12 Thursday,August 10,2017 Opinion&Analysis

Where possible, instead of getting undermined faith in the rule of law. Divis, where masked youths torched an between crowds, police lines are set up This is the context in which rioting office building. Again, police sat back and Newton some distance away from crowds –ideally broke out across on Monday, after watched. The masks will be achallenge to more than astone’s throw. Trouble is then the city council removed material from a future prosecutions. left to burn itself out. The change has number of republican bonfire sites. By the end of the night, residents and happened fitfully under three very The removals were ordered by Sinn community representatives were accus- Emerson different chief constables, making it as Féin, with SDLP and Alliance support, via ing the PSNI of cowardice. However, much of an evolution as astrategy. Do these republican aresolution whose timing affects only this precedent suggests that if officers had summer’s republican bonfires. Unionists physically intervened, the same people Raceriots communities have to were unimpressed by this act of communi- would have condemned them for The first of those chief constables, Sir endure the same lengthy ty leadership –some loyalists concocted a heavy-handedness. Hugh Orde, feared the courts would not lesson as loyalists, conspiracy theory in which Sinn Féin is Do these republican communities have match softer policing with tougher justice. ‘‘ deliberately provoking bonfire trouble to endure the same lengthy lesson as The new rules of rioting He often cited the 2001 race riots in via the same hands-off this year, with loyalist bonfires the real loyalists, via the same hands-off policing Oldham and Bradford and how they were policing tactics? target thereafter. tactics? At one level this would be unneces- swiftly followed by hundreds of sentences sary, as Sinn Féin dominates the affected in in the four- to five-year range. Implausible areas and is fully behind the PSNI. Howev- Custodial sentences for rioting were vocal in warning young people of the The theory is implausible, but like the er, if youths in these areas are no longer virtually unheard of in Northern Ireland consequences of their actions. Loyalist rioting it has been fuelled by the sight of listening to Sinn Féin, who else would pass until adecade ago, while cases still bands and hangers-on are no longer the PSNI apparently doing nothing. the lesson on? In Divis in particular, n1886, recalling ariot in Portadown, For the standard youthful disturbance, routinely take ayear to come to trial. prepared to push through contentious Officers protected workers removing long-running antisocial behaviour journalist Frankfort Moore observed: however –including youths sent out by The 2011 London riots underscored this Orange parades –acritical factor in the the material but then they sat in armoured suggests the young people involved have “Every boy and girl in the crowd their elders –the rules have been fixed comparison, with emergency court resolution of parading issues generally. Land Rovers and watched, in broad lost all fear of the courts. Iunderstood the art thoroughly.” since time immemorial. sessions through the night and the That is not to say everything is rosy. The daylight, as adolescents set cars alight. It seems the boys and girls are playing a Both sides would pile up cobblestones Since its establishment in 2001, the evictions of young rioters’ families. PSNI’s aversion to sparking riots has One commuter later escorted to his new game and fresh rules will be required. for ammunition, square off to each other Police Service of Northern Ireland has But slowlythe message sank in. Prosecu- involved ablatant surrender to paramili- burned-out vehicle was informed by The PSNI could assuage concerns over until the police arrived, then throw been trying to change these rules. Its tions increased, sentences lengthened and taries on unlawful flags, murals, memori- officers that they could not say what had this if it was more forthright about its everything at the constabulary. officers no longer offer themselves up as would-be rioters noticed. Most street als and anything else whose removal happened. This suggests arrests will not thinking –ithas always been coy about the Moore was making acynical contrast the target, excuse and catalyst for vio- disturbances over the past decade have might be “provocative”. Arefusal to tackle follow the lack of arrests at the scene. shift to its current approach. with “grown-up” rioting in Belfast that lence. Arrests during riots by snatch been loyalist by nature or design. For the dangerous loyalist bonfires, mostly That evening, trouble spread from the Before the PSNI spends another day year, when more sophisticated tactics cost squads have been replaced with high-tech past five years, loyalist organisations and presided over by small groups of children, Markets area of Belfast to other inner-city watching Belfast ablaze, could it at least 30 lives. evidence gathering to bring charges later. representatives have become increasingly has made the PSNI alaughing stock and republican neighbourhoods, most notably explain its own art thoroughly? Brexit’s parallels with the 1917 Irish Convention

