As a retired cleric, and after much reflection, I wonder, as my church (Roman Catholic) launches another campaign, in the wake of the visit of US President Joe Biden, to recruit male celibate youth (or not-so-young nor celibate adults) what will they be expected to preach as gospel as Roman-Catholic trained priests in the Ireland of the future which belongs entirely to a multicultural youth?
I ask this with interest about how tomorrow, Roman-collared clerics will speak/preach about resurrection, redemption, reparation, confession of sin, death, sex, and gender, and the need for Jesus, who was homeless, exiled, hungry, and crucified on a Friday called good in their Rome published liturgical books. Will it make any sense?
Maybe some Rome-appointed scholar/eccleastic â medieval clad, celibate, white and male might give me a for-instance (notwithstanding Joe Bidenâs recent warm welcome to West of Irelandâs Catholic shrine where he made homage to a group of first-century Palestinian Jews â two celibates and one a virgin â on an alleged previous visit on a rainy night in the month of Lughnasa 1879).
Is it best, to avoid confusion and when âadvertisingâ that new recruits to the alone male-celibate priesthood of the Roman-centred Irish-Catholic Church that they learn to discard gospel parables, miracles and apparitions from the past and deal only with facts when preaching, praying and learning, after it all, to become, eventually, elderly pensioners, like my good self and many of its devotees?
I just wonder what today is the âjoyâ to attract youth to leave everything in search and sacrifice to preach an Irish-Roman Catholic gospel and its catechism of rules and prohibitions?
Very Rev Peadar OâCallaghan
Teach an tSagairt
Carrigtwohill
Co Cork
Recalling King Charles I and II
Iâm neither pro- nor anti-monarchist, as in this modern age the king across the water doesnât have any power worth talking about.
However, I feel as if â to quote Shakespeare â the âtime is out of jointâ when I cast my mind back to the reign of another King Charles, who reigned in the 1640s before being defeated in a civil war between the monarchy and parliament.
The Irish had fought the army of Charles I as determinedly as any of his Roundhead opponents until our lads made our peace with him and agreed instead to fight those far more zealous fellows who, it turned out, were hell-bent in killing our priests, closing down the churches, and turning Ireland into a giant slave camp, apart from aiming to ship thousands of our people to slave colonies overseas.
In my hometown of Callan, that era has a special resonance. When Cromwell personally appeared at our town walls in February 1650, the defenders who fought for three days to repel his onslaught believed they were fighting for âIreland and the kingâ... meaning the exiled Charles II, son of the monarch who was beheaded by Cromwell and his cohorts who then promised a âbright new dawnâ for the people in a land free of kingship.
The ânew dawnâ wasnât so bright for Callan, or many other parts of Ireland ravaged by the Cromwellian war of annihilation, banishment, and religious persecution.
A brave captain and his warrior wife led the defence of the town, battling overwhelming odds before yielding to the invader. Ardent nationalists fought alongside royalists in the one-sided struggle. Locals who sought refuge in St Maryâs parish church were massacred, and all captured fighters put to the sword.
Prior to Cromwellâs arrival, Callan had been a thriving market town with its own sovereign (mayor) and corporation. The three-day siege destroyed it and it took almost two centuries for Callan to recover.
So, when I hear about the coronation of King Charles III, I canât help thinking about the fate of his royal predecessor, and, more especially, about what happened when that anointed king was replaced by a military dictator⊠a man for whom a cold-blooded massacre of innocent men, women, and children was just another day at the office.
That was all a long time ago. Now we have another century, another King Charles; and a world still at war with itself.
John Fitzgerald
Callan
Co Kilkenny
âI feel like a State slaveâ
I note the proposed denaming of the Berkeley Library and the arising debate on slavery.
I work out of the Law Library in the Criminal Courts of Justice complex at Parkgate Street, Dublin.
Recently I was paid âŹ25.20 by the State to handle the case of an accused person qualifying for a certificate to cover her defence in the district court. She was accused of offences carrying potential sentences up to two years imprisonment. We waited two hours before her case was called.
The fee for the same work in 2002 was âŹ25.20. I feel like a State slave.
The [Department of Public Expenditure and Reform], who is my ultimate paymaster has refused to engage with my professional body for years on these pay rates.
Your readers may wonder how slavery operated in bygone days. Come see at your local district court most days. I propose renaming our library the Berkeley.
Aine Holt BL
CaisleĂĄn Cnucha
Baile Ătha Cliath 15
Criminal justice system is âbrokenâ
I am a criminal defence barrister practicing mainly in the district court for as little as âŹ25.20 under the criminal legal aid scheme.
Putting it simply, the criminal justice system is broken. Silence is no longer an option.
People must put aside their personal comfort and do the right thing.
I want a justice system that functions â not one that merely survives on hope and goodwill. Victims of crime and wrongly accused persons deserve better.
Justice on the cheap with cost more in the long run.
God is good â the due administration of justice must be perfect. I pray I am closer to one and can only hope for the other.
Ireland is fast becoming the juke box of failure rapidly filling with broken records. We have only scratched the surface in the criminal justice system.
Darren Lalor LLB
The Law Library
Criminal Courts of Justice
Parkgate Street
Dublin 8
Welcome the Boss
Our feet had scarcely landed back on terra firma after the magnificent Biden bash in Ballina when another man born in the US arrived in town to raise our anticipation to fever pitch.Â
Everybody wanted to rock with the Boss in the RDS on one of his three shows but unfortunately, tickets were snapped up like gold dust by those born to run. Springsteen promised an energetic three-hour gig each night.Â
The Boss is one of the hardest-working performers in the music industry so the lucky fans with tickets experience a concert like no other.
Bruce loves performing in Ireland. Since his Irish debut at Slane Castle in 1985, he has included a show in Ireland on every subsequent European tour. During a concert in Kilkenny in 2013 he famously quipped that he considered Ireland to be his adopted home. Springsteen has strong Irish maternal routes in Westmeath and Kildare. Mullingar people boast that there is no show like a Joe show, but Iâm sure theyâd be racing in the street to hear the Boss blast out hits like âBadlandsâ, âDown by the Riverâ, and âStreets of Philadelphiaâ in TEG Cusack Park on his next European Tour.
Billy Ryle
Tralee
Co Kerry
Making our navy relevant to Ireland
Much has been said about our impending âlook atâ neutrality. It is unfortunate we are undertaking this exercise while most of our defence capability is short of relevance in the modern era.
My own experience is in the naval arena from the days when we started out as an escort, anti-submarine force, with fishery peace time duties. We had a short sojourn as a mine countermeasures force until we steadily built our present force of a variety of patrol vessels.
These newer vessels have range and distant deployment capability, such as circumnavigating South America, visiting the Far East and North America. They all lack dealing with defensive action against other naval threats to the same extent as our old corvettes.
The multirole vessel proposal for the Navy is good in that correctly equipped, it could support our ships at sea and provide conveyance and support to humanitarian and military needs overseas and at home. Such a vessel could carry an air element but past experience dictates that it should be a naval-only duty.
With assistance from EU partners, we could make our navy more relevant to our island position and lessen our dependence on neighbours.
John Jordan
Cloyne
Co Cork
