Irish Government Goes Ahead With Attack On Religious Freedom

A quick post, breaking my silence during this very busy week.  All going well at the Congress, but we are kept going - my producer is working us hard!    Continuity, interviews, vox pop!  I'm doing introductions in my sleep!   

I see Minister for Justice Alan Shatter is going ahead with his Bill - officially The Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offenses Against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act, which will make it a criminal offence for a priest not to break the Seal of Confession.  Well, we shall see how things turn out.  For one thing we priests will not break the Seal, end of story: orthodox and dissident priests will be united on that one.  Put us in jail, drag us through the media, we won't do it.  We abhor the abuse of children, but we cannot break the Seal, to do so would violate the sacrament. 

This move is a direct attack on the Catholic faith - it goes against the Constitutional protection to freedom of religion, so if Mr Shatter wants to make a move against a priest he will find himself facing a Constitutional challenge and, listening to some of my friends in legal circles, he will most likely lose.  I personally think the Minister knows this is non runner from the start, I believe he is posing and wants to be seen to be getting back at the Church for her failures.  But to revert to religious persecution: well, Mr Shatter should know better.

One interesting question arises: will the President be able to sign it?  If it offends the Constitution's protection of religious freedom, President Higgins will have to refer it to the Supreme Court to be tested, and it may well be thrown out.  Given that the President is Labour, however, he may not refer it since Labour is pushing this legislation, so it may come down to a challenge should a priest be prosecuted.

William Oddie has an interesting take on it: he welcomes the legislation, believing that it might help in the renewal of the Church.  One commentor in the combox of Oddie's article points out that a priest may be set up - that is true.  Would our government stoop so low?  Probably not.  Would our media?  Well, I'm not so sure there.  Having observed some reporters from the mainstream media (and one in particular), I'm not impressed with them and would expect anything.

Well, time for that novena to St John Nepomuk.  I knew the statue I bought a few years ago would come in handy. 

Irish Goverment To Criminalise Seal Of Confession

Blink and you'll miss it!  The new law on mandatory report is ready to go and will be brought before the houses of parliament here in Ireland in the coming weeks.  The law will compel everyone who has received information on abuse to report it to the authorities, to fail to do so will mean time in prison - five to ten years.

Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, has confirmed that priests who receive information in the context of confession are also obliged to report what they have heard.  In other words: under this new Irish law priests must break the Seal of the Confession or face prison.  Lest any of our friends outside Ireland still harbour illusions about Catholic Ireland - it is well and truly dead.  If I may lean on W.B. Yeats, "it's with O'Connell in the grave".

No doubt there will be a challenge.  The first prosecution of a priest, if it happens (it will be extremely difficult for the DPP to prove what a priest heard or did not hear in confession), will lead to a constitutional challenge because this law may indeed infringe our right under the Constitution to religious freedom, and as confession is part of the formal beliefs and practices of our Catholic faith, to seek to desecrate it, is a direct attack on religious freedom.

We shall see where this goes.  The bill will be passed - the government has an absolute majority, and I doubt if too many of the Catholic members of either Fine Gael or Labour will object: one tends to find that party affiliation trumps faith all the time (although God will put them straight on that one day).  However, I will be hopeful, perhaps some may challenge it. 

St John Nepomuk, Patron Saint of Confessors, put to death by the secular authorities because he would not reveal what he heard in confession.

The Call To Arms

Gandalf leads the armies against the orcs at Helm's Deep

As I expected, David Quinn has responded to The Irish Times editorial yesterday. In his weekly column in the Irish Independent today, David argues against the proposed law and the Times's attack.  Excellent article, follow the link and read it.  

David points out that when US states tried to enact similiar laws they were defeated by a backlash of Catholic voters urged on by their bishops, and also by wiser heads in legislatures prevailing.  Well, we can only hope there is someone with common sense in the present coalition.  But we Catholics also need to get the forces ready, and time for our bishops to start rallying the troops. 

The Irish Times may not like the idea that, regardless of how we feel about our bishops and the scandals, we still want the state to respect our religious freedom and, yes, we will defend our sacred sacraments - we do have the right, under God and under the Constitution of this (once great) Republic to defend our Catholic faith.  This is something our secularist masters have forgotten - time to remind them. 

