Was the celebrity wedding of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, the Kansas football star player, a good thing for the common good?
On the one hand, it advertises the significance and meaning of matrimony, in an era when marriage is so widely in decline. And Simon Harris would scarcely have greeted the Taylor-Travis nuptials with such joy if his politician’s instinct didn’t prompt him to conclude that this would play well with the public.
As my granddaughters are committed Swifties, I hope they’ll get the takeaway message that it’s great to seal true romance with the ideal of a lifelong commitment.
It is so far beyond the reach of ordinary folks that it belongs to a dream world”
On the other hand, does such hullabaloo and pzazz actually put some people off marriage? Here is a wedding celebration that cost, it is estimated, something between $10 million and $20 million, involved the hiring of Madison Square Gardens in central New York, attended by global celebrities, with Paul McCartney serenading the bride.
It is so far beyond the reach of ordinary folks that it belongs to a dream world. Because it cost so much, and was so dazzling in every respect, its example could be unrelatable.
It doesn’t so much advertise matrimony, as publicise the notion that marriage is for the very rich. This is precisely the problem with the decline of the married state: it is seen as a ceremony which requires, even for those of modest means, huge sums of money.
This has been deliberately advanced by the ‘Wedding Fayre’ industry, which has energetically promoted the wedding as an elaborate three-day event.
Matrimony
The ‘celebrity wedding’ has taken this jamboree a stage further into performative pantomime territory, like the hugely elaborate nuptials of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, mature people in their fifties, both previously hitched, but adorned like fresh young things.
Taylor and Travis are also both 36, which is mature enough, too.
Divorced from everyday life, the Swift-Kelce wedding celebration can be seen as positive influence”
But still, a wedding is a wedding, and it has to be seen to be believed in. There’s increasing political lobbying these days to equalise marriage with co-habitation – the British Labour government is planning to give unmarried couples the same rights as the married, on grounds of equality. (For the moment, the Irish public has seen off that change by rejecting the ‘durable relationship’ 2024 Referendum.)
On balance, despite its ostentatious scale, divorced from everyday life, the Swift-Kelce wedding celebration can be seen as positive influence. Even better if the marriage lasts!
—
The BBC reports that the Israeli navy has been constantly attacking Palestinian fishermen in Gaza. I support Israel’s right to defend itself, yet I find this appalling. Fishing represents an elemental right to nourishment. Fishermen were chosen as the first Disciples.
—
Old friends, old arguments
Can you remain on fond terms with old friends while not agreeing with their political or religious viewpoints? Of course you can.
Firstly, it’s not worth quarrelling with someone you like and have known for years. Secondly, there is usually some truth in every point of view, barring daft conspiracy theories like claiming the moon landings were faked.
Which brings me to my old comrade, the Cork writer T.P. O’Mahony, who I first met in the 1970s after he had written some fizzing reports for The Irish Press from the Vatican.
Change
For Tom O’Mahony, Vatican II was a revolutionary change in the Catholic Church, and he’s been disappointed that its promises didn’t always seem fulfilled.
He’s critical of the whole history of Catholic Ireland, and in his mid-80s, he has now written another trenchant critique of this heritage in a new book published by Mercier Press, Forbidden Ireland.
From the over-heated (and uncharitable) treatment of sex siren Jayne Mansfield – episcopally denounced for her immodesty of dress and demeanour – to the tragic death of Ann Lovett, he enumerates the many ways in which Catholic Ireland has been illiberal and judgemental since the 1950s.
Wherever power is concentrated and unchallenged there will be abuse because we are all sinners”
Some of those he brings into the witness box are from a familiar left-of-centre standpoint: Mary McAleese, Ivana Bacik, the anti-clerical radical lawyer Geoffrey Robertson. The introduction is written by Rosita Sweetman.
Many people will be interested to read Forbidden Ireland, and I hope it sells lots of copies. But I view the arc of history differently from Tom. Old-fashioned bishops certainly were dumbfounded by the more open sauciness that mass media like TV brought (I’m now pretty shocked by some of the stuff that’s available today). I see Ann Lovett as a terrible victim of the sexual revolution, which, despite the law stipulating the age of consent at 17, encourage under-age teenagers to be sexually active.
Wherever power is concentrated and unchallenged there will be abuse because we are all sinners; but there were so many good people in our recent history who did their best for this country, too, prompted by faith.
But diversity of opinion is great, and old friends should uphold that principle!
Pope Paul VI makes his way past bishops during a session of the Second Vatican Council in 1964. Photo: OSV file photo.
Singer Taylor Swift performs a medley during the 2019 American Music Awards in Los Angeles. Photo: OSV News / Mario Anzuoni, Reuters.
