Patrician Year (1961): Archbishop McQuaid on the Conclusion of the Dublin Congress

The following letter from the Most Rev. John Charles McQuaid, Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland, was read out in all the churches of the Archdiocese of Dublin on Sunday, July 9th, 1961:

Very Reverend and Dear Father,

I wish to thank you for your share in the success of the Dublin Congress of the Patrician Year. I am grateful for the spiritual preparation that you organised in your parish.

It is a duty, but very much more a privilege, to thank the Faithful for their most generous co-operation. The very great numbers of those who went to Confession and received Holy Communion are an immediate proof of the Faith with which our appeal was answered. The marked place in the Congress taken by young persons, boys and girls, is to me perhaps the most consoling feature of all the week, for where the youth are interested, the future is secure.

Bishop William Philbin on Patriotism

Bishop William Philbin on Rural Ireland — its Problems and Possibilities

Photos from Inniscarra, Co. Cork:

Switch on at Inniscarra, 22 December 1947. (Note the prominent presence of the local priest – a testimony to times when clergy were expected to take on a leadership role in their communities extending beyond purely religious matters.)

Rollout of the Rural Electrification Scheme, 1947

Inniscarra Dam in 1957 — constructed as part of the Lee Valley Hydro-electric scheme

The following lecture was given by the Most Rev. William J. Philbin D.D., Bishop of Clonfert, to the Agricultural Science Association in University College Dublin on 25th September, 1959:

Emigration, with its roots in the lack of a livelihood at home for all our people, is the chief social and economic problem in Ireland. It is usually considered in association with the depopulation of country districts, not only because the exodus is mainly from the agricultural community — which might, perhaps, be regarded as a natural consequence of our being mostly a rural people — but also for the reason that the drift from the land, even within our own country, is matter for worry in itself. We are concerned, not merely to keep our people in Ireland, but also to keep them on the land. Our land needs more workers to develop its potentialities and, if progress is made in this way, it is capable of supporting a much larger number of people than at present — with consequential rises in output and in economy of production. Our agricultural rivals are making these truths more unpleasantly clear of late years. Although the development of agriculture alone may not meet all our needs, it is recognized by everyone as an essential part of any economic progress and as likely to remain indefinitely in that position. It is the starting-point in our industrial regeneration. The well-being of the majority of our people — and, therefore, that of our people as a whole — depends on the use we make of our soil. There is every reason, therefore, why we should consider critically every aspect of Irish farming and explore every possible approach to its betterment.

Day of National Thanksgiving: Cardinal MacRory’s Statement

The following statement was issued by Cardinal Joseph MacRory, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, on 7th June, 1945:

Some days ago it was suggested to me by some of our Bishops that I should appoint a Day of National Thanksgiving to Almighty God for having saved our dear country from the horrors of war. Before doing so I thought it advisable that the members of the Standing Committee of the Bishops should be consulted, and it is only to-day that I have received the last of their replies.

All are strongly in favour of the suggestion, and I now appoint the 29th of June — the great Feast of SS. Peter and Paul — as the Day of National Thanksgiving.

Fortunately the Irish Government has just declared the 29th of June a Bank Holiday, and this will leave the great bulk of the people free to join in the religious celebration. The details of the devotions for the occasion will be arranged by the Bishops at their general meeting in Maynooth about the middle of the month and announced in due course.

Change in Irish Catholicism: Some Reminiscences

Many thanks to Fr. Seán Coyle for these fascinating reminiscences:

Vatican II and the Church in Ireland:

The Irish bishops seemed to convey a sense of obedience: ‘This is what we’ve been asked to do so we’ll do it’. As I recall, they didn’t keep the people particularly well informed about the Council. Those who did were journalists as Kevin O’Kelly of RTE, Sean Mac Reamoinn [see here – Shane] and Louis McRedmond. All of these were committed Catholics even if the first two might have leaned towards the ‘liberal’ side’. This is not a negative comment. I’m not sure about Louis McRedmond, whether he was ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’. These were journalists of integrity.

My Dad was a daily Massgoer and a man of habit but I never heard him comment on the change. He was also a builder’s foreman and when the EEC, as it then was, introduced metric measures into building he took it in his stride.

In the Archdiocese of Dublin Archbishop McQuaid ordered that one Mass every Sunday be in Irish. Someone said to him ‘You are starting a revolution!’ He replied. ‘No, preventing a rebellion!’ Some criticised having a Mass in Irish. This used to raise my hackles as it was usually from the kind of person who had ‘always gone to the 9 o’clock Mass and I don’t understand this language’ and who would never consider the possibility of going to Mass at 7, 8, 10, 11 or 12! [see also: Liturgical Reform in Ireland – Shane]

The introduction of English Masses in one or two breac-Gaeltacht parishes has caused great controversy on occasion.

Patrician Year (1961): Pontifical High Mass at Croke Park, 25th June

I was on duty that day outside Croke Park as a member of the Congress Volunteer Corps, a group of Fifth and Sixth Year students from Catholic boys’ schools in Dublin. I had just finished my Leaving Cert in nearby O’Connell Schools. You can see members of the CVC in the video. The uniform was simple: dark trousers and white shirt, which we provided ourselves, a beret – yellow for those without any special jobs and other colours for those with specific responsibilities – epaulettes and a stick. The stick wasn’t to beat anyone with but could be helpful in crowd control, indicating a line. One of the members of the CVC was the now Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.

One memory I have of that morning is seeing Sean T. O’Kelly, then in retirement, Frank Aiken and one or two other older members of Fianna Fail getting out of a very modest car. They got a big cheer from those nearby. Sean T was a very popular man and gave a wonderfully entertaining talk at the National Stadium during the Congress. He had everyone eating out of his hand. [see also this delightful clip of President O’Kelly going to Mass and the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin on 17th March, 1950 – Shane] May they all rest in peace.

One thing I remember vividly was the 90,000 raising the roof with Credo III. I also felt an outsider, ( I don’t mean because I was outside the stadium) as I had never been taught it in 14 years in Catholic schools. The singing raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

The CVC, organised by the late Monsignor Tom Fehily, was formally disbanded by Taoiseach Sean Lemass outside Dublin Airport after Cardinal Agagianian flew back to Rome. However, it was soon to become the Archbishop’s Volunteer Corps that was to be involved in various projects in the Archdiocese of Dublin. It was later opened to girls. I’ve an idea that the AVC is no more but am not sure.

Some of us went on the Dublin Diocesan Pilgrimage to Beauraing, Belgium, that August, a wonderful experience. We were subsidised by the Archdiocese and paid only £5, which even in those days was a great bargain. We did ceremonial duty in Beauraing. The present Archbishop of Dublin was in the group that travelled.

***********************

Commenting on a previous post, Keiran Fagan also helpfully noted:

I was there too, only I had a red beret, as I was a “minder”, aide de camp Fr Tom Fehilly called it, for Cardinal Paolo Marella. It was a seriously cool gig for a 16-year-old, riding around in the front of a big Austin Princess limo, opening doors for the cardinal and making sure nobody, not even a reverend mother, got to put milk in his inevitable cup of tea. I saw up close John Charles McQuaid and Eamon de Valera who was totally blind by then. John Charles had three great cars, a Citroen Light 15 (Maigret had one) a Hudson Fluid Drive limo with eight cylinders I think, and a beautiful Citroen DS. I even got to sit in the back of Dev’s 1947 or 8 blue Rolls Royce ZJ 5000 while it was parked in the yard in Dublin Castle. Great times, but I don’t recall any religious epiphany moments. Says more about me than anything else I reckon.

