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THE VENUE FOR a speech to be given by Minister for Culture Josepha Madigan on the role of women in the Catholic Church has been changed due to complaints, mostly focused on Madigan’s role in the ‘Repeal of the Eighth Amendment’ campaign.
We Are Church Ireland, a group that aims to “end injustices in the Roman Catholic Church” had organised an event for Madigan to give a speech entitled “Why the Catholic Church should open all ministries to women” at the Mercy International Centre on 11 February.
But in a statement this evening, the organisation said that it would have to change the venue due to a number of complaints, and a small number of threats to the venue.
“The protestors appear to focus on the role the Minister played as coordinator of the Repeal the Eighth Amendment which was carried in May 2018,” the statement said.
It is sad, indeed, that protestors are personalising their disappointment at the role played by Minister Josepha Madigan in the referendum.
In a letter by the CEO of Mercy International Association that was published by We Are Church Ireland, it was stated that “many vigorous representations” were made about the venue being made available for the Minister.
Threats have been made of busloads of protesters being brought to the site and two parishes have indicated that they speak on behalf of parishioners.
While most correspondence has been courteous, there has been some vitriolic comment and at least one of our staff has been intimidated by a caller.
Many of the representations made referred to Madigan’s involvement in the abortion referendum and bill, the letter notes.
It continues to say that although they believe the role of women in the Church is a topic that “has long been neglected” and that “needed to be urgently addressed”, they were “unwilling to become the target of anger directed at the speaker for the occasion, the topic, or both”.
In a statement issued this evening, Minister Madigan said she regrets that We Are Church Ireland were forced to change venue for this meeting.
It is truly disappointing that the Mercy International Centre has been targeted in this way when the subject matter of the evening is in relation to the role of women in ministries in the Catholic Church, an issue entirely separate to my role as campaign coordinator in repealing the Eighth Amendment.
“The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 is now law having been signed by the President following a decisive decision by the Irish people.
“I look forward to speaking at the event on February 11th in a new location,” she said.
The event will instead be held at the Dublin Southside Hotel.
The Culture Minister made headlines last summer after stepping up “to say Mass” at her local parish when a priest failed to show up.
Madigan works on the team of the Ministry of the Word at the Church of St Therese in Mount Merrion, Dublin, and gives a reading at Mass once a month.
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Thanks to her and everybody that voted like her there is a threat to every unborn child in this country now.
@Wont Surrender: “every unborn child”? Cop on to yourself!
@Wont Surrender: Do you have a county by county breakdown of where the unborn are ‘living’? Ha ha! What a comment.
@Wont Surrender: Every comment I have ever seen left by yourself is outrageously stupid.
It’s ‘won’t’ by the way.
@Wont Surrender: Try not to make ridiculous statements… it makes you sound ridiculous.. “a threat to every unborn child” Really? With the strictest and shortest gestation time before termination laws in place, with the highest birth rate in Europe in 2016 – according to the Irish Times July 11th 2017 – at 63,900 live births – your comment is – by anyone’s standards – breathtakingly ludicrous….. you really need a self editing mechanism before you expound in public…though your ill thought-out comment is more likely to be deliberately disingenuous….
@Orla Smith: “Ha ha what else would you expect from a genius like that?
@Wont Surrender: hahahahahahahahaha *takes breath* hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
@Kieran Brady: a child is a child regardless of what you call it to justify it’s killing.
@Orla Smith: hopefully they will live in the hearts of all of you the voted to kill them.
@Rebecca De Stanleigh: well if we are pointing out every little thing. It’s not called a woman’s right to choose it’s called the Slaughter of an unborn child.
@Seamus Morgan: yeah because that is an intelligent reply.
@Kieran Brady: tell me any part of my comment that is wrong if abortion is free for all what part of my statement was wrong?
@Alex Reed: no thanks to FF and FG but you keep voting for them
@Wont Surrender: The women of this country have been having abortions for years. You would swear by the verbal diarrhoea you lot spew that it is a new thing. The only thing that has changed is we have made it safer for our women to access health care in times of trouble where they can be surrounded by their loved ones in what is possibly the biggest decision they will make in their life.
