being read in churches around the world today.

Do churches 'do' service? They may be adept at doing  preaching, talking-down, pomposity, gobbledegook but service?

In an interview some weeks ago on RTE television Jesuit priest Peter McVerry said that the institutional Catholic Church comes between God and people.

You can throw it on the bus and train, pedal it too

This week's INM Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

Last week in a national newspaper a columnist wrote a piece criticising cyclists for breaking the law. He argued that cyclists must stop "peddling excuses for rule-breaking"

Since the introduction last July of fixed-penalty fines for cycling offences 600 cyclists have been fined. Three hundred  were caught going through red lights. Another 125 had to cough up for not having a front or back light while cycling after lighting up time. 

Seventy people were fined for cycling  without due care and consideration.

The basic fine is €40. After 28 days it goes to €60. On non payment it's to court and the possibility of a €2,000 penalty.

Ciaran Cuffe of the Green Party, while admitting cyclists should keep the law, thinks the figures are somewhat on the high side.

Cycling has become extremely dangerous. Many cyclists are travelling too fast and too dangerously. Motorists need to show more care towards bicycles and there is need for more cycle paths and better ones too.

The Bike-2-Work scheme has proved a great success but it means there are many inexperienced people out on bicycles.

But that's the way it is, so we simply have to get on with it and do the best we can. When cyclists break the law they should take it on the chin, pay the fine, get back up on the saddle and cycle in a safe and proper manner.

Some months ago I bought myself a fold-up bicycle. It is sensational and why I waited so long to buy one I simply cannot understand.

Right now I'm sitting on the 11.00 ex Heuston Cork train on my way to Castlegregory in West Kerry.

I left home in south Dubiln at 10.20 and cycled to Heuston Station. Was at the station at 10.45. Yes, it is very tempting to cycle along the platform but it's against the by-law and also, I have been caught doing it. 

I have been converted and now wheel the bicycle to the train door. In less than 60 seconds the bicycle is folded and within another 60 seconds it's neatly packed on a luggage rack at the end of the train coach. 

And guess what? It travels free. It really is an amazing facility. Some time back Irish Rail stopped taking conventional bicycles on trains between certain hours. Also, to take an 'ordinary' bicycle on a train you have to pay dear for it.

When I arrive at Tralee it's the bus for the first 18 kiolometres and then cycle the next 10 kilometres. And if by chance I get a lift from the station, again simply fold up the bike and throw it in the back of the car.

It is a magic piece of engineering. Cycling around Dublin is great fun. If it begins to rain, the traffic is congested or you simply get tired, then you can just jump on a bus with the bicycle under your oxter. Again, buses take it and take it for free.

Most of the fold-up bicycles have seven gears and they are ideal for cycling anything up to 20 kilometress. After that an 'ordinary' or regular bicycle makes more sense.

It's that freedom to jump on and off trains and buses with it that makes it so special.

There is never any need to lock it as you can  carry it into most places with you. You can get a bag for it and simply carry it over your shoulder.

Yes, the rain and wind are a problem but there's no cover or umbrella with a conventional bicycle.

A fold-up bicycle is the way to go.

Snowden on Drake case

From today's Guardian.

“When I [Snowden] was at NSA, everybody knew that for anything more serious than workplace harassment, going through the official process was a career-ender at best. It’s part of the culture,” Snowden told the Guardian.

“If your boss in the mailroom lies on his timesheets, the IG [Inspector General] might look into it. But if you’re Thomas Drake, and you find out the president of the United States ordered the warrantless wiretapping of everyone in the country, what’s the IG going to do? They’re going to flush it, and you with it.”

RTE's wrong pronunciation

Why does RTE radio and television continue to mispronounce the name of the far right-wing Austrian presidential candidate, Norbert Hofer?

All RTE needs do is turn on German or Austrian radio or television to hear his name correctly pronounced. Or for that matter, listen to BBC.

Why do we so often and so easily copy the US, even when they are wrong?

Bishops meet ACP

This from the Association of Catholic Priests.