Writing in 1974, John Feeney (the late journalist and editor of The Catholic Standard) described the Patrician Year Congress as the summit of Dr. McQuaid’s tenure as Archbishop of Dublin. Feeney was very much a Vatican II Catholic. At UCD he founded the ecumenical Student Christian Movement. He also became chairman of Pax Romana and leader of Grille, a left-wing Christian movement. As a leading Catholic radical, Feeney had reason more than most to resent McQuaid’s conservative views. Nevertheless in a critically sympathetic biography, he gives a largely positive assessment of the archbishop’s legacy and challenges some of the lazy caricatures then being propounded by vituperative critics.

Feeney contrasts the pre-revolutionary tranquility that characterized the Patrician Year celebrations in 1961 with the post-conciliar chaos soon to emerge. He believed that the Irish Catholic laity and hierarchy were deeply attached to the old order and were ‘oblivious to the vast changes in the whole world outlook of Catholics which was to come’: “There was little evidence after the election in 1958 of Pope John that the nature of Catholicism would change greatly…matters were much the same as ever for the majority of Irish Catholics. They had a saintly, loveable Pope who commanded respect but there was little understanding of the new thinking he was initiating…almost three years after the election of Pope John, there seemed to be little change in Dublin…the success and triumphs of the 1950s continued.” The faithful, Feeney asserts, responded enthusiastically to the Congress with “a mixture of nationalism, religious fervour and civic pride” and he quotes the pious report of the Irish Catholic Directory: “A majestic carillon pealed, a silver-voiced fanfare of military trumpets sounded in Royal Salute, ninety thousand lips moved in silent prayer.” For Feeney, the Patrician Year celebrations give “a glittering bejewelled spectacle of Catholic life just before the Council — it was a garden party before the outbreak of war, before the realities of the Church in the world impinged too strongly on Ireland.”

Pope Pius XII’s Letter on Luke Wadding

Dignitaries of Church and State were abundantly present at Gormanston Castle, 18th November, 1956, to mark the blessing and dedication of the new Franciscan school, commemorating the tercentenary celebration of the death of Luke Wadding. The President of Ireland, Seán T. O’Kelly, was accompanied by his aide-de-camp, Col. O’Sullivan, and inspected a Guard of Honour from Gormanston Military Camp. Both the President and the Irish premier, John A. Costello, were greeted by the Rector of the College, Very Rev. Felix Butler, O.F.M., and the Provincial, Very Rev. Hubert Quinn, O.F.M.

Pontifical High Mass was celebrated by the Bishop of Meath, who also blessed the foundation stone. Other prelates in attendance included the Apostolic Nunio, the Primate of All Ireland, the Bishop of Raphoe, and the Bishop of Kokstad.

Those present at the ceremonies included General Richard Mulcahy, Minister for Education, General Seán MacEoin, Minister for Defence and Éamon de Valera. State officials attending included Maj. General P. A. Mulcahy, Chief of Staff, and Daniel Costigan, Commissioner of the Irish police. Members of Waterford Corporation, along with members and officials of many other public bodies, were also present.

Cardinal John D’Alton, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, opened the ceremonies with the reading of a letter from Pope Pius XII to those present, which is appended below. He then gave a glowing eulogy of Fr Wadding, paying strong tribute to his religious devotion and patriotic ideals. The Cardinal spoke admiringly of his having realised the desperate needs of the Irish Church at a time of extreme persecution and establishing the Irish Franciscans at St. Isidore’s College, “which holds cherished memories for so many Irishmen from its foundation down to our own day”. The Cardinal noted that three years after the foundation of St. Isidore’s, through the good offices of his friend Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, “he succeeded in establishing a college for the training of students for the secular priesthood and during its infancy watched over its destinies with paternal solicitude”. The Ludovisi College would develop into the Irish College. Cardinal D’Alton, through his own experience, could confirm that Irish College seminarians were always conscious of the deep gratitude and affection they owed to Fr Wadding, “one of the most illustrious of our exiles, who loved Ireland sincerely and served it unselfishly”.

Strong admiration was expressed by the Cardinal for Fr Wadding’s intellectual achievements. Having left Waterford as a boy, Fr Wadding was soon to win high distinctions in the universities of Portugal and Spain. He began his studies in philosophy and theology in Portugal before being invited to join the Spanish province. He became a lecturer in theology at the world-renowned University of Salamanca, which brought him into contact with some of the greatest theologians of his day, including Suarez. He quickly established himself as a leading intellectual and at age 30 was chosen by King Philip III as a theologian to the Commission sent to Rome to promote the doctrine of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception.

The Cardinal noted that “his literary achievements were acclaimed in every Catholic country in Europe. Two of his works, his monumental history of his Order and his masterly edition of Duns Scotus, would have sufficed to keep most scholars busy for a lifetime, but they were only a small part of the writings that came from his versatile and indefatigable pen.” (Indeed, Fr Wadding is still regarded as the father of the Franciscan Order’s history, and in 2007 the archive of the General Order in Rome was named after him.)

Cardinal D’Alton also noted his work on behalf of Irish interests, appealing to Catholic states in Europe for assistance, and also his diplomatic activities in Rome (see here: IV: ‘Work for Ireland’).

But ultimately, the Cardinal said, “his dreams for an Ireland liberated and resurgent were shattered all too soon. The failure of the Confederation, the departure of the Nuncio, a sad and disillusioned man, the death of Owen Roe [O’Neill], and the landing of Cromwell on our shores must have stricken that ardent patriot with sorrow and dismay.”

The following is the text of the letter from Pope Pius XII read out by Cardinal D’Alton to those present:

It is to the undying glory of the Irish people that, even in times of storm and distress, not only did they retain pure and inviolate the Catholic Faith which in times past they received from St. Patrick, but also that they produced sons without number, who, renowned for their reputation of learning and holiness, shed lustre upon religion and upon their motherland. Justly and rightfully in the number of these is counted Luke Wadding, the glory and pride of the Franciscan Order, whose memory it is your wish to honour with due meed of praise on the tercentenary of his death.

We know the many services which he performed for the benefit of the Church, nor are We ignorant of the great force of his example as a further incentive to virtue, either among the members of his own Order or among your fellow citizens. There, at this auspicious and fitting time of rejoicing, We desire with a father’s heart, to be present with you by this letter, which, by God’s favour, may enhance the joy of the tercentenary celebration and increase its fruits. When We recall his life and his achievements there seems to live again before our eyes that wonderful zeal for the Catholic faith which was handed down by your ancestors, and with which the greatness and the weal of the Irish people seemed always to be linked. Fully instructed, as he was, and strengthened in the Faith though only a boy, he did not hesitate to face the hardships of exile, since in his own country, at that time, religion had been brought to a hazardous pass.

Later, after his reception into the Franciscan Order, one can scarcely credit the number and the magnitude of the works at which he laboured and which he successfully concluded, on behalf of the Church, his Order and his country. Although Portugal and Spain, where he was eminent for his learning and sanctity, first nurtured and confirmed his resolution, it was Rome which, without doubt, gave fuller scope and vigour to his apostolic ardour and zeal. Witness to this are the many momentous tasks to which he was assigned by Our predecessors, the rare prudence he so admirably displayed in filling different offices, and, likewise, the high renown which his learning won for him, both through his researches into the history of his Order and the importance of the works which he published.

