Today’s Irish Times carries an impassioned plea from Fr Robert Hoatson of New Jersey under the headline: ‘Papal apologies are all well and good – now is the time for action.’
Fr Hoatson was sexually abused while a member of … Read more...
Category: Victims
Ian Paisley and the Pope: The Return of Dr No?
It’s been awhile since we’ve heard the Rev. Ian Paisley rail publicly against the pope, identifying him as an ‘anti-Christ.’ But in an interview with the BBC World Service, Paisley reverted to ‘anti-Christ’ mode as he voiced his opposition to … Read more...
Putting Northern Ireland’s Past Back on the Agenda
For many, the welcome reception this week of the Saville Report and the British Prime Minister’s apology for the failings of the British Army and the British state in regard to Bloody Sunday have signalled that Northern Ireland may be … Read more...
Bloody Sunday and the Saville Report: David Cameron and How to Say Sorry
With the Saville Report, the City of Derry and Northern Ireland now have a document that has, in the main, satisfied the families of the victims who were shot dead by the British Army in 1972. The families and other … Read more...
The Dublin/Murphy Report: A Watershed for Irish Catholicism?: Book Review
If the Pope’s team of apostolic visitors want to prepare for their upcoming visit to Ireland, a good place to start would be a new book edited by John Littleton and Eamon Maher, The Dublin/Murphy Report: A Watershed for Irish … Read more...
The Apostolic Visitors are Coming: Wounded Healers and Healing for the Wounded?
The Pope has announced the team of apostolic visitors who will conduct an investigation into clerical sex abuse in Ireland. The Irish Times’ Patsy McGarry remarks that the Vatican has sent in ‘heavy hitters.’ McGarry says:
… Read more...THERE HAS never been
The Ryan Report and Irish Catholicism One Year On
In the recently published book, The Dublin/Murphy Report: A Watershed for Irish Catholicism? (Columba Press, 2010), Fr Enda McDonagh writes (p. 113):
… Read more...‘Given the spate of commentary on and of proposals for Church reform which have followed the Ryan
Cardinal Sean Brady Keeps his Post, But do People want him to Stay?
Cardinal Sean Brady has decided to stay on as the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Brady has been ‘reflecting’ on his position for the past two months. The controversy around his position was sparked when it was revealed … Read more...
Images from the Protest at the Pro Cathedral
On Easter Sunday I blogged about the protest at Dublin’s Pro Cathedral. Picketers placed children’s shoes on the altar to demonstrate their conviction that the Irish Catholic Church has not dealt adequately with the clerical sex abuse scandals. … Read more...
Easter Sunday in Ireland: Apology & Protest
The Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, sparked controversy this weekend when the content of an interview that is scheduled to be broadcast Monday on BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week was revealed. In it Williams proclaimed that … Read more...
Enda McDonagh Book Review: Theology in Winter Light. Reflections for Good Friday
The Epilogue to Enda McDonagh’s latest book, Theology in Winter Light (Columba, 2010) is titled ‘A Crucified People.’ It opens with a quotation from the Gospel of Mark (15.33): And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over … Read more...