@Mr Bojangles: but surely you are human some of you must feel bad when you think what happens to the Unborn child where is the unborn voice?
@Wont Surrender: Yes, I am human but, I don’t tend to dwell on what’s happening in others lives. I trust they are well able to make decisions that best suit them. It is neither my business or yours. We don’t know what has brought a lady to the point where she feels she can no longer carry on with her pregnancy. I prefer to put my time and energy into the welfare of my own family and leave others to do the same.
@Wont Surrender: “He Who Speaks The Truth Must Have One Foot In The Stirrup.”
— Armenian Proverb
@Wont Surrender: The clergy were a serious threat to the children of this country for centuries. We will never know how many perished or suffered serious harm. Or so you conveniently forget. Maybe you want to see a return to that position.
@Alex Reed: well I wouldn’t be like the radical left not the resort to name-calling there is hundreds and thousands of people that think like me but afraid to speak up in the fear of being bullied or harassed by the likes of you. well there’s nothing you can say to me that will stop me speaking up I can go lower than any of you if I have to.
@Mr Bojangles: why do you keep calling it Health care where is the Health care for the Unborn child? I cannot see any good at all in killing a healthy baby. If it was only for cases of incest or rape or where there is medical proof the baby would not live outside its mother’s womb then I would have voted for it. But what we ended up with is disgraceful.
@Mr Bojangles: so basically you’re saying you didn’t put any thought into it when you voted you just went along with what the radical left and the politicians told you. That right there is the problem people don’t think for themselves. You’re simply like dead fish going with the flow.
@SteoG: what do you mean I conveniently forgot? You were the first to bring up religion in this conversation. I think the clergy in this country are evil and is full of paedophiles. You can only think for yourself if you ignore religion and politicians. (You keep them poor and I’ll keep them stupid said the priest to the politician.)
@Gallery and Museum Staff in Ireland: I am speaking the truth and I am prepared to defend it.
@John Mc Donagh: is that all you can add to this conversation or are you busy adjusting your man bun?
That woman needs all the religious help she can get, with all the banks after her. She’s possibly living beyond her means.
@Adrian: Doesn’t want pay property tax at the rate for her area…
“Threats of a pro-life protest…” would have been a clearer headline. The way it stands could be read as threats against her life.
@A2 Poster: fair point!
@A2 Poster: threats of physical violence seem to be implied in the quotes
@Dave O’Keeffe: The article’s a bit ambiguous but I read it as the threat of protest. There is mention of one person being intimidated by a phone call.
@Dave O’Keeffe: if they could do more than imply then they would have. The headline is click-bait.
New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed a Bill into law that legalizes abortion up to birth for any reason. He also directed that the One World Trade Centre and other landmarks be lit in pink to celebrate the Passage of the Reproductive Health Act. Non Doctors will also be allowed to carry out abortions under this Act.
Now that abortion for any reason is lawful in Ireland up to 12 weeks is it possible that in time we will have a similar headline.
So it’s seen progressive now that a baby can be killed the day he or she was due to be born.
@Ian Breathnach:
If there is a risk to the life of the Mother and the baby dies ,it is not an abortion, this has always been lawful.
@Aine O Connor: Shame on you.
@colm connolly:
Is reality too much for you to handle. Once a pregnancy passes the 6 months mark it is a fully formed baby. If a Mothers life is in danger the baby can be delivered, not aborted, It can happen that-the baby will not survive the trauma but he or she may be born alive and not deliberately killed.
@Orla Smith:
The Shame is on New York not me.
@Aine O Connor: how many women do you think would chose to abort at 8.5 months Aine? Wouldn’t that just be a cessarian? Do you really believe that there are women who have gotten that far and would, for any reason, decide actually I’ll have an abortion? No woman at late term choses an abortion for any reason. These are tragic cases of people who want to have healthy babies and to live themselves. I know of no woman who would chose to have a late term abortion for reasons beyond her own health or that of the foetus. Do you?