mently opposed by unionists. The power to erect customs barriers was regarded as one of the essential marks of independence. Bruton commented on the irony of the fact that, 100 years later, it is the bulk of unionists Stephen who want to leave the customs union and free trade area of Collins the European Union, regard- less of the economic cost, while Opinion nationalist Ireland is almost unanimous in its desire to Free trade versus ensure free trade continues. customs barriers Reversalofpositions This reversal of positions was amajor question reflects the fact that the South acentury ago now has avibrant economy based on free trade while Northern Ireland has suffered aserious economic decline and icture the scene. A is totally reliant on subsidies gathering of civic from the British exchequer. society leaders from all Mansergh also reflected on Pparts of Ireland, and a this reversal of positions over few leading politicians, the course of the century. He attempting to find away to suggested that the most preserve an island without plausible ground for unionist borders in arapidly changing opposition to Irish independ- world. ence of whatever variety was The vexed question of the nationalist demand for customs duties and tariffs is fiscal autonomy and in particu- one of the big issues. Dominat- lar the control of customs. ing everything is the fundamen- He told his audience he had tal incompatibility of national- recently come across a1939 ist and unionist hardliners, letter from frustrating the efforts of John MacNeice to his moderates on both sides to father which was highly critical find an accommodation. of alecture in Belfast by Frank It is simply wrong to call a To make things more Pakenham. MacNeice agreed difficult, Sinn Féin boycotts that, in time, the Border should the attempt to find acompro- go but he pointed to the mise while northern unionists devastating impact on the do everything they can to North’s economy of adopting sabotage the prospect of an the protectionist regime in all-encompassing agreement. force in the South. fertilised ovum ahuman The issues and attitudes If positions on free trade may sound familiar but all this have been reversed over the happened acentury ago in century, the basic divide summer 1917, when the Irish between nationalists and Convention met in Trinity unionists has persisted the selection of hair or eye colour, sport- consent,” he said. ■ “A sperm is not ahuman being, an College . It was a regardless of economic ing ability or behavioural traits.” It is simply wrong to describe aferti- ovum is not ahuman being. Together last-ditch effort to find agree- She continued: “It is no longer in the lised ovum as ahuman being. Afertilised they do not make up ahuman being. ment for some form of Irish The power to realm of science fiction to imagine a ovum is not ahuman being,it is abiologi- They become an embryo with avery self-government on a32-coun- Gattaca-type society focused on genetic cal reaction. It has no head, no heart, no risky future” ty basis that would avoid erect customs cleansing. We need to be worried spine, no consciousness. It is acollection violence and partition. barriers was about the possibility of this new age of of biological elements which is no more a Afascinating symposium to “regarded as one of eugenics.” human being than my leg, my arm, any of really, seriously believe the embryo has mark the centenary of the Patsy McGarry So, seeming to ignore the positives, she my organs, even my toe nails. such unique moral status, why is such convention took place in the essential marks felt the Oregon study could signal a It may someday become ahuman being, regular “disposal” of so many ritually Trinity College recently. of independence Opinion reinvigoration of eugenic-type ideas but it is not ahuman being. ignored? Indeed it is not so long ago in The Irish Convention was discredited since the Nazi era. Quite a Asperm is not ahuman being, an ovum Ireland, as elsewhere, that miscarriages the last throw of the dice for Until 1869, the leap. She did not stop there. is not ahuman being. Together they do were disposed of as waste. Irish Party leader John self-interest. For every step There was, she said, with these new not make up ahuman being. They become And it is not correct for Bishop Doran to Redmond, who just three years forward, there always seems to did not believe removal of a developments, an “ethical concern that an embryo with avery risky future. state it has been “the consistent belief of earlier had achieved his dream be astep backwards. technology will be used to screen out Studies indicate that up to 50 per cent of the church” that ahuman embryo has the of getting the British parlia- Just after the Rising, a foetus was homicide if it took disability in society. This is extremely embryos are lost before implantation, and dignity proper to aperson. It has been the ment to enact Home Rule. tentative agreement was place before the child began worrying from ahuman rights perspec- of the remainder up to 20 per cent are lost belief of the Catholic Church only since reached between John Red- tive, and in relation to the current and in miscarriages. 