Silence of the wolves
For a while there, I was very confused.
First there was the Murphy Report that exposed the inherent evil within the Dublin Diocese. Children were systematically raped and abused, yet the Vatican has absolutely nothing to say about it. The bishops are ‘reflecting’ but doing fuck all else. The lesson I learned from this is that it is apparently quite all right to molest children, rape them and then toss them aside before moving on to fresh pastures.
Then there was the case of the priest who defaulted on his taxes. Unlike the bishops, he gets a belt of the crosier because he called the tax people a shower of bastards and said they were responsible for people committing suicide. This is where I began to get really confused. It is apparently all right for the bishops to cause people to commit suicide, but you can’t say that about the tax people? The Church got very upset about it anyway. I didn’t learn any lesson from this, as it made no sense.
Then there is the case of the cardinal who said the homosexuals and transsexuals can’t go to heaven. Now I would have thought this was just part of the theological rubbish that is constantly pouring out of the Catholic Church, along with all that crap about contraception and celibacy and the like. Not so however. This apparently is far far worse than defaulting on your taxes or raping children. Why? Because the Vatican got involved. They got very hot under the dog-collar, right up to the very top of the organisation and retracted the cardinals statement.
So here are the facts.
Rape children to your heart’s content. Result? Catholic church not interested. Carry on. It’s quite OK.
Become a major tax defaulter and call the tax people names. Result? The bishops are going to get very annoyed with you but the Vatican couldn’t give a shite. Tax people are obviously more important than children though.
Say that homosexuals are sinners. Result? All hell breaks loose and the Vatican screams from the rooftops. This is obviously a heinous crime.
I found it difficult to reconcile these three reactions. They seems to be utterly disproportionate.
But then it struck me.
I understand now.
According to the Catholic Church, you can do whatever the fuck you like. You can systematically rape young boys and girls. You can evade taxes to your heart’s content. But what you must never ever do is say anything.
It’s the Eleventh Commandment.
Keep your fucking mouth shut.
Thats what Canon Law is all about Grandad. The church being the first globalised corporation has been under the impression for a long time that its internal regulations, known as Canon Law are superior to the law of any land in which they operate.
The unfortunate thing and the major difference between Canon Law and Civil Law is that under Canon Law a paedophile priest can make a good confession, complete a penance and then back to whatever he was doing before with the blessings of the church as we well know.
Civil Law quite sensibly takes account contrition when sentencing but under no circumstances would it convict and allow a paedophile to say ‘sorry about that’ and walk out the door.
Civil Law and those who are under the impression that it is superior to the laws of the Republic of Ireland must be driven out of the Irish public policy sphere. Anything less is subversive to the Republic itself as we have seen over the years with Vatican rats like Michael Woods.
I prefer the unwritten Eleventh Commandment – Keep thy fucking religion to thyself.
Cap’n – Confession is a brilliant concept. It’s up there with mental reservations – a blank cheque to do what the hell you like. I couldn’t agree more with your commandment, but why is the church so ingrained in the affairs of state? Your friend and mine – that little fucker John Charles McQuaid.
Exactly. There is a fair amount of evidence stacking up concerning the relationship between McQuaid and De Valera to say that the Irish Constitution was subject to McQuaid’s approval and drafting- hence the screamingly stupid preamble to Bunnreacht Na hEireann.
De Valera was of course a papal knight. As have most Taoiseachs and senior members of the Irish Government right up to the last few decades.
Ireland never got a Republic. In terms of social control Rome was handed Home Rule over Ireland and the rest of use were handed mythology on a plate.
I have a feeling that its going to take a Second Republic and an entirely new constitution before we can genuinely say there has ever been a Republic in Ireland.
You enjoyed a real Republic over the summer, recalling those nice photos you took. France is a real Republic. We should move towards Liberte, Fraternite, Egalite and away from ‘Yes, Your Holiness’.
John Cooney’s excellent biography of McQuaid suggests things might have been even worse if de Valera had not shown some resistance to pressure from the Archbishop.
Separation of church and state is what is needed – the opportunities for paedophiles would not have arisen if the church had never gained such a position of power. Power that rests on notions of infallibility and absolute authority that will collapse like a house of cards if the church starts admitting things.
Well said Grandad,
John Charles McQuaid & De Valera have an awful lot to answer for and I believe the majority of the blame for all the abuse can be laid at their doors.
