Sir, – The Republic was reborn with An Taoiseach’s speech in Dáil Éireann. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The Taoiseach mentioned “narcissism” in his speech in the Dáil concerning the Cloyne report.
This personality trait has been identified by experts as present in some bishops who have gravely mishandled the crises and scandal of clerical sexual abuse all over the world. Sinful self-love, the very antithesis of the Gospel, has blinded certain church leaders to the evil of clerical abuse and its devastating spiritual consequences.
The vast majority of sexual abuse is perpetrated in non-church settings. However, the scandals in the church have effectively shut down access to the healing and comfort God seeks to give to all victims of abuse in society.
This is damnable. There will be a terrible accounting for this, before God, from those who have betrayed the faithful.
The Cloyne report and revelations concerning Michael Ferry’s abuse in an environment separate from the church, demand that everyone, in church and State, cease from cynical opportunism and grandstanding.
We must create together a culture in which everyone, in every walk of life, is held to the same high standards and is accountable, without fear or favour. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I was alone in my garden doing a bit of painting while listening to the radio. When Mr Kenny began to speak, I put down my brush and listened carefully. Then I clapped. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I am disgusted and horrified at the findings of the Cloyne report. The hurt that has been caused to so many innocent people is unimaginable. So many lives destroyed by the actions of a few evil people.
I find it an insult to all those people who have suffered so much that Enda Kenny and the Government have used their misfortune as an excuse to attack the church as a whole.
There are many very good priests and bishops who have done great work over the years and who will be remembered long after they are gone for their goodness and holiness. Mr Kenny is trying to take the spiritual nature out of our religion. We didn’t elect him to Government to do that, we elected him to to keep the promises he made during the election campaign. The church is made up of the Pope, bishops, priests and the people. When you attack the church, you attack all of us. Let’s hope the Fine Gael party as a whole remembers that when it comes looking for our votes again. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The silence of the cardinal is deafening. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – A short history of the Irish governing classes’ collective psyche. Blame the British. Blame the EU. Blame the Vatican. Ignore all mirrors. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I would like to express the strongest support for Enda Kenny, and his position regarding the Vatican’s recalcitrance on issues of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church. Ireland may have very little left in the piggy bank, but Mr Kenny appears to be the one Irish leader in modern times to at least save the dignity of Irish men, women and children by standing up to a rapacious and morally defunct organisation that has wrecked so many Irish lives. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Thank you, Enda Kenny, for articulating so well what thinking and angry Irish Catholics have been feeling for a long time. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – At last we have a leader who is not on his knees. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – It is disappointing to see The Irish Timesreporting the Taoiseach's speech on the Cloyne report without noting how, in claiming that the Vatican has attempted within the last three years to frustrate an inquiry into Irish abuse, he appears to have misled the Dáil.
The report states that the nuncio said – correctly – that the nunciature does not deal with abuse cases, and that the diocese would have all the relevant information and was obliged to comply with national laws and regulations.
The report states the diocese handed over everything of relevance, including privileged communications. How can this be construed as a failure to co-operate with the inquiry, let alone an attempt to frustrate it?
Even the Vatican’s now notorious 1997 “intervention”, as the Tánaiste has described it, was nothing of the sort. The report attests that it was a response to the bishops’ request that their agreed guidelines should be made binding. The Vatican refused, explaining that the guidelines could conflict with canon law, such that any abusive priest found guilty under them could potentially and successfully appeal to Rome on procedural grounds. It is hard to see how its insistence that canon law procedures should be “meticulously followed” could be construed as an encouragement to those who were determined to avoid enforcing the church’s rules.
The report recognises the church’s child protection policies are far superior to those of the State. It shows, however, that such policies are worthless if those tasked with implementing them are unwilling to do so.
The Cloyne report is a damning indictment of John Magee and Denis O’Callaghan, but it reveals little about the modern Irish church. – Yours, etc,
Sir, Papal nuncio? Return to sender. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Certainly the “honeymoon era” between the Roman Catholic church and State is well and truly over in Ireland.
Enda Kenny’s censure of the Vatican for its collusion in child abuse to protect its own image and power has given the Irish people a unique opportunity to “reform” the church and make it fit for purpose.
