Fr Martin Henry has an interesting letter in tomorrow's Irish Catholic:

In the current tug of war on the fate of Cardinal Sean Brady, it is frequently stated that he is now suffering from what is termed a “loss of moral credibility”.  As I understand it – or maybe misunderstand it – Christianity teaches, albeit dogmatically, that only one human being has “moral credibility”, namely the Sinless One, Jesus Christ. Or as Friedrich Nietzsche put it: ”In reality there has been only on...

03 May 2012

Dear Chief Constable,
 
I refer you to the recent 'This World' programme broadcast on the BBC and dealing with child abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.
 
It appears from the said programme that Cardinal Brady, in 1975 and since, was in possession of knowledge of serious allegations of criminal activity against a named priest(s), as well as knowledge of victims and likely victims. In consequence, I wish to enquire if, having regard to his obligations under Section 5 of The Criminal L...

The country is divided into, I think, five groups now:

1. Catholic-hating secularists who want Brady to resign as a blow to the Church;
2. Liberal Catholics who want Brady to resign as a blow to the Church;
3. Orthodox Catholics who want Brady to resign to help save the Church;
4. Orthodox Catholics who don't want Brady to resign because they don't want a victory for groups 1 and 2;
5. Friends and genuine admirers of Brady who don't want him to resign.

Various people are of course now using this si...

Every time you think we're moving into a slightly better place in terms of the abuse scandal, we get dragged back into.  Because Cardinal Brady refuses to resign we end up with other people implicated by having to support him.

We had Archbishop Clifford on Pat Kenny this morning in an appalling performance which sounded like an interview from five years ago.  There was no sense that any crime had been committed.  He couldn't answer a basic question as to what a priest today should do if he dis...

Sir, – I am very sorry for those priests, like Fr Brian D’Arcy and Tony Flannery, chastised by the Holy See recently. They are good men, much loved and highly regarded, doing and having done much good, for the ordinary Catholics of Ireland.

However, they are misguided in their views. The only safe place to be in this modern age, full of confusion and chaos, is close by the side of our beloved Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.

Our dear Pope has been given to u...

There was a massive show of support by Irish Catholics for the Holy See in Ireland today.

Some 4,544,890 Catholics stayed at home today (Sunday) in support of the Holy See's recent "silencing" of a number of dissident Irish priests. 

"I'm so fed up with these wishy-washy priests" said Maisie O'Donnell, "and I just love the Pope.  So I stayed at home all day to show my solidarity".

Meanwhile in Dublin, a tiny counter demonstration of about a hundred people (about 0.002% of Irish Catholics) was h...

There have been three reactions to the combined story of the silencing of Fr Tony Flannery and the Association of Catholic Priests (sic.) sponsored research on the extent of heresy among Catholics:

- Liberal outrage about the silencing and gloating about how Catholics don't believe what Rome wants them to believe proving that the ACP positions are supported by the people;

- Conservative relief about the silencing ("something done at last") and acknowledgement that the type of priests involved i...

The Bishops have chosen not to reveal the identities of committee members appointed to study the possible reconfiguration of Ireland’s twenty-six dioceses.  Perhaps the bishops don't know.  Perhaps only Cardinal Brady knows. 

So all we can do is pick through the bones of remarks dropped here and there.

Bishop Donal McKeown, auxiliary of Down and Connor, told ciNews that the committee is not “a secret, decision-making body.”

“My understanding is that this is a small ad hoc group set up...

In case you weren't convinced that the Association of Catholic Priests (sic.) was a crowd of liberal heretics have a look at this which I found

Christmas Cookies Recipe

(According to the Revised Translation)

Serves: you and many.

Cream these ingredients, that by their comingling you may begin to make the dough: 1 chalice butter, 2/3 chalice sugar.

In a similar way, when the butter is consubsta...

Someone told me I was rather hard on Patsy Mc Garry in my post the other day.  For a moment I thought, maybe I was.  that feeling lasted until I read Mc Garry's article today in the Irish Times;  he is still the John Dillinger of religious correspondents.  In this little piece he's attacking the Seal of the Confessional and using a book by Dr Marie Keenan as his way in.  I haven't read the book but I have read other things she's written and heard her on TV.  I suspect Mc Garry has picked his ...

