Brady, the paedophile protector, condemns abortion

From the IT

In a statement tonight, Cardinal Seán Brady said the judgment "leaves future policy in Ireland on protecting the lives of unborn children in the hands of the Irish people and does not oblige Ireland to introduce legislation authorising abortion".

He said profound moral and legal issues were raised by the ruling. "The direct destruction of an innocent human life can never be justified, however difficult the circumstances. . . . No law which subordinates the rights of any human being to those of other human beings can be regarded as a just law."

Says the man who covered up child rape and protected serial paedophile Brendan Smith. I think we've heard enough from you Brady. You do not get to have an opinion on this.

Am amazed that as a celibate male you seem to think your view on this issue matters. Fuck off already.

As for

The direct destruction of an innocent human life can never be justified, however difficult the circumstances

except, it seems when priests rape children and people like you cover it up.

Is this really our country?

Is there no end to the crimes committed by the Church and State? The horror of the institutionalised rape, slavery and crimes against children carried out in Ireland is almost too much. Few read the reports of the investigations finally carried out on what actually happened to survivors of child abuse and the children interned in industrial schools. Since the foundation of the Republic of Ireland in 1921, Church and State have treated certain children as disposable, as less than human.

Since the publication of the Ryan report on industrial schools and the Murphy report on child sexual abuse within the diocese of Dublin, revelations on the treatment of Irish citizens in the twentieth century by the Church and State have undermined everything we believed about ourselves. And the revelations keep coming.

The Primate of All Ireland Sean Brady covered up the rape of children by paedophile Brendan Smyth allowing him to continue raping children for a further nineteen years. The publication of this information has not led to his resignation but rather to his adopting the persona of a “wounded healer”. This persona allows him to continue in his position and treat survivors of the Catholic Church’s brutality with utter contempt. His "wounding" is the discovery of his coverup.

Then there is the systematic mutilation of women by doctors both through symphysiotomy and corrupt individuals wielding a scalpel. There was no oversight because doctors were “self-regulating”. And the medical scandals have not ceased - unread x rays, trolleys, cancer misdiagnosis, surgeons removing the wrong kidney.

Now, we find out that children were used in medical experiments. These children were not those living at home with parents. These were children in mother and baby homes and industrial schools. Members of religious orders gave "consent", violating numerous ethical codes including that of Nuremberg, which was drawn up in the aftermath of the Nazi behaviour in concentration camps.

All of this was done by Irish people, ordinary Joe and Jane Soap. Our uncles, aunts, friends, parents participated or knew what was going on. We are all complicit. What sort of a fucked up country is this? The human rights violations continue on - children in care left on the street, rat infested schools, children in adult psychiatric wards and the children in care disappearing by the hundreds.

Something has to be done. The Murphy inquiry needs to be expanded to cover all dioeses. Victims who did not survive the industrial schools need to be identified and cause of death established. Serious reform or possible abolition of the HSE. The state needs to acknowledge ALL the human rights violations. Offering resignations is not enough. Firing, followed by criminal charges is a beginning.

Ireland has been a republic for less than 100 years and already we have violated human rights on an unprecedented scale. What sort of people are we?

A different sort of female genital mutilation

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About thirty years ago, there was an informal secret society in the city of Cork. Perhaps a loose net of those with a shared interest might be more accurate. This group passed the names of certain professionals around – who could be trusted, previous experiences, and religious beliefs. The information was gathered from many sources. It was shared among women of childbearing age because none wanted a fervently Catholic gynecologist.

A fervently Catholic gynecologist might put his beliefs into practice on the delivery table. He might choose to save the life of the child over the mother, or regardless of consequences make sure the woman would conceive again, or choose to mutilate a woman’s body rather than allow the idea that the woman might choose contraception in the future.

In the grand tradition of submission to the catholic church, Irish doctors used the surgical technique of symphysiotomy, long after the rest of the developed world had discredited its practice. Symphysiotomy was developed in 1597 and was routinely used to widen the pelvis during childbirth. By dividing the cartilage of the symphysis pubis, the pelvis can be widened by up to two centimetres.

Known complications include haemorrhage, injury to the urethra or bladder, vesicovaginal or urethrovaginal fistula, stress incontinence, sepsis, and pelvic osteoarthropathy. In some cases women experienced difficulty in walking and an unstable pelvis.

The technique was largely abandoned in the late nineteenth century after improvements in the hygiene and clinical practice of Caesarean section. It is still practiced in developing countries when Caesarean section is too risky and it can save the life of the mother and/or that of the child.


However, in Ireland, women were subjected to symphysiotomy without consent for religious reasons, even though Caesarean sections were relatively safe. It was thought that women subjected to repeated Caesareans might be tempted to use contraception and that could not be allowed to happen.

[Dr] Alex Spain was the champion of symphysiotomy at the National Maternity Hospital. In 1944, he revived the technique because Caesarean sections might lead to “contraception, the mutilating operation of sterilisation, and marital difficulty.” At that time Caesarean sections were perfectly safe and symphysiotomy had fallen into disrepute. Spain admitted his decision went against the weight of the entire English-speaking obstetrical world’.

From 1944 to 1983, 1,500 women underwent this unnecessary and traumatic surgical procedure leaving many in pain for the rest of their lives because of the religious beliefs of a few men. Many survivors have spoken of feeling the saw cut through the public bone and seeing horrific injuries on their newborns. These are just two stories:

“I’ve been in pain ever since. I’ve still attending hospitals with back pain and kidney problems. I’d go to bed one night and would be ok but the next day I would not be able to get out of the bed, I wouldn’t be able to put my feet to the ground, all because of the operation, and I didn’t know at the time. I had x-rays taken of my legs to see what was wrong but they couldn’t find anything wrong.”

and

“They gave me hardly any information, whatsoever, until I got to the theatre. The only thing I remember is the nurses saying I had lovely red hair. They showed me the saw. It was an ordinary hand saw, they showed me where they were going to open the pelvic bone. They didn’t explain — they said: “You are going to have your baby now.” It was such agony, a terrible severe pain.”

Women were subject to this outdated practice because Catholic doctors believed that women would not choose to undergo multiple Caesarean sections. Such women might turn to contraception, the idea of which was unacceptable to those doctors at the time. These doctors saw themselves as upholding the laws of the Catholic church and those who are still alive show no remorse. They deny the damage they inflicted.

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The Ryan report - a year later

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Thursday was the first anniversary of the publication of the Commission of Inquiry into Child Abuse. Commonly called the Ryan Report, its publication cumulated in the realisation of the extent of the violence, rape and sexual assault that children suffered in the care of the Catholic Church. I have written more here. Eight organisations (Barnardos, CARI, Children’s Rights Alliance, Irish Association of Young People in Care, ISPCC, One in Four, Rape Crisis Network of Ireland and Dublin Rape Crisis Centre) met to discuss progress on the implementation of the Ryan Report.

To this day not a single additional penny has been paid by the eighteen religious congregations that committed crimes against children. I say additional because the Irish Government struck a shameful deal with the religious orders in 2002. The then Minister for Education Michael Woods and Attorney General Michael McDowell struck a secret deal. It was never put before parliament and there was no vote. In short, religious orders were awarded indemnity against all legal claims provided they supplied €128m in cash and property. The idea was that if there was a shortfall, the taxpayer would provide. Woods expected around 2000 claimants and a total cost of around €300m.

Fast forward to 2010, and 14 000 claimants have come forward. The bill is expected to be around €1.3bn. And the religious orders have not contributed a single additional penny. The congregations claim that the Irish Government had not yet provided the details of what further contributions are required.

