Dear Editor,
Garry O’Sullivan makes valuable points concerning the accountability of deceased clerical sexual abusers (in the February 12 edition of The Irish Catholic).
From the perspective of our Catholic Christian faith, death is not the end for impenitent clergy who, for whatever reasons, evaded earthly justice.
I am writing as a priest now who, when I was a young adult, was abused by a former Catholic priest. I, along with some of his other victims, later went through the courts and James Donaghy was convicted of his crimes on December 14, 2011.
Even for those who receive justice, survival and recovery can be difficult. How much more so for those whose abusers evade the consequences of their actions?
“The dead cannot defend themselves” is true; but they have entered a sphere where “all the truth about us will be brought out in the Law Court of Christ and we will all get what we deserve….” (II Corinthians 5:10).
Even if a guilty cleric is deceased, there is a higher tribunal where the Just One Himself presides. There will be no lies, no denial, no role for any defence lawyers. There will only be the absolute clarity of God who searches the mind and the heart (Jeremiah 17:10).
Pope Benedict, in his letter to the Irish Church on March 1, 2010, addressed offending clerics. He said that no one is beyond God’s mercy; but he called on them: “I urge you to examine your conscience, take responsibility for the sins you have committed, and humbly express your sorrow”.
Physical death will provide no escape for those guilty of abuse, for those who enabled and covered up for them, if they are unrepentant. Quite the opposite.
Yours etc,
Fr Patrick McCafferty PP
Belfast, Co. Antrim
Public services should be allocated to support life
Dear Editor,
I read the excellent article by Martina Purdy on the current deplorable situation.
Cura was doing an excellent job for many years before it was regrettably terminated by the out of touch hierarchy.
Pregnant ladies and their partners with a crisis pregnancy urgently need practical financial and other support if we hope to reduce the 70,000 legalised abortions to date on the island of Ireland.
Lip service from our bishops is not enough. Jesus said “truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Every diocese should fund and provide office and personnel services for Gianna Care and other pro-life agencies. The hierarchy has lots of office space available and church goers would be willing to support any monthly collection to fund these urgently required services.
In addition, during Lent could each parish priest not organise one day with 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration to save our people from the scourge of abortion.
Pope Leo has said that the Holy See, “considers it deplorable that public resources (eg: HSE personnel and Irish taxpayers funds) are allocated to suppress life.”
Yours etc,
Liam de Paor
Carrickane, Co. Cavan
At its best RE is a tool to examine belief and meaning
Dear Editor,
after reading that our bishops will launch a new commission on divestment of schools, I want to draw attention to Bishop Tom Deenihan’s article on January 8, where he expressed the pride we need to have of our Catholic schools. In that same paper Roisin Coll strongly advocates the value of Catholic schools.
According to her, RE holds a central and defining place in Catholic schools and shapes the wider life of the school, its relationships, its priorities and sense of purpose. In that sense RE does not simply sit as part of the curriculum, but gives it coherence. She says that at its best RE equips pupils, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, to engage seriously with questions of faith, belief and meaning.
According to her vast experience those who claim that Catholic schools indoctrinate pupils miss the point completely. Bishop Tom Deenihan in his article asks that we reject the “lazy indoctrination” narrative that projects a wrong image of Catholic schools given by those who have not visited a Catholic school or have not been in one since they left themselves.
Roisin Coll and Bishop Deenihan would strongly advocate that RE must form part of the curriculum because faith is necessary for wellbeing, resilience and a holistic education. Both of them share from years of experience and much knowledge learned from interaction with faithfilled others and a deep study that we, as human beings, must not ignore the wisdom of the ages that has stood the test of time and continues to survive in spite of persecution, trial and suffering.
Today we face a secular and atheistic culture that needs faith more than ever. I would advise that this new commission on divestment of schools would learn from the two articles I refer to in this letter but also from many other sources that promote keeping the faith alive in our schools. I have had the experience of teaching in public and Catholic schools. We can all learn from the failures and successes of others as we seek to do what is best. Right and good in this generation and in many generations to come. I ask the Holy Spirit to guide all involved in education today.
