The Hazards of Belief

expectationlost wrote: »

this is super wierd from the latest Advertising Standards Association of Ireland complaints bulletin a Coláiste Bhrendáin advertised 1-2 week LC French/Irish courses, in Kerry which the complainent thought the classes would be taking place in a college but actually took place in mans' sitting room and 'most of the tuition centred on the catholic religion' http://www.asai.ie/complaint/education-4/

Islam and terrorism

Sir, – Following the latest attack in France, Dr Ali Selim of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland (July 26th) has asked the media to stop associating terrorist atrocities with Islam.

Would these be the same terrorist atrocities that are being committed by Muslim members of an Islamic terrorist organisation carried out (at least in their own minds) in the name of Islam? – Yours, etc,

ANDREW ABBOTT

Killiney

Co Dublin.

Sir, – The killing of Fr Jacques Hamel during a morning Mass, by a so-called “soldier of Islamic State”, is a brutal act of violence, but perhaps less shocking in the light of so many recent acts of cruelty.

I wonder as we become more desensitised to such acts of violence on our European door-step, will we as citizens engage less in reflective thought as to why, some young men of emigrant parents, can be so easily radicalised to commit such acts of violence. It is not sufficient to accept populist soundbites from politicians, we must aim for more and look for leaders that can bring all of us, those with a religious faith or none, together to promote our shared human values of tolerance, respect, love and forgiveness.

Perhaps then young men may have a value base that can withstand the manipulation of those wanting to radicalise them and create divisions to promote their own warped agenda. – Yours, etc,

FRANK BROWNE

Templeogue,

Dublin 16.

Sir, – Is it right for the media to keep using such words as “Islamic State” or “Muslim terrorists” every time an unacceptable incident happens? We are bombarded with the words “Islam”, “Muslim”, “terrorist” as those creating this disorder and killings are by character Muslim, and it would seem to suggest they are part of the Islamic faith. But in many cases they have not been practising Islam, rather they have been living their lives like Europeans – living a western lifestyle, drinking, [going to] night clubs and [having] girlfriends. So their very lifestyles puts into question them being identified and classified as Muslims.

Equally the Islamic state does not physically exist. Syria is a sovereign country being hijacked by a bunch of fanatics, nothing more. Their actions are contrary to the teachings of Islam whose name signifies peace.

Should the media be using such unfair terminology which only creates the wrong image of 1.8 billon sincere God-fearing, loving Muslim communities around the world, thus putting innocent Muslims in the firing line of being abused, attacked and even killed. – Yours, etc,

Imam IBRAHIM NOONAN

Galway Mosque,

Old Ballybrit,

Galway .

Sir, – An opinion piece (July 27th) asks: “Why has Ireland produced so few theologians?”

Possibly because most people in Ireland don’t have much interest in theology?

– Yours, etc,

KIERAN ROSE

Earlier this year, there was controversy at Maynooth when a seminarian who claimed he found two colleagues in bed together was dismissed. It followed an inquiry into allegations by the two seminarians alleged to have been in bed together that he was bullying them and talking about them.

More generally at the college it is claimed that a core of seminarians are active on the gay app Grindr and that some have been engaged in sexual activity with priests of the Dublin Archdiocese.

Where Catholic orthodoxy is concerned, it was claimed in 2015 that six Maynooth sem- inarians were advised to take time out as they were considered too theologically rigid. After intervention by bishops, three were accepted back.

Meanwhile a former Maynooth seminarian has in recent days made a complaint to the Garda in Dublin about alleged sexual harassment at the college between 2007 and 2009.

A former Maynooth seminarian told The Irish Times yesterday how, as a seminarian there from 2007-2009, he felt he was being continuously sexually harassed by an individual. He made a formal complaint to authorities. An internal inquiry was set up which found the allegations unproven.

College authorities tried to persuade him to forget it and stay on but he said he felt so aggrieved he could not. He brought his complaints to other senior church figures and it was suggested he might attend a seminary abroad.

Now in his mid 30s, he is married and works in Dublin.

He said it remained a concern to him that the individual about whom he had complained at Maynooth never faced any discipline, while a seminarian who witnessed an incident he complained about was badly treated later.

While the great majority of seminarians in St Patrick’s, whatever their sexual orientation, were genuine about celibacy and their vocation, a minority were sexually active. He claimed there was “an active gay clique” involved “in clandestine gay activity” and there were also “very active heterosexuals who were very open about it”.

Efforts to contact Maynooth yesterday about his allegations proved unsuccessful.

Christians working in Greece’s most notorious asylum detention centre have tried to convert some of the Muslim detainees, who have been held under the terms of the EU-Turkey migration deal.

On at least two occasions in recent months, aid workers have distributed conversion forms inside copies of Arabic versions of the St John’s gospel to people held at the Moria detention camp on Lesvos.

The forms, seen by the Guardian, invite asylum seekers to sign a statement declaring the following: “I know I’m a sinner. . . I ask Jesus to forgive my sins and grant me eternal life. My desire is to love and obey his word.”

In 2002, at the height of the US Catholic Church’s sex abuse crisis, Pope John Paul II summoned American bishops to Rome for 10 days. During the visit, the then president of the US Bishops Conference Wilton Gregory, said the Catholic Church (in the US, but presumably elsewhere too) had a problem with aspiring priests.

So many young men of a homosexual inclination were applying to study for the priesthood that “we might as well talk about a feminary rather than a seminary”, he declared.

The majority of priests have a genuine vocation. However, there are others who are attracted to an all-male community, a place that may well have a gay subculture and offers instant relief from the difficulties of being openly gay in the secular world.

Six years ago, reporter Carmelo Abbate, working undercover for weekly news magazine Panorama, recorded a flourishing, highly active gay “scene” in the Vatican in an account filled with graphic details of gay parties and brief encounters.

What is true is that with 20 pontifical colleges and 58 religious order colleges , there may be over 10,000 seminary students in Rome at any one time. The vast majority of these men study and go home without “distractions”, happy to have been sent to the centre of Christendom to study. But not all.

An American canon lawyer says he suspects there is a great deal more to the story of what is happening in Maynooth seminary.

On the issue of orthodoxy in Maynooth, Fr Doyle said that there was “a whole crop” of very conservative and controlling bishops who were appointed under Popes John Paul II and Benedict.

“These bishops have very little pastoral understanding and they attracted a whole new breed of kids who want to play at being 1950s priests. They wanted to recreate an ultra clerical priesthood.

“They are not part of the real world and shouldn’t be allowed in the real world. The result is a situation where clergy want control, which is nothing to do with following Christ.”