In addition, the Catholic Church, which runs 92% of the primary schools in Ireland have ordered the schools to pay €4.75 per pupil to the church each year to begin at the end of May. There is no reason given for the charge and the church requires immediate payment. Given that many primary schools in politically-disadvantaged areas are in dire conditions, this demand for money is particularly egregious. Students were requested to bring tolls of toilet paper from home because of budget cutbacks in one Cork school. Several schools have repeated rat infestations. 50 000 students are being educated in prefabs – some for over twenty years. Granted, that these failings are also due to the indifference of successive Education Ministers.

However, this is the same government that promised €2 million for the funding of counselling services for the survivors of institutional rape and torture. Organisations like the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and One in Four have received no extra funding to date and have had their budgets cut by 5.8% despite a government commitment not to do so. Organisations that provide counselling services have been and remain overwhelmed. There is now a nine-month waiting list for one to one counselling at One in Four.

Numerous reports have come out about the cover-up of the sexual abuse of children, yet bishops named in the Murphy report remain patrons of primary schools. The primate of all Ireland, Seán Brady engaged in a conspiracy to cover up serial child rape and refuses to resign. He still holds that position. The leader of the Catholic Church in the Vatican covered up child rape. Benedict XVI was revealed to have ordered bishops not to report child sexual abuse to the correct authorities – the civil authorities – yet he is still lauded by millions.

There has been no information about the children who died in care and were allegedly buried in mass graves. The only information in the public domain is that in 1993 an order of nuns in Dublin sold part of their convent to a real estate developer. The remains of 155 inmates, who had been buried in unmarked graves on the property, were exhumed and, except for one body, cremated and reburied in a mass grave. There has been no other information. Children were murdered, starved and worked to death but we do not even know their names.

Finish reading here

We will not allow this - the bad apple defence

From the AP

"We want to show our solidarity to the pope and transmit the message that single individuals make mistakes but institutions, faith and religion cannot be questioned," Alemanno told Associated Press Television News. "We will not allow this."

Institutions cannot be questioned? Individuals make mistakes? Child rape is not a mistake, it is a deliberate crime. Institutions must be questioned. No entity is above the law. Besides the Catholic Church covered up abuse for years. Questions must be asked.

The “bad apples” argument is the preferred argument when it comes to discussing widespread abuse. It allows institutions to choose a few scapegoats. The institution, in this scenario, does not have to consider the role it played in facilitating evil or contemplate greater responsibility for the unfolding of abuse.

In The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil (Random House, 2007), Philip Zimbardo, the coordinator of the Stanford Prison Experiment, investigates the idea that a hierarchical institution itself creates the environment that allows abuse to flourish. The conclusions he reaches are applicable to the attitudes of the Vatican and the Irish Catholic Church upon the revelation of widespread serious sexual assault and rape in the Murphy Report and the torture, violence, sexual assault and rape in the Ryan Report.

Zimbardo suggests that there are seven social processes that may trigger evil:

Taking the first step, dehumanisation of others; de-individuation of the self; diffusion of personal responsibility; blind obedience of authority; uncritical conformity to group norms; and passive tolerance to evil through inaction or indifference.

Each of these social processes can be easily applied to the Irish Catholic Church:

The priestly uniform allowing de-individuation; the unquestioning obedience to Rome and the bishops; the lack of responsibility to the victims of the church; the lack of oversight in every area; the passive tolerance of abuse; and the dehumanisation of the children in the industrial schools through excessive use of force and in the parishes through insurance policies, unjust authority and the culture of silence.

The church in Ireland not only passively tolerated the abuse, but also actively moved the criminals from parish to parish while covering up the details of the crimes in question. This is active evil. The decision to hide a paedophile priest in the boot of a car and drive him to another town was a resolute act to shield a criminal. In addition, it shows that the allegiance was to the institution regardless of the legalities of the situation. The current Pope, meanwhile, instructed bishops not to reveal the crimes to civil authorities. Only those who are severely in denial could allow a “bad apples” argument to stand in the face of such actions.

The conspiracy of silence was aided by the power structures in place. The Catholic Church were the de facto morality police, condemning sins from the pulpit; condemning, for example, sexuality and contraception. The priest’s word or deed was never questioned. The extent to which priests enjoyed immunity was revealed in the Murphy Report. The police dropped investigations of sexual abuse accusations against priests even when corroborating evidence was available. Zimbardo says that power without oversight is a prescription for abuse, and that statement has been played out in the parishes and industrial schools throughout Ireland.

Business as usual will not cut the mustard. To date, nothing has changed within the power structures of the church. However, civil society has changed. With the decline of the church’s influence, survivors of sexual abuse, rape and torture are in a position to seek legal redress. Such action was nigh on impossible until recently, considering that the Irish government has been complicit in covering up abuse, limiting liability for the clergy and acting cravenly in the face of clear violations.

The bottom line is that the institution that is the Catholic Church has not taken responsibility for the environment that it created and maintained. Even now, after two reports that contain graphic descriptions of evil, the church fathers speak through public relations representatives and lawyers. Mealy-mouthed apologies abound, but there is no sense of understanding for the suffering of survivors or the extent to which this evil was allowed to flourish.

Every priest who knew and did not report was complicit. Every bishop that did not pass on information to the police, the Vatican or the priests in the abuser’s next diocese was complicit. Every police officer who dropped an investigation or sent complainants away or returned runaway children to industrial schools was complicit. The state that colluded through apathy and inaction, sending children to industrial schools, and allowing the church such unchecked power was complicit.

Questions must be asked and answered. It is not an individual problem - the rot is institutional.

Happy birthday to you

... my dear contraceptive pill. Without you I would have had to live with years of pain once a month. Without you, I would have not have been able to get out of bed with the anemia. Without you, I might have gotten pregnant when I was raped. During consensual sex you were my back up plan, should the condom break or leak.

You are still only available on prescription because the balding middle age white men who take the decisions are not willing to relinquish control of women's bodies. The logic is, if girls are afraid of getting pregnant, they won't have sex. As if pregnancy was just another "I told you so". As if having consensual sex was a bad thing.

There is a direct correlation between lack of comprehensive sex education and teenage pregnancy. If schools taught that girls are supposed to feel pleasure too, it would be another tool in the box of "stand up for what you want". Girls should not be put in the position of gatekeepers to the precious vagina always saying no. Mutual respect and informed consent is a more pragmatic approach.

But the medical profession prefers to be thought of as gods dispensing wisdom from on high, reserving the right to scold women as being foolish little girls, especially in the case of the morning after pill. Firstly, you got to pay €50 to see the doctor. Then put up with the lecture. Eventually you get the prescription and then pay the extortionate pharmacy fees. In plenty of other European countries, anyone can walk into a pharmacy and buy the morning after pill over the counter.

Then again Ireland has never taken a pragmatic approach to any issue. Ireland legislates for the population it wants, not the population it has. That's why the measures taken never work.

More arrogance and assumptions from the RCC

Oh my my, the Catholic Church is willing to discuss patronage of schools. How magnanimous of them! From the Irish Times

THE CATHOLIC Church is willing to be an enthusiastic and constructive partner in the debate about future educational provision, Cardinal Seán Brady said yesterday.

The church, he said, was not interested in retaining schools simply for the sake of having them.

“The belief that the Catholic Church wants to manage as many schools as it can, irrespective of parental demands, is unfounded.”