They insured no-one took on the Catholic Church or spoke out against them. Unmarried mothers were sent to the launderies & the children they were forced to give up were sent to the industrial schools & probably ended up being abused by these sanctimonious pricks.
This country is now in Dire need of proper leadership, it is patantly obvious that Cowen is incapable of this.
Bishop Murray is in a position of authority over the schools in Limerick, this brings him into direct contact with the Department of Education, who are responsible for the safety and education of the children of this state. Bishop Murray has proven that he doesn’t give a toss about children or their well being and therefore the dept should be in a position to remove him or at least publicly request he step down.
At least Kenny has shown some leadership by saying all the bishops named should and must resign.
Not living in Ireland at the moment this has mostly passed me by, as the media coverage over here wouldn’t be what it is at home. Just to note I don’t attend mass or haven’t done so since I made a killing on my confirmation and got that new bike, the financial incentive was gone after that.
So I discussed this the other day over the phone with my mother. To give you a little bit of insight, her two brothers are priests, she gives a huge amount of time and energy to her local church, going to mass most days and also acting as a minister of the Eucharist etc. (quite the “holy joe” by all accounts) But after the publication of the Murphy report she has decided to my utter astonishment not to attend mass anymore, she has sworn to never support the Catholic church again. Is this the general reaction over there? I reckon it’s the only one that will work.
The only way forward now is for this country to separate itself entirely from the Catholic Church. Paisley and his crown in the North are spot on when they talk about Rome Rule, and it is time that was irrevokably stopped. They Church should have no more influence in this country than the likes of McDonalds.
Johnie – It really saddens me to hear of people like your mother. My mother also was a sacrestan and heavily involved with the parish. If she weren’t dead, she’d be rolling in her grave by now. The Church has betrayed those people in the foulest way. There is a big backlash at the moment with people saying they will never attend mass again, but there will always be the hard core who will refuse to hear the Murphy Report. They just cannot understand the distinction between Faith and Religion.
Do they still sell indulgancies?
Less than 20 years ago an Opus Dei colleague of mine formed the habit of ‘dropping’ religious leaflets around the office until he was told to pack it in by the manager.
One of the leaflets contained a list of indulgences and how much they cost. I can’t remember the details now but I was left shaking my head at the gullibility of people paying for some nebulous group somewhere to pray for them.
Divorce has always been available within the catholic church. Its called annulment and can really only be made available to suitable cases- ie those with the ability to pay for it.
If you tried to explain the catholic church in Ireland to the proverbial man from Mars it just wouldn’t be possible to answer the resulting questions.
Some brass balls the church has, hasn’t it?
Between the catholic church and the politicians you’ve got your work cut out down there. Trouble is I don’t see anybody taking them on, neither the church or the politicians. Complaints a plenty but no-one wants to be counted, no-one wants to challenge the status quo. Why is that? Would any other country’s citizens act so deferentially in the face of being shafted (no crass pun intended) by politicians and churchmen alike and, effectively, do nothing.
Unfortunately the politicians and church will continue to metaphorically rape the citizens because they know they can. They know the people will do nothing other than grumble. The politicians and the church cover each other’s backs safe in the knowledge that only those in the club matter and those outside of it won’t do anything other than talk anyway. The cabal carves out more and more for itself, control, money, power, at the expense of the ordinary man. The ordinary man wilfully plays his part, he dutifully complies.
it’s shameful how a whole nation can be in uproar over a hand ball in a football match….. but then its beyond the same people to march on the dail over the repeated stupidity of the last ten years of government, not to mention this latest disaster…
Good point Johnie. Comparing the Thierry Henry outrage with the whole abuse scandal and cover-up by the Kiddly Fiddler Church and you get a rare insight into the indoctrination practised on the Irish people.
Name me one other private corporation who could operate in Ireland, cover up rampant child abuse among its officers and then propose cutting a deal with the government to get themselves off the hook.
If it was Coca-Cola Ireland some of their executives would have been shot dead by now. But because of the superstitious brainwashing from an early age the church gets to ‘negotiate’ its way out of trouble.
Not in my book.
No, you’re wrong, it’s the first commandment: Whatever you say, say nothing.
Anyway, doesn’t that auld cardinal know that Heaven was a nightclub much favoured by the sort of person he’s bar from the place in the clouds?
@tt Yes, they still do sell indulgences. But these days it’s known as carbon trading. Pay up so you can sin again. Or buy some carbon points so you can pollute to your heart’s content.