In a special way, however, love of country shone in him. In Ireland at that period, the enemies of the Catholic name were striving not only to dispossess the people of their civil liberties, but also to root the ancient Faith out of their minds: so, to the very end of his life, the man of God generously came to the aid of his oppressed fellow-countrymen by every means in his power. Thus he showed the effectiveness of love for one’s own country when it is joined with truly great love of God. Therefore, it is fitting to call to mind the twin colleges, of which Luke Wadding was the founder, erected in this gracious city, the one for students of the Franciscan Order, the other for secular priests as they are styled, destined all of them for Ireland. In this way, there was given to young men chosen from among your people the opportunity to drink deeply of the Faith of Rome and daily to foster and cherish more their loving respect and dutifulness towards the Roman Pontiff.

The results justified the expectations. Learned in the Catholic Faith, well grounded in doctrine and sound morals, many from that day to this, have left a life of ease for the heat and the dust and won golden opinions from the Church and their country by their outstanding intellectual gifts and their unrivalled example. Therefore, for many reasons, beloved Son, the Franciscan family, as well as the whole Irish race, will celebrate the tercentenary of the day on which death came serenely to that admirable disciple of the Patriarch of Assisi, that most devoted defender in your land of the Catholic religion, the untiring helper of the Roman Pontiffs, the exacting worker in the history of the Franciscans.

You have in him a noble pattern of the religious life. You have in him an admirable example of virtue combined with patriotism. Gaze and meditate on his example, and courageously imitate him. In answer to your humble prayers, may God, by his heavenly aid, grant that you may follow his example more and more closely in the daily duties of your state in life. Meanwhile as an augury of heavenly graces and as proof of Our paternal benevolence, We liberally impart the Apostolic Benediction to the dear people of Ireland, and expressly to you, beloved Son, and to the entire Franciscan family.

PIUS PP. XII

Irish Hierarchy’s Statement on the Founding of Telefís Éireann

The Irish hierarchy issued the following statement in 1961 at their October meeting in St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth:

The forthcoming inauguration of Telefís Éireann [Irish national television service – Shane] is an event of great importance in our national life and we wish to avail ourselves of this opportunity to invoke the blessing of God on the new undertaking.

Television is a wonderful achievement of modern science. It has been described as a gift to man from the God Who is the Creator both of the laws of science and of the human minds which discover them. It has already proved itself a very powerful influence in human society. It is difficult to exaggerate its potentialities as a medium of healthy education, in the dissemination of truth, in the diffusion and encouragement of true cultural values and in the formation of high standards of public taste.

Letter of the Archbishop of Cashel to King Philip II of Spain, 26th July, 1570

Encouraged by the confidence I have in your Catholic Majesty, I have dared to speak more freely than perhaps I should have done, but I trust your Majesty will excuse me, as the business is of such importance.

I understand that the English, after having done us all the harm they could, wish to make peace with your Majesty, which is with no other intention than that they may be able, after the peace is concluded with your Majesty, to treat us more freely by doing all the mischief they wish against us. These injuries, which will be felt by all in general, will be more terrible for myself, because our chieftains have had great confidence in your Majesty, and I have written many times encouraging them to resist the English, assuring them that your Majesty would not fail to send assistance, as I was told by the Cardinal and other men of high position in the name of your Majesty. We have refused on this account, many times, the pardon the English have offered us for the past, telling us to enjoy our goods and lands as before, on condition we would be of their opinion, and recognise Her Majesty as Sovereign and Queen.

Neither can your Majesty conscientiously refuse to send us some assistance in virtue of the promises made through me by your Majesty, and that without delay, as we have already been kept in suspense for one year and three months; for, you must hold in mind that your Majesty is the Catholic King, having received that name from your ancestors for the increase of Catholic faith, by favouring the cause of Catholics. In, the same way as the Queen of England has favoured and favours the rebel heretics in France, your Majesty can, in an underhand manner, send some assistance to our chieftains, in arms and men, under pretence of their going to Holland, who, contrary to your will, or for some other cause, should go to Ireland.

Your Majesty has now a good opportunity for so doing, by taking advantage of the arrival of that Englishman, Thomas Stukely, who has received such insults from his own countrymen that he will not fail to do them all the harm he can. He is a very daring man, clever in war matters, in which he has been engaged most of his life. He is well acquainted with our own country, its forts, its harbours. I have been informed that he has brought with him experienced mariners from all parts of Ireland. This is the most favourable season in the year, because now our land abounds with good corn and meat, much more than at other seasons of the year; besides if your Majesty does not send some succour within three months, the English will take such hold of our forts and harbours, that even if your Majesty were to make use of all your power, you would not overcome them. I mention this, because I have been informed that the English are making great preparations, and are endeavouring to take possession of the whole country, and to keep it in such subjection that the natives shall no longer be able to make any resistance as they have hitherto done in some places. If the English succeed in their plans (which God forbid), your Majesty will have the worst enemies whom you have ever known. All this your Majesty can prevent now, with the assistance of a few men, by being the first to take possession of the ports and fortresses. The whole success depends on celerity, for your Majesty will be able to do with 10,000 men, and a little expense, what you will not afterwards be able to accomplish with 100,000 men and all available power. If perchance your Majesty is not satisfied with my embassy, or doubts lest perhaps those who sent me should not keep their word, let your Majesty send some one with me to my country, and I shall make those chieftains place their fortunes and estates under your Majesty’s jurisdiction by oath, or give any security required by your Majesty until they fulfil what they have promised. If it does not please your Majesty to send prompt assistance, as I was promised by the Cardinal and other noblemen in your Majesty’s name, I request your Majesty to grant me the favour of allowing me to return to my native land, that thus I may discharge my conscience of the great weight I have from the Church, and apologise to my brethren for my delay, by testifying my willingness to die for the Catholic faith, and for the liberty of my country, as much as each of them does. My remaining here would only serve to increase the expenses of your Majesty, without any benefit to myself or my country.

The humble servant and chaplain of your Majesty,

MAURITIUS CASSELLENSIS,
Archiepiscopus.

Multiculturalism and Disbelief

by Brendan Clifford,
Labour & Trade Union Review, No. 11

If Britain had, like the United States, citizenship tests for immigrants, the basic test as to whether an immigrant had caught the British spirit should be the answer to the question: Do you accept that the right to blaspheme is an inalienable human right?

Societies flourish in connection with their communal piety. Britain is the first society which has flourished through impiety.

Change in Irish Catholicism: The Furrow Breaks New Ground

Below is the introductory foreword in the inaugural issue of The Furrow from 1950. The author is the editor and founder of The Furrow, Canon J.G. McGarry, then Professor of Sacred Eloquence and Pastoral Theology at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth. Accompanying this foreword was an article warmly commending the editor’s programme by the Most Rev. John D’Alton, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland, along with a message of fraternal support from The Catholic Standard.

