Dublin's Archbishop Diarmuid Martin refuses to endorse Church teaching again

The Archbishop of Dublin was asked by Vincent Brown - "do you think child sexual abuse is a moral
evil?" to which the Archbishop replied, after several attempts, and repeating of the question, "I have no
idea".

Well, no, that didn't actually happen - what the Archbishop said was "I would kill anyone who
touched the children of friends of mine" which is rather strong for a bishop but good punter friendly
language to get the masses on side before the reports come out and makes clear that the Archbishop
recognises sin when he sees it.

The Archbishop of Dublin was then asked by Vincent Brown - "do you think homosexual acts are a
moral evil?" to which the Archbishop replied, after several attempts, and repeating of the question,
"I have no idea".

This time it did actually happen.

So for all the talk of anthropology, caring relationships, uniqueness of marriage, it comes down to that
- a reluctance by a Catholic bishop to confirm and deliver basis Catholic teaching. Of course he
could nuance it. Of course he could point out that homosexual sins aren't worse than other sins.
But if he can't bring himself to confirm the sinfulness of the act, where can he go from there?

Perhaps he was too busy in his head trying to think how to answer the question as to whether he
wanted to remain as Archbishop of Dublin or return to Rome.

Video of Vincent Brown show on TV3 on Jan 7th 2008.
Dr Martin's replies when asked about moral status of homosexual acts is in the last quarter of the interview.

In the course of the television interview, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin is given a splendid chance to witness to the integrity and truth of Catholic teaching. So here he is in action:

Interviewer: You can say yes or no to my question: do you think that people -- homosexual people -- who engage in homosexual sexual relations are engaged in an intrinsic moral evil?

Archbishop: I would not make a judgment, again, on ... on ... on ... on ... on individual people. I have no idea.

Out of the closet, Gary O'Sullivan

I notice that editor of The Irish Catholic, Gary O'Sullivan has a letter in The Irish Times in support of Diarmuid Martin on the issue of gay marriage/civil unions/ or relationships of depenency - whatever you want to call it.
I believe that Gary O'Sullivan has his own personal reasons for supporting Dr Martin's stance on the legalisation of gay unions - no sorry, relationships of dependency.

Irish Times Letters page

Madam, - Archbishop Diarmuid Martin (November 28th) seeks to clarify the interpretation of remarks he made on marriage and civil unions at a recent Maynooth press conference, which I attended.

Bishops and archbishops can all too easily go down the road of condemnation when speaking out on the issues of the day and know there will be no misunderstanding of their position. To be fair to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, he does try to take the harder road in his public utterances as advocated by Pope Benedict, which is to promote Christianity as a positive option.

It would be a shame if this approach and the merits of the Archbishop's argument were lost because of a misunderstanding of the nuanced position he was trying to articulate.

Dr Martin, while promoting the positives for society of the Christian view of marriage, was also striving to inform those who misinterpret the church's position as uncaring and unsympathetic. The Church does care about the rights of a variety of people in caring and dependent relationships. This position is largely lost in the current debate on marriage and civil unions.

To ensure clarity in future Maynooth press conferences may I suggest to the bishops that the gatherings be less of a sprint to the finish and that they stay behind to meet reporters - who make the effort to travel out to Maynooth - and clarify any queries. - Yours, etc,

GARRY O'SULLIVAN,
managing editor,
The Irish Catholic,
Bluebell,
Dublin 12.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2008/1129/1227828909140.html

A quick websearch shows that Garry O'Sullivan was once communications officer for the Jesuits in Ireland.
This order has had particular problems with theological liberalism and a culture of homosexuality among a number of its
members.
It is sad to read in journals like Inside the Vatican the high number of active homosexuals active within the Jesuit order.
I find it quite sad to see how far the Society of Jesus in Ireland has fallen. It used to have a huge number of vocations, now it has virtually none.