RSS
News


Home Page > News > Parish priest apologizes for comparing Irish leader to Hitler

Parish priest apologizes for comparing Irish leader to Hitler

Says “I regret the headline” after media firestorm raged

By
JORDANA KOZUPSKY,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Friday, July 29, 2011, 7:14 AM
Updated Friday, July 29, 2011, 7:14 AM

print this article Print
email this articleE-mail
comment on article 31 Comments
 

Enda Kenny
Enda Kenny
Photo by Source: Hibernia Times


Father Thomas Daley  an Irish parish priest  was forced to apologize for comparing Prime Minister Enda Kenny to Adolf Hiter.

The name-calling came in a parish bulletin entiled “ Heil Herr Kenny” and happened after Kenny criticized the Vatican for allowing the numerous sex scandals to be kept under wraps.

Daly’s formal apology was: "I regret the headline and for the misunderstandings that might have arisen out of it. I am not comparing Enda Kenny to Hitler,”,the priest from a rural parish in County Louth stated.

In a major speech last week Kenny  had accused the Holy See of ‘downplaying the rape and torture of children,’ He also said that the Cloyne report on clerical abuse in a Cork diocese "revealed an attempt by the Holy See to frustrate an inquiry into child sex abuse just three years ago."

In response to such accusations, Daly published a parish bulleti entitled “Heil Herr Kenny” and passed it out to the members of the Togher Parish near  Drogheda, Co. Louth.  In the report, the priest expressed his discontent about how Kenny dared to speak about the pope in such a way.

He wrote that the last European leader to attack the pope was “the ruthless German dictator Adolf Hitler." He continued that Kenny must “face reality. ..a cautionary tale," just like Hitler had to do.

After the leaflet was released, the Fine Gael party (of which Kenny is a member) released a complaint and the apology followed..
_______________
Read More:
Parish Priest compares Irish leader to Adolf Hitler

Glenn Beck defends Hitler Youth comments on Norway’s tragic massacre
_______________
 

​
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail


31 Comments

15 - 31 | See all comments

CaliforniaShamrock | Aug 06, 2011, 02:46 PM EDT
A good Irish American nun once taught me that just because a man was ordained he wasn't always right. I think the Irish are smart enough to figure that out - loyalty to the church as the People of God doesn't mean accepting clericalism - and abuse of power.

Report abuse

barneyjo | Aug 02, 2011, 07:23 AM EDT
@MCNamara31 - I quite agree. And like yourself, I have made a conscious decision that I will not walk away from a faith and church that has shaped me in so many positive ways, leaving aside the damage I now realise I sustained in terms of my social, personal and sexual growth and awareness. I dunno. I am only one man. I am however determined to do what I can to help to rebuild my church. Regrettably, before that can happen, I think that it will have to fall much further. If, as I believe it to be the case, Christ is with his people at this time, then renewal WILL happen. That is what will happen!! To quote the poet Seamus Heaney "Believe that far shore IS reachable from here" At least that is my hope. And if I dont have that, then what do I have??

Report abuse

McNamara31 | Aug 01, 2011, 09:57 AM EDT
barneyjo.. The moral compass instilled in us by parents and church teaching is what makes us quite certain silence is not the answer rather it's the very problem. We parents had an especially hard time trying to rationalize the actions of evil men within the church from the church itself.My children were in catholic school from the time of the 2002 Boston scandel to now. Many times I have gotten to the point of leaving however my Irish mom always said:"men will never make me leave my church" and her words continue to echo in my ears.The other great sadness is that they have destroyed the legacy of these faithfull people who did without to build the churches and schools. In the US the NYT recently noted in the past few years the church has closed over 1500 churches.

Report abuse

pilib04 | Jul 31, 2011, 01:38 PM EDT
CitizenWhy, those similar words to what my dad said to me some 50 years ago. He said don't trust priests (and presumably other members of the hierarchy) when it comes to politics. He said that priests don't work for a living so they don't have the same attitudes that workers do. what he meant was that priests did not earn their living through physical labour.

Report abuse

barneyjo | Jul 31, 2011, 09:57 AM EDT
@McNamara31 - Simply put, but right on the money. In my mind I keep coming back to Sean Brady in 1975 when he committed two child victims of Brendan Smyth to silence upon pain of their own salvation. Never mind how a priest could square that with his conscience, how could any decent man? I wonder does the Cardinal have nephews or neices, or both? Would he have taken a different course of action if one of his own kin had been abused I wonder. Same goes for those posters on here who support the continuation of the status quo. Have any of them ever heard directly from a survivor of clerical abuse about how it was the ruination of their lives and of those close to them like I have? Have any of them ever talked to the parent of an abuse survivor who has taken their life because to continue living is hell? I rather suspect not, because if they had, they could not possibly hold the strident views that they appear to do. And I can only pity them for that!!

