RedCeltic
29th September 2005, 07:36
I had always thought that throughout history that the relationship between the Irish people and the Roman Catholic Church had been very one sided. I had often thought that the Irish people supported Catholicism much more than Catholicism supported the Irish people.
However, nowhere have I seen a palpable example of the said concept as an article I chanced upon in the “Daily Brooklyn Eagle.” I had been doing research on early anarchism in the United States, and was searching through archives of “The Daily Brooklyn Eagle” which are online from 1841 to 1902 when I found an interesting article on the Pope’s attitudes to Ireland on Nov 22, 1880.
The article titled, “The Pope discouraging Irish agitation” began by describing English troop movements into Ireland intent on putting down some insurrection. The highlighting paragraph however highlights the attitude of the Pope in Rome It reads, “The correspondent of the Times in Rome says: It is well known in Vatican circles that the Pope is much embarrassed by Irish affairs. He fully understands that it is not a question between Catholics and Protestants, but between friends of order and anarchists. He openly disapproves of the agrarian movement and sincerely desires to assist the English Government. “
Well, firstly please realize that the word “anarchists” in this article is of the variant of slander and not actual ideology. Sort of how Center left politicians are called communists (ex: Ted Kennedy) by the far right. So essentially what the Pope, or at least what his Vatican representatives were saying was that opposition to colonial rule was essentially lawlessness and opposition to legitimate rule and therefore in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church.
The Vatican was correct in that it was not a struggle between Catholicism and Protestantism. That is mere symptomatic occurrence of colonial oppression. For example, Irish Catholics were not the only people to experience difficulty with the colonial powers of England but also Irish Presbyterians, Wolftone for example was a Presbyterian. In my opinion, followers of Jesus would have seen the underlying issue of class struggle not law and order vs. anarchy (chaos). Catholics like most Christians however are not followers of Jesus but followers of Paul. The Roman Catholic Church is founded on the bedrock of Pauline doctrine which differs greatly from the message of Jesus.
I think this example illustrates greatly the thesis of Karl Marx on religion. That it generates more of a liability than a benefit to the masses. The Roman Catholic Church, from Paul to Benedict XVI has done nothing but support the rights of the ruling classes over the lower classes, impose hierarchal rule and theocratic dictatorship.
However, nowhere have I seen a palpable example of the said concept as an article I chanced upon in the “Daily Brooklyn Eagle.” I had been doing research on early anarchism in the United States, and was searching through archives of “The Daily Brooklyn Eagle” which are online from 1841 to 1902 when I found an interesting article on the Pope’s attitudes to Ireland on Nov 22, 1880.
The article titled, “The Pope discouraging Irish agitation” began by describing English troop movements into Ireland intent on putting down some insurrection. The highlighting paragraph however highlights the attitude of the Pope in Rome It reads, “The correspondent of the Times in Rome says: It is well known in Vatican circles that the Pope is much embarrassed by Irish affairs. He fully understands that it is not a question between Catholics and Protestants, but between friends of order and anarchists. He openly disapproves of the agrarian movement and sincerely desires to assist the English Government. “
Well, firstly please realize that the word “anarchists” in this article is of the variant of slander and not actual ideology. Sort of how Center left politicians are called communists (ex: Ted Kennedy) by the far right. So essentially what the Pope, or at least what his Vatican representatives were saying was that opposition to colonial rule was essentially lawlessness and opposition to legitimate rule and therefore in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church.
The Vatican was correct in that it was not a struggle between Catholicism and Protestantism. That is mere symptomatic occurrence of colonial oppression. For example, Irish Catholics were not the only people to experience difficulty with the colonial powers of England but also Irish Presbyterians, Wolftone for example was a Presbyterian. In my opinion, followers of Jesus would have seen the underlying issue of class struggle not law and order vs. anarchy (chaos). Catholics like most Christians however are not followers of Jesus but followers of Paul. The Roman Catholic Church is founded on the bedrock of Pauline doctrine which differs greatly from the message of Jesus.
I think this example illustrates greatly the thesis of Karl Marx on religion. That it generates more of a liability than a benefit to the masses. The Roman Catholic Church, from Paul to Benedict XVI has done nothing but support the rights of the ruling classes over the lower classes, impose hierarchal rule and theocratic dictatorship.