McQuaid, Catholic Church, Penn State. Child rape an epidemic.

For those of us who grew up in holy catholic Ireland we are all familiar with the name McQuaid. He was the dominant leader of the catholic church until he retired in 1972 and died a year later. His male dominated anti women dictatorial organization gave him the title archbishop so he could better dominate the masses. Nothing like an important sounding title and a strange uniform to keep the "flock" the sheep, as the church sees its members in their place.

Mcquaid led the campaign against the proposed mother and child scheme put forward by Dr Noel Browne in the 1940's and 1950's. Browne was a socialist who found himself minister for health in a coalition government when he put forward this scheme. At the time the health service in Ireland to the extent there was one was controlled by the catholic church. Browne set about to improve and reform the system. Nothing "radical", not to introduce contraception or abortion, just improve the health care system. McQuaid and his organization launched their attack and brought down the government and ended the proposed mother and child scheme. Tens and tens of thousands of Irish mothers were the victims.

The politicians of the left and right parties with the honorable exception of Browne bent the knee, kissed the bishops ring and slunk away, making a "pilgrimage" to Rome on the way. Now it is all coming out. Not only has child abuse and the covering up of child abuse been of epidemic proportions in the catholic church in Ireland for decades but now it has come out in the Irish Times that this creature McQuaid himself was a serial child abuser. On this blog we have always asserted that capitalism as a system is much worse than even we its most strong opponents sometimes imagine. Well we can also say that the corrupt male dominated anti women capitalist catholic church is much worse than can be imagined.

This raises a question for me and hopefully for all people who consider themselves progressive never mind socialist. Is it justifiable for them to be members of an organization such as the catholic church? When my mother died I insisted that I speak at her funeral and explain her life as I saw it. I would not let the preacher speak for me. My siblings had their preacher speak for them. I spoke of her life and read some poems from Joyce. But to return to the question. Is it justifiable for a progressive person never mind a socialist to belong to the catholic church, to give money to the catholic church, to support the catholic church with their presence at its functions and activities, to use terms such as father and bishop and holy father etc, which gives authority to this organization, which helps spread the propaganda of this organization? I remember refusing to call a full time worker for the catholic church in Ireland "father" and being shunned for it.

I believe it is not justifiable to belong to the catholic church. To belong to this organization is to belong to an organization that stands against women, that is an abusive organization, that has and does use all its resources to prop up capitalism. It is in my opinion a matter of conscience, a matter of principle not to belong to such an organization. As progressive people, as socialists and revolutionaries we have to take a stand.

With this news now coming out about McQuaid we should pose the question back in Ireland. Where were the different organizations political and otherwise when McQuaid was bullying the government into dropping the mother and child scheme. These people and organizations, all the main political organizations and non political organizations went along and kissed this man's hand. Meanwhile it now turns out he was abusing young boys. Those people and organizations who went along with this have to be condemned in the strongest way. And those people who belong to such organizations have to consider their membership in such organizations and in my opinion come out openly and disassociate themselves from such organizations. There has to be accountability.

All the churches in Ireland played a role in helping the divide and rule strategy of British imperialism in that country. This was the base on which the war of the past decades was fought and the slaughter and oppression of previous centuries. All of them have blood on their hands. Now we find that it was not just politically that the religious organizations were corrupt and degenerate but also in the area of sexual relations and at the highest levels.

I can hear people say yes but there are many good people in the churches. I agree. But what role do they play by being in these churches. Most of the churches consciously prop up the capitalist system which keeps the majority of the world in starvation and the rest in a state of mental and psychological crisis. Anybody who cannot for whatever reason drag themselves away from the churches have at the very least the responsibility to organize in these anti capitalist, anti male domination oppositions. The liberation theology was one such organization in the catholic church in the past but it was ruthlessly smashed by the catholic church leadership in alliance with US imperialism.

On a final note. One thing that brings people to churches is the drama. The music, the works of art, the gatherings where people can meet and be social. We on the left should organize such gatherings where we can sing our songs and look at our history and develop the socialist and progressive agenda. The socialist Sunday schools and gatherings, not the capitalist Sunday schools and gatherings. Humans are social beings and we need to meet and socialize and interact and we need to do so not only at the political level but also at the cultural level.

By the way, I do not have time or space to deal with this now but the male dominated organizations of US sport are presently being exposed in this area also. Penn state!!!

Sean.