The controversy over Ireland’s petty targeting of Catholics has been bubbling to the surface in the past week, after it emerged that the state sneakily passed a statue that essentially criminalised the celebration of public Mass.
Things are rapidly escalating with this situation, primarily because the bishops were shocked that Micheal Martin didn’t bring it up in his meeting with the bishops last week.
On Newstalk yesterday, Stephen Donnelly indignantly denied claims by Gavin Reilly that he was ‘giggling’ when asked about the government’s cruel laws against religious people. Reilly quickly apologised and withdrew the suggestion without explaining what made him make the remark in the first place.
Now the Trinity College Law Professor who brought the story to people’s attentions has said on RTE that according to the statute, Confession that does not take place in a church is also illegal. One can meet a priest for a Krispy Kreme, but cannot have them hear one’s Confession if it is not within the church.
There are Catholics who are rolling their eyes at this information. But they need to get real about what is happening, these people are determined to limit the church’s influence here in the coming years, they are testing how much they will be allowed to get away with. The church’s influence will continue to dwindle and Catholics are now getting a taste of what that will feel like.
In the Seanad today, Ronan Mullen stated that Social Democrats founder Stephen Donnelly and former Northern Ireland police officer and now Garda Commissioner Drew Harris have refused to give him an answer in the past 3 weeks on the exact legal situation of the ban on Mass. The video makes excellent points.
A year ago, we would have said that it was unlikely that Ireland would become such a hotbed of anti Catholic feeling at an even more rapid pace than in the previous decade, but with politicians now taking to the streets to harass and record Catholics who are not complying with their diktats, we must acknowledge that this will get a lot worse before it gets better.
You can listen to the interview here.