In Irish history “reform” has been a dirty word; it usually came in the vanguard of the coloniser, and both were resisted in popular culture. Yet, after the Ryan and Murphy reports nothing constructive was done. The status quo remained that led to the events in Cloyne “three years ago”. How many more Cloynes are needed to give the impetus to reform?
The church of St Patrick and St Brigid needs to reappear on this island, a church which respects the dignity of all human beings, cherishes and protects its children and acts in the national interest rather than that of a foreign power. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Now the Taoiseach has made it clear that we are no longer docile sheep, can we hope to hear no more pronouncements from the Vatican referring to the shepherd and his flock? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Enda Kenny’s speech in the Dáil yesterday was a watershed. These were long-overdue words that practically every citizen will wholeheartedly endorse.
However, in considering the appalling abuse of children, we must not lose sight of the fundamental reasons why the church’s crimes against children were allowed to continue without interruption for decades.
In my view, the complete absence of women from positions of authority of the church is one of the primary reasons. If we had women clergy, their innate maternal compassion would have resulted in direct intervention many decades ago. Even if we had married clergy, the wives of priests would have influenced the clergy to root out the abusers before their actions proliferated. Because the church is entirely male, the abuse was covered up and it continued unabated for decades.
With hindsight, it is not surprising that such a biased, skewed organisation managed by elderly, male celibates failed to act to protect our children. Women in power in the church would have protected the church from itself.
Another fundamental reason is the complete absence of democracy in the church. If the church was managed by ordinary, lay Catholics who appointed priests, elected bishops and controlled finances, then these parents would have intervened decades ago. The current hierarchy is accountable only to an uncaring Vatican, which is itself concerned solely with power, control and self-protection. Without democracy, the church will undoubtedly continue to lack empathy and an inability to take immediate, effective and punitive action against the abusers.
So, let us take heart from Enda Kenny’s words to end immediately the inappropriate deference to the Catholic Church by completely separating the church from the State, especially in the areas of education and health.
We must now name and shame the cabal within the hierarchy and get them out! – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Enda Kenny should take heed of an old French saying, Qui mange du pape, en meurt. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – On Wednesday, we had the Taoiseach’s important speech setting the boundaries between church and State and setting the standards that his actions and those of his Government will subsequently be measured against in the crucial matter of the protection of children.
Yesterday, as well as heartfelt appreciation of his stance, we also had intransigent defenders of the Catholic Church refusing to grasp the overall truth of his vision and instead picking on separate legalistic threads they can fray in the hope of undermining his position.
What they totally miss – and the element that has been overlooked in all of this awful tragedy of clerical child sexual abuse – is the inappropriateness of any attempt at defence on behalf of the church. If the church were to be true to the values of its founder, we could have expected from it standards of love – expressed as compassion, goodness, total care for its vulnerable members and immediate sorrow – if it found any breach of these values.
The contrast between such expectation and reality needs no restatement. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – It seems remarkable that it is only 40 years ago next year when article 44.1.2 was deleted in its entirety from our Constitution: “The State recognises the special position of the Holy Catholic Apostolic and Roman Church as the guardian of the Faith professed by the great majority of the citizens.” – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Is it not time for the Christian community in Ireland to withdraw its facilitating submission to dysfunctional leadership and to colonial religious control? Jesus urged his disciples not to follow an abusive leadership that justified control by an appeal to tradition.
Ireland today is faced with either a descent into the abyss of atheism or a renewal of Christianity based on the person and teaching of Jesus and the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
As we observe the explosion of new congregations in Ireland, I believe this is already happening.
Sir, – Could Brian Cowen or “The One Who Went Before” have made that speech yesterday? Bravo, Taoiseach. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Eric Conway (July 7th) suggested political parties should be banned from holding collections in church grounds.
Surely it would be better to ban collections inside all churches. If we cannot trust the Roman Catholic Church with our children, then why trust them with our money? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – It is odd that the apostolic nuncio in Ireland is regarded as dean of the diplomatic corps and that he is the first diplomat to present new year greetings to the President. Vatican representatives do not deserve such privileges. – Yours, etc,