This is coming from a man who covered up rape, child abuse and protected the rapist. Why is anyone listening to him still? Why is he still in head of the Catholic Church in Ireland? It shows the true arrogance of an organisation that still thinks of itself as valid.

The organisation covered up the truth, protected rapists, enslaved women and girls, starved and beat children, and raped with impunity. When their conduct was discovered they covered everything up, demonised survivors, indemnified themselves from prosecution, protected the guilty and transferred their fixed assets into untouchable accounts. While not every member of the organisation was involved, just as not every soldier in Abu Graib tortured prisoners, the organisation is rotten. The organisation is structured in a way to encourage criminality. I have written on this before. It is NOT just a few bad apples.

This organisation which controls 91% of primary schools, and which 61% of Irish people want out of the schools is willing to discuss the issue. The arrogance and assumptions of the RCC know no bounds.

And our poor pathetic government does nothing as usual, except for our Catholic fundamentalist Minister for Justice who passes a blasphemy law.

Our zombie "leadership" seem to lurch from crisis to crisis either without understanding or pandering to their Catholic fundie constituents who seem incapable of separating the message from the messenger.

The Pope by Tim Minchin

via Panti

Full of bad language and may cause offence. Some good points in there though!

Grasping at straws - Tarcisio Bertone latest defense of child abuse

I have a new post up on GlobalComment

It is commonly said that the best defence is a good offence, but just because it works in football does not mean that it should be a universal strategy. Someone should mention this to Tarcisio Bertone. If you have not heard, he is a big cheese at the Vatican (technically the Vatican’s secretary of state). In a determined effort to once more abdicate responsibility for clerical sexual abuse and the ensuring cover up, Bertone stated last week that:

“Many psychologists and psychiatrists have demonstrated that there is no relation between celibacy and pedophilia. But many others have demonstrated, I have been told recently, that there is a relation between homosexuality and pedophilia. That is true… That is the problem.”

Truth it is not. Offensive defensiveness might be closer to the mark. The Catholic Church has always demonstrated a certain level of misogyny but in making this statement, Bertone has erased the experiences and trauma of the thousands of female survivors of clerical abuse. Some passages of the Irish Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse from the section dealing with female experiences:

The forms of physical abuse reported by witnesses ranged from being smacked on the hand to being beaten naked in front of others. They described being hit, slapped, beaten, kicked, pushed, pinched, burned, bitten, shaken violently, physically restrained, and force fed. The Committee also heard reports of witnesses having their heads knocked against walls, desks and window ledges, being beaten on the soles of their feet, the backs of their hands, around their heads and ears, having their hair pulled, being swung off the ground by their hair, and made to perform tasks that they stated put them at risk of harm and danger. The locations where physical abuse was most frequently reported to have occurred included dormitories, refectories, landings, corridors, classrooms, churches, offices, kitchens, work areas and recreation halls.

Witnesses reported sexual assaults in the forms of vaginal and anal rape, oral/genital contact, digital penetration, penetration by an object, masturbation and other forms of inappropriate contact, including molestation and kissing. Witnesses also reported several forms of non-contact sexual abuse including indecent exposure, inappropriate sexual talk, voyeurism and forced public nudity. Witnesses gave accounts of being sexually abused both within the Schools and in other locations while in the care of the authorities in charge of the particular institution. They reported being sexually abused in many locations, including: dormitories, schools, motor vehicles, bathrooms, staff bedrooms, churches, sacristies, fields, parlours, the residences of clergy, holiday locations and while with godparents and employers. [source]

This is only a selection of the experience of Irish female survivors from residential institutions run by the Catholic Church. They do not cover the laundries – once a girl was placed in a Magdalen laundry, she spent the rest of her life as a slave – or sexual abuse that took place in non industrial schools, churches and elsewhere.

In addition to silencing women, Bertone equates homosexuality with paedophila, presumably because a greater number of boys were abused by men. However, there are a number of issues here to be considered.

Firstly, there is no evidence of a link between homosexuality and child abuse. No scientific explanation to justify the hate. No sociological quantitative analysis with even a tenuous link. Try as he might, Bertone and his ilk are responding to their own homophobia and the institutionalised prejudice in Roman Catholicism. The RCC spells out its homophobia and misogyny in one paragraph of its official catechism:

…Tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.”142 They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved. [source]

Basically, the Church’s position is that any sex not leading to babies is contrary to natural law. The path from “love the sinner but not the sin” to “intrinsically evil” is a short one, especially for the pompous elite in the Vatican.

Another argument put forward to attempt to justify the unjustifiable is that greater numbers of boys are abused. There may be a number of explanations why this is so but I put forward the theory of access.

Finish reading at GlobalComment

What will it take?

Seriously? What kind of government have we? How after listening to this how can a Taoiseach continue to screw over Irish citizens




and then go on as if nothing had happened. We know that the bishops covered up child rape but we still go to their masses. We know that the survivors of the industrial schools need justice and we do nothing. I am disgusted at our Taoiseach, and our government. Economic traitors they certainly are but they betray the citizens of Ireland. Every survivor of child rape, abuse, violence, terror and slavery is an Irish citizen. And our government betrays them through false promises; indemnifying the viciousness of the religious; and not expelling the representatives of the organisation that injured Irish citizens.

Michael O Brien and other survivors walked out of a meeting with the Taoiseach yesterday and said

Mr Michael O'Brien, a former Fianna Fail mayor of Clonmel, also pledged to go on hunger strike outside Government Buildings in three weeks time after he had undergone a scheduled medical operation. Angrily accusing Mr Cowen of "not doing his job" of properly compensating survivors, Mr O'Brien, claimed that for the past year the Taoiseach "has been leading us the garden path."

Describing the cash offer of €110m as "a joke," Mr OBrien, 77, said that not one extra penny had been paid by the religious orders, because "he (Mr Cowen) is not doing his job."

Mr O'Brien said that all he wanted was for the Taoiseach to look after former residents of institutions for once and for all. "I want nothing for myself," he added. "I will not beg for myself but I will beg for the like of them.

and from BreakingNews

Michael O'Brien from Clonmel said the offer from the Church totalled €384m- but that included the original €128m from the indemnity deal.

Mr O'Brien stated that he will go on hunger strike next week.

He told reporters he has no faith in the Taoiseach any longer:

“That man at the present moment doesn’t care; there’s not a bit of compassion in that man.

“What’s going to happen with me is this: I have to go for an operation next week and as soon as I recuperate from that I’ll be going on hunger strike and the devil himself won’t take me off it until this is sorted out. 

And Cowen is still the Taoiseach of this country?

Even if the DPP won't prosecute, the government could seize the assets of the religious orders and expel them from the country. But they don't. In the twelve years or so of Fianna Fáil, almost all government functions have been outsourced to quangos, so ministers evade responsibility. It is disgusting and treacherous. The buck has to stop somewhere.

Brady’s real role in the sex abuse cover up

I have a new post on GlobalComment:


Cardinal Seán Brady celebrated mass on Easter Sunday with some pretty words about rebirth, apologies and child sexual abuse. He did not mention that in the previous week he was asked by survivors of clerical sex abuse to resign. He did not announce his resignation. Instead, during his Easter Sunday sermon, he pledged to remain in his position:

I am resolved to continue to keep the safeguarding of children central to the Mission of the Catholic Church in Ireland. We all have a critical part to play in safeguarding children.