Yours etc,
Sr Susan Evangelist
Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal
Ireland in the EU: One size does not fit all
Dear Editor,
They say “all politics is local”, and in the past it is how politics in Ireland worked. A politician who worked hard for his constituents was sure to have a long political career. But in recent years this does not seem to be the case in the sense that the “local interests” (interests of the Irish citizen) seem to be ignored. Local authorities are in favour of big business, developers and international investors. Central funds are only released following the various EU directives and regulations coming from the EU about climate change which at most times do not make sense from an Irish perspective socially or financially.
One size does not ‘fit all’. Ireland is now the only English speaking country in the EU since Brexit. Irish people do not look at life in the same way as most mainland Europeans do. Irish people look at home as having one’s own front and back door, front and back garden. In most mainland European countries it is normal for most families to live in apartments.
The original idea of the EU was of nations joining together in the interest of lasting peace, prosperity with free trade and free movement of goods and workers from one EU country to another.
It was not founded on the idea that each country become clones of each other in the kind of social and economic experiment of the World Economic Forum and the Bilderberg Group creating a new world order, a kind of “Stepford Wives” situation.
We are constantly told how democratic we in the West are, while those we elect are just following funding directed by unelected civil servants and the invisible hand of unelected think tanks. So do we really have democracy or are we all just pawns in a bigger game?
Yours etc,
Nuala Nolan
Bowling Green, Co. Galway
Understanding of how to cultivate true belief is dwindling
Dear Editor,
Given the devastating floods countrywide after two months of constant rain I am amazed to hear all the supposed ways of countering climate change proposed by Government spokespersons and other experts and the increasing calls for further hardships in respect of reducing so called green house gasses. All the eggs in one basket of windmills will get scrambled when the storms flatten them.
It seems not one has the lightest understanding of the signs of the times. Not only that but neither do the hierarchy nor the clergy.
Nowhere have I heard any mention of the need for the people of Ireland to repent of the abominations for which we have voted into law over the past decade. Nobody seems to recognise that we have apostasised as a country!
Instead we are jollied along by the snippets of “good news” church projects here and there. Our Lady told Fr Gobbi projects mean nothing – repentance is what is needed.
Yes there are pockets of true believers who pray, do penance and receive the sacraments i.e. a remnant. Even for them it is hard enough to find a parish where Confession is available without making an appointment. This has more to do with the loss of the sense of sin which Our Lady said is neither recognised nor confessed, rather than the shortage of priests.
Properly catechised lay people are well able to pass on the faith to the younger generation (they do not need certifications/diplomas to do so) but alas the Sunday homily does nothing to help to explain the commandments. Political correctness has replaced solid instruction. Young people are crying out for knowledge of God and with the rest of the flock they too go hungry.
Yours etc,
Loretto Browne
Ashbourne, Co. Meath
Remembering the past, blind to the present, ignoring the future
Dear Editor,
Quoting Maurice Cohen, Chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, Renata Steffens (IC 29/1/26) writes that in schools here reference to the Holocaust must be taught “not as distant history but as a warning about what happens when hatred is normalised, lies are indulged, and moral courage fails.” In another quote Steffens writes, “The murder of six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators was a systematic state-organised genocide carried out in full view of Europe”.
Yes it is important to remember history, lest a new generation forgets. More than anything else the lessons of history should serve as a warning against man’s inhumanity to man. Sadly that is rarely demonstrated in practice.
Two particular examples spring to mind. 1) Israel has one of the most liberal state funded abortion laws since it was legalised there in 1977, even liberalised further in 2022, and responsible for between 16,000 and 20,000 abortions annually (Israel Central Bureau of Statistics). Again recalling history, it should be remembered that, back in 1948, at the beginning of the new state of Israel, it was a criminal act to obtain an abortion. 2) Israel’s war in Gaza has claimed the lives of, speaking conservatively, to date, more than 73,000, of which over 43,000 were women, and over 100,000 injured, of which 27,000 were women and over 33,000 children.
Israel, a nation that one would expect to be at the forefront against this appalling situation, particularly from the example of their own sad history, seems to have learnt nothing at all from the lessons of history. Instead Israel collaborates with most of the world, and becomes just another of the statistics in the elimination of the defenceless.
Yours etc,
John Skelly
Castleknock, Dublin 15
