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Home Page > Opinion > The Irish people should help choose Catholic bishops

The Irish people should help choose Catholic bishops

Church must be answerable to the faithful

TIM PAT COOGAN,

Special to IrishCentral.com

Published Friday, January 8, 2010, 2:22 PM

Updated Saturday, January 9, 2010, 2:47 PM

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The fallout of all the abuse in the Catholic Church has cast a dark shadow on Irish life.

Given the scale of what is happening in the Irish Catholic Church, the only meaningful departure would be that of the Pope himself.

As Cardinal Ratzinger he was probably the best informed man in the Vatican, being both Prefect of the powerful Congregation of the Faith and Dean of the College of Cardinals. These offices mean that he was privy to the ever swelling tide of reports on clerical sex abuse which poured into the Vatican during his tenure in office from every diocese in the world.

Even non-Catholics are free to access the vast accounts of clerical abuse, available on the web, like a vast open sewer.

But apparently the Pontiff has no intention of resigning. Instead, he intends to send Ireland a letter. Presumably it will be prepared by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, as were Pope John Paul II’s Irish speeches prepared by the then Bishop Daly.

If that letter ever does get sent, it will be the most unpopular, and ineffective, Papal missive to arrive in Ireland since the Papal Rescript of 1888 which the British-inspired Pope Leo X111 issued condemning the Plan of Campaign, which was a plan to help tenant farmers.

Instead of arguments over whether or not a handful of bishops should be hung out to dry, the Irish public should be discussing how they, the people, who in the end pick up the tab for all that is happening in both Church and State, should be concentrating on developing a mechanism whereby the laity would henceforth have a say in the selection of future bishops.

I would strongly urge that our Government tell Rome that henceforth a small, but experienced, lay panel be appointed to vet any short list prepared to fill Episcopal vacancies. Ideally the panel should include a mother, preferably with some knowledge of psychiatry.

Secondly, as a direct response to the arrogance and tardiness of the Papal Nuncio in Ireland dealing with the Murphy Inquiry, that we close down our embassy to the Holy See and henceforth deal with the Vatican through our embassy in Rome.

These are not matters of faith. The question of clerical sex abuse is one which has serious financial, educational and emotional implications for an Irish society struggling to find a new economic and psychological identity for itself in the midst of chaos.

The money from the sale of the beautiful, but costly, Vatican embassy could go to restoring the Budget cuts in facilities available to blind persons for example.

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MAGHNUS | Mar 16, 2010, 04:55 AM EDT

Oh yeah, they should help them alright, right into the prison cart where they belong...child molesting fags. They can have their own special mob of butt buddies in jail, whereas they will be the new choir boys....see how they like it. (They probably would)

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Temerity | Feb 28, 2010, 05:45 PM EST

Well then while we are at it let us further this witch hunt take up arms against fathers, grandfathers ,uncles ect.who perpetuate incest and pedophilia .Violence against women and children in all kinds of sex abuse serious and real physical violence , as well as not so serious ect. and who are protected within families this would then include wives and mothers who do not protect themselves or their children who simply hide it behind closed doors. Let us then turn to parents and ask them why they do not bring up their children to have enough character and self respect to repell these predators.Then men and women who breed children and then desert them and they have to be brought up in intitutions. And finally let us look at the majority of cared for children within the Catholic system who were never molested sexually who were happily brought up and educated by good nuns and brothers.The majority friends.The majority. How about atacking the porn on the Internet ,producers and directors of dodgy films the list goes on and on.Why just the Church? What

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McNamara31 | Jan 19, 2010, 04:35 PM EST

TonydeNewYork...Google Fr. Tom Doyle, Vatican canon lawyer sent to investigate and produce report on "sex abuse" problem within the church over twenty years ago. Then, you will understand why people feel Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict was aware of everything.

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hrhhrhhrh | Jan 12, 2010, 08:29 PM EST

TonydeNewYork writes, "This is one of the most hate fill (hate-filled or hateful?) anti(-)c(C)atholic article(s) i(I) have ever read. If speaking the plain truth is anti-Catholic, then you are correct. BTW, Tony, why not take that course in remedial English now. You REALLY need it.

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TonydeNewYork | Jan 12, 2010, 07:15 PM EST

This is one of the most hate fill anti catholic article i have ever read.

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LilPaddy | Jan 11, 2010, 11:09 PM EST

Mr Coogan is saying so many of the things that I as a 58 to 1960 abused 'Daingean resident' offered as input in this story (to Niall O'Dowd; but I guess he is too busy to reply to voice and/or emails). As I wanted to include my experience there, and why I now feel that we (particularly us Irish) 'may be allowing' the throwing of (non pedophile and/or sadist types) Archbishops and others UNDER THE BUS for having surcum to a 'Vatican enforced Indoctrination/Culture of SILENCE AND OBEDIENCE'... KEEPING IN MIND..NOT ALL GERMANS WERE NAZI'S.... Well anyway, if any of you have influence with Mr. Pat Coogan, and think he would be inclined to print what it was that I offered Mr O'Dowd? Have him call u.s. 951-264-7103 or www.icvmbf.org

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irishmexican43 | Jan 11, 2010, 02:13 PM EST

Tim Pat, you demonstrate an encyclopedic knowledge of irish history. thanks for this article. Also thank you for your mention of the Legion of Christ in your book on the history of Ireland; there have been a number of cases of sexual abuse by Legionaries at their Novitiate in Stillorgan, some of them mentioned on by REGAIN on its website www.regainnetwork.org. One of the victims, Aaron Loughrey from Derry had the courage to come forward and get his perpetrator, an Irish Legionary priest, taken out of circulation by that secretive organization, Legion of Christ and its Regnum Christi lay group.