Interesting to see the ACP team who met with the bishops and good to see Tim Hazlewood at the table with the other impressive men.

It's a start.

Bishops meet with Association of Catholic Priests

Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly (Cashel & Emly), Bishop Ray Browne (Kerry), Bishop Philip Boyce (Raphoe) and Bishop Denis Nulty (Kildare & Leighlin).

The ACP was represented by Tim Hazelwood (Cloyne), Brendan Hoban (Killala), Dermot Lane (Dublin), Sean McDonagh (Columban) and Gerry O’Connor (Redemptorist).

The meeting began with a joint prayer by Archbishop O’Reilly and Sean McDonagh.

The meeting was jointly chaired by Bishop Ray Browne and Gerry O’Connor.

The future of the Catholic Church in Ireland

Dermot Lane, on behalf of the ACP, made a submission about the critical situation facing the Catholic Church in Ireland.

He listed the many problems we faced; decline in practice, decline in vocations, etc. and suggested that people were asking “what’s the plan to deal with the crisis?”

The Church was at a cross-roads, he said, and we could get stuck at the cross-roads unless we decided to respond proactively. He suggested that as a Church we needed to initiate a process in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council and in the spirit of Pope Francis who was a beacon of hope and possibility.

Whatever we decide to do, he argued, should include three strategies:

(i) to realistically ascertain what the present situation is by gathering precise data on the present situation, the resources available to us and what needed to be prioritised;

(ii) to train lay men and women for ministry;

(iii) to underline the importance of bishops, priests and people working together.

The proposal of the ACP is that a National Synod be organised that would move from discussion and consultation at parish level to diocesan level to national level. The ACP is ready and willing to further this proposal through ongoing engagement with the Bishops’ Councils for the Clergy, for Faith Renewal and Faith Development, and for Liturgy.

This proposal would put flesh on Pope Francis’s encouragement of a synodal Church, pursuing a synodal process. In other words the Church would become a listening Church, an inclusive Church, that through active participation and involvement could generate new energy, enthusiasm and hope.

The important point, Dermot Lane concluded, is that the process of engagement is central as it presents a model of Church where everyone works together.

A lively discussion followed on the present situation of the Irish Church, the forces militating against it and the possibilities for the future.

The ACP delegates asked that this proposal for a synod be presented to the Irish Bishops.

Well-being of priests

Brendan Hoban told the meeting that the ACP was becoming more and more aware of a growing problem around the well-being of priests.

Many priests were struggling as a result of huge mental and physical pressure from a variety of sources: age resulting in a decline of energy and enthusiasm; isolation; ever-increasing work-load; ever-increasing demands of ministry; low morale; despair as vocations decline so massively; little free time; ill-health; and a lack of confidence in dealing with difficult emerging social issues in parish work.

At present many diocesan priests, unlike in the past, lived unhappily alone without the support-systems they needed in their declining years.

Younger priests were distressed by the reality they faced: increasing work-loads; few vocations; wondering whether or why they would stay with priesthood; the difficulty of saying Mass when so few of their peers attend; and the difficulty some experienced of even attending meetings with older priests with whom they had little in common.

A discussion followed on how difficult a challenge the ‘care of priests’ is, how difficult bishops find it, and what might be done.

There was a general perception that many were struggling, that some were at risk and that often appearances can be deceptive as priests who were unhappy often kept themselves under the radar.

The discussion turned towards the stress engendered by a fear of false allegations of sexual abuse. It was clear that many cases were badly handled, that many priests had lost faith in the goodwill of their bishops, that supports demanded by canon law were not always made available to priests, that some priests were very badly treated and had suffered much. Several instances were quoted. One case, which left much to be desired, was described in detail.

It was pointed out that many priests believe that their bishops would not be supportive of them if an allegation was brought against them. The ACP made the point that effective protocols were one thing but how they were implemented was another and that sometimes, even in neighbouring dioceses, there was a huge variety of practice.

The bishops pointed out that many of the problems were associated with the early years when bishops had very little advice available to them but that new protocols were expected which should improve the overall situation.

