Ever since the collapse of the Celtic Tiger and the introduction of austerity measures by the government in the south, the Catholic Church of the majority is being challenged about whose side it is on. Is it with the government in Dublin or is it with the people suffering as a result of the austerity measures? Is it with the powerful or is it with the poor? Some in the Church are with the poor but it is not clear what side the official Church is on. Ideologically they are probably aligned with the government since they have not really made any strong enough statements to indicate that they have really cut all ties with the political and economic establishment.
The Irish Catholic Church has been on the wrong side of the ideological fence for far too long – indeed, for the past few centuries. It needs to change sides if it is to regain credibility as a Christian community committed to serving the poor and marginalised. If it is ever to attract the working class and the poor then it will need to make a clear mission statement that is critical of its role in the past and which announces the good news that it has changed sides.
The Irish Church was largely formed by the seminary in Maynooth and by Archbishop Cullen and John Charles McQuaid. It is still ultra-conservative politically and socially. I am not saying it should go all liberal and accept abortion and euthanasia. That would be completely wrong. The Church’s teaching about protecting life at all stages from the womb to the tomb is a very valid teaching. It was well summarised by Archbishop Joseph Bernardin in Chicago as the ‘ seamless garment’ which advocated for both life and the ending of poverty. Others may disagree and the state may legislate for those others. That is how democracy works in the modern world. The Church must continue to preach the Gospel of Life and the radical Gospel of Justice and Peace. That includes more than a special concern for the poor and charitable giving. It calls for clear and outspoken opposition to the causes of poverty and deprivation. It means changing sides. That will not happen unless the leaders take it on and lead the way in showing solidarity with the poor and oppressed in our country. It will mean the clergy taking some very tough decisions. Some leading lights in the church have shown us the way forward. Fr Peter McVerry, Brother Kevin Crowley and Sr Stanislaus have led the way in the south. In the north Fr Des Wilson in Belfast has marked out the narrow path the church of the future must follow.
We need a debate about the meaning of Church and the purpose of the Church in Ireland, taking account of Vatican II and, more recently, the prophetic words of Pope Francis.
Is the Church a club for respectable people or a movement of the poor and those working in solidarity with the poor to renew the face of the earth? Is the Church in the parish about respectability or about change and solidarity?
In Ireland for two centuries the Church has been in solidarity with the well-off and those in power. In Latin America the Church was once the darling of the political and wealthy establishment. In 1968 at a meeting of the Bishops in Medellin in Colombia the official Catholic Church in Latin America changed sides. The time is coming when it will have to do the same in Ireland or else it will be time to give it the last rites.
It would be wonderful if we could imagine a completely different kind of Church in Ireland for the next two centuries.
More importantly than the Church deciding which side it is on, Irish Catholics need to decide which side they are on viz a vis the Church.
The Irish Catholics are like an abused person who moved from an abusive parent – the English – to an abusive partner – the Catholic Church. That’s a long history of abuse to escape from.
Standing up to the church and making sure it no longer influences or attempts to influence politics or state policy is part of this necessary detachment from a previously damaging relationship.
Agree with everything you say Cushy – here’s a wee vid about After Life Insurance as an indication of the first step forward in overcoming the history of abuse
https://eurofree3.wordpress.com/2016/09/15/after-life-insurance-atheists-do-it-cheapest/
Great blog. True in every aspect. FrJoe needs to include himself in those who show the way. Too modest by far!!!
I would have had a few reservations about the catholic church in recent years, Fr Joe.
The first would be in relation to their handling of clerical abuse in Ireland and worldwide. I was dismayed that paedophile priests got into the priesthood, but angered that the response of those in authority and the official church in general was (like any other big organization politically, socially culturally etc ) initially to be in denial, and then to circle the wagons and hide behind legal defences and protect their financial assets……. Which would lead me to my second reservation, the appropriation, preservation and growth of wealth and assets within the church ( all presided over by a school of cardinals full of self-importance,feeding on adulation and impervious to change) amidst all the poverty and hardship in the world. Its a far cry from ” give up all your material well being and follow me “. How many wearing the collar and holy clerical vestments worldwide are in fact leading duplicitous lives in respect of all the vows they took ? ” The exalted shall be humbled and the humbled exalted ” comes to mind. Keep up your good work, Fr Joe.