1869, or for the past 148 years. Fromtriumphtodisaster mond and the unionists’ to move in the womb future rights of people with disabilities.” In other words, as many as 70 per cent By 1917, that triumph was leader, Edward Carson, on the Really? Surely people suffering as a of embryos may never make it. Independentbeing already turning to disaster. immediate introduction of result of genetic disability, not to mention This raises an obvious question. Why is Up to then the Catholic Church did not The first World War was 26-county Home Rule and their parents, would be among the first to such massive annual loss of millions of believe removal of the foetus was homi- dragging on and on and, more temporary exclusion for six tistime we talked about the embryo. welcome the possible elimination of such human beings throughout the world not cide if it took place before quickening – importantly, the 1916 Rising counties. This was shot down Calmly, seriously, rationally. conditions. marked anywhere in religious or secular when the child began to move in the prompted aradical shift in by southern unionists and Last week it emerged that scientists ceremony? womb. This quickening, for theologians nationalist opinion. their allies in the British Iat Oregon Health and Science Univer- Naturalprocesses If secular and religious authorities down through the centuries, was evidence Redmond was the most Conservative party. sity had successfully modified human Behind such legal and ethical thinking is of an independent being within its moth- prominent politician at the At the convention ayear embryos to remove genetic mutations an overly precious argument against er’s body and that was when they deemed convention, which included later to see if there was any that cause heart failure in otherwise interference with the natural processes of it had acquired asoul and became a Catholic and Church of Ireland way of reconciling nationalist healthy young people. the body, an argument long lost to the human being. , leading businessmen and unionist aspirations on an Paula Amato, afertility specialist great benefit of humanity. Up to then it did not have asoul and so and members of the aristocra- all-island basis, it was southern involved in the study, said: “This embryo And so we have surgery (which could be was not aperson. It was afoetus. cy, farmers, trade unionists unionists who were prepared gene correction method, if proven safe, equated with genome “editing”), antibiot- In 1591, Pope Gregory XIV determined and representatives from all of to compromise with constitu- can potentially be used to prevent trans- ics, vaccinations etc, all “inteferences” quickening took place at 166 days of the county councils. tional nationalism but the mission of genetic disease to future with the overt intent of sustaining the Removal of the foetus pregnancy, almost 24 weeks –coinciden- At the opening of the northern unionists were not. generations.” right to life in living, breathing, re- tally the current legal limit on abortion in centenary symposium, former The failure of the convention Many welcomed the hugely significant turned-to-health human beings. before 166 days was not the UK. taoiseach John Bruton and paved the way for the violent implications such “editing” of human Bishop Kevin Doran was even more considered homicide in To spell it out, removal of the foetus former Fianna Fáil minister solutions that emerged from genomes can have for the avoidance of unhappy with the Oregon study. Chair- Church teaching because before then was not considered homicide Martin Mansergh made the 1919 to 1923. genetically inherited conditions, also man of the Catholic Bishops’ Consultative ‘‘ in church teaching because you were not point that the issue of free The current challenge faced including cystic fibrosis and some breast Group on Bioethics and Life Questions, he you were not dealing with a dealing with ahuman being but with a trade versus customs barriers by politicians North and South, cancers. Others demurred. “What about objected, full stop, to the use of embryos in human being but with a foetus without asoul. That, more or less, played amuch bigger part in as well as the Irish and British the embryo?” they asked. such research, regardless of the outcome. was the church position for 1,869 years the arguments of 100 years ago governments, is to ensure that The Oregon study was a“game-chang- Embryos were being “deprived of any foetus without asoul and with agrounding that makes so much than is generally recognised. all of the progress and under- er” in scientific and ethical terms, said other purpose than to be used for research more sense than that of the past 148 years At that stage it was Irish standing achieved since the Aisling de Paor, law lecturer at Dublin and then disposed of”, he said. which merely asserts as belief that an nationalists of both the Belfast Agreement of 1998 is City University. It was one step closer to “These individual human beings are all embryo is ahuman being. constitutional and republican not frittered away in amessy an era of “designer babies” she said. “It the more entitled to protection precisely traditions who wanted to leave Brexit that sees the re-emer- opens the door to tailoring the genetic because they do not yet have the capacity Patsy McGarry is Religious Affairs the customs union of the UK, gence of ahard Border and make-up of our children. It also facilitates to speak for themselves or to give their Correspondent while such amove was vehe- even harder mindsets. THE IRISH TIMES Monday,January 22,2018 News Agenda 5 Fifty years on from refusal to bend to papal writ, banned priest remains ahopeful survivor

