The report featured a number of inaccuracies that I spotted myself on the night, however the Catholic Communications Office were not just angry about the inaccuracies but the tone and attitude of the piece.  In homage to the Archbishop McQuaid school of complaints there were mentions of ‘excessive darkness’ in the imagery.

Thanks to my friends in the church (!) for a copy of the correspondence between the Communication Office and Ken O’Shea, RTE’s Current Affairs Editor,  which was sent out to the Cardinal, Bishops and priests throughout the country.

RTE did make a clarification on their show on Thursday night regarding Bishop Willie Walsh’s resignation and the incorrect picture of Bishop Drennan being shown – nothing else was mentioned though.   (Anyone else think that Bishop Willie Walsh is very happy to be retiring all the same?)

Dear Ken,

I am writing to you in relation to mistakes which were made in the broadcast of Tuesday’s (18 May) ‘Primetime’ concerning the Catholic Church.  I ask that tonight’s programme correct these mistakes (see points below) please.

In advance of your programme, the Catholic Communications Office sent in a reply at 13.22 on Tuesday 18 May to a media request from Rita O’Reilly of Primetime which sought to determine how many bishops had resigned since the publication of the Ryan and Murphy Reports and on what grounds.

While the CCO press release announcing Bishop Willie Walsh’s resignation did not specify the reason for his resignation, our email response to the Primetime query for information did explicitly state “age” as the reason for Bishop Walsh’s resignation as it said “… below is the list of resignations as discussed (I have listed the official announcements in date order).  The first two relate to those granted on grounds of age, Bishops Willie Walsh and Joseph Duffy.”

This is at variance to your reply to a complaint by Fr Seamus Gardiner concerning the same broadcast where you stated that “the [Primetime] reporter asked the Catholic Communications Office to supply us with a list and we told them we would be relying on the factual position as put to us by them. The script was based on what they emailed us and told us and it is as follows: …”

Thus Primetime has made a number of serious mistakes and partial editorial decisions in its broadcast and in your email to Fr Gardiner:

• The programme script clearly infers that Bishop Willie Walsh had to resign due to a failure of accountability, in other words for reasons not related to age grounds.  This is both factually incorrect and grossly misleading.  Quote from the programme:

“Heads have rolled since the publication of the Ryan and then the Murphy Reports.  Eight Irish bishops have offered to resign. So far the Pope has accepted six: the resignations of the Bishop of Limerick, Donal Murray; the Bishop of Cloyne, John Magee; the Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin, James Moriarty; today Willie Walsh, the Bishop of Killaloe.  Pope Benedict has also accepted that two other Bishops have resigned on age grounds: Joseph Duffy, Bishop of Clogher and Francis Lagan, Auxiliary Bishop of Derry.”

• Whilst Primetime has since corrected – in text form on its website – that Bishop Willie Walsh resigned due to age grounds, there remains a much more serious correction to be made, based on the context of the programme, namely to vindicate Bishop Willie Walsh’s good name in relation to safeguarding children.   Primetime should broadcast this clarification this evening concerning the false impression given by the programme for Bishop Walsh’s resignation, and not in the form of a text correction on its website.
• Your point in your email to Fr Gardiner that “It can’t be said that Willie Walsh’s resignation was accepted on age grounds because it’s simply not the case” – and which you support by an “example” – is based on an incorrect mathematical calculation.  Completing one’s 75^th year and reaching 75 years of age are actually two ways of describing the same age.  Bishop Walsh, as with Bishops Duffy and Lagan, has completed his 75^th year.  It is wrong to assert that “In fact, although Willie Walsh reached 75 in January, the relevant Canon Law, Canon 401.1 states that a Bishop “who has completed his 75^th year of age” has to offer his resignation to the Pope, not a bishop who has just started his 75^th year of age.”  Bishop Walsh started his 76^th year of age from January 2010!
• The programme named Bishop Raymond Field who has tendered his resignation but pictured Bishop Martin Drennan instead who has not tendered his resignation.
• The video film introduction was excessively dark in imagery.
• The animated and exaggerated ‘mitres’ superimposed on the head and shoulder photographs of bishops were clearly meant to ridicule and were offensive to Catholics.

