Over the next week or so we will see the usual Catholic fundamentalists coming out from under their rocks to deny, excuse and justify the horror that their particular superstition spawns.
People like Breda O’Brien, Mary Kenny, John Waters and David Quinn will spout the usual nauseating defence which, predictably, will include the following:
It wasn’t just the church; the State was to blame too.
Only a small percentage of priests were guilty of abuse.
It was the culture of the time.
All of society is to blame.
The church didn’t realise that abuse of children was wrong.
In February this year the Irish government enacted a law which makes it a criminal offence to sell a Mass card without the permission of a Catholic bishop (Charities Act 2009, Section 99).
Contained within the Act is a presumption of guilt until proved innocent. This runs contrary to Article 48 (1) of the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights which states:
Everyone who has been charged shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.
In light of this new law I decided to engage in the selling of Mass cards and, being a law abiding citizen, wrote to my local bishop to ask for permission.
My local bishop is, temporarily, Archbishop Clifford. Bishop Magee is, er, busy with other matters.
Dear Archbishop Clifford,
As required under Section 99 of the Charities Act, 2009 I request permission to engage in the selling of Mass cards.
Yours sincerely.
Anthony Sheridan
I received the following reply from the pastoral co-ordinator in Cobh.
Dear Mr. Sheridan,
Archbishop Clifford has asked me to reply to your letter of 29th April 2009.
The Charities Act 2009 was signed into law by the President on February 28th 2009. However, the Act does not become operative until a commencement order has been issued.
Archbishop Clifford is advised that to date the relevant order has not been issued.
Yours sincerely
The relevant government department confirmed this was indeed the case. When the commencement order was issued I again wrote to the Archbishop for permission engage in the selling of Mass cards and he responded:
Dear Mr. Sheridan.
Archbishop Clifford has asked me to contact you concerning your recent letter to him in which you request permission to engage in the selling of Mass cards.
Before considering your request the Archbishop would like to know to what retail outlets this request refers.
Yours sincerely
My reply:
Dear Archbishop Clifford,
In response to your letter of 2nd October in which you request the names of retail outlets from which I intend selling Mass cards.
My understanding of section 99 (Charities Act, 2009) is that a citizen must first obtain permission from a bishop of the Church or a provincial of an order of priests before engaging in the selling of Mass cards.
I am unaware of any other regulations, laws or conditions (civil or religious) that must be adhered to in order engage in the selling of Mass cards. If such regulations, laws or conditions do exist I would be grateful if you could provide me with details so that I may be in proper compliance with the law.
Yours sincerely
Anthony Sheridan
Dear Mr. Sheridan,
Archbishop Clifford has instructed me to reply to your letter of October 20th concerning your request for permission to engage in the selling of Mass cards.
As you may be aware, the particular section of the Charities Act which requires this permission is at present being challenged in the High Court. Archbishop Clifford has decided to defer a final decision on your request pending the outcome of the relevant case.
Yours sincerely
This particular section of the Charities Act is indeed being challenged in the High Court but hopefully the matter will be resolved soon and I can once again apply to the Archbishop for permission to sell Mass cards.
The duel between the Catholic Church in the form of Archbishop Neary and clairvoyant Joe Costello continues. The Archbishop has claimed that Coleman’s predictions risk misleading god’s people and undermining the faith but the clairvoyant continues to attract large crowds.
A letter in last Wednesday’s Irish Times provides the funniest but most accurate response to the controversy.
Madam,
I’m a little confused that the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, is discouraging people from gathering at Knock to witness apparitions which he believes “risk misleading God’s people and undermining faith”.
This is the the same “faith” that believes that a cosmic Jew who was his own father by a virgin can enable you to live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh, drink his blood and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from something invisible called your soul that is present because a woman made from a rib was convinced by a talking snake to eat an apple from a magical tree.
Yours etc,
Liam Meehan,
La Vista Avenue,
Killester, Dublin 5.
Asked on the Late Late Show about dying and burial Richard Dawkins said ritual and ceremony was important to humans. He said it was right to give a proper send off to loved ones who had died, that it was fulfilling to do so.
At least one on his detractors will claim that this proves he’s really religious after all.
Catholic fundamentalists will not be happy, not happy at all. Extremists like David Quinn, John Waters, Mary Kenny and staff at the Irish Catholic will be fuming after watching Richard Dawkins on the Late Late Show.
Here’s an edited sample of part of the interview.
Where does god fit into things?
God has little to do anymore…we don’t need god anymore to explain anything and that pretty much means we don’t need god at all.
But most people believe in god.
Yes, it’s great consolation but it doesn’t mean he’s there, there’s no evidence whatsoever.
So what’s the Vatican – Toy town?
Yes, a gigantic very expensive, very rich waste of time.
Many would disagree.
They’re misguided.
Do you see god as believable as the Easter Bunny?
Pretty much, yes. The evidence for either is equally sparse.
Personally, I prefer the comparison between god and Santa Claus. Millions of humans have an absolute belief in Santa. They believe because parents and other figures of authority go to great lengths to instill the truth of Santa.