@Aine O Connor: What a ridiculous fallacy! Terminations are ONLY ALLOWED under very specific laid out in law circumstances…. the New York law states that termination is permissable “if the womens health is in danger or the fetus is not viable”… I’ve read Karl Marx, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, Mein Kampf and and Socrates among others but it doesn’t mean I am in danger of becoming a communist, a muslim, a mormon or a philosopher… trying to link our restrictive laws in Ireland with the laws in another jurisdiction is plainly idiotic…just because we try to apprehend thieves doesn’t mean that the day will come when we chop off their hands … get a grip on yourself and get over the fact that women, living women, living productive lives, are not at the mercy (not that any was ever shown) of the church and their brainwashed followers any more and have some protection under the law…
@Aine O Connor: The new law states that an abortion is allowed at any time if the woman’s life is at risk.Why should New York be ashamed of that ?
@Dell:
The law up to now in New York permitted an abortion up to 24 weeks which is the same as Britain . As I stated in my previous post If a Mothers life is in danger due to a medical emergency and Doctors have to act quickly to save her life , that is not an abortion , if the baby dies as it could not be avoided. So why change the law. I sincerely hope that no woman would request an abortion at this late stage or that anyone else would force her to do so.
I also felt it was unnecessary and insensitive to light up the New TowerBuilding And other landmarks in pink to celebrate, the very place where 3000 people lost their lives in 9/11.
Also Hilary Clinton once said that as far as she was concerned a baby had no rights until after birth.
@Charles and his piano:
If a baby has to be delivered because the Mothers life is at risk it is not an abortion , it is a Medical Emergency. And is therefore lawful. What was wrong with the limit of 24 weeks .
@Kieran Brady:
As I am trying to point out if woman’s life is in danger and Doctors have to make quick decisions to intervene to save her life in a crisis and the baby dies this is not an abortion and is therefore lawful. . In the case of Fatal Foetal Abnormality this would have been diagnosed much earlier in the pregnancy so why change the law as it stood , the limit for a legal abortion at 24 weeks.
@Orla Smith: You are shaming a woman there! Thought we were not supposed to shame women.
@Dell: You don’t get it do you. It is not about what a woman would “choose”. It is about what is legal. It is perfectly legal to kill a baby in utero at 8.5 months instead of just delivering a live baby by C section.
@MaeVic: the law removes the procedure from the state’s criminal code, which had previously made it illegal after 24 weeks of pregnancy unless the mother’s life was in jeopardy. Now, that option is allowed after that point if the mother’s life or health is at stake or if her fetus is not viable. It’s not an option open to anyone, a woman can’t just decide she’s bored with pregnancy and then abort at 26 weeks.
@Aine O Connor: are you pregnant? No ? Well then what does it matter to you ,yes? Then i hope it all goes well for you but if anything were to happen then I’d hope you were able to receive the care the new law give you to keep you safe
The reality is the overwhelming majority of people decided to change the law and just because you don’t like it does not give you the right to scream ,ironically like a baby from the safety of your keyboard , we heard your opinion during the referendum now please take your opinion and shove it where the sun don’t shine
@Aine O Connor: Roe v Wade clearly states that abortion is allowed after 24 weeks to safeguard a woman’s health.New York is just protecting it’s female citizens.Well done.
@Charles and his piano:
To save the Mothers life it’s not an abortion it’s a medical emergency. The baby has to be delivered prematurely , he or she may not survive the trauma, that is not an abortion , it is a tragedy. Do you not get that.
@Aine O Connor: If the woman’s life is in immediate danger after she was in a serious car crash,please tell me what the medics should do .
Thanks
@Aine O Connor: An abortion is an abortion.What part of that are you struggling with ?
@Charles and his piano: Medical Definition of Abortion : “In medicine ,an abortion is the ‘premature’ exit of the products of conception (the foetus,foetal membranes,and placenta) from the uterus.”
Stop trying to do what the antis usually try to do,which is to try & change medical facts.
https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2091
@MaeVic: only if the woman’s health is at risk or the foetus isn’t viable. But also you don’t get it do you, no woman would want to have an abortion at that stage without good reason, legal or not. These are tragic circumstances for women, stop using them to scare monger. It’s disgusting.
