A revealing insight on the ordeal of Cardinal Pell

Well, 2021 came in with a bang, what with rapid escalation of Covid-19 infection rates, continuing upheaval in US politics and a rare apology from RTÉ.

Vocation story

In this context, I enjoyed listening to the more relaxed discussions on The Leap of Faith (RTÉ Radio 1, Friday). Michael Comyn spoke to Dr Dermot Farrell, the Archbishop-elect of Dublin – a nice chat before things get hectic for him. He gave some background on his upbringing and family, though I’d like to have heard about his vocation story. He reflected on the increasing secularisation since he was ordained in the 1980s. Yes, numbers of practicing Catholics were down, but he found those remaining more committed. If you are going to practice now, he said, you’ll need to be able to defend the faith and you may be ridiculed by colleagues and friends. He welcomed questioning as a way of deepening one’s faith. It was right that people should ask questions and get answers – this was “an adult way of doing business”. He acknowledged the hurt and anger still carried by some Catholics, and was hopeful that after Covid-19 most churchgoers would return – people of faith will want to express it publicly. He found the recent controversial ‘God skit’ on RTÉ offensive – there was a place for satire but not entertainment at the expense of others.

On the same show Prof. John Horne of Trinity College Dublin reflected on that New Year’s Eve skit and the broader issues it raised. An atheist himself, he hoped we would all respect each other’s versions of the sacred. He thought everything should be up for debate and criticism, but not in way that oppresses, or tears down people’s faith and identity.

In another leisurely interview with a prominent churchman, Colm Flynn spoke to Cardinal George Pell in Vaticano (EWTN Sunday, now on YouTube). First we got a review of his now overturned conviction for sex offences, with news footage of baying mobs chanting at him coming out of court. After the successful appeal we heard a newsreader refer to the case as a “grotesque miscarriage of justice”. I thought he understated the severity of what he had gone through, including the vilification and the 405 days in prison. He was “happy” to be free, found the experience to be “not pleasant”, and prison to be “not too bad”. In prison he felt powerless and found that nothing happened quickly. He found some prisoners supported him as they argued over his guilt or innocence. He said his “ideological enemies” didn’t believe he was guilty as they knew the busy set up at the cathedral event where the offences were supposed to have taken place. He said there was evidence but no proof that those who opposed his reform work with Vatican finances had some involvement with the charges, but hoped that didn’t turn out to be true. He realised that “earthly reputation” was not the most important thing and felt for the sufferings of victims – their situations would never be served by lies, only by the truth. After initially settling back into life in Sydney and his gardening, he was now back working in Rome. At around 25 minutes this was an edited version – I’d love to see the full version and get more insight into the person of Cardinal Pell. I suppose I could always read his book Prison Journal.

Capitol

I could write my own book on the upheaval last week in the USA. I was glued to live media coverage of the storming of the Capitol on the Wednesday night. The events were tragic, appalling, and worrying for US democracy as destructive and violent protestors roamed through the government buildings. I thought President Trump was irresponsible in his approach to the affair and it looks like he will pay dearly for it politically. Some media coverage was over the top – I thought words like ‘insurrection’ and ‘coup’ were too flattering to the extremists. Broad references to ‘mobsters’ obscured the fact that some were just protestors exercising their democratic right (unwisely in the context) – those who remained outside the Capitol building.

I was amused to hear Newsmax complaining about Fox News being too hard on the protestors, and reports of CNN looking for Fox News to be taken off air and a CNN reporter cheering when Mr Trump was banned from Twitter.

A partisan and divisive media is not the least of their problems in the USA.

PICK OF THE WEEK

The Big Questions
BBC One Sunday January, 17 10.30am

Nicky Campbell returns to debate topical moral, ethical and religious issues.

RTÉ INVESTIGATES: STUCK IN THE ROUGH
RTÉ One Monday January 18, 9.35pm

RTÉ Investigates follows the lives of rough sleepers and homeless hostel users, examining the challenges they face and the difficulties in getting off the streets.

CATHOLIC LIVES
EWTN Wednesday January 20, 5.30pm and Thursday January 21 (night) 12.30am

David Kerr discusses faith and moral issues in modern Ireland with journalist and social commentator John Waters.