Catholic Church – Judge Yvonne Murphy Report – Nature

My prejudice is that it is unwise to ignore a possible relationship between paedophilia and clerical celibacy but the Irish swimming experience proves that it is clearly not the defining characteristic.

The Council of Trent in Northern Italy in 1545 – 1563 decided to solidify clerical celibacy as a mandatory part of the Western Catholic Church’s characteristics. The celibacy issue had first been documented at the
Council of Elvira in 305 but was part of clerical tradition. The Catholic Church has a very complex history enmeshed in European and near- east politics for two millennia. We, in Ireland, were most influenced by the
Holy Roman Empire and the doctrine of the Catholic Church was particularly codified at the third session of Council of Trent. This was a response to growing Protestantism and the eventual outcomes have been reflected in Ireland, North and South to this day.

Thus the Catholic Church remains a very important social, cultural and religious organisation in Ireland. Any secretive, powerful organisation is an ideal sanctuary for the abuse of power. Clerical sex abuse of children
is such a gross abuse and betrayal and has persisted so long because the southern state abdicated its responsibilities to its citizens by allowing a parallel authority to in effect govern. This authority was the autocratic Catholic Church. Read John Cooney’s biography of John Charles McQuaid, Archbishop of Dublin to get a flavour of the mentality and supreme arrogance of a Catholic Prince in a theocratic state.

The Catholic Church is a political organisation with its own state in the Vatican and a world wide diplomatic corps. It is unique in that regard.

However , there are muslim states that are theocratic like Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. India was separated from Pakistan after the British Raj because of religion. Like all religions, the rulers claim to
speak for “God”. The troops in the Catholic Church are told to follow the principles of the beatitudes or “Sermon on the mount” which is claimed to be Jesus’s greatest sermon.

Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

This is a powerful plea for decency but I prefer the hard wired rules set out in the UN Declaration of Human Rights and in the European Human Rights Conventions.

Life moves on and an objective view of the Catholic Church is that it is deeply sexist. It discriminates systematically against women. It also uses psychological mechanisms of fear and conditioning to control its members and suppress critical opposition from within. The distinctive clerical garbs of priests, nuns, brothers, bishops, cardinals and popes places the organisation in the realms of a cult. It is the western version of the burka, hijab and other muslim uniforms.

From my vantage point, nature and instinct are major normal driving forces in human behaviour.

Reproductive drives are like eating and drinking – just part of nature. Bucking nature is about as sensible as trying to buck the market. You will always ultimately fail.

So a single sex closed self regarding elitist organisation – the clerical Catholic Church will always be a hiding place for odd people. Remember the blackthorn stick wielding parish priest, the church opposition to normal literature (Edna O’Brien, John McGahern, James Joyce, etc) nondenominational schools, entry to Trinity College, any and every form of contraception, state run medicine, and any display of sexuality. It is
entirely unsurprising that the flood waters of nature have engulfed this sham when mass communication, travel and education lifted the critical faculties of our people.

So thank Ireland for Yvonne Murphy and the honestly and integrity of her report.

  • many priests and clergy are trying to live a celibate life
  • paedophiles are dangerous – fullstop.
  • The Catholic Church will collapse in Ireland without a reversal of the clerical celibacy rule.
  • Such a collapse will have a major impact on Irish culture – baptisms, marriages, funerals, parish social groups, psychological support for the sick and infirm, management of schools, provision of services by heroic nuns in poor areas and others.
  • With 10% of the population now foreign born, church control of primary education will have to be ended where possible.
  • To get public funding for teachers salaries, school management boards should be obliged to have an objective set of nondenominational criteria for teacher selection and employment except for teachers of religion. Where the local school is owned by the Catholic Church, objectivity should apply and children of all faiths should be accepted from within the local catchment area.
  • Garda clearance should be mandatory for all members of boards of management of schools including clergy
  • The criminal law on sex offences must be applied to all without fear or favour.
  • A system of state education should be set up to cater for all pupils and this should be introduced incrementally.
  • A yearly audit of the performance of the HSE with regard to child care and the Children’s Act must be published and actions taken where appropriate
  • Judge Yvonne Murphy should be asked to report on a solution to antisocial behaviour by children and teenagers to include a study of the usefulness and effectiveness of the current prison system.

Bishops named in the Murphy Report MUST resign of be fired by their boss the Pope.