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MY PARENTS DIDN’T like Father Ted. They didn’t get it. If my Mum and Dad were alive today they’d be in their 80s. They were a generation that grew up in an Ireland dominated by the Catholic Church. For my parents, Fr Ted was like a fly on the wall documentary about priests. They couldn’t laugh at it. They couldn’t enter into the comedic spirit of it. They simply couldn’t suspend disbelief in order to laugh at Fr Ted, Fr Jack and Fr Dougal.
It was as though you ‘couldn’t make it up’. And yet, Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews had made it up. They had conceived, devised and constructed an elegant satire that eloquently described the comic, dark reality of the organisational culture of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
I have been reminded of Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews in the recent media coverage of the controversies that have engulfed the national seminary at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. Media reports of a ‘gay subculture’ at the college and the alleged widespread use of the gay dating app Grindr among seminarians read like the script of a Fr Ted episode.
The news value of these stories have pushed them to the top of the news agenda. This dynamic may have obscured the real story however. To be honest, I believe the sexual orientation of seminarians or priests is largely irrelevant in the context of the grave challenges that confront the institution of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Indeed, much of the coverage has been voyeuristic and gay shaming – perhaps unwittingly revealing a deep-seated homophobic bias among some commentators.
The Church of Ireland approach
The requirement for celibacy among Catholic clergy is however an issue that dogs that institution. In other Christian churches, celibacy is not a compulsory obligation. Many Catholic priests and nuns have spoken eloquently about the pain and isolation that such an arbitrary requirement causes. As seminarians struggle with their formation as priests, no doubt they equally struggle with their sexuality and the unnatural, unjust – I would say un-Christ-like – diktat for absolute sexual abstinence.
Fourteen men have commenced their studies at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth in the last week or so. This brings to a total of 41 the number of men preparing for the Catholic priesthood at the national seminary. Nationwide, the number of Catholic priests has fallen to around 1,900. The age profile of these priests skews towards older rather than younger. Most must now work in full ministry until they are 75 – and beyond. In twenty years, this number will have shrunk to almost nothing.
In comparison, the Church of Ireland has 539 ordained clergy serving a nationwide congregation one-tenth the size of the Catholic Church. 111 of these are women. Currently, the Church of Ireland has 35 ‘ordinands’ – men and women who are in training for ordained ministry. Clearly, the Church of Ireland does not share the same crisis in vocations that is now experienced by the Catholic Church here. Men and women alike – irrespective of sexual orientation – are free to answer their calling to Christ within the Anglican Church and may marry and have children if they so wish. As clergy, they share the same challenges and struggles as their congregation.
The problematic response from the seminary
Meanwhile, in response to the crisis at Maynooth, it is reported that St Patrick’s College has decided to restrict and isolate the seminarians further. Apparently, the Seminary Council will eat breakfast with the seminarians each morning. In addition, attendance at evening meal with the Seminary Council has become mandatory with compulsory nightly rosary at 9pm each evening. If true, this challenges my ability to suspend disbelief. Such responses are retrograde, regressive and indistinguishable from the satire contained within an episode of Father Ted.
Seminarians need to be fully integrated into the student body on campus. ‘Training’ them in isolation – away from the communities they will live among and serve – makes no sense and will further institutionalise and harm them. The steps taken by the Seminary Council are typical of an organisation in crisis and under threat.
In such circumstances, secretive, closed institutions – like the clergy, armed forces and police – retreat further into themselves. They tend to subordinate the public good to misplaced self-interest and internal loyalties. Such strategies, designed to ‘circle the wagons’ in order to preserve ever-diminishing prestige and status, are ill-conceived, ill-considered and inimical to the long term interests of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Such strategies failed to solve the clerical child sex abuse scandals. In fact, such strategies have compounded the abuse and added to the pain inflicted on women and children by a male-dominated and deeply misogynistic organisational culture.
