Dublin, Bloom'sday, Eucharistic Congress.

I happened to be in Dublin last Saturday. Bloomsday. It was also the day of the Catholic Church Eucharistic Congress when members of this capitalist male run undemocratic organization get together. I was glad to see that 80% and up were about 60/70 years old. The capitalist church is dying in Ireland. This is good. 

Anyway I was on an airport bus and caught in the traffic jam caused by this event. Steam began to come out of my head with anger. Then in the paper I was carrying I read that one of the bishops of the Catholic church the night before had said that James Joyce would have been a Jesuit if his sex drive had not been so strong. This is the outfit who had banned Joyce the greatest writer of the last century. It was all a problem of being too mad for sex. This from the organization of sexual abuse par excellence. 

Arriving at the airport who did I see but four bishops and prelates sitting in the hotel foyer in their dresses. I went over to them and said; "How are you getting on boys?" They looked up shocked. They were not boys they were fathers. I went on: "I am surprised that you boys come to this country after all you have done to it, kept the people in ignorance, helped keep it tied to British rule, kept the women oppressed and of course carried up out and covered up your epidemic of sexual child abuse. I do not see how you have the neck to come here." They sat shocked then the oldest gathered himself and said : "God bless you in your confusion." I said: "Tell that to the wee unelected pope in the Vatican." All in all an invigorating exchange.

The Catholic church is one of the major capitalist organizations in the world. The US ambassador to the Vatican after world war two said the US economic power and the Catholic church were what would defeat what he called "Bolshevism."  He meant Stalinism. I do not believe that people should join the Catholic Church but if they feel they have to they should organize within it to change its pro capitalist, pro rich, anti women policies. Some nuns are doing this just now. 

Dublin was full of Joyceans on Saturday from all over the world. Did you hear the one about the group of Japanese Joyce enthusiasts  who came over. They were taking it in turns to read passages from Joyce's works. One of them was reading in Japanese from Finnegans Wake. A Dublin wag was listening and said: "Bay the Jasus it sounds better in Japanese that in the English." Wee Joyce would have been proud.  

Sean