Here We Go.....

Just copy and paste, and spread it abroad!

I was wondering when the Irish media would start the serious assault on the Sacrament of Confession, well The Irish Times is off the starting block today. 

The paper's editorial relates the story of a priest who abused numerous young people who confessed his sin 1,500 times in confession and all he got for penance was prayer.  The paper claims he said he confessed to thirty individual priests.  Now to be honest I find it hard to believe that not one out of the thirty priests imposed a harsher penance or told him to confess to his superiors.  But if it is the case those confessors need a course in moral theology (Orthodox Catholic school, not Curran/McBrien school).  The whole scenario is disgraceful, I accept that.

The point of the editorial, as you will see, is that the Seal allows abuse to continue, and so Cardinal Sean Brady is wrong, "unfair and disproportionate" in his defence of the Seal.  Ministers Shatter and Fitzgerald, no doubt heartened by this example, are intent on following their course.  Well then, the State and the Church are on course for one hell of a battle.  It may need to be said: we priests do not condone abuse, we are following government guidelines to the letter, we abhor the crime of violating innocent children and will do all in our power to protect them.   But we will not break the Seal. 

I only hope our bishops hold their nerve on this - we must pray for them.  They must also turn to the Holy See for support, help and advice.  I hope they have the wisdom to know they will not be able to face this alone, but will need the universal Church's historical experience to get around the legislation, if the government goes through with it. 

By the way, remember what I said about the government using child protection to push aside religious freedom: well, the last paragraph of the editorial confirms my fears: 

"Freedom of religion is an important principle in a pluralist society but all should remind themselves that the most important issue here is the protection of children. Other jurisdictions deal with the issue of priest-penitent privilege in various ways. With goodwill, it ought to be possible here to negotiate through conflicting rights and freedoms in the primary interest of children."

That's the soft sell, the hard sell is on the way. 

So now, Catholic bloggers and readers, are you with us in this struggle?   Are you just reading and passing on to another website, or are you interested in helping the faithful Catholics of Ireland??  If so let us know, pray for us, display the "Protect the Seal" on your site with a word to pray for Ireland!   Come on now!!

Battle Lines Being Drawn

Cardinal Sean Brady made a spirited defence of the Seal of the Confessional in Knock on Sunday, correctly pointing out that any legislation requiring priests to break the Seal will challenge religious freedom in this country.  The government, however, is determined to go ahead, and Alan Shatter, the Minister of Justice, has responded to the Cardinal's defence by insisting that priests will not be exempt.

Indeed such legislation would contravene our Constitutional rights with regard to the practice of our Catholic faith, that is why I think this legislation may be a non-runner, unless of course the present government seeks to change the Constitution and limit religious freedom in certain circumstances.  Now having spoken to some friends on this they all said that if such a referendum is presented to the people they would reject it.  They might, I say, if they know about it.  But then there are other ways of getting the consent of the people.

There is due to be a referendum on children's rights in the next few months - seeking a change in the Constitution which may introduce particularly worrying developments. This proposed amendment to the Constitution may dissolve certain parental rights, transferring them to the state, in order to protect children and give them more rights as citizens.  What is stopping the government from including a clause, a nice ambiguous clause, into the wording of the amendment which will state that certain religious rights may be suspended or overlooked in certain cases in order to protect the life, health or welfare of the child?  Nothing. Groups will argue about the amendment, its supporters roll out the hard cases and try to win the assent of the people.  Is this what the goverment intends to do? 

Time For Prayer?

This will be a short post (famous last words).  Still on holiday in Europe, I was admiring some beautiful statues of St John Nepomuk, patron saint of the confessional Seal, and thinking that we priests should really be saying a few prayers to this martyr of the confessional, most especially if Enda, Alan and Frances have their way and "require" us to reveal what we have heard in confession.  As someone said to me, they will seek only a breach of the Seal for cases of chilld abuse, but then, later, it will be broadened to encompass any crime - anything for which one could be convicted in a court of law.  Perhaps.  I think at this stage saner people than the Taoiseach and his ministers realise this law would be unworkable, so I do not think it will happen.  But then again recent Irish governments have been full of surprises.