What I saw in the Defence Forces
As a retired officer within Ireland’s armed forces, I have first-hand experience of the defensive organisational culture of closed and secretive Irish institutions. When I uncovered evidence of widespread misogyny and inappropriate levels of sexual violence within the Defence Forces, I experienced whistleblower reprisal and a defensive and adversarial response from the general staff.
After an independent government enquiry confirmed my research findings however, the military authorities have since embraced transformational organisational change from within. Army officers and other members of the defence forces are now educated alongside their civilian peers in Institutes of Technology and university campuses across the country including NUI Galway and NUI Maynooth. The military authorities have now targeted women for recruitment to the organisation and understand fully that diversity and integration are crucial to the success of any military organisation. An army that does not reflect the society from which it is drawn will fail in its mission and will fail as an organisation.
Similarly, the Catholic Church will fail in its mission if it does not reflect the society which it purports to serve. The Catholic Church will fail as an organisation if it does not ordain women and allow for marriage among its clergy. This reality is reflected in the statement issued by the Trustees of the National Seminary in the wake of the recent scandals. In their statement, the Trustees – who include Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin – state that St Patrick’s must form priests ‘after the heart of the Good Shepherd’. This call for integration is reflected in Archbishop Martin’s observation that the Catholic Church in Ireland is in need of transformational change and has reached the ‘end of an era’. If his colleagues in the conference of Irish bishops ignore this reality, the last chapter of the Catholic Church in Ireland will resemble the final episode of a surreal and tragic-comic Fr Ted series.
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I though the dole covered that for them..
@Big bad bull: ……. Big clear out of FF, FG and Green TDs on the way. SF will get a chance to clear the swamp. If they dont do it welk then next gen TDs will get a chance. We’ve tolerated self enriching spoofers for too long.
@Big bad bull: I hope you’re doing OK…..for a selfish prig.
@Big bad bull: I scrolled down to the comments to say exactly what you said. And the swines think long and hard about paying student nurses, who actually do something.
@Big bad bull: sad comment…
@Big bad bull: if anyone can draw the dole artists can.
@Big bad bull: it doesn’t
I had almost forgotten the Greens were actually part of the Government, then again I would forgive anyone for thinking FF and FG weren’t in Government either.
Just not good enough… Imagine lockdown without music, photography etc… One year ago musicians took to live streaming gigs out of love for their profession and to bring a bit of joy to friends and family during the darkest days and most are still going living off a few tips here and there… I look forward to the amount of quality live gigs that will be on as these artists try to get back on their feet… The government have failed them big time
What about people who have been out of work for the last 12 months and this coming week have Revenue looking for LOCAL PROPERTY TAX which FF said they would reform but silence as usual.
@Paul Howard: They deferred last years payment till July 21st, ask your local TD will it be deferred again? Why are the looking for it this week?
@Ally Mc Culladgh: Sorry deferred until July 2021
@Ally Mc Culladgh: Not correct – due 22 March 2021
https://www.revenue.ie/en/property/local-property-tax/is-your-property-liable-lpt/what-are-the-key-dates-for-lpt.aspx
@Ally Mc Culladgh: To pay the Arts??
@Ally Mc Culladgh: They will tell you it’s a privilege to get a mortgage, pay a mortgage, struggle to pay it, pay property tax for actually eventually owning a house, Oh! And to supplement their big pensions and salary increases.
Everyone is fed up ,Mehole, with your crumb throwing.
@Peter Bell: it’s Catherine Martin
@Peter Bell: it’s Catherine Martin ya dope
@Paul Doyle: Ah, in fairness, I mistook it for Micheal Martin as well, at first. For some reason, the ‘former music teacher and singer’ bit had me imagining him lashing out rebel songs down at his local boozer. (I guess Lockdown will do that to ya, lol.)
@Paul Doyle: THE BEST PART OF YOU RAN DOWN YOUR OUL FELLAS LEG.
@Peter Bell:end
@Peter Bell:
What a childish comment.
@Peter Bell:
childish comment
@Peter Bell: seriously? I’ve seen a lot of juvenile comments on the journal, but this one definitely takes the biscuit.