The Furrow is something new. It is new in the ground it opens. Many branches of pastoral work to which our times have given a special importance demand a fuller treatment — preaching, pastoral organisations, the liturgy, the Church, its art and architecture. And it is in such matters especially that theory needs to be confirmed and corrected by practice. The pooling of experiences in varying conditions of work and the exchange of views on new pastoral methods are means hitherto little used, yet they can give valuable help to all who are charged by God to keep His field.

A new opportunity is offered in The Furrow for the sharing of such experience. Moreover, recent years have given evidence of an increasing interest in writing on the part of our younger priests. Life in the priesthood and Christian culture offer to such young writers rich and fertile themes, opening to them a new way of serving the Church, its faith and civilisation. The Furrow will consider it a point of duty to support and encourage such writers.

In pursuing these aims The Furrow will be guided by the mind and spirit of the Church. Obedience to the Vicar of Christ and to His bishops, whom the Holy Ghost has appointed to govern His flock, will be the corner-stone of its policy. But besides this higher allegiance there is place, too, for a special, domestic loyalty. Reverence for the traditions of the Irish Church and pride in its distinctive way of life must be an influence upon the policy of any Irish Catholic review. For us this reverence is more than an influence. Our past is our special glory: Kells and Cashel, Cong and Glendalough are a rich inheritance, challenging their heirs to high endeavour, to call forth new treasures from old.

How frequently Christ speaks of His Kingdom as the field — the field that is sown with good seed and bad, field of the hidden treasure, the field challenging the ploughman’s courage and persistence! Only the tiller of His field does not work alone; the sower needs the weeder’s help, the ploughman is nothing without the reaper. To all who work in that field the call is to come and share with their fellow-workers the labours of the harvest, to be men of His meitheal.

Yet co-operation alone is not enough. “We are God’s workmen; you are His field,” St. Paul writes to his Corinthians. But the workman counted for nothing, neither Paul who sowed, nor Apollo who watered. The harvest was the gift of God alone.

May He who gives the harvest prosper this sowing.

Prayers of an Irish Mother

POIM – PART 1 
POIM – PART 2

I’m indebted to jaykay for kindly sending these extracts from Prayers of an Irish Mother, which give a splendid insight into Irish popular piety in pre-conciliar times.

David Quinn on the Magdalene Laundries

Interesting article in the Irish Independent by David Quinn (h/t jaykay):

If you were to ask a member of the public about the Magdalene Laundries they would probably tell you one or other of these three things.

First, the Magdalene homes were a Catholic invention. Secondly, they were an invention specifically of Catholic Ireland. Third, they were established to punish unmarried mothers for having had sex outside marriage.

None of these three ‘facts’ are true. Instead they belong to something called ‘Myth-History’, that is, a version of history that has been concocted out of parts of the truth and that suits a particular ideological point of view, in this case that Catholic Ireland was a uniquely cruel and awful place.

Patrician Year (1961): Éamon de Valera’s Address to Pope John XXIII

President Éamon de Valera gave the following address to Bl. Pope John XXIII when presenting the Holy Father with a replica of St. Patrick’s Bell and Shrine, on the occasion of the President’s visit to the Vatican for the closing of the Patrician Year:

Primam, quod sciamus, Sancti Patricii Campanae mentionem reddit commentarius pro anno 552 in veteribus illis fastis Hibernicis qui Annales intitulantur Ulidiae. Gadelice quidem scriptus Latine incipit ‘sic in libro Cuanach inveni,’ et hoc sensu vertitur — ‘Annis sexaginta post obitum Sancti Patricii reliquias scrinio imposuit Colum Cille. Splendidi thesauri tumulo inventi sunt tres, scilicet calix, Evangelium Angeli, et Campana Testamenti. Quae singula pro Colum Cille in hunc modum Angelus distribuit: calicem Duno, Campanam Testamenti Ard Macha, Evangelium Angeli ipsi Colum Cille. Angeli vero hac de causa nuncupatur Evangelium quia recepit Colum Cille de manu Angeli.’

Parum quidem compertum quomodo inventa sit campana, quidve Clocc in Aidhechta vel Campana Testamenti nominata; quin tamen revera sit antiqua ac genuina nemo dubitat.

The Catholic Bulletin versus William Butler Yeats

 

by Helen Hilton,
Irish Political Review; January, 2004

On 27th November 2003 I went to hear Roy Foster speak at the Royal Festival Hall to promote his new book on Yeats. The event took the form of a talk by Mr. Foster and an interview afterwards by Tom Paulin.

I must say that I never heard such trite remarks about Yeats as those made by Mr. Foster. He said that he had attempted what he seemed to think were unique and revolutionary approaches to biography in that he believed life and art were related and he aimed to get behind the other biographies and autobiographies of Yeats. He also sought to clarify his public life, including his para-fascism. Foster was ‘embedding’ Yeats’ poems in their context to show how he renegotiated his relationship with Ireland. Then we were told he was one of the founding fathers of the new State (which would, I believe, come as a big surprise to its actual founders). His political sense was keenly developed, we were told. Moreover, there was great entertainment to be had from ‘the vituperation’ of the Catholic Bulletin concerning Yeats. His stances were responses to the torrent of such vituperation.

Pope John XXIII on Muintir na Tíre

 TO OUR BELOVED SON
MAURICE MORRISSEY,
CHAIRMAN OF MUINTIR NA TÍRE

In 1954 Our Predecessor of happy memory, Pius XII, was pleased to address a Letter to John M. Hayes, founder of Muintir na Tíre, referring in particular to the fact that ‘in order to promote the practice of justice and charity in each one’s immediate surroundings, Muintir na Tíre fosters a spirit of neighbourliness and self-reliance, and it inspires individuals to devote themselves to the good of the community even at a cost of personal sacrifice.’ On the occasion of the Rural Week which marks the Silver Jubilee of your Movement, We Ourselves wish to send a message of encouragement to all who co-operate in this praiseworthy work.

Your beloved founder, with his inspiring leadership, had traced the path; and since his death, his steadfast followers, faithful to his ideals, have continued and consolidated the enterprise which his generous zeal had shaped. Local communities are stimulated to identify their particular needs, to strive for the economic, social and cultural advancements of their parishes and to make effective use of public services. Encouragement and guidance have been derived from the study of the use of community organization abroad for the promotion of development, and sociological research into the problem of emigration had been inaugurated.

Patrician Year (1961): Official Hand-Book of the Dublin Congress

click above to read in full (pdf)

Holy Cross Abbey

Archbishop’s McQuaid’s Letter on Charitable Bodies

 
The following letter from the Most Rev. John Charles McQuaid, Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland, was read out in all the churches of the Diocese of Dublin on Sunday, 18th September, 1960:

In the Catholic Social Service Conference the financial year ends on June 30. The audited accounts for the past year reveal a wise administration of the charitable funds that the Faithful have generously put at the disposal of the Conference.

Of the £51,041 disbursed, only 2.27 per cent has been spent in administration.

This year, 21 Food Centres were maintained in which the poor, without any exception, could obtain each day a balanced meal. 2,379,979 meals were distributed.

Patrician Year (1961): The Arrival of Cardinal Agagianian

The Cardinal Legate greeted by the Taoiseach and the Abp. of Dublin

 
The papal legate for the Patrician Congress, Cardinal Grégoire-Pierre Agagianian, was given a spectacular reception when he arrived in Dublin on Saturday, 17^th June, 1961. Travelling in the Aer Lingus Boeing Jet Padraig he landed in Dublin Airport (profusely decorated in papal and Irish flags and emblems) at approximately 12.45 p.m.