So, a thought hit me.  Pope Benedict has asked us to pray and make reparation for the sins and crimes of child abuse - our Friday Penances are being offered for that, and rightly so.  But perhaps we need to pray more intently for our priests - as I indicated in a previous post, but why not for courage for our priests that should the new law come into being they will be able to stand against it as did St John Nepomuk.  As I was praying to him the idea of promoting devotion to him came to mind, perhaps even a national novena?  A prayer could be easily composed and printed if offerings were forthcoming, and then sent to all the priests in Ireland, again offerings permitting, and also disseminated among the laity.  What do you think? I see the Church in Australia is now facing the same threat to the Seal - the Catholics there might row in too.  Perhaps we might all think about it, and pray about it, and I could do something when I get back to Ireland. If you have any ideas you know where to contact me - suggestions from brother priests would be most welcome.

I am going silent for a few days - need to take a break from blogging and the internet connection on the hotel computer is slow, very slow - if I am to keep working on it I might even lose my religion or my life!!!

Come What May...

The controversy over the Irish government's plan to force priests break the Seal of the Confessional has been bringing people together. As I noted in my post yesterday, members of the Association of Catholic Priests have said that they will go to prison rather than violate the Seal. In this they are at one with the rest of us. 

Speaking with some brother priests all of them are ready to go to prison, and indeed some are speaking of the advantages. Of course the media will brand these priests as abusers themselves for not breaking the Seal, but, suffering such punishment for remaining faithful to Christ's sacrament may bring many blessings, and perhaps offer a sacrifice of reparation for our unfaithful brothers.  It will also give us an opportunity to share in Christ's condemnation, and also provide us with a means to live with those in prison, those who may need to come to know Christ and his message through the presence of his priests in their place of confinement.  Sometimes sharing the fate of the condemned wins souls.  

I was looking at some examples of holy priests who, unjustly accused and in prison brought many souls back to God.  The late Cardinal, now Servant of God, Francis Van Thuan, when in prison, converted his prison guards, a whole host of them.   Who knows what pastoral opportunities await those innocent priests condemned under the unjust law.  

So that can only be good.  I hope, for Ireland's sake, things do not come to that, but I sense, and I have said it before, persecution is coming in one form or another.  There is an air of 1930's Spain about in Ireland today, a people once Catholic have lapsed and are now angry and seeking vengeance on the Church, usually for her teachings.  Yes, members of the Church in Ireland have contributed to that anger, and those priests and bishops who have failed us will, in time, bring on the heads of innocent priests and future bishops an ungodly rage with demonic consequences, a rage they may not even see: others will bear the punishment for their sins - and many of them still do not know it, perhaps don't even care, they are too busy justifying their inaction or plotting how they can keep their quiet life intact. 

But there are other things stirring the pot too, and we must be ready.  Prayer and sacrifice, greater love of the Holy Mass, Our Lady, devotion to the passion of the Lord and to the holy priests who have suffered for him: these will prepare us for whatever comes.  And of course, hope.

Knee Jerk Reactions

Well it seems I can't leave for a few days but all hell breaks loose. In the midst of my retreat the Cloyne Report comes out and more of the unsavoury doings of members of the Church in Ireland are revealed. This time, coupled with stories of abuse, we hear more accounts of the dreadful failure of Church figures to deal with it. This time there is no excuse: the guidelines are already in place and being stringently implemented in most dioceses, some to a draconian degree.  But it seems there are some who are still ignoring them and when they do the rest of us have to bear the brunt of anger and criticism.

And, as ever, the media are making hay, and the government is promising to implement mandatory reporting, and in the process remove the protection usually given to the Seal of Confession - and this is the subject of the furore which greeted me as I emerged from the peace of prayer and silence.

