Remembering The Fallen

A friend of mine was at a debate recently and among those present was a Church of Ireland minister who was with her in defending Christian schools. She noticed that he was wearing, as expected at this time of year, a small poppy badge, but also the precious feet (pro-life symbol) and, believe it or not, a Pioneer pin (Catholic temperance organisation). We were impressed.

Thinking about this later I had to admire the Vicar, in his badges he harmonised in a Christian way different movements and I wondered would we, in Ireland, have the courage to do the same? The Pioneer pin and the lifestyle which it symbolizes are often mocked today - in a country that cherishes alcohol, and as a result has serious problems with it, abstinence is seen as counter-cultural, judgmental and mean-spirited. Not so in reality, but it is perceived as a negative thing today. The precious feet are like a red rag to a bull in modern Ireland where the establishment is gung ho in its support for abortion and working hard to make Ireland like everywhere else in its embracing the culture of death. 

That said, both of these symbols are, for now, somewhat tolerated even if dismissed by "the great and the good". It is the poppy which is the most controversial of all. An Anglican minister will get away with it in Ireland, but woe betide anyone of the Catholic persuasion, that is taboo, forbidden. Why? Because in the eyes of many Irish it is the symbol of British Imperialism, for a Irish person to wear a poppy is to offend the Republic and the struggle for independence.

That narrative, however, is rather blinkered. I doubt if the French, Belgians, Dutch and other countries involved in the two World Wars who incorporate the poppy into their commemoration wreaths are pawns of British Imperialism. Rather, that little flower, which grew in abundance on fields that were torn apart by insane war, has become the symbol of those who now lie in those fields, resting beneath canopies of that floral tribute. Among those dead are many Irishmen, Catholics and Protestant, laymen and the priests who served them, who lost in their lives in conflict. Where the poppy is worn the aspiration that accompanies it is "We shall remember them". Is it a coincidence, I wonder, that this remembrance occurs during a month dedicated to the Holy Souls?

I am inclined to think that the example this Vicar shows is very much a Catholic one: Catholic temperance and reparation, Catholic defence of the unborn and vulnerable, and in his poppy the very Catholic tradition of praying for and remembering the dead, particularly those who died in conflict and tragic circumstances, perhaps not even prepared for death. So while we in Ireland associate Remembrance and poppies with British Protestants, I dare say it is actually much more Catholic than we think. Given the many thousands of Irish who died in the World Wars, who are now finally being acknowledged by the Irish State, will we see a day when wearing the poppy will be accepted, indeed become the norm, in this Republic, in memory of our dead? 

Lost Childhood, Lost Children

A few days ago at home with my family for an evening we sat down to watch a movie together; we decided to watch Netflix's first foray into film-making, Beasts of No Nation. We were riveted to the screen. 

For those who have not seen it the movie deals with the issue of child soldiers in African conflicts through the experiences of one little boy. Filmed in Ghana, the movie is set in an unnamed country torn apart by corruption and civil war. The boy, Agu, witnesses the murder of most of his family by government troops as he flees into the jungle to save his life. There he is captured by a rebel group and is trained to fight in the conflict that is developing around him. The movie is harrowing and has a number of disturbing scenes, but it is powerful. The acting is extraordinary and the cinematography is marvellous. 

The movie is a work of art, but it is first and foremost a expose of one of the most serious abuses of children in the world - their direct incorporation into the violence and horror of war as combatants. One critic called the movie "an emotionally and spiritually punishing experience" and it is. Agu (wonderfully played by Abraham Attah) suffers what no child should suffer. We witness the destruction not just of a childhood, but of a child. When it is all over for him Agu can no longer see himself as a human being only as a beast - what he has seen, what he has done, has killed him inside. Agu's trauma is not fiction, it is representative of the experience of thousands of children today.

Too often we hear of conflicts in Africa, Asia, South America, but they seem generic: the media reports from the battle fields, we tut, we say how awful it is, but then move on, Those caught in the middle of it all cannot move on, the horror continues and they suffer, and the ones who suffer the most are the children, as usual. When adults seek to take control, to seize power, to create utopia, it is the children who suffer, be it in the jungles, the city streets, the abortion clinics, dysfunctional families.