Implicitly, Brady refuses to resign. He will not carry out the request of the survivors of clerical sex abuse. Yet he sees no difficulty including in preaching about the seriousness of the wounds inflicted by the church:

We must take them seriously. We can only move on into the future if we first own our own personal misdeeds. We have to recognise the harm they have done and be resolved to do whatever is necessary to atone for the crimes that have happened and prevent their reoccurrence. Once again, I apologise with all my heart to all survivors of clerical child sexual abuse. At the Good Friday ceremonies in Dundalk I pledged that proper reparation would be made for the harm that has been caused and I renew that pledge this morning.

While it is not quite a non-apology apology, it comes close. As the primate of all Ireland, Brady speaks in generalities. He does not apologise for his personal sins of omission and commission.

Indeed, the portrayal of Brady as a youthful, ignorant school master is a public relations exercise. He received his advanced degree in canon law at the elite Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. There is no Catholic education institution more highly regarded than that he attended. The man is an expert on canon law and has been since 1957.

At the young age of thirty nine, Brady was asked by his bishop, Francis McKiernan, to conduct a canonical inquiry into an allegation of child sexual abuse by Norbertine priest Brendan Smyth. The upshot of the inquiry led to the suspension of Smyth’s confessional privileges. Brady reported to McKiernan who, in turn, passed the information to Norbertine Abbot Kevin Smith, Smyth’s superior.

The question is why was the information never passed on to the police. To answer that, I delved into the history of the monastery. I spoke extensively to people from the diocese of Kilmore, many of whom knew the protagonists well.

I was told that Felim Colwell, Abbot at Kilnacrott until 1968, was a strange man. He had grandiose ideas and an inflated view of his own self importance. At public ceremonies in Saint Patrick and Saint Feidlim’s Cathedral in Cavan, Colwell would dress entirely in white, mimicking the Pope, and proffer his ring to be kissed. This was unusual and made quite an impression on those who attended such functions.


Continue reading here

Abominations

Vid via Panti

Also "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination" is from Leviticus 18:22. Apart from it being Jewish law and not a commandment, do you know what else is in Leviticus?

• No sex during a period (15:19)
• Slavery is grand as long as the slaves are not from around here (25:44)
• Shellfish is an abomination (11:10)
• No going near the altar if you have less than 20/20 vision, a cold sore, physical disability or testicle issues (21:20)
• Clipping the side of your beard or the hair at your temples is also a no no (19:27)
• No rabbit stew or pork and certainly no football (11:6-9)
• You must stone blasphemers. That's one way to rid us of the government (24:14)
• You can't grow potatoes and turnips in the same field. (19:19)
• Wearing cotton and silk is an abomination. I'm sure all the princes of the church keep that decree very strictly indeed. (19:19)
• Doesn't matter if you have high blood pressure, you must salt your food (2:13)
• None of your food can contain blood or fat (sucks to be you) (2:17)
• If you fuck up, you have to atone through blood sacrifice, even if you didn't know you fucked up. (4:13)

and

• An extra special one for the pope and the bishops: if you have information on a crime, you got to speak up (5:1)

My analysis of the first letter of Benedict to the Hibernians

Benedict sent a pastoral letter to the Catholics of Ireland, not the people of Ireland.

PASTORAL LETTER OF THE HOLY FATHER POPE BENEDICT XVI TO THE CATHOLICS OF IRELAND

Does that mean both practising Catholics and people who were baptised but have lapsed? What about those who have left the church or those of other or no religions? In just the title Benedict excludes. 92% of schools in Ireland are run by the Catholic church, what about all those parents and children who do not have the freedom to choose a non-demonimational school.

1. DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE CHURCH IN IRELAND, it is with great concern that I write to you as Pastor of the universal Church.

Not as a pastor of one of the universal churches but the universal church. There are six organisations that may be referred to as a universal church - Catholic Church, Ecumenism, Unitarian Universalism, Universalism and Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. Naturally Benedict excludes the others and hearkens back to the second century nomenclature of the early Christian church. By doing so, he ignores the East-West Schism and assumes authority over the Orthodox and Protestant Churches.

Like yourselves, I have been deeply disturbed by the information which has come to light regarding the abuse of children and vulnerable young people by members of the Church in Ireland, particularly by priests and religious. I can only share in the dismay and the sense of betrayal that so many of you have experienced on learning of these sinful and criminal acts and the way Church authorities in Ireland dealt with them.

In this paragraph he refrains from mentioning his own role in the coverup of child rape and abuse, despite urging bishops not to report these crimes to the civil authorities. In addition, various priests risked disfavour by informing past Papal Nuncios who ignored the complaints.

As you know, I recently invited the Irish bishops to a meeting here in Rome to give an account of their handling of these matters in the past and to outline the steps they have taken to respond to this grave situation. Together with senior officials of the Roman Curia, I listened to what they had to say, both individually and as a group, as they offered an analysis of mistakes made and lessons learned, and a description of the programmes and protocols now in place. Our discussions were frank and constructive. I am confident that, as a result, the bishops will now be in a stronger position to carry forward the work of repairing past injustices and confronting the broader issues associated with the abuse of minors in a way consonant with the demands of justice and the teachings of the Gospel.

Frank discussions there may have been, but how can the bishops carry forward in the teachings of the gospel? They have not been able to do so before. There was plenty of "suffer[ing for] the little children" but there was no Christlike love. Jesus says through Matthew 18.6, Mark 9.42 and Luke 17.2 "whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea".

2. For my part, considering the gravity of these offences, and the often inadequate response to them on the part of the ecclesiastical authorities in your country, I have decided to write this Pastoral Letter to express my closeness to you and to propose a path of healing, renewal and reparation.

Could be loosely translated as, "it's not my responsibility but here is a token to soothe your wounded feelings". Feels flippant - full of words and signifying nothing.

It is true, as many in your country have pointed out, that the problem of child abuse is peculiar neither to Ireland nor to the Church.

He minimises the role of the church. It is the same tactic that Christopher Jones used a few weeks back. Didn't work then, won't work now.

Nevertheless, the task you now face is to address the problem of abuse that has occurred within the Irish Catholic community, and to do so with courage and determination. No one imagines that this painful situation will be resolved swiftly. Real progress has been made, yet much more remains to be done. Perseverance and prayer are needed, with great trust in the healing power of God’s grace.

The real progress has been the exposure through legal proceedings of the rape, abuse, torture and slavery imposed on children by members of the Catholic Church.

At the same time, I must also express my conviction that, in order to recover from this grievous wound, the Church in Ireland must first acknowledge before the Lord and before others the serious sins committed against defenceless children.

Yes. That is good. The church must acknowledge its crimes and be subject to civil law.

Such an acknowledgement, accompanied by sincere sorrow for the damage caused to these victims and their families, must lead to a concerted effort to ensure the protection of children from similar crimes in the future. As you take up the challenges of this hour, I ask you to remember “the rock from which you were hewn” (Is 51:1). Reflect upon the generous, often heroic, contributions made by past generations of Irish men and women to the Church and to humanity as a whole, and let this provide the impetus for honest self-examination and a committed programme of ecclesial and individual renewal.

There were many great men and women of the Church in the past but it was a church of God then. It was not the corrupt institution ruling for the sake of ruling.

It is my prayer that, assisted by the intercession of her many saints and purified through penance, the Church in Ireland will overcome the present crisis and become once more a convincing witness to the truth and the goodness of Almighty God, made manifest in his Son Jesus Christ.

I wish I could believe that the Church in Ireland will begin following the teachings of Christ. But the institution has rarely had any truck with that, except as a cudgel.

