Grandads thoughts on the Dublin Diocesan Report
Like most people in the country, I have been reading the Dublin Diocesan Report and following the news and comment.
Unlike most people in the country, there was little in it to surprise me.
I was horrified, of course but it was more or less what I would have expected.
The gut reaction of the media has been to castigate the authorities, and in particular the Gardai who were complicit in the cover-up. Personally, I don’t think they deserve the abuse that some have been heaping on them.
To understand the report, you have to understand what Ireland was like in the last five decades.
Back in the forties, fifties and sixties the ultimate power was the Catholic Church. The final judgement rested not with the Supreme Court but in the Archbishop’s Palace. McQuaid ruled the country with a rod of iron and he was the final arbiter when it came to matters of law, education and even the Constitution.
Having been educated in the fifties and sixties, I can confidently say that I, and the rest of the country, was brainwashed into a mindset that the Catholic Church was not only the only church and the only authority, but that it should be treated with the ultimate deference and respect. Even fifty years later, I can feel the results of that brainwashing as It was drummed into me to an extent that the Church’s philosophy became as much a part of me as my bones.
Last night, I watched Prime Time. It was a horrifying program, as it clinically dissected the evils within the Church. Not so long ago, that programme would never have been aired. The Church hierarchy would have never allowed it. In fact, I can guarantee that the RTE Authority would have been sacked on orders from The Palace.
It is in this light that we must judge the Gardai. They were merely following decades of a philosophy that the Church was right, and that it knew best. The Gardai who refused to accept this were the younger brigade who had not suffered so much of the brainwashing.
I reserve my contempt and hatred for the Church hierarchy who even to this day are pursuing their attitude of superiority. There are exceptions [very few] such as the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, who had the guts to cooperate with the inquiry yet is still incapable of saying a bad word about any one of the perpetrators.
So here we have an institution that is rotten to the core. From the bishops up to and including the pope, there is still an attitude of corruption, greed, lust for power and money and worst of all, an attitude that not only can they do no wrong, but are showing no signs whatsoever of contrition. They have not changed and will not change.
There is one thing that I can say with absolute confidence.
The Catholic Hierarchy has absolutely nothing to do with Christianity or faith.
-oOo-
The Report – Document 1 – Document 2
“From the bishops up to and including the pope, there is still an attitude of corruption, greed, lust for power and money and worst of all, an attitude that not only can they do no wrong, but are showing no signs whatsoever of contrition.”
And those ‘below’? This is part of the problem from the past: the story of ‘the church’ is about priests and bishops. We must remember that a church is only as good as its people. The institution on the other hand….
Eoin – I am hesitant to tar all priests with the same brush. There are a lot of good priests out there who sincerely have faith and do good works. They must be devastated by the bastards who are carrying on the raping and buggery in their midst.
I was listening to Brian D’Arcy earlier. I am not normally a fan of his but he is gutted by the whole affair and is one of the few who is speaking out against the hierarchy. He reckons that the only way forward is for the ordinary people to take the Catholic Religion back for themselves and to effectively dismiss the Institution which is irredeemably corrupt.
My view is that religions are inherently evil institutions. Fear of the unknown is morphed into a means of controlling people for gain of one sort or another. So why would anybody be surprised at the type of people who enlist in it’s officer class.
I honestly think the church has to go. At the very least it should be kicked out of schools, hospitals and orphanages and its lands should be confiscated to address the compensation of those abused children. As for those good priests, they were part of an inherently corrupt organisation and if they didn’t directly know what was going on they had plenty of opportunity to inform themselves.
You’re right that the church ruled this country for decades but it could only do that with the permission of our elected politicians and Fianna Fail were in power for most of that period. And as for the cops, it shouldn’t have mattered what sort of power the church had, they were supposed to be protecting us not the hierarchy. Having said that, I don’t think wider society should be spared. We (I grew up in the 70s) all knew what was going on and turned a blind eye as we were just grateful it wasn’t happening to us.
If you’re interested here is my take on it – http://kickoutthejams.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/altar-ed-state/
My uncle is a priest and so far as I know he’s a good man and a good priest and I was brought up a god fearing Irish Catholic lad. Somewhere between lad and man I lost all respect for the Catholic church or indeed any organised religion simply because of the incredibly venal people who run them. So, question, ” why do I still get a chill down the back of my neck when in a quiet moment of retrospection I denounce them and all their blasphemous works?”
I meant of course introspection.
TT – You may have a point, though I don’t know if I would denounce all religions as evil institutions. Of course, if you give enough people enough power you are going to have corruption, and seeing as the Catholic Church is one of the largest, it is inevitably going to be one of [if not the] worst. Half a century ago, it was considered a singular badge of honor to have one or more of your children in the Church, so many boys were packed off to seminaries when they were barely in their teens. As a result, they grew up in a male dominated misogynistic world, so it’s no wonder they ended up as fucked up as they did.
Sean – I am not saying that anyone should get away with anything. I am merely pointing out that times were different Back Then, which goes some way to understanding why the authorities colluded with the church. In my book, I would be happy to see the lot of them cast into a dungeon and forgotten, with the exception of the offending priests, who should be castrated with rusty shears and no anesthetic. I think it’s a bit of a sweeping statement to say we all knew what was going on. We may have had some suspicions, but what were we supposed to do about them? In hindsight, we did fail the Survivors, but I can’t see exactly what could have been done at the time.
Paulo1 – What you are describing is the effects of the brainwashing. None of us wants to whistle past the graveyard? Having said that, I have no problem in denouncing the Catholic Hierarchy and saying that I sincerely hope they all burn in their respective hells.
Paulo1 – Either will do. 😉
The links to both reports are giving me a “not found” page. Take a look at the links’ URL’s and I’m sure you’ll spot what’s wrong. Just thought you’d like to know (I found them anyway).
Kirk M – My apologies. I forgot that fucking / thing. It’s fixed now, and thanks for pointing it out.
I read that as: “to castrate the authorities, and in particular the Gardai” at first.
I reckon those named and their bishops in turn should have tattoos on their foreheads to describe their crime… even a shopping trip to buy baked beans would be a nightmare for them. Nothing like a bit of branding!
K8 – Let’s castrate ’em as well. The tattoo is a great idea. I might even grow to approve of tattoos?