Patsy McGarry ReligiousAffairsCorrespondent Fr James Good (94) publicly opposed ‘Humanae Vitae’, the papal encyclical issued in 1968 which sustained the church’s ban on artificial contraception

Fr James Goodis94now and retired in his beloved Cork. It is still not clear whether he can carry out his priestly faculties there. He was suspended from saying Mass publicly, preaching and performing other duties almost 50 years ago. As professor of theology and lecturer in generalphiloso- phy at UCC he had publicly opposed Hu- manae Vitae,the papalencyclicalissued in 1968which sustained the Catholic Pope Paul VI, the Hamlet of Church’s ban on artificial contraception. The suspensionwas verbal and only ap- popes, lost his nerve and plied to the Cork and Ross diocese. Even published Humanae Vitae then, he continued to exercise his priestly (of Human Life). Few faculties in the Limerick diocese, where he ‘‘ also lectured, and the adjacent Killaloe dio- expected it. Not least cese. in the new, refreshed, Cork, as ever, was the exception. Then. In factthe suspension appliesmore in post-Vatican II Church the breachthan the observance now,and where authority was the man who applied it, Bishop Cornelius Lucey, joined Fr Goodonthe missionsin to be exercised collegially, Kenya when he himself retired. They never by agreement rather discussed the matter. than dicktat, in the Fr Good is that rare person, astill hope- ful survivor of 1968, that year when hope best 1960s way was crushed by history. Relentlessly. In March, Martin Luther King was shot dead in Memphis. That June Bobby Kenne- dy was shotdead in Los Angeles and astu- ■ Fr James Good at home in Cork. As former president Mary McAleese put Fr Good thought so too in 1968. He said In 1974, he visited Kenya and decided to Ishould go back to my own diocese”. dentrevolution in Paris failed.InAugust, Above right: Pope Paul VI blesses it last year,for women in particular, this so, publicly, then, as professoroftheology move there as he had always wanted to “I believe that he deeply regrettedthe Soviettanksfinished off abrief dawnof thousands of pilgrims gathered in St was “personal”. and lecturer in general philosophy at UCC. workonthe missions. He left for Kenya in suspensionbut believed thathecould not freedom in Prague and there were riots at Peter’s Square in 1967. PHOTOGRAPHS: “I am the oldest of nine children and one It cost him. He was summoned by the then 1975 and spent much of his life there. do anything about it.” Fr Good felt “we the Democratic Convention in Chicago. MICHAEL MAC SWEENEY/PROVISION; UPI of the 65 live children my mother and her Catholicbishopof Corkand RossCornelius both understood our position and accepted In October,civil rights marcherswere siblings produced. Ours is precisely the Lucey. To bend, to kneel. He did not. Congratulations it”. beaten into the tar of Derry’s streets by a kind of large Catholic clan system so belov- His right to exercise his priestly faculties Whenheretired in 1980, Bishop Lucey de- What neither knew at the time was that ruthlesspoliceforce. And in November, experience, five women, and an executive ed of flatteringpapaldocuments on the in Corkwas suspended,verbally. As he re- cidedtojoin Fr Good on the missions in Bishop Lucey was dying. He had leukae- Richard Nixon was elected president of the of nine bishops and seven cardinals had re- family. called it, “the process took lessthan an Kenya. In 1981, the bishop explained this in mia. Twoyearslater, he wasflownback to USA as the Vietnam War trundled on its ported in 1966. “Yet while our parents handed on to my hourand Iwas given no opportunity to de- an article for Africa magazine. “Behind my Cork where he died at the Bons Secours bloody, savage way. It was ayear when to Itfound theuse ofartificialmeansofcon- generationthe batonofastrong but docile fend myself”. decision to come here as amissionary was hospital in September 1982. be young was hell as old forces reasserted traception was not intrinsicallyevil and Catholic faiththey neverencouraged us to For atime he continued to lecture at the desiretomake reparationfor my sins Fr Good is himself now retired at Doug- themselves; when youth and the 60s died. that Catholic couples should be allowed to have the big families they had. They had UCC but “it became increasingly embar- while Istill had the time,” he said. las in Cork. Later thisyear he willbe70 decide for themselves whether to use them theirreasons and they were too obvious to rassing for me to be saying parish Masses Heand Fr Good became close friends in years apriest. It is an anniversary he is Hamlet or not. need to be stated. on Sundays and not being allowed to spiteofwhich, as Fr Good recalled it, Bish- more likely to celebrate than 50 yearsof Fr Goodwas no youth then. Ordained in Aminority report, signedbyjust six “The baton like the proverbial penny preach. Being banned from the confession- op Lucey “never once referred to my sus- Humanae Vitae. 