3. Historically, the Catholics of Ireland have proved an enormous force for good at home and abroad. Celtic monks like Saint Columbanus spread the Gospel in Western Europe and laid the foundations of medieval monastic culture. The ideals of holiness, charity and transcendent wisdom born of the Christian faith found expression in the building of churches and monasteries and the establishment of schools, libraries and hospitals, all of which helped to consolidate the spiritual identity of Europe. Those Irish missionaries drew their strength and inspiration from the firm faith, strong leadership and upright morals of the Church in their native land.

Columbanus was not a Catholic. Patrick was not a Catholic. Brigid was not a Catholic. These three were Christians. The East-West Schism was in the eleventh century. Catholic is what western Christianity became after the schism and prior to the Reformation.

From the sixteenth century on, Catholics in Ireland endured a long period of persecution, during which they struggled to keep the flame of faith alive in dangerous and difficult circumstances. Saint Oliver Plunkett, the martyred Archbishop of Armagh, is the most famous example of a host of courageous sons and daughters of Ireland who were willing to lay down their lives out of fidelity to the Gospel.

This is partly true. But what is ignored is the close association between national politics and religion.

After Catholic Emancipation, the Church was free to grow once more. Families and countless individuals who had preserved the faith in times of trial became the catalyst for the great resurgence of Irish Catholicism in the nineteenth century.

And grew rich off the backs of the poor.

The Church provided education, especially for the poor, and this was to make a major contribution to Irish society. Among the fruits of the new Catholic schools was a rise in vocations: generations of missionary priests, sisters and brothers left their homeland to serve in every continent, especially in the English-speaking world.

The rise in vocations is hardly unusual considering that it was the first time in centuries that schools were recruiting grounds for the religious; and that one did not have to provide a large dowry to become a member of the church.

The issue of education is one that is often raised but in truth, the church received money from the government to educate the people. Quid pro quo.

They were remarkable not only for their great numbers, but for the strength of their faith and the steadfastness of their pastoral commitment. Many dioceses, especially in Africa, America and Australia, benefited from the presence of Irish clergy and religious who preached the Gospel and established parishes, schools and universities, clinics and hospitals that served both Catholics and the community at large, with particular attention to the needs of the poor.

Spreading the "prayer to shivering prayer" version of Irish Catholicism.

In almost every family in Ireland, there has been someone – a son or a daughter, an aunt or an uncle – who has given his or her life to the Church. Irish families rightly esteem and cherish their loved ones who have dedicated their lives to Christ, sharing the gift of faith with others, and putting that faith into action in loving service of God and neighbour.

It was a means of getting power. Families were expected to send their sons and daughters to the church. I question the consent of all those young people sent to serve.

4. In recent decades, however, the Church in your country has had to confront new and serious challenges to the faith arising from the rapid transformation and secularization of Irish society.

Indeed. The church has lost the de facto theocracy and have had to adjust to the ensuing lack of power.

Fast-paced social change has occurred, often adversely affecting people’s traditional adherence to Catholic teaching and values. All too often, the sacramental and devotional practices that sustain faith and enable it to grow, such as frequent confession, daily prayer and annual retreats, were neglected.

Again, yes. As the power of the church declined, people were given the freedom to choose and evaluate whether the institution had value in their lives.

Significant too was the tendency during this period, also on the part of priests and religious, to adopt ways of thinking and assessing secular realities without sufficient reference to the Gospel. The programme of renewal proposed by the Second Vatican Council was sometimes misinterpreted and indeed, in the light of the profound social changes that were taking place, it was far from easy to know how best to implement it.

Right. It was due to a misinterpretation.

In particular, there was a well-intentioned but misguided tendency to avoid penal approaches to canonically irregular situations. It is in this overall context that we must try to understand the disturbing problem of child sexual abuse, which has contributed in no small measure to the weakening of faith and the loss of respect for the Church and her teachings.

When one finds out that priests, monks and nuns are raping, beating and torturing children in secret and preaching chastity and hellfire in public, one quickly loses all respect for the church and its failure to protect children.

Only by examining carefully the many elements that gave rise to the present crisis can a clear-sighted diagnosis of its causes be undertaken and effective remedies be found. Certainly, among the contributing factors we can include: inadequate procedures for determining the suitability of candidates for the priesthood and the religious life; insufficient human, moral, intellectual and spiritual formation in seminaries and novitiates; a tendency in society to favour the clergy and other authority figures; and a misplaced concern for the reputation of the Church and the avoidance of scandal, resulting in failure to apply existing canonical penalties and to safeguard the dignity of every person. Urgent action is needed to address these factors, which have had such tragic consequences in the lives of victims and their families, and have obscured the light of the Gospel to a degree that not even centuries of persecution succeeded in doing.

Yeah.

5. On several occasions since my election to the See of Peter, I have met with victims of sexual abuse, as indeed I am ready to do in the future. I have sat with them, I have listened to their stories, I have acknowledged their suffering, and I have prayed with them and for them.

But Benedict will not meet with Irish survivors of rape. Nor did he withdraw the letter to sent to the bishops to coverup the abuse

Earlier in my pontificate, in my concern to address this matter, I asked the bishops of Ireland, “to establish the truth of what happened in the past, to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent it from occurring again, to ensure that the principles of justice are fully respected, and above all, to bring healing to the victims and to all those affected by these egregious crimes”
(Address to the Bishops of Ireland, 28 October 2006).

Yet the apology has only come after the revelations of widespread abuse and the cover up. Hardly a proactive approach.

With this Letter, I wish to exhort all of you, as God’s people in Ireland, to reflect on the wounds inflicted on Christ’s body, the sometimes painful remedies needed to bind and heal them, and the need for unity, charity and mutual support in the long-term process of restoration and ecclesial renewal. I now turn to you with words that come from my heart, and I wish to speak to each of you individually and to all of you as brothers and sisters in the Lord.

This is arrogance personified. Irish people know Christ. We read the gospels. We know that it is the Church and not the God that has committed the crimes. Christ's love is absolute. It is not conditional. Christ loves his children.

It is men who profess to be doing his work that have wounded us, raped our children, denounced our daughters from pulpits. It is the priests, monks, nuns and bishops who have sought to cover up the crimes, horrific and disgusting crimes. It is faith in the Church that is shaken, not the faith in Christ. We are capable of differentiating.

6. To the victims of abuse and their families
You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry. I know that nothing can undo the wrong you have endured. Your trust has been betrayed and your dignity has been violated. Many of you found that, when you were courageous enough to speak of what happened to you, no one would listen. Those of you who were abused in residential institutions must have felt that there was no escape from your sufferings. It is understandable that you find it hard to forgive or be reconciled with the Church. In her name, I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel. At the same time, I ask you not to lose hope. It is in the communion of the Church that we encounter the person of Jesus Christ, who was himself a victim of injustice and sin. Like you, he still bears the wounds of his own unjust suffering. He understands the depths of your pain and its enduring effect upon your lives and your relationships, including your relationship with the Church. I know some of you find it difficult even to enter the doors of a church after all that has occurred. Yet Christ’s own wounds, transformed by his redemptive sufferings, are the very means by which the power of evil is broken and we are reborn to life and hope. I believe deeply in the healing power of his self-sacrificing love – even in the darkest and most hopeless situations – to bring liberation and the promise of a new beginning.

Speaking to you as a pastor concerned for the good of all God’s children, I humbly ask you to consider what I have said. I pray that, by drawing nearer to Christ and by participating in the life of his Church – a Church purified by penance and renewed in pastoral charity – you will come to rediscover Christ’s infinite love for each one of you. I am confident that in this way you will be able to find reconciliation, deep inner healing and peace.