You didn’t mention Denis Faul, a man afraid of no one and spoke the truth to all.
I’m gobsmacked at the idea that the Irish Catholic Church should fall down on either the side of the rich or the side of the poor….the Government ,of conservative bent, who wield the financial power for their own gain…. or the poor who always suffer their manipilations. At bottom , the Church is a club that there is a choice of joining or not.Traditionally, in Ireland , it trawled the middle- classes for future priests and it was not uncommon for families to donate a son much as they gave us the doctors, teachers, business owners and so on.A son for the priesthood was almost a tradition. It was a “class thng ” mostly ,if you like, because life as a priest would have been a parsimonious business without the support of a well-off family behind him.
It had quite an influence on Irish life for many years with very mixed results and there is no doubt that at many times it has supported the underdog. I can think of the like of Father Faul or Father Murray who attempted to make a difference in terms of exposing the the iniquities of the state but generally the Church kept a conservative counsel.
It always had its hand in the pockets of both the rich and the poor, of course because the coffers had to be kept filled and it is still an incredibly powerful , influential and rich institution on a world scale.It has also many flaws and some of these have been exposed now in the 21st century such as the various abuses of power.The question is why should there be a need for it at all by either the rich or the poor now?. Many only pay lip-service to it anyway and those that attend services and join the priesthood ,are dropping at a consistant rate as society becomes more secular.There are many lapsed Catholics out there who are only nominal Catholics because it is almost expected of them.
The Church has always striven to control as well as educate. You could ask yourself why that is or you could remember what the Jesuits said …”Give me the boy and I’ll give you the man”.
The church has been losing ground for many social reasons over this past one hundred years but strangely enough , it is probably education that has wounded it most. Many simply refuse to believe in god anymore and when that happens it is like tumbling dominoes. Religious belief is what suffers in the end. Many therefore see little point in the Church at all. It may not matter at all whether or not the Church supports the rich or the poor in the end .What we really need is a secular government across the board that shows no favour to any religion and keeps a belief -system separated entirely from the day to day running of a fair and equitable state for believers of all religions and none.
the loss of trust & belief in the Catholic Church does not hinge on whether one is in favour of abortion or euthanasia. The church has lost it’s flock & not just because of historical abuse cases either. For me and many others it is as a result of the likes of Cardinal Daly & others failing to support at any level the sufferings of the nationalist people in the north, the poor people in the south & aligning themselves with the powers that be both sides of the border. Lets face it the majority of clergy & nuns were happy with the injustices in the north & with few exceptions said & did nothing about it. blood is beginning to boil so I must cool down…………………
The use of the word “sheep” is very telling , bringing with it the idea of grazing sheep and a shepherd and his dog herding them about. Many would rankle at the very idea of that association.They don’t see themselves as having a need to be led at all….by anyone.They certainly don’t see themselves being led by an organisation ,who for the most part, does not share their day- to- day problems.Few celibate priests are ever going to be able to empathise with a pregnant woman or even the complexities within a marriage and the sheer graft of raising a family within that .You might as well ask an academic ,who has spent his life in a library, to go and work down a coal mine.
That’s only part of the story, though.There was a time , not so long ago , that a priest might have been the only educated person in the community who could read and write. It was in those kind of circumstances that they had a great local influence .That is no longer the case at all.The old traditional Grammar schools were run by the Church , whether it was the nuns, Christian Brothers or the priests, but that influence has fallen off over this past fifty years and many pupils had reason to recall many unhappy instances in the care ofindividuals from these groups. They may have left school educated, but they were also disillusioned too.My own children , have no belief at all in god or religion and each of them was baptised, confirmed and all the other signposts had been ticked on their journey through school. They simply live in a world where the worship of a god has no relevance to them.The glue did not stick. I know their children will very likely feel the same.