This belief from authority is reinforced by society in general and in particular by the media. All of society conspires in this harmless and happy indoctrination and the humans who believe have no reason whatsoever to doubt such widespread ‘evidence’.
When the Santa believers reach a certain age, however, they are informed that Santa doesn’t exist, that it’s all just a bit of fun to make Christmas extra magical for the believers. As the former Santa believers join the world of reality they are invited to continue promoting the myth so that the believers can continue to enjoy that extra magic.
This temporary and happy indoctrination of children is exactly the same as the more sinister religious indoctrination that most children are forced to endure with one crucial difference – as they grow up the indoctrination continues, they’re never told the truth.
As they mature from children to vulnerable and impressionable young adults they are subjected to massive propaganda and lies from a whole range of forces – Parents, teachers, priests, the media and society in general.
To question the unquestioned myths is dangerous and almost always brings down punishment of some sort. It is only when these children become independent adults that they are permitted to express their own views.
Unfortunately, by then it is too late for many of them, the damage is done.
I recently heard just a snatch of an interview with Michael O’Brien, a victim of the depraved Catholic Church who spoke so passionately on Questions & Answers.
He was pleading for financial assistance to help other victims but said he had only received €6,000 from the department and €4,000 from the Rosminians.
These miserable donations should be seen in the context of the great promises made immediately after the publication of the Ryan Report when both the Government and the obnoxious Catholic Church were playing for time.
We’re still waiting for these disgusting people to tell us where they’ve hidden their vast wealth. At the time, in a (obviously successful) ploy to deflect anger there were suggestions by these evil institutions that they would be willing to substantially increase their so far pathetic compensation payments by millions.
It should come as no surprise that lies and greed are still the chief characteristic of these so called holy and charitable organisations.
A very convenient section under the Commission of Investigation Act 2004 requires the Minister to seek directions from the High Court if the publication of the report might prejudice any criminal proceedings that are pending or in progress.
This section is convenient because it forces a delay in publication and gives the Minister flexibility on exactly when or if the report may be released.
This report is important because it is expected to be very critical of how the hierarchy (four archbishops and 15 bishops) handled sex abuse allegations between 1975 and 2004.
Given the many other crises facing the country it will be interesting to see just when this strongly Catholic minister decides to publish.
When the Ryan Report was published last May there was widespread disgust and anger but in less than 24 hours the denial process took hold when everybody ignored the actual events and focused almost entirely on the Church/State deal brokered by former minister Michael Woods and Bertie Ahern.
Apologists for the Catholic Church went blue in the face from issuing apology after apology before proceeding to blame everybody else. Now we have the awards: For his work as chairman of the Child Abuse Commission, Mr. Justice Sean Ryan was presented with a special award at the Humbert School Mayo at the weekend.
This is the best report we could make, he said. It is for others to do justice to those who suffered abuse in the past — and to decide what can be done to ensure that such events do not happen in the future.
Also present at the awards was the ruthless and callous defender of the abusing institutions Sr. Marianne O’Connor representing the Conference of Religious Ireland (Cori). O’Connor issued yet another worthless apology asking for forgiveness: Without forgiveness one is stuck, unable to move forward she said.
Michael O’Brien, who made that unforgettable speech on Questions and Answers, was having none of it:
I will forgive when I know that these people mean it when they say ‘we are really, really sorry’, I don’t want silly apologies. I want to see repentance.
But Michael O’Brien will not see genuine repentance; he will not see justice and nothing will be done to prevent such events happening again. John Cooney of the Irish Independent hit the nail on the head:
The unspoken hope of Maynooth and Government Buildings is that the survivors’ group will divide and fight among themselves, and that the media and the public will weary of their plight.
And then there’s the money or rather the lack of it. Three months after the report and we’re still waiting for these depraved organizations to tell us how much money they have. I doubt we will ever be told the truth, I have heard reports that they have long ago moved the bulk of their millions offshore.
I received a letter today from the EU Committee on Petitions in response to my complaint regarding the criminalisation of those who sell Mass cards without the permission of a Catholic bishop.
Included in the new law is the presumption of guilt until proved innocent which runs contrary to Article 48 (1) of the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights which states:
“Everyone who has been charged shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.”
Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, The Petitions Committee has rejected my complaint. The letter outlines the reasons in bureaucratic language but, effectively, states that the matter doesn’t come within its remit.
I will continue to keep an eye on the implementation of this law so that I can re-apply to the Bishop of Cloyne for permission to sell Mass cards.
Was it not unconstitutional for the Dáil to pass a Bill that protects one specific group of people in this country (religious people) from being grossly abused and insulted – while at the same time failing to provide the same protection for non-religious people?
Peculiarly, the passing of this Bill means that the various religions in this country will be permitted willynilly to continue to abuse and insult non-believers from their various pulpits and in their holy writings.
In contrast, the Dáil has now taken away the basic human right of freedom of speech in certain areas of discourse from its non-religious citizens. This is the true outrage. – Yours, etc,