You really must watch these short but fascinating clips:

Corpus Christi procession in 1925 at the Irish Army Camp in the Curragh, Co. Kildare

Corpus Christi procession in 1941 in Bandon, Co. Cork

Corpus Christi procession in 1930 in Navan, Co. Meath

Corpus Christi procession in 1924 at St. Mary’s College (High School, for American readers) in Galway

Has Ireland Stand Up really contemplated the nature and purpose of the Irish state’s diplomatic relations with the Holy See? Do they genuinely think that it is in the interests of the Irish Church? If so, why? What leads them to conclude that Irish diplomats and bureaucrats are motivated by any concern for Ireland’s spiritual welfare or for the health of the Irish Church? No, as paid servants of a secular government they are charged with acting on mere temporal and political considerations.

Currently seven of Ireland’s twenty-six dioceses are without a bishop and all bar four of the rest have bishops over the age of 65. The next few years will be extremely decisive in shaping the future mould of Irish Catholicism. New bishops who are appointed will be young and in their position for years to come. It is therefore indispensable that those bishops appointed to replace the current lot (who have failed disastrously) are unimpeachably orthodox, supportive of traditional liturgy, and are committed to a re-evangelization of Irish society. How likely is it that the Irish government will want to see such bishops appointed?  

Progressives dominate the Irish ecclesiastical infrastructure. (Orthodox Catholicism is powerless in the Irish Church and without a voice.) They will mobilize and lobby both the Vatican and the Irish state to secure the appointment of progressive bishops and the rejection of conservative ones. Irish diplomats and politicians will sympathize with them on an ideological level but also because outspoken bishops are more likely to forcefully challenge the government’s increasingly liberal social policy. They will lobby the Vatican for or against certain candidates. It was not for nothing that many French anti-clericals opposed the 1905 separation of Church and State, which turned out to be beneficial to the Church in the long run. (Although sadly Pius XI later conceded a veto over episcopal candidates to the French government, which they retain.)

The Irish Church is going through a really historic period of transition, which could make or break or it. It needs maximum temporal freedom from state intrusion in its constitution and internal affairs.

Indeed it would be best for the Irish government to simply break off diplomatic relations with the Vatican completely. By closing their embassy to the Vatican, Irish politicians have already done the Church a massive favour, only they’re too stupid to realize it. Let Irish Catholics be intelligent enough to remain one step ahead.

In a comment today on a previous post announcing that the Benedictine Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle in Tulsa are moving to Ireland, a member of the community, Fra Benedetto, kindly directed me to their first newsletter, which explains why they are moving:

http://cenacleosb.org/newsletter1/

Rorate Caeli notes that the founder, prior, and currently the sole priest of the Monastery, Dom Mark Kirby OSB, celebrates exclusively the Traditional Latin Mass and his page on vocations also describes the monastery’s liturgical life as:

• Holy Mass (Usus Antiquior) and the Divine Office celebrated in Latin and Gregorian Chant.
• bringing to the forms of the liturgy a diligence and beauty worthy of the holy mysteries.

This is a very exciting development. Please support the monks with your prayers and by other means if you can.

Note: An Réalt (‘The Star’) was the Irish language praesidium of the Legion of Mary which was dedicated to recultivating Gaelic spirituality, culture and heritage. Regarding its activities in Wales mentioned on pg. 14, there is a very interesting article here on ‘Irish Catholics and the Welsh language in the 20th century’ which asserts that An Réalt “took a particular interest in the Welsh language. Many An Réalt members were fluent in the Welsh language, while others were learning Welsh in a 200-strong Dublin night class. During the 1950s a representative group led by Fr Diarmuid Ó Laoghaire* visited Wales annually, either to R.O.F. Wynne’s Garthewin estate or to the ‘Welsh Catholic’ parish of Gellilydan.”

*See his pamphlet Our Mass, Our Life: Some Irish Traditions and Prayers. See also The Integral Irish Tradition.

The following letter was sent to Pope Paul V by Margaret of Austria, Queen Consort of King Philip III of Spain, and is dated Madrid, 29th February, 1611:

Your Holiness’s very humble and obedient daughter Margaret, by the grace of God Queen of the Spains, of the two Sicilies, of Jerusalem, who kisses your holy feet and hands.

Most Holy Father,

The fervent zeal I know Your Holiness possesses for the service of God and the good of the Church, and the interest you take in everything that conduces to this end, cause me not to hesitate in writing to Your Holiness to recommend to you an object worthy of your zeal.

Such I regard the protection of the seminaries of Irishmen, who now with such courage return after their studies to preach the Gospel in their native land, shedding their blood for the confession of the holy Catholic Faith, and obedience to the Church of Rome. And because just at present the persecution is greatest, it is necessary to procure for them more schools where they may be taught, for the disciples are multiplying every day, so that although in these kingdoms the King my Lord has instituted three, in Salamanca, Lisbon, and Santiago, of Galicia, there is not room in them for all that come; and so some go on to Rome, where it would be a great consolation for them to have a seminary as they have in other nations. And though I am sure the causes that exist for it are quite sufficient when represented to Your Holiness, yet I will not lose what I may gain by supplicating Your Holiness as I do, to favour and assist them that they may have a seminary founded under your protection, which besides being so certainly to the service of God, will be to me a singular favour.