In the Padraig’s Golden Shamrock compartment, which was reserved for the Legate’s suite and the Dublin escorting party, a special Decal of the Papal Arms was fitted to honour the Legate. After boarding the plane in Rome, he was greeted by Arthur Walls, General Sales Manager of the airline, with an illuminated welcome scroll in a polished oak case, bearing the inscription “CÉAD MÍLE FÁILTE”. Upon arriving off the Irish coast his plane was escorted by four Vampire Jets under the command of Commandant G. O’Connor. After the plane had been joined by the escorts, a special message of welcome from the Most Rev. John Charles McQuaid, Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland, was flashed from Dublin Airport. As soon as the Cardinal alighted from the plane, the jet escort flew over the airport and dipped wings twice in salute. The papal anthem was played by the Number One Army Band and a 21-gun salute was thundered out by the 10^th Battery of the 2^nd Field Artillery Regiment from McKee Barracks under Captain Hugh McGrillen.

Upon his descent from the plane, the Legate was met at the bottom of the steps by the Archbishop of Dublin, who introduced him to prominent dignitaries, including the Taoiseach [Prime Minister] Seán Lemass, the Tánaiste [Deputy Prime Minister] Seán MacEntee, the Papal Nuncio, and the Minister for External Affairs, Frank Aiken.

Patrician Year (1961): Irish Hierarchy Announce Celebrations

The Irish hierarchy issued the following statement in 1960 at their October meeting in St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth:

The Hierarchy propose to celebrate in 1961 the fifteenth centenary of the death of Saint Patrick, the most commonly accepted date for the death of the Saint being 461 A.D. The opening ceremony is planned for St. Patrick’s Day in the Primatial City of Armagh, so closely associated in Irish tradition with the life and work of our National Apostle. The ceremony will be followed, it is hoped, by other celebrations arranged by direction of the local Ordinaries, in places particularly associated with St. Patrick, such as the holy mount of Croagh Patrick, or noted as centres of especial devotion to the Saint, such as St. Patrick’s Purgatory, Lough Derg.

Eminent dignitaries from abroad, especially from dioceses or institutions under the patronage of St. Patrick, will be invited to participate in the national celebrations. Invitations will be extended also to representatives of continental centres of Patrician devotion, and to representatives of countries evangelised by Irish missionaries.

Statement of the Northern Bishops on Conscription

The following statement was issued by all the Irish bishops with dioceses partially or wholly in the territory of the Six Counties on 30th April, 1939:

In view of the anxiety that exists at present among our people on account of the rumours of conscription, we deem it a solemn duty to make our considered judgement on the situation that confronts us in the Six Counties.

We are convinced that any attempt to impose conscription here would be disastrous.

A Glimpse Back into 1930’s Ireland

Irish People and Their Priests

Bishop Con Lucey on the Common Good

The following is an extract of a sermon given by Dr. Cornelius Lucey, Bishop of Cork and Ross, to a Confirmation ceremony at St. Mary’s Church, Innishannon, Co. Cork, on the 22nd May, 1966:

The country is in a rather bad way at the moment. Industrial unrest is widespread. There is a stirring among the small farmers who find themselves being liquidated at the rate of 10,000 a year. More and more of the country, its land and its businesses, are falling into the hands of aliens — indeed, absentee aliens — and, with a public debt of over £700,000,000, we are coming to the end of living by loans.

All in all there is a feeling of national frustration and national crisis, such as there has not been since the ‘thirties. It is a dangerous feeling and this is a dangerous moment. Changes there will have to be right away, calculated to ensure security and prosperity for all in the country and not just for the few.

It is the duty of the state to promote the common good of all in the country. That duty rests primarily on the Government and the various Governmental departments. But it does not rest solely on them. We all have our responsibilities towards the common good. That means in effect that in pursuing our own interests we should give consideration to the interest of the public when they are affected by what we are doing or what we are demanding.

It is our duty not only to work for the common good of the country, but also to pray for that common good. ‘God save Ireland’ is on too few Irish lips at present.

Irish Society and Catholicism in the 1940s and ’50s: An Austrian Perspective

Despite the prevailing (and extremely inaccurate) conception of Irish society in the 1940s and ’50s as closed and insular, the Irish Catholic press in that era always kept up an intense interest in their foreign counterparts. In The Furrow’s regular roundup of the continental Catholic reviews, Fr. Seán O’Riordan C.Ss.R. made note (February, 1950) of two articles about Ireland published in its Austrian namesake. The following is an extract:

Actually, Die Furche published two articles about Ireland in the early months of 1948 by two Austrians who had been here on a visit independently of each other. What then did they say about us? Nice things? Alas, much too nice!

Frida Hajek began her article (“Erin,” April 10, 1948) almost as if she were going to write a fairy-tale. “On the edge of Europe, on the edge of our world, beyond England, lies an island: Ireland. There are many people who know a good deal about England; there are a good many people who know next to nothing about Ireland. Except perhaps that she has again sent tons of foodstuffs to Austria or some other famine-sticken region in Central Europe.”

Those tons of foodstuffs were obviously good propaganda. Miss Hajek needed no propaganda to make her conscious of Ireland; she had been there.

“I do not believe that any European has ever visited Ireland and been able to forget her. I do not believe that any European has ever lived in Ireland and not learned to love her with his whole heart. And yet Ireland is a poor, a very poor country, if we measure wealth by raw materials; oil, coal, iron, cotton, grain. The wonderful thing about Ireland, her riches, the source of all her giving, is the spirit of her people, their nature, their outlook. It is something that has grown out of this gentle land beside the Gulf Stream, blossomed out of St. Patrick’s teaching, been nurtured by the mystical power of an age-old indigenous Catholic way of life.”

Miss Hajek, who describes herself as “a busy, bothered Central European,” was at first puzzled and then fascinated by certain qualities of Irish life: our refusal to be hurried, our refusal to take things too seriously, and of course our hospitality. She thinks she can put her finger on the mainspring of the Irish way of life: its “sense of eternity.” Der Begriff der Ewigkeit: the quality which, in its theological and prophetical expression, fascinates the Germans in Newman.

She concludes: “Since the days when St. Patrick lodged the Christian sense of eternity in the hearts of the Irish people as in a living shrine, Ireland and the Irish constitute an unchanging unity. The Patrician age is still near, still living for the people of to-day. Nearer and more living than our present age of wars and conferences.”

Fr. Franz König saw Ireland from the point of view of an Austrian priest during the autumn of 1947. The unforgettable experience for him was a big game at Croke Park [named after the GAA’s first patron, Archbishop Thomas Croke of Cashel – shane] during which he was less interested in the match than in the close fellowship between priests and people all round him. “I saw priests everywhere,” he wrote (Die Furche, February 28, 1948): “there were priests young and old in front of me and behind me, mixing and talking with the crowd. The young chaplain in front of me and the two older men behind me knew all the names of the players; they were just as well up as the two Dublin clerks on my right and the road worker on my left.” The ball was thrown in by a bishop; two other bishops and an archbishop were among the spectators. Fr König points out for his Austrian readers:

“The Irish clergy live in the closest contact with their people. During the centuries of subjection to England they were the leaders of the people for economic, national and religious freedom. To-day it is still the glory of every Irish family to have a son ordained to the priesthood…

I could not help feeling rather sorry for ‘Catholic Austria’.”