I look forward to you correcting these serious mistakes and impressions in tonight’s programme.

Regards

MARTIN LONG

Director

Catholic Communications Office

Irish Bishops’ Conference

Columba Centre

St Patrick’s College

Maynooth

Co Kildare

Amongst the TD’s quoted as being supportive are Mattie McGrath (FF – Tipperary South) and Lucinda Creighton (FG Dublin South East)

Irish Catholic editor (and former Vatican Radio staffer) Michael Kelly writes that Creighton supports such an amendment and that there are several other FG TD’s in support of it.  There are lots of lesbians and gay men living and voting in Dublin South East (Ranelagh, Rathmines, Donnybrook, etc.) and you may feel the urge to respectfully contact Ms. Creighton (lucinda.creighton (@) oireachtas.ie) and tell her that there is no need for such an amendment and that this issue has nothing to do with religion.  No amendments have been published yet by the way. We’ll have to wait for the second stage to proceed on Thursday.

Labour are against including an amendment protecting registrars but say

”In general, the Labour Party would not support any measure that requires a religious organisation to be involved in any activity that is in conflict with its ethical position.”

Eh? It’s Civil Partnership.  However I’m sure they are referring to the church hall committee ruse.  Now if that parish hall has been in receipt of state funds and provides those facilities for groups that have nothing to do with religion I don’t see how it should be permitted to stop people using it for celebrations but I don’t think there is going to be massive queues to book the hall for a CP party.

I assumed the Labour Party won’t be supporting any amendment aimed at ‘protecting’ bigotry from an organisation or individual.  I’m sure that assumption is correct.

Thursday night means a load of TD’s will have gone home early so there might be a load of welcome pairings for the uncomfortable.

December 3rd is the date of the next National Strike. I don’t know what impact that will have on access to the Public Gallery(and for the picket non passers amongst you!) but I will check out over the next few days. If you want to go watch the debate you can contact your local TD and try asking for a ticket in.  (Email list of TD’s is available here.)

————

Family Solidarity are warning Catholic TD’s to vote ala Catholic and against the bill rather than ala carte.   They have a moral duty to do so it seems.

Ah Family Solidarity who spent much of the early 90’s being fascinated with men’s back passages  (anti sodomy group who published The Homosexual Challenge: Analysis and Response in 1990.)

————

I’m not sure how I feel about the Civil Partnership Bill and the way it’s being referred to with respect to the Murphy Commission into child sexual abuse in the Dublin Diocese.

Ciaran Cuffe TD. yesterday said that

“The Catholic Church must question its whole approach to sexuality in the light of Judge Murphy’s Report.

“At a time when members of the Catholic Church hierarchy are actively campaigning against the Civil Partnership Bill being brought before the Dáil next week, there must be a pause for reflection within the Catholic Church, and a more concerted effort to protect the vulnerable.”

Let’s leave the lesbians and gays out of any mention regarding the horrendous crimes committed by priests and the mental reserved hierarchy I think. By even mentioning the Church you give them recognition of being involved in what is a civil matter and then there’s the whole matter of comparing church teaching on homosexuality and the matter of paedophilia and violence against children.

I’ve no doubt many people are delighted that the Church has been shown to be such a corrupt organisation and has no part to be involved in pronouncement on human rights and equality issues but it’s not sitting right  with me to bring it into this matter.

: analysis and response. Publisher Dublin : Family Solidarity, 1990. Description 64 p. ; 22 cm.

The law allowed religious groups to discriminate against gay employees “so as to avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions of a significant number of the religion’s followers”.

Where does this leave Section 37 (i) of the Employment Equality Act in Ireland?