A few years ago another movie was released called The Kids Are Alright. It related what could only be called the dysfunctional and selfish relationships between adults and in spite of it all the kids in the middle of it all were fine: well adjusted, mature and accepting. But you see the kids are not alright, even if they appear to cope, they are lost - they look to adults to provide stability and safety, but when the adults are self-obsessed, intent on "self-fulfillment" and pleasure or ideology, there is no stability; there is only the constant needs of those who should be making sacrifices for their children. Beasts of No Nation deals with political conflict, but, like many other situations in the world today it reveals how children become pawns in the concerns of adults, and children suffer, they are traumatized, they lose their childhood, perhaps even lose themselves. 

We Will Remember

 

For a long time Remembrance Sunday was looked upon with deep suspicion here in Ireland - another trapping of Imperialist British rule.  The poppy was almost forbidden, and those who wore it thought to be oddballs at best and traitors at worst.   A great many Irish citizens felt alienated because as men and women who had taken part in the Great War and the Second World War their loyalty to the "Republic of Ireland" was in question.  It was decided by someone in the dim and distant past that a real Irish nationalist would not have gone to fight for the Sasanach*.   Yet plenty of proud Irishmen and women went to serve in the British Army and other national armies because they believed that the World Wars were not about British Imperialism, but something else. 

 

Thankfully things are changing and today many in Ireland can feel proud to be Irish, loyal to the Republic and still remember the men and women who gave their lives in the cause of freedom and peace in the World Wars and other international conflicts.  The poppy, the symbol of this commemoration, is not blooming with great abundance in Ireland yet, but that may change. 

 

My personal connection with the Wars is twofold.  My great-grandfather fought with the British Army in the First World War and sustained injuries, including shellshock.  A cousin of my mother fought in the Second World War, again a member of the British Army, and was one of those who barely escaped with his life at Dunkirk - he never spoke about happened him there.  I did not know either of these two relations, but their stories were recalled by members of my family, and it is only of late that I am beginning to take pride in their heroism and sacrifice: they believed in freedom so much they were willing to be ostracised in their own country for their stand.  

 

There are also two other connections: my growing devotion to Fr Willie Doyle, proud Irishman and priest who died on the battlefield in Passchendaele in the Third Battle of Ypres, offering up his life to tend to soldiers who were injured and dying.  And then there is a local poet here in County Meath, Francis Ledwidge, a committed nationalist, who died a few weeks earlier in July 1917, also in that battle.  Ledwidge is one of Ireland's finest lyrical poets and he was a major influence on our late Seamus Heaney.  (I wonder, did Francis know Fr Doyle?  Francis, we are told, had been to confession and Mass, and had received Holy Communion on the morning he was killed - so he was committed to his faith: perhaps he may have been ministered to by Fr Willie).

 

Fr William Doyle, SJ, MC and Francis Ledwidge

 

When we mark Remembrance Sunday, we remember these heroic Irishmen and many others, perhaps some from our own families, who went to serve in the cause of freedom.  Many of these were men of peace - on both sides of the conflict.  Chief among them was Blessed Charles, Emperor of Austria-Hungary who, as soon as he came to the throne in 1916 began negotiations to end the war, even accepting defeat if necessary.  He failed in that endeavour because the leaders of the other countries in the conflict had gone too far, the taste of blood and the lust for pure victory had so intoxicated them they were unwilling to listen to reason.  Many historians are not favourable to Charles, they seem him as a weak man, incapable of carrying out his duties and whose efforts were doomed to failure from the start.  Well, that may be their opinion, Saints are rarely understood by the secular - they often appear weak and other worldly, but the fact remains: if people had listened to Charles the war would have ended much sooner.

 

That said, let us remember in our prayers all those who died in these conflicts and pray that peace may finally come into the hearts of men and women, for it is only when peace reigns there that we will see an end to war.

 

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* (Irish: "Saxon", term of abuse in Ireland for British)