Jimmy Savile’s obituaries - conspiracy of silence?

Keaton

Jimmy Savile’s obituaries mentioned his charity work: but why the conspiracy of silence about his faith?

Until I read it in the Catholic Herald, I have to admit that I didn’t realise that Jimmy Savile was a practising Catholic, who attended Mass several times a week. Neither, or so it seemed, did most of those who wrote his obituaries. Some 0f them mentioned that he had a papal knighthood, possibly a clue (though since Rupert Murdoch also has one, it doesn’t necessarily signify). But they must have known it. I’ve written obituaries for the Times and the Telegraph: you can’t do it without quite a bit of research into a man’s life: his attending daily Mass must at some point have come on to the obituarists’ radar.

They all mentioned his generosity with both money (he gave 90 per cent of his earnings away) and his persistent and energetic doing of good. (It was interesting that no-one ever described him as a do-gooder; his sheer effectiveness made that impossible, somehow.)

... But why not mention that an important part of his life was attending daily Mass? There’s a deep dedication in the life of a man who gives away 90 per cent of everything he earns and so tirelessly does all the other things he did. You’d think that an obituarist would want to ask a simple question: where did all that come from? It’s almost as though they couldn’t bear to accept that the answer was his Catholicism: even that Catholicism itself could ever be the source of actual human goodness.

Read more: http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2011/11/07/jimmy-savile%e2%80%99s-obituaries-mentioned-his-charity-work-but-why-the-conspiracy-of-silence-about-his-faith/

Cookie_Monster

Jimmy Savile was a practising Catholic, who attended Mass several times a week

Maybe nobody thought that mattered. He presumably went shopping once or twice a week but you don't see that mentioned either.

Keaton

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Maybe nobody thought that mattered. He presumably went shopping once or twice a week but you don't see that mentioned either.

Course it mattered - it was the motivation for his great charity work!

endacl

Keaton wrote: »

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Maybe nobody thought that mattered. He presumably went shopping once or twice a week but you don't see that mentioned either.

Course it mattered - it was the motivation for his great charity work!

Speculation. It was possibly the motivation. Maybe he was just a good guy?

Keaton

endacl wrote: »

Speculation. It was possibly the motivation. Maybe he was just a good guy?

Yeah, like Mother Teresa. She was good and she was a devout Catholic...

MrStuffins

Keaton wrote: »

Course it mattered - it was the motivation for his great charity work!

Says who?

You know, it's people like you who give a lot of other Christians a bad name. You have clearly shown here a complete lack of critical thinking and just arbitrarily attributed his Charity work to his Christianity.

What a load of rubbish!

endacl

MrStuffins wrote: »

Keaton wrote: »

Course it mattered - it was the motivation for his great charity work!

Says who?

You know, it's people like you who give a lot of other Christians a bad name. You have clearly shown here a complete lack of critical thinking and just arbitrarily attributed his Charity work to his Christianity.

What a load of rubbish!

I humbly submit it was down to his jewelry, and possibly his big red chair. It maybe he was just a good guy...?

MrStuffins

endacl wrote: »

I humbly submit it was down to his jewelry, and possibly his big red chair. It maybe he was just a good guy...?

The less said about his fondness for children the better :pac:

endacl

MrStuffins wrote: »

endacl wrote: »

I humbly submit it was down to his jewelry, and possibly his big red chair. It maybe he was just a good guy...?

The less said about his fondness for children the better :pac:

Whoops! Do you think we're taking this seriously enough MrStuffins? I suspect we may not be... Oh well. One must take one's entertainment where one finds it...

endacl

It occurs to me. Both parties mentioned by the OP were aged, celibate and wrinkly. Maybe this combination leads to charitable deeds?

MrPudding

Keaton wrote: »

Yeah, like Mother Teresa. She was good and she was a devout Catholic...

No. She was evil.

Perhpas he did not make a big deal of his faith and therefore neither did his obituary? Some people like their faith to be private, perhaps he was one of them...

MrP

Newsite

Less conspiracy, and more human nature. In a secular world, and a definitely secular media, journalists write about what is of most interest to them and moreso - what they know their audience wants to hear.

PDN

MrPudding wrote: »

No. She was evil.

Perhpas he did not make a big deal of his faith and therefore neither did his obituary? Some people like their faith to be private, perhaps he was one of them...

MrP

Would you call writing a book about your faith 'making a big deal of it'?

Jimmy Saville wrote 'God'll Fix It' - published by Mowbrays back in 1979.

tfitzgerald

If he was a member of the church of England it would have being mentioned but because he was R C it was brushed aside . Simples

mike65

If he had been a member of the CoE it definitely wouldn't be mentioned as that's far too routine/boring to talk about in a country that's nominally 85% Anglican

MrStuffins

Or maybe it wasn't mentioned because he was a good man and his charity work might not have been the sole reason for him being charitible the same way the fact Steve Jobs being a buddist wasn't the reason for him being a great man either!

MrPudding

PDN wrote: »

Would you call writing a book about your faith 'making a big deal of it'?

Jimmy Saville wrote 'God'll Fix It' - published by Mowbrays back in 1979.

Fair enough. In that case, it does seem odd.

MrP

oceanclub

The original article linked to seems rather unfortunate now.

P.

paudgenator

Horrific stories on "exposure". He sounds like he used his power and thought he was invincible.

georgieporgy

Now everybody will say he was RC. :pac:

endacl

Had to come back and check this thread....

I wonder will the OP still want to claim that all Saville's deeds and actions had their roots in his deep rooted catholic faith...?

paudgenator

georgieporgy wrote: »

Now everybody will say he was RC. :pac:

See the OP....he was!

youtube!

Sounds to me like jimmy was a very typical catholic , shag little girls regularly and then go to mass to get the all clear seal of approval from the big fella above, just like the holy priests themselves ! A good catholic indeed.

Benny_Cake

I fail to see the purpose in resurrecting a year old thread, but given that it is bound to encourage muppetry, I'm closing this.