1948,two decades beforehand, he was a members of the commission,said the wasalready dropping.Mygeneration large- al was also distressing”. pension, though he did once say to me that Congratulations, Fr Good. hardenedoptimist fuelled by the insights church should not and could not change its ly rejected Humanae Vitae’s ban on artifi- of Vatican II which had endedthree years teachingonthe matter. PopePaul con- cialcontraception and along withitmagis- previously. It heralded the emergence of curred and confirmed, as weare frequently terial control over family size. Our small the Catholic Church from the post-Refor- reminded, that the Catholic Church is not a families testify to that.” mation 16th century into the 20th. democracy. He and the minority ruled. Itwas atime whento be ayoung Catholic It killed the spirit of Vatican II and split Spiritual agony priest was exciting, but to be 44 was very the church between liberals and conserva- She remembered “the evening our parish heaven. He was 44. Then alongcame July tives, with the conservatives having the up- priest, in front of us children, lambasted 25th, that day in 1968 which for liberal per hand,atleast until theelection of Pope my 40-year-old mother for havinghad a Catholics represents alittle death. The Francis in March 2013. hysterectomy without his permission and 16th century hit back and old authority was The fiercelynegative reaction to Hu- while still of child-bearing age. She had by on top once more. Since then it has domi- mane Vitae was not lostonPope Paul over then had 11 pregnanciesand ahistory of nated in the Catholic Church. the remainderofhis papacy. In 1969, he haemorrhages which had lefther danger- On that date Pope Paul VI, the Hamlet of asked Belgian Cardinal Suenens to “pray ouslyill and chronicallyweak. He left her in popes, lost his nerve and published Hu- for me. Because of my weaknesses, the aspiritual agony which lingers even to- manae Vitae (of Human Life). Few expect- churchisbadly governed”. He remained day”. ed it. Not least in the new, refreshed, deeply troubled by it all until his death in All overthe world “good, decent, post-VaticanIIchurch whereauthority 1978. faith-filledmenand womenare infantilised was to be exercised collegially, by agree- Earlier that final year,with acute in- and robbed by Humanae Vitae of their ment rather than diktat, in the best 1960s sight, he asked: “Whatismystate of mind? God-givenrightandobligation tomakesen- way. Am IHamlet? Or Don Quixote? On the left? sible adult decisions in the best interests of Pope Paul’s decision was in stark contra- On the right? Idonot think Ihave been their health, their relationships and their vention of collegiality in the church, as de- properly understood.” He, too, suffered. children.Thedamageinflictedparticularly fined by the . It was Inthe main,Humanae Vitae wasignored onthepoor,onwomen,onchildren, onrela- aprocessagreedatVaticanIIunder which by most Catholicwomen, particularlyin tionships, on health, on societyand not the popewould henceforthmake deci- the western world. leastonthe church itself, is amillstone sions, suchasarosewith Humane Vitae,in Thisunderlined,emphatically, thatthe around our necks and we are drowning”. consultation withthe bishops and the wid- papal writ no longer ran even in such tradi- She continued: “The teaching of Hu- er church. tionallyCatholic countriesasIreland, manae Vitae has been astumblingblockto For Pope Paul,ananxious man,it where priests and doctors co-operated in the faithful, detrimental to family life, and proved astep too far beyond tradition. He ensuring that womencould take the pill animpedimenttowomen’shealth andwell- ignoredthe recommendations of acommis- withoutsin. Itwas prescribed as amenstru- being for nearly50 years. sionset upby Pope JohnXXIII in 1963 to ad- al regulator rather than as acontraceptive. “It has led to asad divisionbetween dress the use of artificial means of contra- And the sky did not fall. many faithful lay married Catholics and an ception in the context of Catholic teaching. The loss in church authority was pro- entrenched hierarchy. It has no ground in That commission of 72, including 16 the- foundas commonsenseprevailedover dog- the scriptures and its recourse to natural ologians, 13 doctors/people with medical ma. law is deeply flawed ...”

PAC report will criticise decision to reopen Stepaside Garda station

PAT LEAHY the reopening of thestation “may never happen”. The Public Accounts Commit- The committee has been told tee (PAC) is to publish areport the Garda is in discussions with thisweek which will be critical the Office of Public Works of the decision to reopen Stepa- (OPW) about Stepaside, but sideGarda stationinsouth Dub- that nothing has as yet been de- lin, for which Minister for cided.