Report abuse

McNamara31 | Jul 30, 2011, 10:26 PM EDT
AngelPrecious.. I applaud Enda Kenny. How can you close your eyes to the sin and evil that has been concealed by "our" church. Do you think Christ would have stayed silent or wanted us to remain silent as children suffered?Our voices are what is correcting this evil. Without our voices nothing was done for decades.

Report abuse

barneyjo | Jul 30, 2011, 07:40 AM EDT
@AngelPrecious - Hey, dont shoot the messenger. They are not mine alone. You called me a catholic basher, I am not. I AM a Catholic who is no longer prepared to give blind obedience to the church in light of what I now know what was done, ostensibly in my name. From here on in, I will be looking for both the presence of true spirit of christ, and sincere and abject remorse in the teachings of my church. @HELMET365 - dont misunderstand me, I am severely p ed at the leadership of my church for their absolute failure in the stewardship of the church and for the consequences of their actions or rather inactions. I had thought about walking away (I still do) but why should I give up on a faith that has sustained me through some very bad times in my life because of the failings and sins of those senior clerics who have brought my church to ruin. Call me stupid if you will, but I intend to do what (little) I can to help to renew my church; and that includes opening the minds and eyes of those, like AngelPrecious who remain in denial, or cannot bring themselves to see that OUR church has tolerated for far too long, broken minds, broken bodies, and broken spirits. NO MORE. NOT IN MY NAME, OR IN THE NAME OF MY CHILDREN!!!!!

Report abuse

CitizenWhy | Jul 29, 2011, 08:55 PM EDT
My father, a regular Mass goer, used to say: "Priests are wonderful people, but don't listen to them when they talk about politics or religion." Of course he also said of politicians, "Not a good lot but sometimes some of them are right."

Report abuse

helmet365 | Jul 29, 2011, 08:36 PM EDT
Barney, Being a Mich myself i admire your loyalty to the church. Unfortunately it is this very loyalty which has allowed the clergy to get away with massive abuse as they have people like you to defend them. Clergy abuse should be zero. I refer you the an article in The Age newspaper Melbourne Australia.july 30 2011,refering to two catholic clergy child abusers with the heading 'Sex abuse led to 26 suicides:policeman.Can you name two lay people in the whole of Ireland who have done anything like this? Maybe look to the clergy to find a contender. Don't follow the sheep.

Report abuse

barneyjo | Jul 29, 2011, 07:30 PM EDT
@AngelPrecious - I am!! Catholic father of five kids, all still attending mass. I dont have any more or any less guilt than most people I guess. I KNOW I have none of the guilt that might come from crimes of child abuse, or from allowing it to happen, and then covering it up. You're right when you say that there will always be one holy catholic and apostolic church. I hope I will always be a member of the church, but I hope that it becomes the church that it was always meant to be and not the dangerously flawed version we have now!!

Report abuse

gordongoblin | Jul 29, 2011, 06:54 PM EDT
I remember when people assumed that all priests were good, or that at worst there were just a few bad apples. I hope those days are gone forever. Despite what Angel says, her holy church is not to be trusted.

Report abuse

AngelPrecious | Jul 29, 2011, 06:17 PM EDT
I would bet that NONE of the people here bashing the Catholic Church or her priests are Catholics that attend Mass every Sunday. Such Catholics would KNOW that the vast majority of priests are good, holy men of God. Methinks the guilt your soul is feeling is rationalized and turned into this hatred of anything holy because believe me, the Church is still and will always be the ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, and APOSTOLIC Church

Report abuse

AngelPrecious | Jul 29, 2011, 06:13 PM EDT
I definitely agree, Trealach, a much more appropriate comparison.

Report abuse

Trealach | Jul 29, 2011, 05:55 PM EDT
Fr. Daley would have been more accurate in his comparison of Kenny and Satan - both evil losers.

Report abuse

greensod | Jul 29, 2011, 05:45 PM EDT
Kenny needs to have this priest checked out by the Garda.He seems to be on the worng side of right.As for the apology,a big joke.

Report abuse



IrishCentral logo
"Like" IrishCentral
IrishCentral Mobile QR code


Connect to IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or Sign-Up directly

Already Registered? Sign-In!

Welcome to IrishCentral!
Please provide the following information in order to create your account

Username:
E-Mail Address:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy


Already Registered? Sign-In!
Forgot my password

Welcome to IrishCentral!
All we need is the following information and you will be part of the #1 Irish community in the US

E-Mail Address:
First select a unique username:
Username:
Now choose a password:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Thank you!

Just one more step and you will be part of the largest Irish community in America! Tell us a little more about you to start enjoying all the features of IrishCentral.

Additional Information:

First Name:
Last Name:
Date of Birth:
Zip:
Gender: Male  Female 
Country:
Degree of Irishness:
Household Income:
Level of Education:

Subscribe to our newsletters:

The Best of IrishCentral - Daily Newsletter
Special Offers from our sponsors

or
Skip

You can edit your information at any time, just go to "my account" when you're logged in.

Log into IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or sign-in directly

E-Mail:
Password:
 Remember me Forgot my password
Not a member? Register Now!
submit to reddit
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail