Brendan O’Regan
Last week’s viewing had Brendan O’Regan gripped by “an excellent series of reflections” that was “inspiring and encouraging” followed by a “fair and balanced” debate on assisted suicide
A lot of good religious broadcasting goes under the radar, as with The Living Word, on RTÉ Radio 1, in the very early and the very late hours, the intention being to copy the traditions of Morning Prayer and Compline.
Last week the topic was mission, when the daily reflections were presented by Sally McEllistrim of World Missions Ireland. We got a welcome insight into the lives of five older missionaries (described in the publicity as “our migratory birds of paradise”) whose youthful and energetic outlook would put many of us to shame.
Maurice Hogan (76) has recently taken on the demanding role of National Director of World Missions Ireland. A Columban, he reckons it’s “good to shake oneself up sometimes,” good to be challenged. Missionaries have a wealth of experience and as for staying young he recommends avoiding worry – it only saps energy.
Another Columban, the well-known Fr Shay Cullen, also in his seventies, believed mission to involve serving the poor, defending human rights, standing up for the downtrodden, and there was no retiring from that mission. How could you retire from being a fan of Jesus of Nazareth and being committed to the values of the Gospel?
Sr Louis Marie O’Connor, a Joseph of Cluny sister in her eighties, had worked in Sierra Leone, Haiti and The Gambia. As development officer with Mission Cara she monitored a variety of projects and felt missionaries should be trying to do themselves out of a job, handing the baton to local communities.
Sr Cora Richardson had a long history of campaigning against apartheid and human trafficking. McEllistrim described her as being “feisty and lots of fun” and said she had a “strong abiding missionary spirit and tons of gratitude”.
Finally Fr Hugh McMahon had ‘rebel blood,’ with three aunts in the GPO in 1916. He had spent 50 years in South Korea and felt the West had a lot to learn from the cultural and religious traditions of the East. He saw missionaries as “explorers” and the desire to explore further keeps him going.
Reflections
All in all, it was an excellent series of reflections, inspiring and encouraging. I would like to have heard more about the more spiritual side of the work, and in what way missionary orders differ from NGOs, but maybe that’s a whole other series.
Back across the dial, on the Pat Kenny Show (Newstalk) David Quinn of the Iona Institute debated the topic of assisted suicide with Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland.
It was fair and balanced, Kenny showed a good grasp of both sides of the argument, and it was one of the clearest and most informative discussions of the matter I’ve heard in a long time.
Interestingly, both had personal stories – the deaths of Nugent’s wife and Quinn’s father. Some of Quinn’s points struck home – e.g. if we regard suicide as a bad thing we can’t then pass a law that condones it; the approach in suffering should be to kill the pain not the patient; suicide wasn’t just a private decision as it had ripple effects on the likes of families left behind and doctors.
Ripple effects
Nugent, on the other hand, thought “suicide should be condoned under certain circumstances”, and thought “bodily autonomy” (a concept increasingly used to justify some very unsavoury practices) trumped any ripple effects on others. At one point Kenny seemed surprised by his approach to the issue, when Nugent suggested, at least in the circumstances under discussion, that people were going to act anyway according to their personal ethics and the law should catch up. Scary, I thought.
On The Right Hook (Newstalk), George Hook and station Political Editor Shane Coleman discussed the Eighth (Life Equality) Amendment issue. Coleman was frank in his acceptance that the media was largely “much more sympathetic” to the pro-choice viewpoint and that the media was liberal to a degree but not in the classic sense of being tolerant of all viewpoints. That topic was given a lively airing on the Cuttting Edge (RTÉ One) which had Hook as a guest, along with journalist Brenda Power, another independent thinker not afraid to say what she thinks.
The discussion was launched by an incisive soapbox piece from Maria Steen of the Iona Institute, and presenter Brendan O’Connor seemed sympathetic to the view that robust debate and conservative viewpoints were being stifled.
Pick of the Week
Sunday Sequence
BBC Radio Ulster, Sunday, June 26, 8.30am
Topical religious and ethical issues.
Higher Hopes
RTÉ One, Monday, June 27, 10.35pm
World-renowned conductor, David Brophy, extends his homeless choir initiative to Cork.
God, the Universe and Everything
EWTN, Wednesday, June 29, 11.30am
Matt Fradd, a former agnostic, details how his search for the meaning of life eventually led him to Christ and the Catholic Church.