Taylor-made madness and the kiss and sell
Was the celebrity wedding of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, the Kansas football star player, a good thing for the common good?
On the one hand, it advertises the significance and meaning of matrimony, in an era when marriage is so widely in decline. And Simon Harris would scarcely have greeted the Taylor-Travis nuptials with such joy if his politician’s instinct didn’t prompt him to conclude that this would play well with the public.
As my granddaughters are committed Swifties, I hope they’ll get the takeaway message that it’s great to seal true romance with the ideal of a lifelong commitment.
On the other hand, does such hullabaloo and pzazz actually put some people off marriage? Here is a wedding celebration that cost, it is estimated, something between $10 million and $20 million, involved the hiring of Madison Square Gardens in central New York, attended by global celebrities, with Paul McCartney serenading the bride.
It is so far beyond the reach of ordinary folks that it belongs to a dream world. Because it cost so much, and was so dazzling in every respect, its example could be unrelatable.
It doesn’t so much advertise matrimony, as publicise the notion that marriage is for the very rich. This is precisely the problem with the decline of the married state: it is seen as a ceremony which requires, even for those of modest means, huge sums of money.
This has been deliberately advanced by the ‘Wedding Fayre’ industry, which has energetically promoted the wedding as an elaborate three-day event.
Matrimony
The ‘celebrity wedding’ has taken this jamboree a stage further into performative pantomime territory, like the hugely elaborate nuptials of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, mature people in their fifties, both previously hitched, but adorned like fresh young things.
Taylor and Travis are also both 36, which is mature enough, too.
But still, a wedding is a wedding, and it has to be seen to be believed in. There’s increasing political lobbying these days to equalise marriage with co-habitation – the British Labour government is planning to give unmarried couples the same rights as the married, on grounds of equality. (For the moment, the Irish public has seen off that change by rejecting the ‘durable relationship’ 2024 Referendum.)
On balance, despite its ostentatious scale, divorced from everyday life, the Swift-Kelce wedding celebration can be seen as positive influence. Even better if the marriage lasts!
—
The BBC reports that the Israeli navy has been constantly attacking Palestinian fishermen in Gaza. I support Israel’s right to defend itself, yet I find this appalling. Fishing represents an elemental right to nourishment. Fishermen were chosen as the first Disciples.
—
Old friends, old arguments
Can you remain on fond terms with old friends while not agreeing with their political or religious viewpoints? Of course you can.
Firstly, it’s not worth quarrelling with someone you like and have known for years. Secondly, there is usually some truth in every point of view, barring daft conspiracy theories like claiming the moon landings were faked.
Which brings me to my old comrade, the Cork writer T.P. O’Mahony, who I first met in the 1970s after he had written some fizzing reports for The Irish Press from the Vatican.
Change
For Tom O’Mahony, Vatican II was a revolutionary change in the Catholic Church, and he’s been disappointed that its promises didn’t always seem fulfilled.
He’s critical of the whole history of Catholic Ireland, and in his mid-80s, he has now written another trenchant critique of this heritage in a new book published by Mercier Press, Forbidden Ireland.
From the over-heated (and uncharitable) treatment of sex siren Jayne Mansfield – episcopally denounced for her immodesty of dress and demeanour – to the tragic death of Ann Lovett, he enumerates the many ways in which Catholic Ireland has been illiberal and judgemental since the 1950s.
Some of those he brings into the witness box are from a familiar left-of-centre standpoint: Mary McAleese, Ivana Bacik, the anti-clerical radical lawyer Geoffrey Robertson. The introduction is written by Rosita Sweetman.
Many people will be interested to read Forbidden Ireland, and I hope it sells lots of copies. But I view the arc of history differently from Tom. Old-fashioned bishops certainly were dumbfounded by the more open sauciness that mass media like TV brought (I’m now pretty shocked by some of the stuff that’s available today). I see Ann Lovett as a terrible victim of the sexual revolution, which, despite the law stipulating the age of consent at 17, encourage under-age teenagers to be sexually active.
Wherever power is concentrated and unchallenged there will be abuse because we are all sinners; but there were so many good people in our recent history who did their best for this country, too, prompted by faith.
But diversity of opinion is great, and old friends should uphold that principle!
Bishop McGuckian urges Belfast City hall to reconsider illumination in support of abortion
Songs of true love
Insightful words from an old friend
A highly suitable present: our Brendanian gift to President Trump
Top TOPICS
We have seen it so many times – a law gets liberalised to the extent
A woman drives a truck along a deserted road. There’s a dog in the middle
A return to the Church and a thank you to Irish clergy and friends Dear
You know the story, three times, on the shore of lake Galilee after the resurrection,