Fall from Grace
Deaglán de Bréadún
Went to Mass during the weekend at a church in one of Dublin’s better-off suburbs. The congregation was largely late middle-aged or elderly. The sermon was terrible: the priest just rambled on, saying whatever came into his head. He had nothing to say about the continuing crisis arising from the Murphy Report. I have written in a previous post about the downside of the Catholic Church’s fall from grace. There is no moral compass to replace it and that will have consequences for society at large. But it appears that the Church, or a significant and very powerful element of that institution, lost its own moral compass when it came to dealing with child abuse. Whatever one’s views on Bishop Murray – should he stay or should he go? – the way the issue is being dragged out is helping nobody. In its fixation with protocol, the Vatican did itself no favours either. It certainly looks like we won’t be having a visit from the current Pope – unless he arrives in sackcloth and ashes.
