Pope Benedict has named the members of the “visitation” that he promised for Ireland back in March. Initial reaction has been mixed. On the positive side, the seniority of the team members is impressive, showing that the Vatican is taking this…
Tag Archive for Irish Church
For Irish Catholics, A Modest Proposal
No substantive posting today, as I have been out all day on retreat with the Soho Masses congregation, with with as retreat director.Fr Bernard Lynch. Bernard is Irish, and is even more concerned about the poor position of women in…
Hand Wringing & Blame
The pastoral latter is carefully constructed to address several groups of people affected by clerical sexual abuse, or implicated in it as perpetrators, or as complicit in their protection. Benedict speaks directly to the survivors and heir families, and to…
Catholic Abuse: More Questions Than Answers
Was a “pastoral letter” the appropriate response in the first place? Since its release yesterday, I have read the full letter, as well as assorted summaries and commentaries, by churchmen, journalists and victims’ groups. Reflecting on it, I simply come…
Band-Aid for a Grievously Wounded Church
I have spent the afternoon celebrating my granddaughter’s first birthday, so have not yet had a chance to read in full the Papal “pastoral” letter to the Irish Church. I did read a few press summaries before going out, and…
Covering Up the Cover Up: All is Tickety-Boo
Yesterday, reviewing the increasing tide of reaction to the Irish Murphy report, I was struck by a sense of “deja vu” – a sense that the response to the cover-up was pretty much in the same vein as the response…