“Theoptions arerenovat- Transport Shane Ross has been ing the building, acquiring a along-time campaigner. new building for the station or In December,the Govern- replacing it with anew Garda ment announced that Stepa- station,” said one source. side would be one of six stations It is understood that if there reopened before next Christ- is to be anew building, senior mas, amove which followed ex- gardaí have raised the possibili- tensive representations by Mr ty of locating instead in nearby Ross, whose Dublin Rathdown Cherrywood, whichhas arapid- constituency includes Stepa- ■ The Garda is in discussionswith the OPW about Stepaside ly growing population.Ifthat side village. Garda station. PHOTOGRAPH: CYRILBYRNE happens,the source said, there However, it is understood willbenoquestion of puttinga the PAC report, which is to be new station in Stepaside. published tomorrow, will criti- licing, he would prefer to send er’s evidence. Mr Ross has long Even if the station in Stepa- cise the decision on val- extra gardaíto Ballyfermot, Ro- campaigned publicly and with- side is to be renovated with a ue-for-money grounds. nanstownand the north and in Government for the reopen- view to reopening, the commit- The committee heard evi- south inner city before Stepa- ing of the station, and his web- teehas been told therewill have dence from seniorgardaí be- side.Hesaid Stepaside would site hosts apetition in favour of to be detailed architectural as- fore Christmaswho said their not be his number one priority. themove. sessments carried out by the preference would be to direct Sources say the PAC –which However,although the deci- OPW. resources elsewhere. met to discuss its conclusions sion has been made in princi- Mr Ross’s spokeswomandid Assistant Commissioner Pat last Thursday –will strongly en- ple, PAC sources who have not respond to arequest for Leahy said purely based on po- dorsetheassistantcommission- been briefed on theissuesay comment. R2 THE IRISH TIMES 8 News Agenda Saturday,March 24,2018 Pope could herald new start for church Liquidator still in Ireland if he shows contrition searching for Irish tech firm chief

Patsy Authorities will not disclose location of McGarry man at centre of missing funds inquiry ReligiousAffairs Correspondent SIMON CARSWELL Mr Conlon’sdefence law- PublicAffairsEditor yer, Zurich-basedDrAndrea Vatican photograph Taormina, was alsounable to captures church The court-sanctioned investi- comment on hisclient’s loca- gation into the alleged embez- tion or his response to the alle- past and questions zlement of charities by Irish gationsagainsthim. “What I businessman Peter Conlon is can tell you is that soon things its future shifting to Switzerland as the will be much clearer,” he said. liquidator of his Dublin firm About800 charities are be- seeks to establish his location. lieved to have been affected by It is the story of aphotograph: Swiss authorities will not the collapse of Ammado, four cardinals, all Irish, and one disclose where Mr Conlon is which employed fewer than president, Mary McAleese. The being heldsince he was 20 staff in Dublin, the Czech occasion was the elevation in detained by police in Zurich in Republic and Serbia. Chari- 2007 of thethenprimateofAll December on foot of a ties have borne the biggest Ireland Seán Brady complaint aboutmissing losses with UN refugee agency to the College of Cardinals. funds raised by his company. UNHCRmissing acorporate The location was the Irish His detention was triggered donationof$500,000 College in Rome. Cardinal by acomplaint from the Red (¤402,000)andSaveTheChil- Desmond Connell and Cardinal Crossabout the failure of his drenUK £103,852 (¤118,000). Cahal Daly stand to McAleese’s Dublin-based online fundrais- The liquidator is examining right. Standingtoher left, ing platform,Ammado, to how the losses were racked up Cardinal Seán Brady and pass on ¤1.6 million raised for at Ammado. The deficit dates Cardinal Keith O’Brien. the charity. back to 2015 and is believedto The latter was bornon The liquidator of Pembroke have increased by ¤2 million March 17th, 1938, in Dynamic InternetServices, in 2017.The bulk of the miss- Ballycastle,CoAntrim. His the failed Dublin technology ingmoney is thought to have family moved to Scotland while company that ran Ammado, is been spent propping up the he was still young, settling in likely to have to engage Swiss business. As losses grew, Mr Edinburgh. His death last lawyersas part of his investiga- Conlon allegedly drew first on Monday, aged 80 brought back tion into the missing funds. his own money, then capital, memories of the photograph. to tell Bishop McKiernan of Kil- dinal O’Brien’s family and all Laws had matched. ■ Then president Mary The Zurich publicprosecu- However, it raised thoughts, more that Fr , who mourn him. But hisletter ignored Rome’s McAleese with Cardinal tor will not disclose Mr too, about thedamage caused then living in his diocese, had Ten years beforethe photo- rolein any ofthis.Meetingin Sli- Desmond Connell, Cardinal Conlon’slocation to Myles to the Catholic Church by its faced sexual abuse allegations. graph was taken, McAleese was go in 1997 with the Irish bish- Cahal Daly, Cardinal Seán KirbyofDublin accountancy handling of sexual abuse Proper communication publicly criticised by Cardinal ops, CardinalCastrillion Hoy- Brady and Cardinal Keith firmKirby Healy,the allegations; but also about next could have created some Connell for taking Communion os, prefectofthe Congregation O’Brien, Archbishop liquidatorofthe firm who has August’s visit by Pope Francis. prospect that more vigorous in Dublin’s Church of Ireland for Clergy (until 2006), insisted of Edinburgh &St. Andrews secured afreezing order in the It could be an opportunity to steps could have been taken to Christ Church Cathedral. He it was Vatican policy to defend in 2007 PHOTOGRAPH: DARA High Court in Dublin against heal, if the right choices are ensure that Smyth wasunable saidit was “a sham” foraCatho- the rights of an accused priest MAC DÓNAILL thecompany assetsashe inves- made now. His personal stature to travel across the island of lic to do so. aboveall and so allegationsof tigatesadeficit of about is such that he is seen by many, Ireland,both North and South, Ayear later, the Catholic clerical child sex abuse should ¤4 million.