Section 37 (i) of the Employment Equality Act, 1998, 2004 states:

—————————-
A religious, educational or medical institution which is under the direction or control of a body established for religious purposes or whose objectives include the provision of services in an environment which promotes certain religious values shall not be taken to discriminate against a person for the purposes of this Part or Part II if—

a)    it gives more favorable treatment, on the religion ground, to an employee or a prospective employee over that person where it is reasonable to do so in order to maintain the religious ethos of the institution, or

b)    it takes action which is reasonably necessary to prevent an employee or a prospective employee from undermining the religious ethos of the institution.

Has the Commission examined the act? Whilst the section has yet to be interpreted by the Equality Tribunal or the courts, it is one of most contentious pieces of legislation amongst lesbians and gay men in Ireland. Especially amongst lgbt teachers.

And what of the religious groupings and their call for an amendment to Civil Partnership legislation to permit conscientious objection?

Update

Ian in the comments has found the story saying that the European Commisison believes that the Employment Equality Act ethos opt-out by religious institutions is broad enough for the Commission to drop their objection.

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• Brussels says churches must lift ban on employing homosexuals (guardian.co.uk)

• What were the schools doing?
• What did the doctor or public health nurse do?
• What did the neighbours do?
• The shopkeepers?
• Why didn’t the health board go through other legal means following the high court injunction?

The culture of not telling or non interference is supported by society and influenced by mainstream church teaching in so many ways – no mandatory reporting, no Constitutional protection of children which to be fair to the health board does seem to limit the legal avenues open to it.

The Iona Institute tell us in a recent survey that 72% agree that parents should decide whats best for their children except for cases of abuse or neglect. This is code for no to a childrens rights referendum. These groups and the hierarchy have done and will do their best to slow down any attempt to change the constitution to give children access to rights.

There are many Catholic agencies and groups which oppose stay safe programmes, vaccination programmes, relationships and sexuality education, protection legislation and permit the distribution of ALIVE in churches and other church buildings. Those catholic groups which advocate/d a no vote in the Lisbon treaty did so in part to ‘protect the family’. Some of those individuals/groups providing parenting courses and advice for call-ins on television and radio programmes are deeply involved in Catholic fringe organisations but you wouldn’t know it.

The Church and it’s institutions own school buildings and maintain that they should direct the curriculum and decide on admittance despite state funding. They also have the right to decide who works in these schools. Their leaders don’t quit or get sacked when they don’t obey their own rules and policies on child protection or those of the state. Several government ministers regularly state that Ireland is a Christian country in relation to these and other types of social policy matters.

And the issue which should shock us even more than all the above is that the severity of abuse/neglect in the Roscommon case is still happening and there are even less people out there to report suspicions to (social workers being completely overburdened with cases). When these cases/suspicions are reported they take months or years to be investigated – and then the constitutional protection of the family and lack of full childcare protection legislation in the way.

Read Geoffrey Shannon’s report on the legislative deficits in terms of child protection in Ireland – the government paid him to write it.

Which part of the word CIVIL do they not understand? (Never mind the word partnership…)

If God is about Love why do they hate us so much (or patronise us by saying love the sinner, hate the sin). They don’t mention the words lesbian or gay either, see that – they think they are clever!

(Many thanks to Damien (!) for the fluffy link that led me to this nugget. Nothing but eclectic the work of the Mulleymeister! More Donna Summer or Kylie needed!)

All this just in time for Conor’s appearance on the Late Late Show. Good luck to Conor, his brother and his parents, yes the whole family – they’ll be able to speak with some authority on the matter unlike the men in the mitres.

Civil Partnership Bill 2008
Bishops discussed the Civil Partnership Bill 2008, which was published in June by the Department of Justice, and in particular the Constitutional obligation on the Government to guard the institution of marriage with special care (Art. 41.3.1). Bishops highlighted the benefits which derive from marriage between a man and woman as the fundamental unit of society.

Bishops restated that marriage exists so that spouses may grow in mutual love and by generosity of their love, bring children into the world and serve life fully. As a faithful, exclusive and lifelong union between one man and one woman, marriage is both a relationship of persons and the fundamental unit upon which society is built.

