Ciaran’s Peculier [sic] Blog

Dr Donal Murray has been forced to resign from the bishopric of Limerick. It is true that he was guilty of sins of omission, rather

Donal Murray - fall guy?

than commission. Donal Murray was not the worst member of the Catholic hierarchy – he was a saint compared to his boozy, Opus Dei-loving predecessor Jerry Newman. I can’t help feeling that he is being made a sacrificial lam, a fall guy if you will, for others in the body of the church and the laity.  far more deeply stained with guilt.

 The Murphy report was a very courageous and candid document that uncovered the horrors of a dishonest culture of silence and deceit. But people were shocked by the degree of what had gone on, not by the revelation that clerical abuse had occurred and been hushed up. The proverbial dogs in the street knew that.

 So the report was issued to general, and to an extent quite correct condemnation of the Catholic Church in Ireland. This occurred only weeks before the most dishonest, cruel and vicious budgets in the State. Ordinarily it might have been expected that some members of the hierarchy, as well as ordinary religious, would have spoken out against a measure that deliberately targeted already disadvantaged sections of Irish society such as the blind. However, with the Murphy report on the table, all bishops were cowed into silence; had they spoken out against the budget I could well have imagined some government minister telling them to get their own house in order first or words to that effect.

 Those who were the victims of abuse are still hurting. It’s possible the hurt will never heal. Alas, I sense that some of those in the government who have set themselves up as guardians of the rights of victims, or who have proclaimed themselves citizens of a republic, are the very people who knew full well that such abuse was rampant and systematic, but did or said nothing because they viewed the Catholic Church as too powerful and influential. It is only when they sense they can kick a dead horse with impunity that they do so with alacrity.

In a recent post I wrote how the dogs in the street knew that the physical, sexual and mental abuse of children by some Catholic religious orders was systematic and widespread. Perhaps it will take another commission working for ten years to “reveal” another self-evident truth: that the “sweetheart” deal arranged between the state and the religious orders on compensation of victims was drafted and composed by civil servants who were either members of or sympathetic to right-wing Catholic lay groups such as Opus Dei and the Knights of St Columbanus. Those same urban hounds are also well aware that the minister who signed off on this deal and who now seeks to defend it, was probably a member of one of these organisations. Dr Michael Woods liked to appear as the innocent, almost simple north-side politician, singing “One Day at a Time Dear Jesus” on Irish television, but he was also the minister who unleashed a vicious campaign against welfare recipients under the guise of unearthing “social welfare fraud”. I believe the agreement between Woods and the religious orders is possibly the most flagrant and biggest piece of fraud in the history of the state.

The members of these lay Catholic groups, and the vile and depraved individuals they protect, are truly evil. They masquerade as so good, often wrapping themselves up in the raiment of religiosity. But in fact this is just a confidence trick, to conceal their inner baseness and wickedness. I am convinced that if Jesus Christ were to appear in Ireland today he would be “dealt with” by these people; there wouldn’t be a trial or anything so public as a crucifixion. That would create a scandal, and the last thing the Knights or their friends can tolerate is a scandal.

But I know that anyone who speaks out about these heinous fiends faces years, decades, probably a lifetime of victimisation at their hands from which there is no reprieve.

The publication of the report into clerical sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic diocese of Cloyne demonstrates once again how there are people in the hierarchy who have no intention of dealing with this horrendous activity in their midst but think they can rely on their friends in the higher civil service to hush the whole thing up.

It is disingenuous to say that an attempt was not made by the church, relying on their friends doing the work of God or riding to battle against secular humanism, to suppress the report. It was commissioned for the Minister for Children, Barry Andrews, who says he never read it. Now Barry is the son of David Andrews, a stateman of stature, and I very much doubt when he is faced with a pile of reports which he can’t be bothered to read he turns and says “fuck it” and goes home. No doubt he was told that the report was dynamite and that it should be “shelved”.
Now Bishop John Magee should do the decent thing and resign but obviously his departure would be too much of a blow for his friends. I come from a part of the world well used to having to listen to episcopal claptrap about clerical sexual abiuse and how much the hierarchy sympathises with the victims and then does nothing. And anyone who’s not prepared to wallow in these crocodile tears is ostracised and victimised. .These hollow words were mixed with a degree of help to the perpetrators of sexual abuse which might be considered conspiracy. But then the bishop at the centre of all this was such a saintly man. What’s more he was such a great historian – possibly the greatest – the world’s living authority on the O’Reillys – until he died.

No one can say that Bishop Magee has been guilty of any wrong-doing in the diocese of Cloyne. However, I knew of a priest who once served under him. This man was in many ways an archetypal Irish Catholic priest, middle-aged, and with somewhat prejudiced views about the modern world. However, when asked about Dr Magee, he said but one thing. “That man is evil.”
And then again there were rumours, only rumours, that the bishop of Cloyne liked to pay social visits to London, but not to visit the Victoria and Albert museum or take in a show.

I am angered. I see so many good, decent people in the Catholic church who are truly disgusted by the way in which important sections of the church have been kidnapped by people who are a disgrace to their calling. This goes for both laity and clergy. The Irish hierarchy contains some good men – I can mention Dr Diarmaid Martin, Bishop Willy Walsh of Killaloe and Leo O’Reilly of Kilmore, while a man whom I always had great respect for was compelled to resign for far less than has been shown to have taken place in Cloyne. The church’s head, Pope Benedict, has described these elements as filth. As a man who is able to discern the voice of God in a Mozart piano sonata I believe he too is truly appalled by these hideous betrayals of humanity, but is it a case that this filthy wolf has taken the church by the throat where it is keeping the lambs over which it should shine a guardian’s eyes as hostages?