Fírinne

Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil go leor daoine, ar fud na tíre seo ach go háirithe, atá iontach buartha faoin méid atá ag titim amach san eaglais Chaitliceach i láthair na huaire.

Tá an dá thaobh á gcloisteáil agam, daoine a chreideann go mba chóir don Chairdinéal Brady seasamh síos óna phost anois díreach, agus tá daoine ann a chreideann go mba chóir dó fanacht. Sin mar atá an saol. Gach duine agus a chreideamh féin aige nó aici, gach duine agus a fhírinne féin aige nó aici.

Bhí mé ag éisteacht leis an gclár Prime Time an lá cheana. Bhí ‘Cardinal Fighting for Survival’ mar ábhar ar an gclár, agus bhí Helen McGonigle ag labhairt as Nua Eabhrach. Is mar ‘Attorney and victim of Brendan Smith’ a labhair Helen, agus is fiú éisteacht léi anseo, más mian libh dearcadh an íospartaigh sin a chloisteáil.

Seo ceist amháin a chuir an láithreoir, Miriam O’Callaghan, ar Helen, ‘We had a priest on earlier, a respected theologian, he was saying that vengeance, in fact, perhaps, might not be good at the end of the day, for people like you who are victims, calling for heads, that kind of thing?’

An freagra ó Helen, ‘Vengeance. This is not about vengeance, this is about seeking truth, justice and exposing crimes. There were a lot of victims of Smyth that attempted suicide, or committed suicide. An individual, like a priest, is going to say that this is about vengeance! It’s about secrecy. It’s about harbouring paedophiles. And victims and bystanders alike should be standing up to these people and seeking the truth and the justice, and demanding that the files be opened, the files of Brendan Smyth, and other clerics. This isn’t about vengeance. It’s about trying to reform a morally bankrupt church’

Ní dóigh liom go bhféadfadh an scéal bheith níos soiléire ná sin, a léitheoirí, ach, sin mo thuairim, bean nach bhfuil ‘religious’, mar a déarfá.

Agus, chuir Miriam an cheist seo ar Helen, ‘Are you religious?’

An freagra ó Helen, ‘I am very spiritual, but I am not religious. I distinguish between the two. I don’t adhere to the practice of the Catholic faith as a religious institution. I don’t believe in the institution. I lost faith in it. It is, as I said, morally bankrupt. I’m a spiritual person. I believe in God, and I don’t believe that I need a middle man for my connection with God, or to communicate with God, or a middle man to give me the word of God…’

Agus, is dóigh liom go bhfuil sé sin sách soiléir, freisin, a léitheoirí, domsa ar aon nós. Tá ár bhfírinne féin ag chuile dhuine againn, Dia, Allah, Yahweh, srl., nó an fhírinne a mhaireann gan aon ‘middle man’ ann, agus tá an ceart sin againn uile, ach an rogha sin a bheith againn gan tromaíocht de shaghas ar bith. Sin mo thuairim.

Maidir leis an méid atá ag titim amach san eaglais Chaitliceach i láthair na huaire, níor chóir go mbeadh aon fhírinne á ceilt. Sin mo thuairim. Mo chuimhne, agallamh iontach eile a chuala mé i rith na seachtaine le cloisteáil anseo, más mian libh, a léitheoirí - Gerry Ryan ag labhairt le Fr. Brian D’Arcy. Maith thú, a Fr. Brian...
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