Our recognition of this unique status is further deepened by our Christian understanding that love of husband and wife mirrors Christ’s abiding love for the Church.

The Irish Constitution rightly acknowledges the unique status of marriage and why it is appropriate for Government to support that status with special measures, including special measures in taxation and social welfare.

God, who is love, is the author of marriage. This authorship includes the natural complementarity of man and woman through which the union of spouses is deepened and the gift of new life is made possible.

Indicating that a further and more detailed statement on the Civil Partnership Bill would follow at a later date, Bishops revisited their submission to the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Family in February 2005, which concluded:

“This special status of marriage does not prevent just and appropriate measures being taken in relation to the diversity of other forms of dependent relationship which exist in society. It may, in certain circumstances, be in the public interest to provide legal protection to the social, fiscal and inheritance entitlements of persons who support caring relationships which generate dependency, provided always that these relationships are recognised as being qualitatively different from marriage and that their acceptance does not dilute the uniqueness of marriage. However, it would seem discriminatory to confine this protection to those in sexual relationships and thereby exclude from protection the interests of siblings and other non-sexually involved cohabitees. Moreover, the creation of a category of ‘marriage like’ relationships which would enjoy special rights and protections would seem to contradict in spirit, if not in law, the pledge in Article 41.3.1 to guard with special care the institution of marriage. In the case of those who would in any event be free to marry, any scheme which confers on them many of the advantages of legal marriage, might be judged to be an incentive not to marry and to have devalued the institution of marriage.”

She took them to an Employment Appeals Tribunal and she lost. The case then went to the High Court where it ruled that Flynn’s pregnancy and relationship “…was capable of damaging [the nuns’] efforts to foster in their pupils…religious tenets the school had been established to promote.”

Eileen eventually returned to teaching in Wexford some years ago having married her partner and it is with great sadness that I heard that she died yesterday at the age of only 56. She is survived by her husband and their five children.

Eilleen had the support of many trade unionists, women and human rights activists at the time. While I understand her reasons to remain private subsequently I do hope that someone brings together some of the archive material to document the case and pay a tribute to her memory and the battle she fought to reclaim her job.

It’s still possible to be sacked from your job if something about your private life might contravene the religious ethos of the workplace (school, hospital etc.). It’s been deemed to be constitutional – and I wonder if the voices of protest might be louder if it happened now.

Update: Irish Times report on Eileen’s death and includes some commentary from the time and a quote from an interview she gave in 1999.

His collusion with the force in general has paid off as well considering that 2 Garda patrol cars and a Garda van were called to Ennis cathedral last week in an attempt to remove a person who was ever so drunk but asleep within the hallowed walls…but the men and women in blue failed in their job (nothing new there then) and it was left to the ambulance service to remove the man from the premises.

No doubt his relationship with the Force has played an integral part in a continued harassment against a younger member of the clergy over the last few years which one would hope will cease sooner rather than later but word has it once Bishop WW is retired, an explosive book of revelations shall be in the public domain exposing some of what has happened under the pastoral care of aforementioned WW.

I can smell the scorched incense from here!!!

For those of you who drop in and out of Irishblogs.ie you’ll note that Clerical Whispers is one of the most prolific blogs on the internet. I’m not sure if it’s one of the most read.

Pious in it’s appearance (apologies for directing you to the music!) there are regular posts to indicate disaffection from many things in the Church from the author, Sotto Voce, who definitely wore a collar at some stage if he’s not still clinging onto priestly orders.

Fr. John is a founder of Courage which is based in the USA and ministers to the oriented – cos they only feel that way and can do something about it seemingly.

Ah sure Auds might be there and let me know what I missed Wonder will they be talking about Jesus and his thing for John the Baptist, (what do you think they were doing during that fasting thing?). as for John the Gospel if ever there was a love story and as for the other 12 lads he hung out with??

She does not see any fly on the wall expose of how the Vatican works – so no change there on transparency and the church. Whats all this warp speed stuff? A trekie nun? Oh go watch it and see what Benny 16 thinks of the web.