I will not comment on this as I am not a survivor of clerical abuse.

7. To priests and religious who have abused children
You betrayed the trust that was placed in you by innocent young people and their parents, and you must answer for it before Almighty God and before properly constituted tribunals. You have forfeited the esteem of the people of Ireland and brought shame and dishonour upon your confreres. Those of you who are priests violated the sanctity of the sacrament of Holy Orders in which Christ makes himself present in us and in our actions. Together with the immense harm done to victims, great damage has been done to the Church and to the public perception of the priesthood and religious life. I urge you to examine yourconscience, take responsibility for the sins you have committed, and humbly express your sorrow. Sincere repentance opens the door to God’s forgiveness and the grace of true amendment. By offering prayers and penances for those you have wronged, you should seek to atone personally for your actions. Christ’s redeeming sacrifice has the power to forgive even the gravest of sins, and to bring forth good from even the most terrible evil. At the same time, God’s justice summons us to give an account of our actions and to conceal nothing. Openly acknowledge your guilt, submit yourselves to the demands of justice, but do not despair of God’s mercy.

What a wonderful sacrament is confession. Just say you're sorry and seek absolution. It is very easy to be sorry directly after committing a crime but that fades and the cycle begins again.

Life sentence in prison would be good to start with. They can pray in prison.

8. To parents
You have been deeply shocked to learn of the terrible things that took place in what ought to be the safest and most secure environment of all. In today’s world it is not easy to build a home and to bring up children. They deserve to grow up in security, loved and cherished, with a strong sense of their identity and worth. They have a right to be educated in authentic moral values rooted in the dignity of the human person, to be inspired by the truth of our Catholic faith and to learn ways of behaving and acting that lead to healthy self-esteem and lasting happiness. This noble but demanding task is entrusted in the first place to you, their parents. I urge you to play your part in ensuring the best possible care of children, both at home and in society as a whole, while the Church, for her part, continues to implement the measures adopted in recent years to protect young people in parish and school environments. As you carry out your vital responsibilities, be assured that I remain close to you and I offer you the support of my
prayers.

How nice that a man in Rome tells people how they feel. He will be close to you. He will pray. Why yes that idea is incredibly creepy.

9. To the children and young people of Ireland
I wish to offer you a particular word of encouragement. Your experience of the Church is very different from that of your parents and grandparents. The world has changed greatly since they were your age. Yet all people, in every generation, are called to travel the same path through life, whatever their circumstances may be. We are all scandalized by the sins and failures of some of the Church's members, particularly those who were chosen especially to guide and serve young people. But it is in the Church that you will find Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and for ever (cf. Heb 13:8). He loves you and he has offered himself on the cross for you. Seek a personal relationship with him within the communion of his Church, for he will never betray your trust! He alone can satisfy your deepest longings and give your lives their fullest meaning by directing them to the service of others. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and his goodness, and shelter the flame of faith in your heart. Together with your fellow Catholics in Ireland, I look to you to be faithful disciples of our Lord and to bring your much-needed enthusiasm and idealism to the rebuilding and renewal of our beloved Church.

I don't think that the church is the way to Jesus Christ. Certainly people can seek a relationship with him outside the church. The hypocrisy might be a little difficult to bear.

10. To the priests and religious of Ireland
All of us are suffering as a result of the sins of our confreres who betrayed a sacred trust or failed to deal justly and responsibly with allegations of abuse. In view of the outrage and indignation which this has provoked, not only among the lay faithful but among yourselves and your religious communities, many of you feel personally discouraged, even abandoned. I am also aware that in some people’s eyes you are tainted by association, and viewed as if you were somehow responsible for the misdeeds of others. At this painful time, I want to acknowledge the dedication of your priestly and religious lives and apostolates, and I invite you to reaffirm your faith in Christ, your love of his Church and your confidence in the Gospel's promise of redemption, forgiveness and interior renewal. In this way, you will demonstrate for all to see that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more (cf. Rom 5:20). I know that many of you are disappointed, bewildered and angered by the way these matters have been handled by some of your superiors. Yet, it is essential that you cooperate closely with those in authority and help to ensure that the measures adopted to respond to the crisis will be truly evangelical, just and effective. Above all, I urge you to become ever more clearly men and women of prayer, courageously following the path of conversion, purification and reconciliation. In this way, the Church in Ireland will draw new life and vitality from your witness to the Lord's redeeming power made visible in your lives.

Why not start again if they really believe? Go back to the Gospels and forget about the accumulated dogma of centuries. Live in the stone huts and eat the berries of the forests and all that. I don't understand how any person who actually believes what they preach could stand by and be associated to the corrupt institution.

11. To my brother bishops
It cannot be denied that some of you and your predecessors failed, at times grievously, to apply the long-established norms of canon law to the crime of child abuse. Serious mistakes were made in responding to allegations. I recognize how difficult it was to grasp the extent and complexity of the problem, to obtain reliable information and to make the right decisions in the light of conflicting expert advice. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that grave errors of judgement were made and failures of leadership occurred. All this has seriously undermined your credibility and effectiveness. I appreciate the efforts you have made to remedy past mistakes and to guarantee that they do not happen again. Besides fully implementing the norms of canon law in addressing cases of child abuse, continue to cooperate with the civil authorities in their area of competence. Clearly, religious superiors should do likewise. They too have taken part in recent discussions here in Rome with a view to establishing a clear and consistent approach to these matters. It is imperative that the child safety norms of the Church in Ireland be continually revised and updated and that they be applied fully and impartially in conformity with canon law. Only decisive action carried out with complete honesty and transparency will restore the respect and good will of the Irish people towards the Church to which we have consecrated our lives. This must arise, first and foremost, from your own self-examination, inner purification and spiritual renewal. The Irish people rightly expect you to be men of God, to be holy, to live simply, to pursue personal conversion daily. For them, in the words of Saint Augustine, you are a bishop; yet with them you are called to be a follower of Christ (cf. Sermon 340, 1). I therefore exhort you to renew your sense of accountability before God, to grow in solidarity with your people and to deepen your pastoral concern for all the members of your flock. In particular, I ask you to be attentive to the spiritual and moral lives of each one of your priests. Set them an example by your own lives, be close to them, listen to their concerns, offer them encouragement at this difficult time and stir up the flame of their love for Christ and their commitment to the service of their brothers and sisters. The lay faithful, too, should be encouraged to play their proper part in the life of the Church. See that they are formed in such a way that they can offer an articulate and convincing account of the Gospel in the midst of modern society (cf. 1 Pet 3:15) and cooperate more fully in the Church’s life and mission. This in turn will help you once again become credible leaders and witnesses to the redeeming truth of Christ.

Not accountability before God but accountability before the people of Ireland. Throw open your libraries and admit your collusion. Use your time in prison to reflect and then go on a pilgrimage. Maybe then you can start again in a seminary.

12. To all the faithful of Ireland
A young person’s experience of the Church should always bear fruit in a personal and life-giving encounter with Jesus Christ within a loving, nourishing community. In this environment, young people should be encouraged to grow to their full human and spiritual stature, to aspire to high ideals of holiness, charity and truth, and to draw inspiration from the riches of a great religious and cultural tradition. In our increasingly secularized society, where even we Christians often find it difficult to speak of the transcendent dimension of our existence, we need to find new ways to pass on to young people the beauty and richness of friendship with Jesus Christ in the communion of his Church. In confronting the present crisis, measures to deal justly with individual crimes are essential, yet on their own they are not enough: a new vision is needed, to inspire present and future generations to treasure the gift of our common faith. By treading the path marked out by the Gospel, by observing the commandments and by conforming your lives ever more closely to the figure of Jesus Christ, you will surely experience the profound renewal that is so urgently needed at this time. I invite you all to persevere along this path.

