It was interesting to watch and listen to Dermot Farrell’s first address as the new Roman archbishop of Dublin.
First addresses very often are the new man laying down his plan for his time in office.
Farrell drew our attention to the fact that the day of his installation – 2nd February – is also the day that the Roman Church gives thanks for its religious orders.
I was truly shocked to hear Farrell congratulate the “RELIGIOUS” who ran what he himself called the “INSTITUTIONS” – obviously referring to the children’s homes, the Mother and Baby homes, the Magdalen Laundries etc 🤕.
He was obviously taking a swipe at all the recent, absolutely justifiable criticisms as a result of the Mother and Baby Home report.
He referred briefly to the bad things that went very wrong in the Roman Gulags by saying the church took its eye off Christ!
Is that all he has to say about the murder and the torture that happened over 50 and 60 years?
So, a nun forcing a woman to eat her own vomit was simply the nun taking her eye off Christ?
Was it not really about a brainwashed and vicious old tart, who never had a baby in her wisened womb or a penis in her dry vagina, taking her frustrations out on other women she resented for having a different and healthier womb and vagina experience?
And Farrell wants us to celebrate and honour such old tarts?
Farrell also went out of his way to honour those religious who are “contemplatives”.
Was he referring to, defending and standing up for the likes of Rawhide Purcell of Mount Mellerary and Kitty Kirby of Silverstream located in his home diocese of Meath?
Farrell also praised his Alma Mater – Maynooth in which he was a professor and president.
Was this a swipe at Diarmuid Martin for removing his seminarians from Maynooth?
And a reprimand for those of us who exposed the rampant homosexuality of Maynooth?
In my opinion is that Farrell is a deeply ensconced member of the Irish Clerical Club who like Any in Armagh will excuse, cover-up, turn a blind eye etc on clerical misbehaviour.
Recently Farrell was asked about same sex unions.
He replied: “Why would you bless ” THINGS” like that”?
I think we will see Farrell being a Roman hard-liner.
We will see him fully supporting Gaynooth.
We will see him issue antediluvian statements on sociosexual progress in Ireland.
For all his talk about involving religious and laity in church life the only persons in the Pro-Cathedral sanctuary, apart from the nominal readers, were three archbishops and a few clerics.
As a clericalist he may address DM’s the poor relationship between archbishop’s house and the Dublin clergy?
On the other hand in a couple of year’s time the Dublin clergy could be doing what they did post McQuaid and during the Ryan time and be saying: “Come back DM. All’s forgiven?
Time will tell.
In the meantime, those of us who long for the total castration of the RCC in Ireland have our cause forwarded when Rome puts people like Farrell in the firing line.
They have to be lucky all the time. We only have to lucky occasionally.
BISHOP PAT BUCKLEY 