“It is aclassic and not just Catholics, as and elsewhere, and so unable to bishops of these islandspub- not be reported to gardaí or civ- The abuser was later sentenced Catch 22,” said one source, His detention separatefrom the institution he abuse alarge number of lished One Bread, One Body, il authorities in Ireland. Des- to nine years, threesuspended, noting the bureaucratic leads, and whichhehimself children, it stated. which saidthat Catholics must mond Connell thumped atable 20 years after the event. quagmire Mr Kirby finds him- was triggered struggles to reform. neverreceive Communionina in frustration. Then, of course, there was self in, unabletoserve fraudu- by acomplaint Appropriate contrition from Jailed Protestant church and Protes- PopeJohnPaul’s warm-up act lent tradingproceedings on ‘‘from the Red Cross him to all the Irish people – Over 40 years, Smyth abused tants must never be allowed re- Childprotectiondocuments at Galway; the then Bishop of Mr Conlon and unable to abuse victims, their families, an estimated 140 children. In ceive Communion in aCatholic TheVatican alsorefused to sup- Galway Eamon Casey and locate him because the Swiss about his firm’s perhapseven the Irish Catholic 1994hewas jailed in Belfastfor church, except in extremis. port child protection docu- well-known Dublin media will not tell him where he is. failure to pass on Church itself where abusing threechildren in one That same year, McAleese ments published by the Irish priest Fr Michael Cleary, both ¤1.6 million appropriate –could herald a familythere.Adelayin process- was confronted by thencardi- bishops in 1996, 2001, and of whomalready had children, Assistanceagreement new beginning. For there is ing his extradition to Belfast for nalarchbishop of Boston,and 2005,meaning they had no au- as would emerge later. The liquidator is havingtouse much contrition to be done. that trial ledtothe collapse of Irish American, BernardLaw, thority in canon law, so favour- Alot has emerged in Ireland an official mutual service loans and money investors put Two years after the the Republic’s government in whotold her he was “sorry for ing the abuser priest. The Vati- since that last papal visit, alot assistance agreement be- in, followed by money due to photograph was taken, in November 1994. In 1997, Catholic Ireland to have you as can did not even acknowledge aboutthe unnecessarysuffer- tween the Irish and Swiss au- creditors before dipping into November 2009, the Murphy Smyth was jailedfor 12 years in president”.Taken aback, shere- correspondencefrom the Mur- inginflicted on innocents by a thorities to find his location. charitable donations. report, whichinvestigated the Dublin on further child abuse pliedthat she was “the Presi- phy commission. powerfulinstitution intent on Mr Conlon (63), atechnolo- Mr Kirbysecured the freez- handling of clericalchildsex charges. He diedamonth into dent of Ireland and not just of In February 2007, the Mur- protecting itselfatall costs, hu- gy entrepreneur originally ing order against Mr Conlon’s abuse in Dublin’sCatholic his sentence. Catholic Ireland”. phy commission tried writing man or material. More contin- from Co Leitrim, was arrested assets, alleging in the High archdiocese, laid into the To McAleese’s immediate In 2002, Cardinal Law re- to the then papal nuncio to Ire- ues to emerge, as we now see in by the Swiss authorities at Court Mr Conlon was “guilty reputationofthe late Cardinal right in the 2007Irish College Pope Francis’s signed over his handling of cleri- land requesting he forward “all Dromore diocese ZurichAirport on December of very serious misconduct.” It Connell. photograph is former Catholic cal child sex abuse allegations. documentsin hispossession rel- Despite thehorrorsrevealed 22nd and has been remanded was reportedlast month the It found that Connell and his primate of all Ireland Cardinal personal stature is His was appointed archpriest of evant to the commission”. He in recent decades, the Catholic in custody ever since.The London Metropolitan Police three predecessorsas SeánBrady,who retiredasarch- such that he is seen one of the majorbasilicas in did not reply. Church in the main remains a public prosecutor’s office in has opened an investigation of Dublin had bishop of in 2014. by many, and not Rome, St Mary Major, with his In early 2009 it wrote to the force for good in Ireland. Zurich has said he was held on into Ammado. respondedtoclerical childsexu- The2017HistoricalAbuseIn- ‘‘ own apartment, achauffeur- then new nuncio to Ireland en- Explaining why she re- suspicion of embezzlement The Charities Regulator al abuse over a30-year period quiry Report found thatBrady just Catholics, as driven car, an estimated income closing adraft of its reportfor mained aCatholic in Rome ear- following acriminal has establishedunder its own in the diocese with “denial, had “effectively silenced” separate from the of$10,000 amonth andtheright comment. He did not reply. lier this month, despite every- complaint by the Gene- investigationthat as of March arrogance and cover-up”. 