‘Silenced’ priests

Seán McDonagh suggested that the case of Ireland’s ‘silenced’ priests needed to be dealt with.

Pope Francis had recently said that every problem didn’t need the magisterium of the Church to deal with it. The present process, where an ethos of secrecy dictated that an accused individual wasn’t dealt with directly, didn’t know who his accusers were and didn’t even know when a process was initiated, made him feel ashamed of his Church. He instanced one case that appeared recently on the ACP web-site.

On behalf of the ACP he asked the bishops to take up a position on the priests who had been silenced and to develop a more just and respectful process for dealing with such cases as they arose. The men involved had given life-times of service to the Church, were deeply respected and their continued treatment was regarded as a source of great scandal by many Catholics in Ireland.

Laudato Si

Seán McDonagh said the encyclical Laudato Si was a great gift for the Church and that the promise and possibilities emanating from such an impressive and historic document needed to be taken seriously.

Young people were fascinated with it and it could be an effective evangelical influence in raising questions of faith for them. The wisdom of the document needed to percolate down to parish level. We needed, as Pope Francis said, ’to be attentive to the reality of creation’.

Poverty

• There was a long discussion on how to translate Pope Francis’ concern for the poor to direct action at parish level, the role of the St Vincent de Paul and the need to focus attention on this gospel reality.

Former minister warns of extremist elements in Israel

Former Israeli defence minister Moshe Ya'alon has resigned as governemnt minister and member of the Knesset.

He warnes that Israel has been taken over by "dangerous and extremist elements".

Within the last month Ya'alon defended a senior army general who compared recent trends in Israel to pre-war Germany.

The Weimar syndrome is stalking the world right now.

The Trinity

Today is the feast of the Trinity. One of the major events in the Christian churches.

If you think about it everything in our lives is done in 'relationship'. Though maybe US English has hijacked the expression 'in a relationship' to have one specific meaning.

Imagine if Putin had a good relationship with Obama would the guns be blazing in Syria?

If the Austrian electorate had a good relationship with their politicians would they be electing far right Norbert Hofer today to be their next president?

Good, life-giving relationships mirror in a tiny way towards the reality of the Trinitarian God.

An exciting idea.

Reading or not at Mass

On RTE's Morning Ireland programme yesterday Ken Curtin, a member of the Soical Democrats and a reader at Mass at St Colman's Cathedral in Cobh, explained how his name no longer appears on the roster of readers for Mass.

He told Morning Ireland that his name 'just disappeared'. On further investigation he was told that his views on the Eighth Amendment and on the Marriage Equality referendum deemed him ineligible to read at Mass.

He made the point that the first he heard about the decision was when his name did not appear on the roster.

As to whether or not Mr Curtin should be allowed read is one issue but to do it in such a way as alleged by Mr Curtin is never acceptable. But alas, that so often is how the Catholic Church operates.

Curtin has asked to have a meeting with the bishop, William Crean.

Another 'problem' in the Diocese of Cloyne.

Why do so many people think there is something 'sly' and 'nasty' about how the institutional Catholic Church works?

RTE's Prime Time

Last evening's Prime Time on RTE 1 carried an item on pharmacies, prescriptions and State payment.

It was a shambolic report. Figures were thrown out with speed, almost impossible to understand.

People were interviewed and the viewer was never told who they were.

It was terrible and it woud be interesting to know who came away learning anything from the item.

Wordy documents

Is it the case that the more dysfunctional and broken an organisation is the the greater the prompensity is for it to produce wordy  and lofty-sounding documents?

When people 'trade' in God does it give them pompous ideas about themselves?

LUAS industrial dispute

The next Luas shutdown is on Friday.

The strike trundles on, with anger growing on both sides.

Who owns Transdev/Veolia? What's the annual salary of Transdev/Veolia's Irish managing director Gerry Madden?

How interested is Transdev/Veolia in its workers or in the general Irish economy?

Who is currently pulling the strings in the tactics of Transdev/Veolia and where are they based?