Seen and Unseen - Catholicus

There has been much speculation about the reasoning behind the recent appointment of SMA superior Fr Kieran O'Reilly as bishop of Killaloe.

In particular why the so called popular choice, the nepotic Fr Des Hillery, failed to get the nod.

Apparently it didn't help his cause that he appeared to be totally plastered when celebrating Mass recently - photo here.

I was very surprised to see this story in the Manchester Guardian:

A media lynch mob is bent on destroying Pope

Fresh reports about the Pope's past just don't add up. But facts matter little in an issue that has become so politicised.


Oh wait, I misread.

My son Patrick made his First Holy Communion this weekend.

Despite the fact that the normative method of receiving Holy Communion in the Catholic Church is on the tongue, he was the only boy in his school to do so. 

This wasn't because the children or their parents made this decision, as is their right where the local bishop has granted permission.

It was because the school, the teacher, the chaplain dictated that this was to be the case.  None of the children was taught how to received communion on the tongue.  None of the children was taught there was any choice in the matter.

And Patrick?  When he mentioned to his teacher, during one of the many practices, that he would be receiving communion on the tongue - well he was told he would have to wait until the end and go up to receive communion last.

This from a teacher that has taught them nothing about the Eucharist, who has never mentioned the Eucharistic fast to them and tried to ban his wearing a brown scapular.

Daniel Hannan, MEP, has a good article in the Daily Telegraph about the fiscal crisis in the euro zone.

There is so little detailed discussion about these issues in Ireland as we head into borrowing money to bail out Greece, and of course, a Brussels power grab to justify it all into the future.

Q. You have three girls making their First Holy Communion together in Drogheda.  Do you rent:

A1.   A pink hummer
A2.   A white hummer
A3.   The Mc Donagh glass pumpkin coach and white horses as used by Jordan
A4.   All of the above?

I was in possibly the world's most perilous building today.

It was the Dominican Church in Drogheda for Mass this morning, part of a novena of Masses in honour of Our Lady of Fatima.  Well in the middle of Mass we had the Sacrament of the Sick, and I'd say about 90% of those present went forward to receive annointing.

Who would have suspected that so many people were in danger. An outbreak of ebola virus?  The swine flu suddenly rampant.

Canon 1004:  The anointing of the sick can be administered to a member of the faithful who, after having reached the use of reason, begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age.

Of course, the new Code (can we still call it "new") doesn't specifiy what sort of danger we're talking about.  Perhaps it's danger of having a ladder in your tights, danger of being late for your tea, danger of wearing the same dress as someone else.

Of course of course the old Code said "danger of death" so perhaps it would be legitimate to presume we're referring to the same sort of danger.

... before we joined the Euro the naysayers were muttering that this would herald the end of our economic sovereignty?  And then we said the same thing during the Lisbon referendum debate.

And each time we were told we were foolish, mistaken, wrong, lying etc.



And now we have the EU Presidents telling us we must have our national budgets approved by them before our own sovereign parliaments rubber stamp them.

You remember how Hitler took advantage of the fire at the Reichstag?  Well this season's Chancellor is doing the same:

"If the euro fails, not only the currency fails. Europe fails too, and the idea of European unification. We have a common currency, but no common political and economic union. And this is exactly what we must change. To achieve this - therein lies the opportunity of this crisis,” she said.

... are funny.  Watching lots of news during the last few days as I'm on leave and it's all been about the coalition government of Tories and Lib Dems.

Countless reports, items, blogs etc all behaving as if they've invented coalition government for the first time - the novelty, how will it work, how can parties which ran against each other possibly cooperate in forming a government.

Okay, it's the first coalition government in Great Britain since the war, but really, everyone else has been doing it for years.  I'm sure a quick google will tell you how it works.  You really don't need highly paid journalists, political editors, standing on the street determined to prove that events are "extraordinary" or "jaw-dropping", and wondering how it could possibly happen and gosh, how will Prime Minister's Question Time operate?

And how it works is that unless the smaller party has a particular regional focus that ensures its ongoing support, well at the next election the smaller party is destroyed - that's how it works.

So that's something to look forward to in May 2015. 

Not sure what to make of fixed term parliaments.  It's an extraordinary power for a Prime Minister to give up.  Makes me rather nervous - what genuine leader freely gives up power like that?  And really, it only works where you've a genuine separation of powers.  Because how can a government continue if it doesn't have support of parliament?  And then to add insult to injury he want's to make it harder for parliament to bring down a government by requiring 55% for a vote of no confidence.  Tha't is outrageous.  Gerald Warner is calling it a coup d'etat.

Q.1  You're taking a disruptive child of three to evening Mass on Sunday.  Do you -

A.  Sit in the back where all the disruptive no-goods sit?
B.  Sit about five seats from the front where he can see what's going on but you can still control him?
C.  Sit in the front seat where he can distract the priest throughout and let him climb out the front so he can run on to the sanctuary and sit on the steps?

Q. 2  You want to bring something with you to help control/distract the child.  Do you bring -

A.  A children's book about the Mass by CTS specially designed for their age group?
B.  The child's favourite cuddly toy that they can hold without making any noise?
C.  A guitar!

Is it just me or isthe weeping adulation for Gerry Ryan gone beyond beyond?

Yes, it's sad for his children that he died.  But the coverage has been over the top - half of the main news on the national broadcaster - and worst of all, yet another opportunity for Fr Brian D'Arcy to appear in public.  Westlife singing in the wings and the increasingly odious U2 joining by satellite.  Eulogies by all and sundry, quotes from Arthur C Clarke's 2001, A Spare Odyssey, engraved on the coffin, and what must have been a squirmy moment for everyone when his wife paid tribute to his mistress. The front page of the Cork Examiner was like the Daily Telegraph when the king was killed by his doctor, with black border and sepia tones.  It all sounds like a parody of a Catholic funeral.

The Princess of Wales has a lot to answer for.