Observing the commandments, right. Those are the things that equate wives with property, right? Those are the edicts that regardless of circumstance you obey your parents, right? The commandments are Old Testament. Christ gave one commandment - love one another as I have loved you. Remember that one?

13. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is out of deep concern for all of you at this painful time in which the fragility of the human condition has been so starkly revealed that I have wished to offer these words of encouragement and support. I hope that you will receive them as a sign of my spiritual closeness and my confidence in your ability to respond to the challenges of the present hour by drawing renewed inspiration and strength from Ireland’s noble traditions of fidelity to the Gospel, perseverance in the faith and steadfastness in the pursuit of holiness. In solidarity with all of you, I am praying earnestly that, by God’s grace, the wounds afflicting so many individuals and families may be healed and that the Church in Ireland may experience a season of rebirth and spiritual renewal.

The institution of the church is not the same as faith in God.

14. I now wish to propose to you some concrete initiatives to address the situation. At the conclusion of my meeting with the Irish bishops, I asked that Lent this year be set aside as a time to pray for an outpouring of God’s mercy and the Holy Spirit’s gifts of holiness and strength upon the Church in your country. I now invite all of you to devote your Friday penances, for a period of one year, between now and Easter 2011, to this intention. I ask you to offer up your fasting, your prayer, your reading of Scripture and your works of mercy in order to obtain the grace of healing and renewal for the Church in Ireland. I encourage you to discover anew the sacrament of Reconciliation and to avail yourselves more frequently of the transforming power of its grace. Particular attention should also be given to Eucharistic adoration, and in every diocese there should be churches or chapels specifically devoted to this purpose. I ask parishes, seminaries, religious houses and monasteries to organize periods of Eucharistic adoration, so that all have an opportunity to take part. Through intense prayer before the real presence of the Lord, you can make reparation for the sins of abuse that have done so much harm, at the same time imploring the grace of renewed strength and a deeper sense of mission on the part of all bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful. I am confident that this programme will lead to a rebirth of the Church in Ireland in the fullness of God’s own truth, for it is the truth that sets us free (cf. Jn 8:32).

So Benedict's idea of concrete action is having a bit of an old pray. Yeah very concrete action. I think one of the cardinals show show the man a dictionary.

Furthermore, having consulted and prayed about the matter, I intend to hold an Apostolic Visitation of certain dioceses in Ireland, as well as seminaries and religious congregations. Arrangements for the Visitation, which is intended to assist the local Church on her path of renewal, will be made in cooperation with the competent offices of the Roman Curia and the Irish Episcopal Conference. The details will be announced in due course. I also propose that a nationwide Mission be held for all bishops, priests and religious. It is my hope that, by drawing on the expertise of experienced preachers and retreat-givers from Ireland and from elsewhere, and by exploring anew the conciliar documents, the liturgical rites of ordination and profession, and recent pontifical teaching, you will come to a more profound appreciation of your respective vocations, so as to rediscover the roots of your faith in Jesus Christ and to drink deeply from the springs of living water that he offers you through his Church.

If the Apostolic Visitation is an actual investigation rather than a flying visit, it might not be a bad thing but it should be transparent.

In this Year for Priests, I commend to you most particularly the figure of Saint John Mary Vianney, who had such a rich understanding of the mystery of the priesthood. “The priest”, he wrote, “holds the key to the treasures of heaven: it is he who opens the door: he is the steward of the good Lord; the administrator of his goods.” The Curé d’Ars understood well how greatly blessed a community is when served by a good and holy priest: “A good shepherd, a pastor after God’s heart, is the greatest treasure which the good Lord can grant to a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy.” Through the intercession of Saint John Mary Vianney, may the priesthood in Ireland be revitalized, and may the whole Church in Ireland grow in appreciation for the great gift of the priestly ministry

This is the same John Vianney who thundered from pulpits on blasphemy and dancing. He refused absolution to his parishioners who would not give up dancing. What a wonderful role model of Irish clergy. It provokes the image of a return to the 1950s. Perish the thought.

I take this opportunity to thank in anticipation all those who will be involved in the work of organizing the Apostolic Visitation and the Mission, as well as the many men and women throughout Ireland already working for the safety of children in church environments. Since the time when the gravity and extent of the problem of child sexual abuse in Catholic institutions first began to be fully grasped, the Church has done an immense amount of work in many parts of the world in order to address and remedy it. While no effort should be spared in improving and updating existing procedures, I am encouraged by the fact that the current safeguarding practices adopted by local Churches are being seen, in some parts of the world, as a model for other institutions to follow.

Why say things like this? The church has not done an immense amount of work to address child abuse. Rather it indemnified itself from prosecution, put gagging orders on survivors, secured its assets through trusteeships. In fact, at every step it has been a model of what not to do.

I wish to conclude this Letter with a special Prayer for the Church in Ireland, which I send to you with the care of a father for his children and with the affection of a fellow Christian, scandalized and hurt by what has occurred in our beloved Church. As you make use of this prayer in your families, parishes and communities, may the Blessed Virgin Mary protect and guide each of you to a closer union with her Son, crucified and risen. With great affection and unswerving confidence in God’s promises, I cordially impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of strength and peace in the Lord.

From the Vatican, 19 March 2010, on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

Benedict just does not get it. I don't think people who believe in God turn away from God. They turn away from the church. It is the church that failed and continues to fail. It is the arrogance, pride and surety in moral superiority that has failed. If the church in Ireland wants to keep people going to mass then it should reveal all voluntarily, all involved be they abusers or those who covered up the abuse must be booted out of the church. The church must sell its assets to pay compensation to the survivors. The church must withdraw from education, health and politics. The church must focus on begging forgiveness from those it wronged. Then perhaps those remaining in the church should perform pilgrimages - Dublin to Compostella maybe to atone. After that maybe people might come back to the church.

The letter in the whole is full of meaningless words. Little has been said but it took a lot of words to say. Benedict could have used a good editor.

I despise referring to the church as female considering the attitude of that institution to women since its inception.

Brady must go

I've a new post up on GlobalComment:

Years ago, Father Seán Brady interviewed two survivors of the child rapist (Father) Brendan Smyth and then swore them to secrecy. This was standard operating procedure for the Catholic Church, as has been repeatedly revealed in the past few years. From the Catholic Communications Office

On March 29th, 1975, Seán Brady and two other priests interviewed a boy (14) in Dundalk. Seán Brady’s role was to take notes. On April 4th that year, Seán Brady interviewed a second boy (15) in the Parochial House in Ballyjamesduff. On this occasion Brady conducted the inquiry by himself and took notes. At the end of both interviews, the boys were asked to confirm by oath the truthfulness of their statements and that they would preserve the confidentiality of the interview process.

However, this happened in 1975 and Smyth continued to rape children until 1993. Brady said nothing to the civil authorities. Keeping silent, he ascended in the church hierarchy while Smyth claimed more victims. Now Smyth is dead and Brady is the current Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. He was made a cardinal in 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI.

