BishopAccountability.org
	Years of Privilege Blind Bishops By Colum Kenny Irish Independent February 3, 2008 http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/years-of-privilege-blind-bishops-1280033.html?from=related Cardinal Connell's court case is not just an insult to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. It is a hammer-blow for the Catholic Church in Ireland. Laity and priests will be appalled that he took the case, due in court tomorrow. Claims that many of the hierarchy are quietly supporting Connell will disgust (but hardly surprise) most citizens. Irish Catholics have watched the hierarchy make a shambles of the child sexual abuse scandal, and have waited in vain for inspiring initiatives from their bishops. The gardai should take note. Cardinal Connell is well enough to get involved in a High Court dog-fight over sex abuse files. So he is well enough to be prosecuted if he has covered up paedophilia. The gloves are off. It is past time to investigate the bishops and to charge any who may have helped criminals to evade justice. What do Pope Benedict and his representative in Ireland think of Cardinal Connell's court case? The Vatican gave disgraced Boston cardinal Bernard Law a warm welcome when he fled the United States after the covering up of abuse there. Maybe the Vatican supports Connell. And who is paying for all this? How much of what the faithful contribute on a Sunday is going into the pockets of lawyers employed to fight this case or to advise bishops. When Bishop Eamonn Casey made free with diocesan funds to cover up his family circumstances, we got a glimpse of how much power the hierarchy has over Catholics' money. The Dublin archdiocese still claims that Martin and Connell have "warm, friendly and cordial" relations. With friends like Connell, who needs enemies? Martin's appointment was a breath of fresh air, but this case could undo all his efforts. One of the few bishops not part of the Maynooth set, he is simply not one of the boys. Martin is not even radical by theological or pastoral standards. But in Ireland, God help us, he is seen as a threat to the institution because he glimpses the future and refuses to pretend that everything is all right. I bit my tongue, and diverted my gaze last year, as Irish bishops danced around Rome to celebrate the appointment of Sean Brady as a cardinal. What do these people think that they have to celebrate? Their church is in crisis, their services dreary, their parishes losing priests at a rate of knots. The involvement of laity is limited to areas and to powers that the bishops find non-threatening. And what does Cardinal Connell do in the face of this institutional crisis, in the teeth of lay anger and in the light of growing alienation from any religion? He sends his lawyers into the High Court to assert his constitutional rights and to complain about loss of privilege. Why did Jesus not think of that? Connell is now trying to thwart the Government's investigation of his church's handling of child abuse. Why? What are they hiding? He may claim it is a matter of legal principle, but many may see it as pure pride. His case would be risible if it were not so lamentable. People have real needs. Spirituality can address some of those needs and can, at its best, bring joy and hope into lives. But that kind of religion is a long way from many people's experience of the Catholic Church in Ireland in recent decades. The bishops have sown despair. Do Cardinal Connell or his supporters have any capacity for self-criticism? Or have years of too much deference and privilege in the all-male corridors of bishops' palaces blinded them to the extent of the problem? Do they admit that they have given scandal? This court case is a milestone on their road to self-destruction. Instead of using the church's money for lawyers, Irish bishops and cardinals would be better off reflecting on the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus asks: "What man among you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?" Professor Colum Kenny coordinates the "Belief and Communication" module at Dublin City University.
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