Profiles in Catholicism

Mar 1418 min read

Ireland Issues and Challenges

Updated: Mar 15

A Message from the Editor

There is a serious Catholic clerical sexual abuse challenge in Ireland and according to the press neither the Church nor Government are doing anything to address it. They should consider mandatory jail time to for all those clergy who abuse childfree,. Although forbidden by the Church, chemical castration is very effective. There are some states in he United States who use it, and sexual abuse is at a record low. Chemical castration is an ongoing process and needs to be induced continuously. Surgical castration is another possibility and could reduce most new cases

It s very depressing finding and indexing the large number of clerical sexual abuse reports weekly. However I was overjoyed when I read that

a Sister of murdered French priest tells story of forgiveness, friendship with killer's mother by Caroline de Sury as reported in Our Sunday Visitor/The Pilot. She renewed my faith that all things are possible.

A Quote to Remember

“When there is abuse by itself it's scary enough. When there is abuse within a religious setting it is so terrifying to people. Look how long its taken the Ryan report of 2009 took till then to talk about ritualistic kinds of abuse children in Ireland went through at the hands of nuns and priests, so nobody can bear it when its linked to religion, but when it's linked to religion that is not mainstream it seems to frighten people more. As if yes, abuse exists, Satanism exists, but you can't have Satanist abuse.”

by Valerie Sinason

Prayers

A prayer for abused children in Ireland:

“The Candle of Atonement: The Light into the dark”

Oh God the most beautiful, wonderful, joyful and victorious,

you who founded the earth and the wondrous existence of

the skies, the mountains, the rocks, soils and fields of life!

Oh God of Love, loving all that exists and existing to love us,

you created us in your own image and likeness, born to burst

with imagination, called to bring alight the world with light.

You who coloured and shaped the outrageous magnificence

of the cosmos, communicating mystery, questions, even,

We might say, addressing us with wonder and delight!

You know the bruising wounds, darkening within, but you

Are light and light you bring, bringing the light of love, to

touch and heal, to ignite again the longing to rise again.

For you, Lord, created us to be adorned with holy gifts, and

you restore, impossible as it seems to us, the tortured heart,

letting love in, for no darkness can withstand your healing light.

After the stark dark, can come the pink of the dawning dawn!

After the wet and chilling cold, can come the newly green leaf!

After the foggy shapes and frost can come the blue-clear skies!

Lord, you made us to show love through love, you have gifted

each of us with an irreplaceable and unique life, full of purpose,

pointing us to the good to be done here and even into eternity.

Rebuild again the temple of your presence, for we were called to

be your dwelling place and you alone can give back the gift of an

opening hope in the almost suffocating hell of a hopeless hurting.

Oh God let what is hidden go on being brought into the decisive,

“piercing spotlight that begins to drain the power of memories and

refresh the desire to live, doing what can be done and more besides.

Oh God, let there grow a new culture, purifying the old, turning the

pain of previous years into the fertile ground of change, changing

what can be changed, changing for the better what is worse than rot.

And so let the tide go out and wide, following a course from the

the grace-splashed-heart, to the very outer edges and reaches of the planet,

passing to all the reforms that go deeper than the wounds.

Oh God, your depths of love are deeper than the deepest hurt, dearer

than the most expensive clothes and perfumes, more sparkling than

the twinkliest gems, more expansive and generous than human gifts.

Oh God, let us not forget that your Son’s wounds went into the heart of the

Blessed Trinity, three Persons in One God, drawing from unimaginable depths

the grace of a rejoicing, reconciling love-gift.

Oh God, let what is renewed be wondrously clear, like the Son that

showed forth His new rising, through illuminating every atom of His

being, humbling all and helping us to see the Word of God in action.

by Francis Etheredge, Catholic married layman, father of 11, 3 of whom are in heaven, and an author: https://enroutebooksandmedia.com/francisetheredge/. Forthcoming: “The Word in Your Heart: Mary, Youth, and Mental Health”.

A Prayer for Those who Died and were Harmed in the Creeslough Gas Station Explosion

We stand in solidarity with the people of Creeslough whose hearts are broken with the recent tragedy and terrible loss of life. We pray for all those who lost loved ones and for the whole community that is grieving at this time. We pray for all those involved in responding and ministering to the survivors, we hold everyone in our hearts, devastated at this terrible tragedy.

by Brendan McManus SJ Profiles in Catholicism

Prayer for those murdered and injured at Mass in Burkina Faso

God of mercy,

bless the victims and their families

of those murdered and injured at Mass in Burkina Faso.

Hold them in your hands.

Let them know that you are close.

Turn the hearts of those who perpetrate violence

to thoughts of peace.

Make all of us aware of our vocation to sow seeds of peace. Amen

by Father Louis Cameli Profiles in Catholicism

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Ireland Articles and Commentaries