@Peter Bell: Did your parents ever ask you to run away from home?
@Peter Bell: di ck he ad
@Peter Bell: what about the clowns in SF? Surely the cost of the face paint should be covered?
@Ro-your-nan: what?
Is Bono on the PUP
@James Fox: No, his accountants will be advising him to buy failing businesses and increase his assets, out of his off-shore tax-free funds ….
@Martin Galvin:
any proof of anything illegal?
@Martin Galvin: same accountant that that advised U2 to donate €10,000,000 to COVID relief efforts in Ireland??
@Martin Galvin: if you do tiny a fraction of the positive things in your life that Bono has you will be doing well.
@john doe: Martin is just another one of those miserable half wits who knock every Irish success story out of pure jealousy.
You can protest our artists by doing your job, stop allowing 10,000 into this country every week
This will help reduce the number of covid cases
And that will allow restrictions to be relaxed
@trebloc01: what do you mean?
Surely they can draw the dole or get a job in a shop at the moment.
It’s laughable listening to the likes of Panti whining about his situation when we know full well he hasn’t applied to Lidl for a job even though they are hiring.
Govt could look at viability of giving participants in this hard-hit sector subsidised or even free broadband service to enable showcasing of creative wares to a potential global audience.
I’m sure the Minister would appreciate the sentiment in this little gem…
“Our culture is more shaped by the arts and humanities than it often is by politics”
Jim Leach
The people of Ireland talk the talk when it comes to the arts but blame them for being lazy at the same time give proper support to people in the arts and really embrace what it does for us and ireland
@Dermot Wynne: too vague Dermot – you need to be more specific. I’m arty – what kind of subsidy would you tax someone else for to pay for me? How much do I get?
@Ro-your-nan: your arty? Swear to God dealz doing a colouring book with crayons for about €3.
What about the companies that supply the actual sound equipment to the artists? Are they covered by this payment? We are 42 years in the industry and we’re on the brink of closing permanently. Don’t forget the sound hire guys!
I don’t think money is the only issue for artists, is it? Artists usually need to perform, and the audience is important to them. And we, the audience, also miss seeing artists performing live, not behind a computer screen. Concerts, theatre etc.
Artists my @55. Live off your work without any subsidy or take a running jump. Pretentious nonsense.
@Lotus: so write your own songs then.
@Drunk in Dublin: You’ve missed the point
Surely he means ‘homeless’ instead of ‘artists’
@P Mc G: *she
@P Mc G: took a while for the mandatory imaginative comment “wadabout da hooomelisss?”
Common the shiners …every time a green opens their entitled mouth another 100 votes go to SF
Sine Fine are an absolute joke of an opposition party. Always sitting on the fence with no backbone.
When a country is been pulled apart by government restriction this supposedly big change party are happy to talk but bring zero new solutions to the table.
For once people see properly tired of the usual so so politic’s but unfortunately the new change is very much of the same. Stand up now and lead on forever dream.
@Tom Hickey: That’s just not true. SF have introduced a number of bills attempting to make lives better for people in this country but FFG vote down anything they propose out of sheer spite and an inability to put party politics aside and work for the greater good. You’re just parroting what you’ve heard without putting any thought into it whatsoever. There are lots of issues you could take a swipe at SF with but this lie isn’t one of them.
12 months later..
A similar type scheme in 18th century UK lead to the industral revolution. Loads of clergymen were given a basic income, and in those days you needed a 3rd level degree to be a clergyman. Because most of them had no interest in religion ( it was just a title for power an influence they were after) they had little to do except spend time on their hobbies which included research and experimentation.
While the church pay no tax at all
Yes UBI for artists to give them security, 100% agree, they do important work. But if annual earnings go above the yearly minimum wage due to selling artwork etc then they need to be paying back their UBI money.
This is NOT what a “universal basic income” is. It’s the first word! Call it a grant, whatever, but it’s not remotely UBI and it’s a willful distortion of the term to call it that.
have your say