May the Lord guard Your Holiness for the good and happy government of His Church.

From The Irish Times, 16th January, 1930:

The arrival of the first papal nuncio accredited to Ireland, Dublin-born archbishop of Tyana Paschal Robinson, was marked with three days of ceremonies culminating in these formalities.

WITH AN escort of mounted troops, sixty strong, Monsignor Robinson, the Papal Nuncio to the Irish Free State, attended at the Viceregal Lodge, Phoenix Park, Dublin, yesterday, where he presented his credentials to the Governor-General [James McNeill]. The Governor-General, in reply, stated that he intended to take an early opportunity of going to Rome, in order to present his homage to the Pope.

In the afternoon the Nuncio visited Government Buildings, where he was received by President [of the Executive Council] Cosgrave and members of the Executive Council. Cardinal McRory visited the Nuncio at his hotel.

A State banquet was held in the evening. President Cosgrave, addressing the Nuncio, said that if there was anyone among the enemies of their country who hoped that political freedom would loosen their ties with Rome, these hopes had been disappointed, and would be disappointed in years to come.

As he left the Shelbourne Hotel, accompanied by Mr. Joseph Walsh, Secretary to the Ministry for External Affairs, and Colonel Joseph O’Reilly, A.D.C. to President Cosgrave, who travelled in his car, the Nuncio was saluted by a military guard of honour and a fanfare of trumpets. . . .

A strong force of Civic Guards was employed in keeping the route clear. At no point in the centre of the city was the crowd very large, but all were anxious to catch a glimpse of the Nuncio, and as he passed he was respectfully saluted and occasionally cheered.

Children from the Roman Catholic schools, having been granted a holiday for the occasion, lined the route in considerable numbers . . .

Large crowds awaited the party at the North Circular gate to the Phoenix Park, and thousands of school children lined that particular section of the route. Cheers were given as the Papal Nuncio drove into the Park, and many people followed the procession right up to the Phoenix Monument, where it entered the grounds of the Viceregal Lodge.

From the main entrance gate of the Lodge to the front of the Governor-General’s residence the carriage drive was lined on both sides with members of the Free State Army, while overhead circled aeroplanes of the Flying Corps . . .

Shortly after noon the Nuncio arrived. He was received by the Comptroller of the Household (Mr. J. Doyle), and conducted into the building, followed by his secretary, Monsignor Borgia.

Almost immediately an Army officer appeared at the door of the Lodge, and by a wave of a handkerchief intimated that the Nuncio was presenting his credentials. The signal was transmitted by a special telephone line to a battery stationed near the Wellington Monument, and a salute of nineteen guns was fired.

You can watch newsreel of the occasion here. See also this separate but fascinating newsreel which shows him receiving the Freedom of the City of Kilkenny.

Here is a nice picture of the nuncio at the 1932 International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin with the then Fr. John Charles McQuaid, President of Blackrock College and future Archbishop of Dublin, to the left, and the new premier Éamon de Valera to the right.

The Standing Committee of the Irish hierarchy issued the following appeal at a meeting in Dublin on 29th April, 1919:

In response to an appeal made on their behalf by the Holy Father, we think it our duty to commend to the charity of our people the needs of our suffering fellow-Catholics in Palestine and Syria. Owing to the war, large numbers of them have been reduced to a state of extreme want, so much so that many have perished of famine and the survivors are still in a most pitiable condition.

Owing to the frequent calls made recently on our people, we do not find ourselves in a position to order a general collection, but if charitably disposed persons are willing to come to their aid, contributions may be sent to the Bishops of each diocese, who will forward them to the proper quarter.

See also: Irish Hierarchy’s Appeal for German Catholic Refugees (1954)

‘True cross’ relics returned to Tipperary

One of the crosses stolen last October

by GENEVIEVE CARBERY

Stolen relics of the ‘true cross’ were today returned by gardaí to the Holy Cross Abbey in Co Tipperary.

The three relics, believed to be part of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified, were stolen from the historic Cashel abbey last October.

The items were recovered by gardaí after searches in the midlands yesterday. The Garda investigation is ongoing.

The relics had been stolen by three men using an angle-grinder, hammer and screwdriver to forcibly open the steel display cabinet they were contained in.

Archbishop of Cashel and Emily Dermot Clifford said measures needed to be taken to protect the relics. It was “a mystery” why the items with little monetary value were stolen, he said.

It was “truly wonderful” that the “precious relics” had been found “relatively unharmed” he added.

Holy Cross parish priest Rev Tom J. Breen said locals, clergy and the abbey’s thousands pilgrims would be “overjoyed”. The return of the items “demonstrates the power of prayer,” he added.

One of the relics, authenticated by the Vatican as a piece of the cross used in Christ’s crucifixion, was handed over to the abbey in the 12th century by King Donal Mór O’Brien, while the other two were presented by St Peter’s Basilica in Rome in 1977.

http://www.grangemoregolf.com/year-2009/Killerig_2009/Golf_Photos/Dublin_1961.html

There is also a fantastic thread here full of old photos of Dublin. One could spend hours perusing it.

The National Library of Ireland has a great photo collection, with approximately 630,000 photos. You can view many of them online here.

(Incidentally 1961 was also the Patrician Year.)