What did he know? & When did he know it?

It is rather amazing that amid all the outpouring of sympathy for Cahal Daly who died last week no one is asking a serious of very obvious questions:

1. What did this man know about the child abuse scandals within the Roman Catholic Church?

2. When did he know of the level of abuse that has subsequently been uncovered?

After all he was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and thus Primate of All Ireland from 1990 to 1996. The Ryan Inquiry into child abuse at Roman Catholic institutions in Ireland found that church leaders knew that sexual abuse was 'endemic' in boys' institutions and had taken out insurance to cover the cost of paying of those who made allegations.

The Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation's 720-page report published in Nov 2009 said that it had 'no doubt that clerical child sexual abuse was covered up' from January 1975 to May 2004, the time covered by the report.

Th report also stated:
The Dublin Archdiocese's pre-occupations in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse, at least until the mid 1990s, were the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the Church, and the preservation of its assets.

The welfare of children, which should have been the first priority, was not even a factor to be considered in the early stages.

Instead the focus was on the avoidance of scandal and the preservation of the good name, status and assets of the institution and of what the institution regarded as its most important members -- the priests.

It is inconceivable that this was not known at the highest level. The scale of the abuse subsequently uncovered indicates how big an issue it was.

No one seems to have been willing to ask these questions before or after the cardinal died. Why not???

Ashamed of Jesus Christ!

Sky News website is presently carrying an article about Champion triple jumper Jonathan Edwards and the impact losing his faith has had on his life.

A previous article about his loss of faith was also carried some years ago by the Daily Mail. Jonathan Edwards had in the past spoken of praying before taking part in competitions but now says he feels "slightly embarrassed" about how devoutly 'Christian' he once was. He now professes to be an atheist.

While he is a man to be pitied I still remember the time in 1993 when Jonathan Edwards changed his stance on competing on the Lord's Day. At the time he justified this change by saying that God had told him to do so and stated that God had given him his talent in order for him to compete in athletics.

Everything seemed to go well with him. The qualifying round at that year's World Championships took place on a Sunday and he went on to win the bronze medal in the final. Two years later he established a new world record which still stands to this day of 18.29m.

However, it does not pay to go against the plain teaching of the Word of God. He was right in the first instance. Nothing replaces a seared conscience. To say that God changes His nature and contradicts His Word to accommodate our earthly whims, desires and ambitions is to sear our conscience for God never can go back upon His Word.

Although sad it is not a surprise that he has come to the place where he is now ashamed of his former beliefs. When we forsake the moorings of the Word of God we will descend into crisis.

It must be remembered what the Lord says about this choosing of the world before Him:

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them,
Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels, Mark 8:34-38.

The words of a hymn come to mind:

Jesus, and shall it ever be,
A mortal man ashamed of Thee?
Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise,
Whose glories shine thro' endless days?

Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far
Let evening blush to own a star;
He sheds the beams of light divine
O'er this benighted soul of mine.

Ashamed of Jesus! that dear Friend
On whom my hopes of heav'n depend!
No; when I blush, be this my shame,
That I no more revere His name.

Ashamed of Jesus! yes, I may,
When I've no guilt to wash away;
No tear to wipe, no good to crave,
No fears to quell, no soul to save.

Till then, nor is my boasting vain,
Till then I boast a Saviour slain;
And O, may this my glory be,
That Christ is not ashamed of me!

Interesting views about the possibly of the pope visiting Northern Ireland in 1979

Papers released under the 30 year rule in the Republic of Ireland have brought to light some interesting view about the possibly of the Pope visiting northern Ireland back in 1979 when he came to the Republic.

The decision by Pope John Paul II not to visit Armagh when he came to Ireland in 1979 was viewed as a "victory by Paisley", by the then Irish Prime Minister Jack Lynch.

For a fuller report see article in The Irish Times.

May the same outcome be seen if the Pope proposes to visit the Republic of Ireland another time!

Anyone notice the gross hyprocrisy of Sinn Fein and the issue of child abuse!

On 28th November 2009 Sinn Féin vice-president Mary Lou McDonald said anyone found to have covered up the abuse of children in the Dublin Archdiocese should be arrested and made to face the full rigours of the law. Sinn Fein's own website carried a statement, part of which reads:

The report on clerical sexual abuse of children in Dublin exposes how the most powerful men in the Catholic Church in the Dublin Diocese conspired to protect abusers of children. It was a gross betrayal of generations of children.

It is especially damning that the State authorities facilitated the cover-up and allowed the Church to be beyond the reach of the law. Senior Gardai, up to and including the level of Commissioner, repeatedly turned a blind eye to crimes of clerical sexual abuse.

Anyone, including Gardaí, found to be complicit in the cover up of child abuse must be arrested and made to face the full rigours of the law.

Little did she and the rest in Sinn Fein realise what was about to come to light concerning Gerry Adams covering up for over two decades the abuse of his own niece by his brother.

This story seems to be developing into a much wider issue, see here and here.

Will Mary Lou McDonald now call upon Gerry Adams to be 'arrested and made to face the full rigours of the law'? I doubt it!

This is just another example of the rottenness that lies at the heart of IRA/Sinn Fein. And to think that this party is in government over us! Truly the land mourns when the wicked bear rule, Proverbs 29:2 … when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

The hidden things of darkness are coming to light!!

The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted, Psalm 12:8.

How grossly stupid can you be!!

A number of media outlets are carrying the story of a Church of England minister in York who has said that it is all right to steal.

For more details:
Shoplift advice sermon priest criticised
Priest defends shoplifting sermon
Full transcript of the sermon

The comments were made in a sermon to his congregation on Sunday past where he said stealing from large national chains was sometimes the best option for many vulnerable people. He said:

Instead, I would rather that they shoplift. My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift.

I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing, or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither. I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices. I would ask them not to take any more than they need, for any longer than they need. And I would offer this advice with a heavy heart, wishing that our society recognized that bureaucratic ineptitude and systemic delay constitutes a dreadful invitation and incentive to crime for people struggling to cope at the very bottom of our social order.

Mr Richard Dobbs, from the British Retail Consortium said shoplifting was wrong no matter what the circumstances. He said:

I would have hoped that a vicar of all people would understand that there's a plain principal difference between right and wrong and stealing is wrong and it's wrong in all circumstances. The effect is of course to pile on costs to retailers which ultimately filter through to the prices that are paid by honest customers. There's often a big human cost in retail crime which is that staff are often abused or even attacked when they intervene to try and stop it.

It says much about the terminal decline of the Church of England that comments like this come from the mouth of a 'minister'. This minister is a clear example of the blind leading the blind: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch, Matt 15:14. He is a wolf in sheep's clothing, a hireling.

How ill served is any person or congregation who have a minister like this to give them spiritual instruction.

You just wonder how much rational thinking goes on in a person's mind to come out with comments like this.

It is never right to do wrong on any occasion or in any circumstances. The eighth commandment can hardly be clearer: Thou shalt not steal, Exodus 20:15.

The New Testament clearly states that thieves shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven, 1 Cor 6:9,10 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

It wasn't out of love for the souls of his congregation that he announced this advice. He was encouraging them to follow a path that leads down to destruction.