Comments on: Taxpayers' Money Protects Clerical Child Abusers

By: Tessa

Tessa — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:01:11 +0000

This really makes me want to puke. Follow the money, works every time. I remember that my father used to call the nuns bloodsuckers, claimed they and all religious orders were bleeding the state dry. Now I know what he meant.

By: norma stleger

norma stleger — Sun, 24 May 2009 22:57:57 +0000

Bertie Aherne, the man with no memory of his own finances, who did not possess a personal bank account, truly amazing he has so much knowledge of the finances of the church ?
did we really fight for freedom ?
is ireland the champion of the rights of the unborn ?
our forefathers fought for freedom from english rule and replaced it with corruption, bribery, theft, a kleptocracy
they then placed the children who's unborn rights they championed and fought for, into the hands of the sickest, vilest, most twisted perverts both male and female that ever existed
they sold us out in every way possible.
will people still genuflect and ask for help from these protectors of demon's ?
will they turn out at the polling booths and elect more ignorant sycophants to tread the paths of kleptocracy, i i fear they will.

By: elle walsh

elle walsh — Sun, 24 May 2009 08:23:32 +0000

Bertie Ahearne said the church has no money to pay out – so there you have it – it must be true. (I wonder what happened the 8 or 10 million Euro that the bishop's house in Limerick sold for a year or two ago to a local property developer? – a house NOT attached to a school I may add). I mean the clergy always live in shitty houses worth nothing and have no money whatsoever in their accounts – where I worked it looked like they had loads of money in accounts, but I must be mistaken)

By: norma stleger

norma stleger — Sun, 24 May 2009 01:40:05 +0000

surely now we are akin to the people of germany after the holocaust, this is irelands holocaust, i swore i would not be distracted from my purpose at present, but the recent revelations have sickened me to the core.
anyone with a shred of decency those of us who maintain a shred of integrity should have no hesitation in displaying their disgust to the fullest degree.
the example set by canada should be followed, this has nothing to do with money, this is all about the shame of a nation, we cannot call ourselves a people or a country until very drastic action is taken against church and state to take the full measures of retribution and distribute them in an appropriate form to the victims.
we are irish, previously welcomed and loved in many countries, for those of us who are sickened by those acts perpetrated in the most vile disguise of charity,education, faith, hiding behind the warped and evil cloak of the all powerful church, we the people of this country will have to carry the burden of pariahs, just as the german people had to due to the barbarism of the nazis, because thats who those bastards were, sick, twisted bastards, all they were missing were the gas chambers,
will nothing be done again, does anyone think it's over? will the government throw their platitudes at the media and carry on with their elections? they should fall, the church should fall, it should be seen to be the end.

By: some1lovesU

some1lovesU — Sat, 23 May 2009 23:17:11 +0000

The clergy gets off paying only 10% of what the govt (you all) agreed to pay (130 million/1.3 billion). I would be very angry, too. If keeping the AG out of the discussion was illegal, then somebody should challenge that. A citizen initiated class action suit, perhaps (since it is all taxpayers who are being fleeced by their holy shepherds).

What goes on (and is allowed to go on, if it could be stopped, which is questionable) in this world is just unbelievable.

What do you think of the video?

By: Bock

Bock — Sat, 23 May 2009 21:10:38 +0000

You're right.

It is disgusting.

By: some1lovesU

some1lovesU — Sat, 23 May 2009 20:40:15 +0000

I don't live in Ireland, but even from abroad, this whole story is disgusting and appalling- especially the collusion between the church and the govt at the expense of the children and the taxpayers. Somebody should really do something about it.

Put the Ire back into your Ire-land.

———————————

Check out this comedy video: "Louis CK learns about the Catholic Church". I think that it meets the offensiveness criteria of this site. Don't know if I agree with the end yet, but it's damn funny. Very vulgar – beware…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VABSoHYQr6k&feature=channel_page

By: Builderfromhell

Builderfromhell — Sat, 23 May 2009 15:51:37 +0000

The recent revelations have saddened me enormously. I saw a kid skipping down town holding her dad's hand smiling and laughing and I thought to myself what kind of a person could turn such joy to misery.

Then this morning as I drove my truck near a church I was blocked by double parked cars on double yellow lines near a corner at a church. They were bringing their kids for their 1st Holy communion. I sat there fuming for 20 minutes until I could squeeze by.
What, if anything, is going through the minds of these parents who still actively support this evil institution. Is there much difference between their unquestioning loyalty and obedience now and their parents obedience and silence years ago. well, now they would be reading the FACTS in the papers.

By: arag0rn

arag0rn — Sat, 23 May 2009 10:59:40 +0000

Hi Peter – do you have any links on how the Canadian Govt. dealt with the 'Christian" Brothers? I would be very interested to read more on it.

I wonder if there is any registry of the holdings of the Catholic Church in Ireland, so that the relatively paltry E128mil capped compensation could be put in to context. It's paltry compared to the bill to be footed by the Irish taxpayer, and I am fairly certain it is paltry compared to their overall financial worth in Ireland. (their moral worth has been in negative equity as long as I can remember). Land, buildings, artwork, cash, shareholdings… These bastards are not stupid. And not poor. (Vow of poverty me arse)

As always Mr Bock – kudos to you for calling this out more than two years ago. From what I read in the press, while the sitting government and opposition parties are all 'saddened' by the details in the report, I haven't seen much about them stepping up to do something tangible to pursue the culprits, and direct compensation to the victims – compensation from the appropriate source… the perpetrators and their protectors.

On a personal note… am very ashamed to be Irish when reading the report. Someone approached me in work (in an MNC in a large Asian city) yesterday, and asked me what the hell the irish are after inflicting on the world with these 'christian brothers'. I would like to hope over time I will have a chance to rebut by telling him how harshly it was dealt with by the powers that be in ireland. But I get the feeling I am hoping against the odds….

By: MairÃ©ad

The Government are happy to let the church get on with managing the schools and hospitals, because it saves them doing it.
I can only talk about schools, I am no expert on hospitals.
Our primary schools are run and managed by volunteers on the Board of Management, the majority of whom have no background in education.
Normally the Board is chaired (ruled) by the local priest.
The boss of all bosses is the Patron (normally the local bishop).
The Government give grants, pay teachers and then step aside and let the Board at it.
The Patron owns (often in trust) the ground on which the schools are built, despite the Govt paying for the lands and paying for the schools to be built.
If the Board makes an error, the individual Board is at fault, the individual Board (and quite likely the individual Board members) get sued.
The Dept of Ed and Science (DES) wash their hands of all responsibility and get off scott free, as in Louise O' Keeffe's case.
Does the church actually run our schools? No, it does not repair them, build them, do the nitty gritty – but the church does rule them e.g. veto all teacher appointments and promotions; insist on ethos being upheld; examine the teaching of religion annually; walk in whenever they feel like it; force teachers to teach religion and prepare children for the sacraments; ensure that more Catholics are produced.

So, it's a deal that suits both church and state.
It doesn't suit the children or the teachers anywhere near as well.