Where there's smoke around the Church, there's Patsy McGarry furiously rubbing two sticks together.
 
Why do people take an instant dislike to Patsy McGarry?  It just saves time.

Patsy writing in the Irish Times about the six reports published yesterday can find so little in them to support his usual rant that he resorts to going back to the Murphy/Dublin Report and Cardinal Brady's involvement with the Brendan Smyth affair.

In Raphoe I can't see what Bishop Boyce is supposed to have done or fail...

The Irish Times front page today has a story on Sean Cardinal Brady's pay-off to the second man, one of the teenagers he swore to secrecy concerning Fr Brendan Smyth back in 1975.  The deal will be recorded in the High Court today.

The Irish Times reports that "In June 2010 Cardinal Brady reached an out-of-court settlement, said to be worth more than €250,000, with the other teenager whose abuse by Smyth he investigated in 1975."

Now my question is, how did Sean Brady fund a pay-off of a quar...

Will natural wastage be quick enough, and more to the point, will those young enough to continue be the right people to take over larger dioceses and provide the sort of leadership the Church needs?  If we take the next five years - there are 13 dioceses vacant or headed by a bishop who's over 70.  We've only one bishop under 60. 


Vacant dioceses: 

Cloyne, Limerick, Kildare and Leighlin

Bishops over 75

Bishop Colm O’Reilly, Bishop of Ardagh & Clonmacnois, Born 11 January 1935

Bishop Christ...

I understand that the Holy See has engaged an ecclesiastical historian from Ireland to advise on the amalgamation and consolidation of Irish dioceses.  There are currently 26 which is high by comparison with other countries with similar populations.  Of course we should remember that the Irish model was based on monastic foundations and that there used to be considerably more dioceses.  The Synod of Rath Breasail in 1111, which created most of the current dioceses, was attended by more than f...

Family and I attended the Rally for Life in Dublin on Saturday - the wife has some coverage including photos of the kids and some old guy here.  This website has good photos - it says there were about 8,000 at the rally.

I had been doing my usual moaning about the lack of attendance by the bishops who I think should be in the forefront of the rally every year - so credit where it's due to Seamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry for attending.

Bishop of Derry (on the the right) - priest on the left is c...

Okay so I promised some follow up to last night's post on the meeting in Drogheda with Cormac Cardinal Murphy O'Connor. 

The event was not highly publicised.  I read about in the Irish Times the day it was to take place.  There was little publicity in Drogheda.  I decided to go at the last minute as it wasn't the best night.  My Companions of Carmel group were meeting at nine o'clock.  I was walking up West Street about ten minutes before kick off.  The RTE satellite van was parked near the D...

THIS POST HAS BEEN DELETED AS THE SOURCE BEHIND IT WHO ASSURED ME THE STORY WAS NOT ONLY TRUE BUT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN WAS MISTAKEN.

IF YOU MISSED IT - BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME.

Good grief.  It hardly ever happens.  In fact I cannot recall a previous occasion in which it did happen.  But it happened today.  For the first time I find myself in agreement with Patsy Mc Garry of the Irish Times and abuse victim, Marie Collins.

On Sunday the Archbishop of Boston, Seán Cardinal O'Malley, began his Apostolic Visitation.  He began with Mass in St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Dublin - concelebrated by the Archbishop of Dublin, and his auxiliaries, including the two mentioned in the ...

The late Fr Jimmy Mc Evoy, former Professor of Scholastic Philosophy at Queen's University, Belfast, will be buried tomorrow, from St Brigid's.

I've been googling but can't find any obituary yet so thought I would share some of my own memories.

Jimmy Mc Evoy was a major influence on my life.  I don't mean that I was in awe of him or had him as a guide but he pushed me in certain directions which changed my life.   I started Queen's in 1985 - exactly twenty-five years ago today indeed.  I also s...