Letter to the Catholic Clergy of Ireland by Dr. Bartholomew Woodlock, Rector of the Catholic University of Ireland

3rd November, 1873

Rev. Dear Sir,

Some months ago, as you are aware, a scheme of University Education for Ireland was introduced into Parliament. In it the declarations of our Prelates, and our own oft-repeated profession of the necessity of Catholic Education for Catholics, were ignored, nay, openly set at nought. While the existing system was acknowledged to be “miserably bad, scandalously bad” it was sought to substitute for it a more gigantic scheme of godless education under the supreme control of the State.

To the men who, during the last few years have done much to redress the numberless grievances of our country, and who have so often promised to undo, as far as possible, the misgovernment of the past, we ought not to impute other motives than those avowed by them when introducing the Irish University Bill of last session. But, judging the measure on its own merits, we are compelled to say that it evinced a total ignorance of the wants, or disregard for the wishes, of Catholic Ireland. And if English statesmanship, even when swayed by feelings the most friendly to our country, can or will produce nothing better, it is time for Irish Catholics to look for the redress of their admitted grievances elsewhere than to those with whom false liberalism and the theories of doctrinaires prevail over the sacred convictions of a whole nation in a matter which is part of their religion.

Animosities In A Vacuum

 
by Brendan Clifford,
Church and State; Third Quarter, 2008

 
Oxford University was appealed to by Raymond Crotty (founder of the Irish Sovereignty Movement) to take Ireland in hand intellectually, because the Irish were unable to think for themselves. It has now published a volume on Ireland as part of its Oxford History Of Modern Europe. But, alas, it farmed out the work of writing it to a Stickie academic, who was a political adviser to David Trimble during the years when Trimble was leading the Ulster Unionist Party to disaster, and who has now joined his leader in the House of Lords.

Irish Society Before the Sixties: Insular or Outward Looking?

De Valera returning from the League of Nations. He served as president of the League’s congress in 1932 and of its assembly in 1938.

Editorial Statement,
Irish Foreign Affairs; April-June, 2008

“Every nation, if it is to survive as a nation, must study its own history and have a foreign policy” — C.J. O’Donnell, The Lordship of the World, 1924, p. 145

This is the first issue of Irish Foreign Affairs, a quarterly journal established to comment on foreign policy and on global affairs from an independent Irish perspective.

The Irish State was founded with a core foreign policy idea – the notion of the right of the Irish nation to have an independent state of its own and through that state to make a distinct mark in the world. The limits of this independence were necessarily first and foremost the ability of the state to develop and act free of British constraints.

Until the 1960s, Irish citizens took for granted that this was what the state was about. People knew the Proclamation of 1916 with its foreign policy position, and there was in general a remarkably high level of knowledge about foreign affairs. This knowledge of the world was not derivative of the British liberal media and was informed by commentaries from a uniquely Irish perspective in newspapers such as the Irish Press, various journals, and even in early RTE television.

1641: Some Context

 

by Pat Muldowney,
Church and State; First Quarter, 2011

 
Historic massacres have been in the news recently. Large numbers of British Protestant settlers were killed in horrific circumstances by hordes of rebellious natives in a frenzy of religious hatred. This despite the fact that the settlers, whatever their faults, were bringing civic values, industry, modernity and progress to an antiquated country mired in backwardness and superstition.

In the ensuing chaos, order was finally restored by a determined military campaign in which the Irish Brigadier- General John Nicholson played a leading part, but at the cost of his own life.

1641: The Massacre Propaganda

by Brendan Clifford,
Church and State; First Quarter, 2011

Almost fifty years ago I spent a month in isolation in a remote and English part of England, called Winchester, with nothing to do and nothing to read except a volume of Edmund Spenser’s Poems that somehow came to hand. I read it because it was there, and nothing else was there. And so I read about the Fairy Queen, who never actually appears in that never-ending poem with her name to it as far as I recall, and about Knights and Ladies and Chivalry and the Blatant Beast and other strange creatures that lurk in the undergrowth of the English mind. And I got to know about Colin Clout’s Homecoming to Buttevant, which had been cleared of the Irish so that Greek Nymphs and Shepherds might play in it, and Greek goddesses along with them, but no gods that I recall. And then I was released from captivity and promptly forgot about Spenser, except to wonder occasionally how that bizarre poem, afflicted with uncoordinated gigantism, remained in print.

For remain in print it did. And Senator Harris has fallen down on the task he has set himself, because I have not heard yet that he has hailed it as the great Irish poem to whose influence we should all submit ourselves in order to be re-created and saved.

Frank Duff’s Social Principles Still Very Relevant

Frank Duff (far right) with President Éamon de Valera, Cardinal John D’Alton, Archbishop John Charles McQuaid and Cardinal Michael Browne

From the Irish Times, March 15th, 2011:

Legion founder’s principles still very relevant

by FINOLA KENNEDY

RITE AND REASON : The mover behind the Legion of Mary offered hope, saying Ireland had immense possibilities

FRANK DUFF is best known as the founder of the Legion of Mary, but it is generally forgotten that he spent 26 years as a civil servant.

In the 1940s, a small group consisting of Duff, León Ó Broin, Joe Walshe, later Irish ambassador to the Vatican, Paddy Little, a founder member of Fianna Fáil and then minister for posts and telegraphs, and Seán Ryan, editor of the Irish Catholic, would spend time discussing the general betterment of Ireland.

Pastoral Letter of the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland to the Clergy on Emigrant Problems

4th April, 1967

Dear Reverend Father,

At a recent meeting in Maynooth the bishops decided to send this letter to the clergy. The issue of such a joint letter, addressed by the Bishops to the priests only, is a rare event, which serves to underline the immense importance we attach to one particular branch of the sacred ministry. While we wish to express our appreciation and gratitude for the work you have done and are doing so zealously for all our faithful people, our chief object in writing this letter is to remind you of the special problems of our emigrants and to encourage you to continue and, if possible, to extend your pastoral ministry to those — especially the young — who are likely to leave this country to live or work in other lands.

The number of our people emigrating each year is now much less than it was some years ago and we all hope and pray that the number will continue to decline. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to assume that for some years to come many thousands of our young people will leave our shores every year to seek their livelihood abroad, particularly in Great Britain. Their going will leave us so much the poorer.

Yet these tens of thousands of men and women can be an enormous force for good in the lands they go to, if they have the right ideals and motives, and abilities properly developed. Without these the alien environment in which they find themselves may present serious dangers to the spiritual and moral welfare of the weaker ones.

The Rise and Fall of the Catholic Church in Ireland

The following is an editorial from Church and State magazine (the organ of the old Campaign to Seperate Church and State), January, 2010:

“The Age Of My Craven Deference Is Finally Over.” That was the headline on Professor Ronan Fanning’s article on the Murphy Report (Sun. Independent, 6 Dec.). Well, it was almost the headline. Fanning used the collective “our” rather than the personal “my”. But in the case of the Professor of Modern History at the chief College of the National University the personal and the collective merge. The Professor (singular) determines in great part what characterised the plurality of those who went through the educational system to its highest level.

It became well known to us long ago that the paid intelligentsia of the state were craven in their attitude towards the Church. They were sceptics in private but were cynically respectful in public, because they were craven.