14-year-old Brendan Boland in tosayoneofthenineMasses that Thenunciature in Dublin has thing, Mary McAleese said she va-based International Feder- 7th last, 14 Irish charities had None of the four archbishops the 1970s after he had inter- institution he leads, followsthe death of apope. been the conduit to Rome for did so because she chose to be ation of the Red Cross. confirmed thatthey were had reported their knowledge viewedBolandfollowingallega- and which he He didsoin2005onthe clerical child sexual abuse re- “partofaninstitution that has Ammado’sofficesinZug, owedatotal of ¤28,000.“The of clerical child abuse to gardaí tions thelatter had madeabout death of Pope John Paul II, to portssent there followingare- no equalonthe planet in terms Switzerland, where Mr Con- lesson for all Irish charities “throughout the 1960s, 1970s abuse at the hands of Smyth. himself struggles the astonishment of the faithful quest in 2001 that suchbesub- of its outreach to the poor, the lon relocatedtoseveral years wouldbetomake sure that or 1980s”. Churchauthorities Brady believed Boland. Giv- to reform in Boston. mitted from each diocese in Ire- dispossessed,tothe marginal- ago, were searched as partof theyare vigilant whenit had used “” ingevidence to the inquiry, he land,by then prefectof the Con- ised, part of an institution the investigation.Denise comes to third-party contract- to allow them mislead people said some of the intimate ques- Barred gregation for the Doctrine of [THAT CAN BE)]the hands of Schmohl, the Swiss prosecu- ing for fundraising,”said a without beingguilty, in the tions he had asked the boy now in February 2013, after initial This month, the former presi- the Faith Cardinal Joseph Ratz- God’s work in the world. torhandling the criminal in- spokesman for the regulator. church’s eyes, of lying. made him cringe in horror. Lat- denial, of inappropriate and dentwas barred fromtaking inger, later Pope Benedict XVI. “No NGO does what that vestigation, said she was More than70 Irish charities er, he interviewed another predatory sexual behaviour partinadiscussion in the Vati- The announcementofPope Catholic Church does through unable to disclose where the fundraised on the Ammado Avoidanceofscandal Smyth victim, stopping him with seminarians in the 1980s. can to mark International Francis’s visit this week ordinary people. They’re the businessman was being held platform, which Mr Conlon Murphy concluded that over “from telling anyone”, even He was exiled from Scotland Women’s Day by another brought backreminders of people who inspireme, it’s “due to official secrecy”. set up about adecade ago. the period within its remit though he believed him, too. and diedinNewcastle after a Irish-borncardinal, Cardinal darker daysduringPope John theirworkthat drivesmeon (1975 to 2004) “the welfareof To McAleese’sfurther left in fall,lastMonday.Hewillbebur- KevinFarrell. And people won- Paul’s papalvisit in 1979, when and gives me hope for the fu- children, which should have that photograph is the late Car- ied there on April 5th.Byre- der why she is angry with the in- Fr Patrick McCabeabused a ture,” she said. She spoke for beenthe first priority, was not dinal Keith O’Brien. In 2012, quest of the Vatican, the Presi- stitutional Catholic Church? boy at Dublin’s Pro Cathedral many Irish Catholics. even afactor to be considered O’Brien blockedplansbythe dentofthe Catholic Bishops’ In aFebruary 2010 letter to as that visit was under way, as intheearlystages”inDublin. In- Catholic Church in Scotland to ConferenceofEnglandand IrishCatholics afterthe publica- emerged duringthe priest’s tri- Obituary: Cardinal Keith Allegations of sexual stead, everything was about the carryout independent analysis Wales, Cardinal Vincent tionof the Ryan and Murphy re- al in March 2013. O’Brien: page 12 impropriety that have swirled avoidance of scandal. of statistics about clerical child Nicols, will be celebrant and de- ports in 2009, Pope Benedict In Ferryhouse in Tipperary, Diarmaid Ferriter: In January 2017, the Histori- sexual abuse from 1952 to 2012. liver the homily. XVI said the cover-up of clerical ayoung boy was held back from Pope’s visit will do little around Trump since the calAbuse InquiryReportin Bel- Publicly, avirulent opponent As is customary, PopeFran- child sex abuse in Ireland had attending the papalMass in for image of church in fast found that, in 1990, while of civil partnerships and cis has sent amessage of condo- “obscured the Gospel to ade- Limerick as punishment for ab- Ireland, page 14 campaign have gathered pace bishopofDown and Connor, same-sex marriage, he was in- lence to the Archdiocese of Ed- greethat not evencenturies of sconding. Then, he wasraped Editorial comment: of late Suzanne Lynch, Page 11 Cardinal Cahal Daly had failed dictedbythe Catholic Church inburghand St Andrews,toCar- persecution” during the Penal by the Brother left in charge. page 15

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