@Karen Wellington: The reason does not matter. It is wrong that it is perfectly legal to kill a baby in utero at 8.5 months instead of delivering a live baby, which would have the exact same life preserving outcomes for the mother.
@Dell: The reason is irrelevant. It is wrong to kill a baby at 8.5 months to save a mother, when a delivery by C section would do the same thing. That is what is disgusting.
@Charles and his piano:
They would do everything in their power to save her life even It it meant that she lost her baby.
Women in the church?? How’s that going to work, they don’t even have mickeys!
@BarronVonVaderHam: have you not heard of Generation Gender? They don’t need those.
@BarronVonVaderHam: at least the altar boys backsides would be safe
@Richard Cronin: ever heard of fingers?
@BarronVonVaderHam: as far as I am concerned there is no place in the Catholic Church for her or McAleese or anybody else, male or female, that voted Yes in the abortion campaign. They should just keep away from the Church completely. It’s the height of hypocrisy for those that used social media to promote abortion to be claiming to be Catholic.
@Stephen Duffy: Of course there isn’t a place for Madigan or McAleese in the Catholic Church, they’re both Christians.
@Orla Smith: Good. Then we can agree both of them should sling their hooks and go practice their particular brand of Christianity somewhere else.
@Stephen Duffy: The non-child raping kind?
@Orla Smith: Classic
@Mark Fitzmaurice: “classic”?? Hardly, more “predictable” from that particular source…!!
@Stephen Duffy: isn’t tolerance one of the big christian tenants?
Colossians 3:13-15 – 13 Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you. 14 And to all these qualities add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity. 15 The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this peace that God has called you together in the one body. And be thankful.
Matthew 7:1 – Judge not, that you be not judged.
I know you can use the bible to justify any standpoint, given all the mad inaccuracies and blatant contractions, but there’s loads about tolerance in there including ‘quotes’ from jesus.
@Orla Smith: There are no christians in FG when they have neglected the poor, the homeless, the health services and sold themselves to the elite and the super rich.
@Karen Wellington: I doubt Stephen has ever read the bible.. He still believes :P.
@Karen Wellington:
Didn’t Jesus go into the temple and turn over the tables of those selling their wares and tell them that it was written ” my house shall be called the house of prayer but ye have turned it into a den of thieves” I wonder what he would say if he say to that Madigan woman preaching in the house of God while actively supporting the killing of the unborn, I doubt he would show her much tolerance, she would probably get a kick in the backside and told to sling her hook. Anyone who actively supports abortion have in effect excommunicated themselves from the Catholic church by rejecting its teachings.
@Thomas Troy: Numbers 5:11-31, it too long to copy the whole passage for you but the gist is God’s pro-abortion (not pro-choice, it’s about forced abortions).
“But Karen, the New Testament supersedes the Old Testament” I hear you say;
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil.” – Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:17)
@Stephen Duffy: So the church is only for toxic Catholics then, is it? No room for people who want to weigh issues and think for themselves. Let’s face it the church has been way behind the curve on issues for centuries. If you want to obey the edicts of a men’s club who make outlandish claims and wear funny shoes and hats you are welcome to. Never mind the criminal cover ups and teachings on contraception. Thankfully for most people the days of ruling by twisted bishops is over along with the 1930s Irish mindset. But hey you carry on there.
Fake News engineered by Josepha to remind the right on people that Josepha is right on. I’ll pray for the strength to forgive her.
@Hans Flouride: Pray? You might as well search for water with hickory rods.
@Orla Smith: Divining for water does work, only some people can do it though. That’s how people years ago used to know where abouts on the on land to dig a well. We got a fella out to do it when our house was built.
@Jimmy Farrell: Cool! I have these magic beans my grandmother left me (god rest her soul), if you plant them 1 foot apart in the second week of April, they will sprout money trees. They have a normal retail price of 1,000 euro per bean, but I’ll sell them to you for 5 euro each. HMU.
@Orla Smith: I’ll take them, once I saddle up the unicorn I’ll be right over.
@Jimmy Farrell: And yet none of those people can do it under scientific conditions.