Irish Hierarchy’s Statement on the Outbreak of the Second World War

The following statement was issued in 1939 by the Irish hierarchy at their October meeting in St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth:

Twenty-one years ago the most widespread and destructive war in history was brought to an end by a solemn pact. But, though war had ceased, true peace, that real and fruitful tranquility desired by all, had not yet been attained.

The terms of the solemn pact were registered in official instruments, but the conditions for true and lasting peace were not stamped on the hearts of men. True peace is the fruit of the two great Christian virtues of justice and charity; but peoples and individuals, to an extent previously unheard of, not only ignored the dictates of the Christian virtues, but even set aside the Founder of Christianity Himself.

Archbishop McQuaid and the CIE Strike

The Most Rev. John Charles McQuaid, Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland, combined an unimpeachable orthodoxy with an active interest in the social question (and seemingly boundless personal charity), founding the Catholic Social Welfare Bureau (which gave extensive material and spiritual support to Irish emigrants and their families), the Dublin Institute of Catholic Sociology, the Magnificat Family Guild (which helped people to buy their own homes) and the Catholic Social Service Conference, which very soon after its coming into operation was providing over 250,000 meals per month and of which Professor Patrick Corish concluded “transformed the quality of welfare work that still had too much degradation of the Poor Law System attached to it”. Throughout his tenure as archbishop, his Grace took a keen interest in industrial disputes and supported the Teachers’ Strike of 1946 – which privately incensed the DeValera government.

The following instance concerns a strike of over 1,600 men employed in the rail-operative grades of Córas Iompair Éireann (the Irish state transport company) which began on the 16th December, 1950, after members of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union (ITGWU) rejected the proposed wage increases for the railways offered by the Joint Industrial Council. The Joint Industrial Council proposed that employees be granted wage increases varying from 4 shillings to 11 shillings weekly, whereas the ITGWU demanded a general increase of 22 shillings for all grades. The intervention of the Archbishop was warmly welcomed by all sides.

Irish Hierarchy’s Statement on the Intoxicating Liquor Laws

The following statement was issued in 1959 by the Irish hierarchy at their June meeting in St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth:

The Irish hierarchy has had under consideration the reports of the Commission of Inquiry into the operation of the laws relating to the sale and supply of intoxicating liquor.

The proposal of the majority of the commission to alter these laws has very grave moral, religious and economic implications.

The hierarchy is chiefly concerned with the moral and religious aspects of the proposed legislation.

It is a matter of deep regret that the Report should have confined its attention so largely to drunkenness — a relatively rare occurrence nowadays — rather than to drinking habits or addiction to alcohol.

The Catholic Bulletin; July, 1928

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The Irish Rosary; July-August, 1955

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Patrician Year (1961): Cardinal Cushing on St. Patrick and the Irish Catholic People

CLICK HERE TO WATCH

The above video features clips of the opening of the Patrician Year celebrations, 17th March, 1961, marked by Pontifical High Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh. The celebrant was the papal legate, Cardinal James Francis McIntyre, Archbishop of Los Angelus.

Irish state dignitaries were very prominent in attendance, not least President Éamonn de Valera and the Taoiseach [Prime Minister] Séan Lemass. Church prelates and state leaders, escorted by prominent local clergy, walked in solemn procession towards the Cathedral, walking past vast, cheering crowds. President De Valera was seated in a special blue and gold draped prie-dieu, affixed with the national emblem of a golden harp, while Mr. Lemass was also accorded a special prie-dieu. As Cardinal McIntyre entered through the massive oak doors, the cathedral organ thundered out the papal hymn Tu es Petrus, and His Eminence proceeded through the highly colourful and lavishly decorated cathedral to the marble-canopied throne on the Gospel side of the high altar, where he occupied a seat upholstered by white silk, affixed with the papal coat of arms on the reverse. Prelates attending included multitudes of abbots and bishops from all over the world, 50 archbishops and 4 Cardinals: Cardinal McIntyre, Cardinal John D’Alton, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All-Ireland, Cardinal William Godfrey, Archbishop of Westminster, and Cardinal Richard Cushing, Archbishop of Boston.

Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston, gave the following sermon:

“Their sound has gone forth unto all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world.” (Psalm 18, Verse 5)

The theme of Ireland’s holy and historic celebration this year has been taken from the text by which the liturgy proclaims the glory and the triumph of all the Apostles. No more appropriate text could have been chosen to commemorate the incomparable Apostle to Ireland and to pay tribute to the apostolic spirit that St. Patrick inspired in the Irish people.

The text proper to the Apostles is deservedly applied to him, for St. Patrick takes his place beside the greatest and most glorious of the Apostles.

Will the Irish Stay Christian?

by Desmond Fennell,
Doctrine and Life; May, 1962.

There is no reason to suppose that the Irish Catholic people will continue indefinitely to be believing Christians. In Europe during the last one hundred and fifty years the majority of people have abandoned Christian belief and practice; there is no reason why the same should not happen here.

Sweden is often cited as an extreme example of modern paganism. But eighty years ago it was the scene of impassioned public controversies about the nature of Christ’s Redemption and the proper ordering of the Communion service; wide sections of the people believed these matters to be of urgent concern.

Rev. Con Lucey [later Bishop of Cork and Ross] on A Christian Alternative to Communism and Fascism

Bishop Michael Browne on the Worship of the State

Bishop Michael Browne (right) with Cardinal Paolo Marella

The following is the Lenten pastoral letter of the Most Rev. Michael Browne, Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh, from 1939. The first part was read out in all churches of the diocese on Sunday, 19th February and the second part on Sunday, 26th February.

All Christians are familiar with the story of the conversion of St. Paul. He had been a bitter enemy of the disciples of Christ: he had even approved of putting them to death and assisted at the stoning of Stephen the first martyr. Now, breathing out threats and slaughter, he was on his way to Damascus with authority from the High Priest to arrest any Christians he might find there. As he was nearing the city, suddenly a bright light shone around him and falling to the ground he heard a voice saying: “Saul! Saul! Why persecutest thou Me?” He answered: “Who art thou, Lord?” and the reply came: “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.”

These words of Christ carry a deep and important meaning. He did not say to Saul: “Why persecutest thou My disciples — or My Church?” He said: “Why persecutest thou Me?” He identified himself completely and entirely with His Church on this the first occasion when she had to suffer violence. He knew that the hatred and injury done to her would be done because she represents Him; because she preaches His doctrine and does His work.

It often seems strange — even to Catholics — that the Church, whose doctrine is so holy and whose work is so entirely devoted to the moral and religious welfare of men, should be constantly the object of hatred and victimization. What is really strange and tragic in human history is how men could have put the Christ Himself to death. When they ignored His doctrine and His miracles and crucified Him, we need not be astonished or pretend to be horrified that men misrepresent and ignore the doctrine and work of the Catholic Church. We should be prepared for it, for did He Himself not promise it? “If they persecuted Me they will persecute you.” “The disciple is not greater than the Master.” The fact that the Catholic Church suffers violence is a sign that she is the true Church, the body of Christ.

In this world men must be prepared to suffer in defence of truth and justice. John the Baptist, the precursor of Christ, was a holy man who offered injury to no one. Yet he was put to death, because he told a truth which was unpalatable to a wicked woman and a tyrant.