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Patricia Seiler | Jan 11, 2010, 01:53 PM EST

As a survivor sexual abuse which was ignored by my family & my Catholic priest uncle, I agree with the main premise of the article: Pope Benedict should resign in disgrace & humility (if humility is possible on his part), direct all Cardinals, bishops, parish priests & deacons worldwide involved in any way with this atrocity do the same, & spend the rest of his days in an isolated monastery, on his knees begging forgiveness from his God. He doesn't deserve even that much grace & leniency. I went on in my career as a crisis intervention counselor to provide assistance to numerous victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, incest & rape. Many of these women, and some men and boys, but especially women & and girls, were advised by their spiritual leaders to accept the blame for the assaults, to be a better wife, daughter, girlfriend, to dress differently, act differently, in other words, take on the responsibility for the attack(s). This attitude is still pervasive worldwide, across cultures & continents. Until men, and men of the cloth, understand that women are God's creation, deserving of honor & respect, nothing will change. Men of honor, whether clergy or laity of any faith, must stand alongside women & say, "No more! We will not allow some men to portray all men as predators & pedophiles, & we will take an active part in eradication of these horrendous crimes." Sexual abuse, assault, rape & incest must become a MEN'S ISSUE before we see true reform & true protection for the vulnerable among us. Let the work begin anew.

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myriamdom | Jan 11, 2010, 11:51 AM EST

This is what I think: Why single out the Irish? Priestly scandals are big issue also in the United States. I agree that the people, the congregation, must have a say in choosing their bishops and must begin in selecting priests. But this is Vatican's problem; not local dioceses. It's the Church Fathers that "invented" the Catholic Church Code of Canon Law, so Vatican must the first and foremost to resolve the problem and lay out procedures. The problem in this Code is, although it mentions "rights" of the faithfuls, the faithfuls are not really able to exercise these rights. What the Church is only telling its faithfuls is "do this, do that, you must be this, you must be that, you give, give, give, be generous" all the time. Faithfuls must realize that Church laws come from the top (Vatican or church authorities)to the bottom (people); but money flows from bottom to top. Therefore the source of all these buildings of huge churches and cathedrals is the people. All these church authorities have to do is ask. When Judas Iscariot killed himself, the disciples decided that he must be replaced and there was nomination. Believe me or not, the first violators of the Code are the makers themselves. Many, and I mean many, of these priests are using their so called power and authority to abuse us the weak links. Ireland have been sending priests to other countries. I just hope they don't have that shameful records back in Ireland. The only way that these so called "church authorities" to feel the pinch is for the people to stop donations. Give only for specific purposes. The Church really, badly needs overhaul. As to qualities, the Bible states them clearly.

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jacersisityourself | Jan 08, 2010, 06:18 PM EST

To the subject of TPC's article - As a member of the Catholic laity in Ireland, I wouldn’t have a clue as to what qualities a priest should have for me to have a say in whether he should be a bishop or not these days. I have Nada info on that. I’m sure that goes for people of the Reformation Churches too if they were given that role in their churches for choosing a bishop. Me vote for someone to be a bishop? Nah, it stinks of politicising a religious vocation to serve Christ and risks communal nepotism. ‘Time to Look at Ourselves’, Tim Pat should have written about. We ordinary people are the body of the Church. No bishop in Ireland today seems to be able to lead us out of risks of losing our faith in the Irish Church; they're too busy saving themselves and their office. Like politicians who abuse the privilege of being elected by us plebs.

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jacersisityourself | Jan 08, 2010, 05:54 PM EST

This is an informative but misdirected article by Tim Pat Coogan, previously published in the Irish Independent newspaper. I don’t accept Coogan’s assertion that symphysiotomy was a medical procedure surreptitiously encouraged by Archbishop McQuaid: it was medical procedure purely, dating from early days in medical history, long before caesarean operations were possible and centuries before Archbishop McQuaid’s time. Facts show that 1 in 5 women (and they relatively very few of all pregnant women) who had the procedure suffered pain from it, not all as TP’s article suggests. The point is that it was once a standard now outdated medical procedure for women in difficult birth situations. When it was introduced into surgery centuries ago, it was a surgical means of the time saving the lives of the baby and of the woman. Let’s keep things in perspective Tim Pat... shall we? Stick with the story and avoid surreptitious insinuations as common in Media Misrepresentation. You’re too old and experienced to be doing that now, it could slot you into tabloid press infamy in the twilight of an excellent career as a highly respected Irish journalist.

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