That’s not to say that many are not enrapt to the belief in god and a specific religious channel to that end ,but that is not the case for everyone, so it doesn’t follow that they are all simply morally lax or care what the Church does or doesn’t do . They simply don’t want it influencing their lives.They feel that good civic laws can be made ,based on good sense .In the case of abortion or euthanasia which have now been brought out from their previous “underground” and hidden place .These things have always gone on and always will .Back-street abortionists have always had customers from frightened and despairing women seeking help.They will now seek out pills or failing that they will go to England to a clinic. Euthenasia might not have been so overt, what with people now travelling to Swiss clinics for that final injection, but it has been there in the background , if untalked about. It has long been the practice for doctors to administer that final “speedball” shot to the dying cancer patient who, suffering in extremis , simply would not die. an injection of mostly amphetamine and opiates was administered to race and speed the heart to a standstill. Is that “murder”?. If the patient or the family was able to request it, is it a form of suicide or familial murder? Of course, it might be open to abuse …as is every act , but who hasn’t heard the dark jest…”If i’m put into a home, drinking from a plastic-cup and drooling….put a pillow over my head!”…?
These are in some ways very modern problems brought on by advances in medical knowledge.They are not going to go away either.I’m not so sure that the Church will have much relevance in any of that.
During the mid 1980’s it was apparent that the Church had teamed up with the British state to isolate the republican movement. When they adopted the policy of demanding the removal of ‘paramilitary trappings’ I.e Irish tricolour from Volunteers coffins before entering a church it spoke volumes. Not only were families and mourners running a gauntlet of RUC terrorist batons during a funeral but when they eventually reached the supposed solace of the church grounds they were further brutalised by priests and bishops refusing to let them into the ‘house if God’. Their stance would’ve been admiral if they had practiced what they preached but alas we know that’s not the case. Their stance has always been to do the bidding of what ever power may be in charge at any given time I.e keep the sheep obedient.
Wolfe tone
In relation to your post above,would you criticise the late Bishop Daly for his role in refusing to let church grounds to be used for displays of I R A paramilitarism at “Volunteers” funerals?
Argenta, I would criticise he and others for demanding the tricolour be removed from coffins, sin é. Any other demands they made I can understand.
They were facing deceitful and cunning men who would have used their own grannies if it suited their purpose. It wasn’t very edifying either to see priests clapping when volleys were fired over coffins. I would speculate that these things were done with a heavy heart given the effects on the wider family and community but the price of true leadership is high.
I don’t know that the sociopolitical circumstances in Latin America compare to here.
I think the whole debate is futile: the world was never designed for us to have the capacity to resolve such complex moral issues. Let’s stop being so parochial and perhaps focus on creating a world where no child dies of hunger. ” every man’s whatchman is his conscience “.
Well moser …that might be a bit of a fudge right there, because it pre-supposes that the world was “designed” and all the evidence is now there telling us in no uncertain factual terms that it very patently was not . It evolved preciously slowly …almost despite itself …maybe as a cosmic mistake…over eons of time ….and it …like us humans who were eventually spawned by its slow evolving …are making all this stuff up as we go along.What we have now is little different from ancient tribal laws that steered families and clans in a patriarchal way. All we’ve done is tinker with the details.The difference is that change over this past one hundred years has been so comparatively rapid that we are having trouble keeping up with the changes.
We really do have the capacity to solve all these complex issues in time and we really could create a world where no child dies of hunger if we could simply deal with that little issue of human greed and foolishness. There should be enough for everyone and some brilliant minds are already working on that too ..just as they are currently figuring out how best to reach Proxima b.
Love your work Harry.