Pope Pius XII on the Irish Constitution

The following was an address given by Pope Pius XII to the Taoiseach, Mr. Éamon de Valera, at Castelgandolfo, 4th October, 1957.

With the special affection Our paternal heart has reserved these many years, as you well know, for your Emerald Isle, We welcome you this morning, Taoiseach, along with the official party, come to bear you such distinguished and gracious company.

Let the warmth and depth of its sincerity afford you, one and all, the best token of Our interest in the festive mission which brings you once more ‘home to Rome’; let it be a pledge renewed of abiding confidence in Our venerable brothers of the Irish Hierarchy, in priests and people, and a further mark of high esteem for your illustrious President, and for the Government, that has now, for the third time, entrusted to your practised and competent hand, the responsible post of Prime Minister.

The eventful years of grace which have passed since an Irish Government came into being have provided a confused and sorely stricken world with the heartening evidence of the capacity of a staunch, militantly Catholic people to govern itself wisely and efficiently, while respecting its fraternal obligations to the other nations of the human family.

Your Constitution (Bunreacht na hÉireann) is intended to be an instrument of ‘prudence, justice and charity’ at the service of a community which has never, through its long Christian history, had any doubt about the eternal, as well as the temporal implications, of that common good, which it professes to seek through the conjoined prayer, toil and oftentimes heroic sacrifice of its children.

Archbishop McQuaid’s Lenten Regulations, 1953

Most Rev. John Charles McQuaid, D.D. Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of Ireland

Dublin, 12th February, 1953.

I. The Season of Lent is set aside by the Church as a time of special prayer and penance. Usually, the Church prescribes the penance of fasting. If it is not possible to fast, other penances and works of charity ought with prudence to be undertaken by young and old alike. The general behaviour of a Catholic during Lent should be that of a person, who, at this season, keeps constantly in mind the Passion and Death of Our Divine Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

II. This year the general law of the Church concerning Lenten Fast and Abstinence is to be observed in this Diocese.

III. The following regulations are to be regarded as stating the law of the Church for those who are able to fast, without danger to their health, or without undue strain upon their source of income.

Pastoral Address of the Archbishops and Bishops to the Clergy and People of the Catholic Church in Ireland, 1832

Dearly Beloved Brethren in Christ:

The same holy zeal that influences the Church in the decreeing of her laws of discipline, “for the perfecting of the Saints, unto the edification of the Body of Christ,” urges her to mitigate their severity, and to dispense in their observance, as the circumstances of times and countries may render conducive to the interests of the Faithful. Like a tender mother she watches over her children with unceasing solicitude, to know their wants, and to minister to them out of the abundance of her charity, according to the dispensation God has confided to her.

Her precepts of abstinence on particular days, by which “we chastise the body and bring it into subjection” (1) have been subject to the changes incident to disciplinary laws, and have been modified by her as expediency might require. In the primitive days of Christianity, adapted to the circumstances of the happy times for which they were enacted, they were austere in proportion to the fervor of the Faithful. But as piety waxed cold, we observe her accommodating her discipline to the weakness of her children, and gradually lessening their burden according to the diminution of their strength. You, dearest Brethren, a cherished portion of her obedient children, have yourselves, from time to time, experienced the same tender indulgence relative to the observance of Lent. However venerable for its Apostolic origin, sacred in the ends for which it was instituted, and at all times sanctified by your cheerful observance of its austerities in the spirit of Christian mortification by which the Elect of God are made comformable to the image of His Son, it has not always been enforced in your regard according to its rigour, but has been mitigated in seasons of great distress, by a dispensation in the law of abstinence, out of compassionate consideration for the miseries of the poor. We have now to announce to you, beloved Brethren, an Indult of our Holy Father Pope Gregory XVI by a Rescript bearing date the 17th day of December, 1831, extending to Ireland a change in the law of abstinence, similar to that already granted to England and Scotland. His Holiness, having taken into consideration the peculiar circumstances of this country, and compassionating as a Father the weakness of his children, as well as the increasing poverty and the extreme destitution of many, has granted to us the power of dispensing in our respective dioceses, in the law of abstinence on Saturdays throughout the year, except those on which the precept of fasting obliges, as we might deem most expedient in the Lord.

Dublin Institute of Catholic Sociology: Manual of Social Ethics; 1956

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The Dublin Institute of Catholic Sociology was founded in 1950 by the Most Rev. John Charles McQuaid, Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland. The Institute was established to equip Catholics with a greater knowledge of Catholic Social Teaching and gave courses to the general public, of both genders and all social backgrounds, on political science, Irish culture, economics, theology, the philosophy of Marxism, Irish and Church history, industrial relations, social and general ethics, sacred scripture, rural life and its problems, modern science, literature, drama, film appreciation, the Irish Constitution, public speaking and the social encyclicals. The courses rapidly became so popular that the Institute was forced to transfer its premises from 14 Gardiner Place to 66 Eccles Street. The Institute boasted an extensive library and a vibrant debating society, to which all third level students were invited to join. Discussions in classes were lively and questions were invited after each lecture. Enrolling students were given the option of undertaking a three-year comprehensive Diploma or a one-year course in a particular subject. The Institute also organized special lectures throughout the island and arranged courses to train priests in the use of the media, under the auspices of the Irish bishops’ Catholic Television Interim Committee. The annual Social Study Congress always hosted a wide-ranging assortment of speakers; for example, in 1959, discussing the theme “A World To Win”, students heard from, inter alia, Douglas A. Hyde, ex-CPGB activist and former news editor of the Daily Worker (now Morning Star), the Most Rev. Dr. Heenan, Archbishop of Liverpool and subsequently Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Baroness Bosch van Drakestein, president of the Grail Movement, and the black Rhodesian Bernard Chidzero, later to become chair of the IMF/World Bank Development Committee, Zimbabwe’s first finance minister and candidate for UN Secretary General in 1991. Following the Second Vatican Council, the Institute was reconstituted into the Dublin Institute of Adult Education in 1966.

Vexilla Regis: Maynooth Laymen’s Annual; 1951

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Hibernian Journal; December, 1927

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Rev. William Conway on The Church and State-Control

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The following biography of Cardinal Conway is from Florida International University Library:

1937 – The Year in Review

From the Irish Catholic Bulletin, January, 1938:

 

by Fear Faire

Seldom did we survey the world, at the turn of the year, in more critical circumstances than now; and only twice before did the affairs of our own country stand at so vital a turning point. The world to-day shivers in the shadow of a threat as dark as that which hung over it in the last months before the World War broke in 1914. Ireland, on the other hand, stands a new stage in her national progress; and we recall the New Year of 1919, and that of 1922.

At the New Year of 1919, Ireland was fresh from the General Election which authorised her leaders to set up Dáil Éireann and declare the nation’s independence. At the New Year of 1922, the Treaty which had been signed under an infamous threat of devastating war on civilians awaited approval or rejection, and Ireland was about to be condemned to the years of strife and decay which the approval, a few days later, drew down.

To-day, the Declaration of Independence of 1920 has been renewed, ratified by the electorate, and carried into effect, and an Independent Sovereign State came into being in the last days of 1937, while the New Year sees the nation embarked on the task of the recovery of the still-occupied Six Countries.

Truly, this is a momentous stage in Irish and world history. We will consider world affairs first.