Strange that.
Is Pope Josepha in direct competition with Pope Mary or are we heading for another schism??
@Liam Mernagh: two wing-nuts… !!!
@Stephen Duffy: you’re that Christian, right?
I thought the “Pro-Life” (sic) movement were against suppression of alternative opinions? Aren’t these the poor unrepresented, persecuted and ignored minority who have no access to the mainstream media apart from Breda O’Brien (weekly in The Irish Times), David Quinn (weekly in The Sunday Times), Patricia Casey (weekly in The Irish Independent), 3 of the 5 patrons of The Iona Institute, a made up organisation with tax-free charity status (who do they help?) and the accreditation of an institute (what academic body bestowed this title on them?). It’s almost as bad as the Christians being thrown to the lions at the Circus Maximus in ancient Rome the oppression these people experience.
@Orla Smith: What the F are you on about?? Lie down..
@Stephen Duffy: Irish women don’t “lie down” any more.
@Orla Smith: Good… maybe there will be less abortions…!!!
@Stephen Duffy: Nice bit of misogyny there, showing the true colour of your nature.
@SteoG: snowflake….!!!!
Very disingenuous headline.
The threats were from the banks.
@@mdmak33: Do you mean Eleaza Banks?
Fair play. Nuns are exercising their right to ‘Choice’.
@Gallery and Museum Staff in Ireland: Is it “Choice” when you’re intimidated into it?
@Bob Earner: Hi Bob. There’s always a choice, however, intimidation does limit the options but expedites the decision making:
https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/news/antiabortion-group-left-fuming-after-hotel-cancels-their-booking-over-intimidation-36155799.html
Oh the irony.
@Felicity Hensen: They are threatening a protest. At first I thought they were pro-life folks threatening her safety also and had the same reaction.
@A2 Poster: there’s is mention of intimidation but yeah, the headline is misleading
I was enjoying the death throes of the church but it’s starting to drag out a bit now.
@Rob Cahill: You’ll be long dead before the church Rob. (That’s not a threat by the way ;-)). What I don’t understand is why someone like Madigan wants anything to do with the Catholic Church. Her stance on abortion alone makes her totally at odds with Catholic teaching. Does she think she can change the institution? Over 2000 years would suggest otherwise.
@Will: Roman Church began as its name suggests in ‘Rome’ about the year 320 AD. Christianity had a head start from 33AD, ‘Roman Church ‘ is way off from being Christian, ‘Catholic ‘ but not ‘Christian ‘.!!
@ÓDuibhír Abú: But that ties in with what I’m saying. A Christian follows the teachings of Jesus Christ. A Catholic follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. Not necessarily then same.
If you support the right to abortion or same sex marriage etc. you cannot really call yourself a Catholic. Why would you even want to?
@Will: Stockholm Syndrome
@Will: The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus when he said to Peter, upon this Rock ill buld my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The Irish branch of the great oak is dying, through filth. The Catholic Church is true and we know this through her many, many miracles. God bless
Good girl Joespha
The leftist fascist coming to attack!
@The ‘Notorious’ Fanboy: isn’t Fascism Right wing?
@LUCY Thomas: indeed, so using maths we can say that “leftist” and “fascist” cancel each other out and fanboys comment reads “The coming to attack!” which makes no sense which is in keeping with fanboy.
@Mark: Fascism puts the nation or race above the individual. The Lefts recent shift towards the dogma of intersectionality would certainly place it in that sphere.
The Left’s recent opposition to free speech using the fig leaf of tolerance also echoes that of far right governments in the past.
Sometimes venues get changed. It happens..
https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/news/antiabortion-group-left-fuming-after-hotel-cancels-their-booking-over-intimidation-36155799.html
According to the warped doctrine of Catholicism you can commit as many sins as you like. Confession and a few whispered magic words and it’s all washed away. Some people wonder why most Catholic countries are seriously corrupt.
@SteoG: According to the warped Doctrine of SteoG, when you make a mistake it should follow you around for the rest of your life, with no chance of forgiveness.
@MaeVic: Where did I state that. I didn’t. You are just being childish.
have your say