Talking with some friends, lawyers among them, if the government tries to put this into law it will have an uphill battle, constitutionally as much as anything else. It seems the clauses in our Constitution dealing with religious freedom protect, in some way, the Seal of Confession. Other groups are also affected - social workers among them, and they are creating a rumpus.  Now the media is treating them with respect, but when priests object to the violation of one of our most sacrosanct beliefs, the media and "concerned citizens" are in uproar.   It is obvious that these objectors do not frequent the sacrament of reconciliation - they probably don't need to, unlike us sinners.

One has to wonder why the government, or at least ministers Alan Shatter, Frances Fitzgerald and Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny, should make such foolhardy promises. Perhaps, I said to myself reflecting on such stupidity from those who are supposed to be running the country, it was a knee-jerk reaction, or maybe they mean it so as to get revenge on the Church - deprive the Church of her rights as a punishment for not dealing with child abuse in a better way.   Either way, they have revealed an appalling lack of wisdom, legal knowledge and common sense.  They also reveal that they have little or no respect for religious freedom and, like many before them, they are prepared to solve a serious problem by acts of religious persecution, because that is what they are, in reality, proposing in trying to force Catholic priests to break the Seal of the Confessional.

That aside, the government will be hard set to find priests who will break the Seal knowing that to do so will mean automatic suspension and excommunication. I was heartened to hear that members of the Association of Catholic Priests, an organisation you know I have little time for, are prepared to go to jail rather than break the Seal: God bless them for saying that because they express the view of most of us priests - I say "most" because I note, with deep sadness, that at least one priest, whose name I will not record, has said that he will comply with the new law.  It seems his bishop or superior needs to have a chat with him and, perhaps, if he is not prepared to protect the sacrament, he may need to reassess his position and perhaps make a vocational choice.

Church history records that many, many times the Seal has been threatened - and always by tyrants and persecutors. If the Irish government goes ahead with the law and then tried to implement it, it will join some of the most evil and bloodthirsty regimes in history, and all, they say, in an effort to protect children.

Ironically, mandatory reporting will not protect children or victims - in reality it will take away their rights and make them pariahs in society.  How so? 

Well, first of all it removes the victim's right to confide in someone.  Some victims do not want to report their abuse, they want closure and healing, and for some going to court will not bring that - they decide to leave it.  However they need a listening ear, someone who will confirm that they are not to blame. That confidentiality is no longer possible.  Now you may point out that the legislation will allow victims this freedom, and if a victim tells the person they have come to that they do not want the information passed on, the new law will respect that.  So everything is okay: not on your nellie!  Given the consequences for non reporting no victim can be guaranteed that the person they go to will not report it - they will in order to cover themselves.  What if the victim changes their mind later?  they might say - cover yourself, go to the police: better breach of confidentiality than five years in jail!

This leads to the second outcome of this legislation: it will make pariahs of victims.  Given the draconian penalties no one will want a victim coming to reveal that they are being abused - no one will want to get involved.   The message may be sent out loud and clear from relations and friends "I don't want to hear from anyone who is abused; I don't want the responsibility."  And so the victims are reduced to silence.......again.  Congratulations government of Ireland!   Strangely some victims' groups are full square behind this legislation which I cannot understand - surely they do not mean to diminish victims' rights, or maybe are they, at the end of the day really interested in victims - is it possible they have another agenda?  It is not for me to comment - I will try and take them at face value, albeit with great puzzlement as to their stance on this one.

No one wants child abusers to get away.  Contrary to media/public opinion the Church does not want child abusers to get away.  The Vatican, in reminding the Irish bishops of abusers' rights under Canon Law, did so in order to urge the bishops to be careful in how they carry out their investigations so as not to compromise them and play into the hands of abusers who will appeal to Rome knowing a technicality will have their condemnation reversed.  The media have put a different spin on this showing Rome in a negative light - truth tends not to matter to some in the media.  The Vatican also has problems with mandatory reporting for a number of reasons, as do other organisations, yet while these other organisations are given the benefit of the doubt, not so the Church.  We know why.

Time to get some sensible people together to think this one out, and not a government crawling to an anti-Catholic media and trying the quick fix as the best answer to a serious problem.  In the end this will be a bad law and as we all know bad laws tend to do more damage than good and people suffer.  I think we have had enough suffering as it is.