Brady’s actions have come to light recently and the Church has sprung into its default position of denial and justification, using the letter of the law. Monseigneur Maurice Dooley has been doing the publicity circuit in a pathetic attempt to justify Brady’s actions using canon law.

Canon law is, in this context, the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church with roots in Roman law, civil law, purported divine law and what is called natural law. However, the perceived superiority of canon law in the Christian tradition is rooted in the middle ages with the writings of Henry of Segusio aka Hostiensis:

[Hostiensis] did, however, clearly distinguish canon law from civil law… he maintained the superiority of canon law, indicating that in cases of conflict the civil law should yield to the law of the Church [Clarence Gallagher, Canon law and the Christian community (Rome, 1978)]

The perception in RCC continues to the present day. The pope formerly known as Joseph Ratzinger sent a letter to Catholic bishops urging the cover up of child abuse. The letter is in Latin, presumably to harken back to glory days and to limit the comprehension of the masses. Broadly speaking, it urges bishops to report child abuse to Rome, that the Apostolic Tribunal of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is the only body that can deal with these crimes.

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Catholic Church allowed abuse – now wants cash

I've a new post up on GlobalComment

After the Ryan and Murphy reports, were published, shock and anger reverberated throughout Ireland and the world. Questions of how the people of Ireland have failed children so grievously were raised in the media, while the Catholic hierarchy engaged in defence and obfuscation. And then the furore died down, and people went back to worrying about the recession.

Few read the Ryan and Murphy reports and understandably so. No one wants to believe that members of the Church behaved so violently, or that the Church itself was not interested in stopping the violence. The fact that children were the victims made the horror complete.

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The devil made us do it

From the Indo

The growing clerical sex abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church are proof that the Devil is at work inside the Vatican, according to the Holy See's chief exorcist.

Father Gabriele Amorth said the Pope "fully believes in liberation from evil, because the Devil lodges in the Vatican. Naturally it is difficult to find proof, but you can see the consequences". Fr Amorth (85) has been the Vatican's chief exorcist for 25 years and says he has dealt with 70,000 cases of demonic possession.

Amazing how a fictional anthropomorphic personification made the Catholic Church rape, torture, enslave children and then cover it up.  It certainly is a evil being - one so beloved of God. Whatever you call the entity - Lucifer, Satan or the Devil - it must be a terrible burden to be responsible for all the evil in the world.

Blaming an anthropomorphic personification is just another way of refusing to take responsibility for one's actions and that is far more likely in the Catholic Church. There is no excuse too outlandish that the Church will try to wriggle out of admitting its crimes.

Reality is light years away for some bishops

From the Irish Times

The Catholic Bishop of Elphin, Christopher Jones, has accused the media of being “unfair and unjust” to his Church through a concentration on the handling by Church authorities of the clerical child sex abuse issue.

"Could I just say with all this emphasis on cover-up, the cover-up has gone on for centuries, not just in the Church….It’s going on today in families, in communities, in societies, Why are you singling out the Church?,” he asked at a press conference in Maynooth today where the Irish Episcopal Conference was concluding its three-day Spring meeting.

“I object to the way the Church is being isolated and the focus on the Church,” he said “We know we’ve made mistakes. Of course we’ve made mistakes but why this huge isolation of the Church and this huge focus on cover-up in the Church when it has been going on for centuries.”

Nasty media. It hurts us precious.



Douchebag

Enmeshed

This story from the Indo is almost beyond belief - h/t from mediabite on Twitter

NAMA-BOUND property developers Derek Quinlan, Treasury Holdings' Johnny Ronan, Ballymore Properties' Sean Mulryan and Paddy McKillen, one of the so called "Anglo 10", have all emerged as major donors to the Vatican.

The property developers were named in the top 10 borrowers whose loans were bound for Nama in the first wave of transfers last week. Some €16bn worth of loans associated with the 10 biggest borrowers are set to be transferred shortly...

Close to €9m was raised from donors for the restoration project. The donors were given special medallions after a private mass in the Pauline chapel, celebrated by Cardinal Lajolo last July. Solid gold 'Michelangelo' medallions were given to donors who had given more than $1m, with silver 'Raphael' medallions for donors of $500,000 plus. 'Bramante' medals were presented to donors of $250,000 or more. A marble plaque listing the names of all 26 donors, including the Irish builders and bankers, was unveiled in the chapel.

That there are significant links between the Golden Circle and the Vatican feels creepy to me. The Golden Circle represent all that is rotten in Irish property development and banking and they are donors to the Vatican. The same Vatican that covered up the child abuse of thousands in the Dublin Archdiocese. It is repugnant

What was the backhander? Gold medals are one thing but that's no reason for developers to give so generously. They're not exactly known for their generosity to the Irish state anyway.

Given that the taxpayer is paying their debts, the gold should be sold and put towards the reduction of same.

It just makes me wonder, what else is going to be revealed.

Ireland and abortion: something’s got to give

My latest from GlobalComment:

Catholic morals were deeply embedded in Irish society by the theocracy from which Ireland is only now beginning to shake itself loose. Since the middle of the nineteeth century, the Catholic Church took on those responsibilities of the state that were surrendered by England, primarily those concerning education and health.

The Church’s position was solidified after Irish independence, and while the 1937, Constitution granted freedom of religion, it also recognised the “special position of the Holy Catholic Apostolic and Roman Church.” Catholicism and nationalism were tightly linked in the struggle for Irish freedom.

The dominion of the Catholic Church led to the culture of silence around the torture, rape and slavery of children and women by religious congregations and clerics. It was only in the 1970s, with the rise of feminism and freer economic policies, that the iron fist of the Catholic Church loosened around the collective neck of the Irish people.

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61% of citizens wants the RCC out of schools

In a modern social democracy, if an institution was responsible for the mass rape, torture and assault of children then that institution would no longer be responsible for educating children. Those responsible would be tried and convicted and the institution disbanded. Ireland is not a modern social democracy. Religious orders of the Catholic church was still heavily involved in education.

The citizens of Ireland are in favour of the removal of religious orders from primary education according to the latest Irish Times /Ipsos, MRBI poll.

When asked about the issue, 61 per cent of people said the church should give up control of the school system, 28 per cent said it should maintain its position and 11 per cent had no opinion on the matter.

And so they should. The Catholic church has no place in providing the majority of education. That is the state's responsibility. The RCC can keep control of a few schools for the children of the devout who do not take violence against children seriously.

There is always the argument that the torture, rape and assault of children is the fault of individuals but it is clearly an institutional problem. I have referred to Professor Robert Zimbardo before who has conducted extensive research into the mob and institutional mentality. The RCC in Ireland is a criminal institution. The 'bad apples' defense is a fallacy.

For the past ten years, Bertie Ahern has outsourced the state's responsibilities. While education was outsourced prior to his reign, he did nothing to curb the abuse. It was under his leadership that the institutions were granted limited liability for the torture, rape and violence towards citizens of this state.

Brian Cowen has been equally lax on the issue of the church. Despite the damning reports by Ryan and Murphy little has changed. There are reasons for this. The government does not care about the citizenry. It is unable to multitask. But I believe the real reason behind the lack of action is that certain senior government ministers and senior civil servants are known members of the Knights of Columbanus - a secret society of extreme Catholicism.

Membership in a secret society should be off limits to civil servants and public representatives because of the conflict of interest, obviously. It is so evident that there must be legislation against holding public office and membership in secret societies.

Enough. It is time for the state to take the responsibility of education back, along with everything else they have outsourced. The citizens elect the government to govern and that includes being responsible for consequences. No more quangos. No more passing the buck.