‘Irish Stew’; A tacky soap opera? Part of Irish Church history? Lord save us!

The following is part of Voris' series on Ireland, and doesn’t come with cooking instructions. It's part of the recent history of the Church in Ireland, and not the plot of a tawdry soap opera. Am I forgiven for confusing one for the other? In Ireland, apparently one priest was 'allowed' to take over – Fr Ledwith – at Maynooth Seminary. Fr Ledwith became head of St Patrick’s Seminary Maynooth in 1985. Previous to becoming head of Maynooth, six seminarians brought forth charges that Ledwith had sexually harassed them… Then in the 1900s Fr Ledwith made a financial settlement to a man who said that Ledwith abused him as a minor.

Oh, and Ledwith has been laicised and is now a well regarded speaker on new age religion. I’d bet he doesn’t mention that he was accused of rape and sexual misconduct, when he’s explaining New Age doctrine such as those swinging crystals that trap good energy. But it's not fair of Michael Voris to keep reiterating that 'homosexuality' was the prime factor in the disgrace surrounding Ledwith. Ledwith may be homosexual - and that's his private business - but the problem was that he was sexually bullying seminarians, and was not called to account. According to Catholic teaching, all those (be they heterosexual or homosexual) who were complicit in letting Ledwith carry on, share in his guilt.

Michael Voris sometimes barks up the wrong tree; such as arbitrarily saying “The single most prevalent issue that brought down the Church in Ireland was homosexuality...”. That's just not true, and risks tarring all people who have same-sex attraction with the same brush. It was sexual misconduct, sexual abuse, the silencing of someone who sought to bring justice, and 'the cover up'. If Ledwith had sexually harassed women, could it be said that heterosexuality had been the biggest problem? No, we would concentrate on the illegality of the issue; that Ledwith was a sexual predator whose crimes were odious.

Voris speaks about a ‘few Irish Catholics foraging among the ruins’. That might be us, but if I doubt that it’s right for us to take pride in this matter; after all, with Church leaders employing someone like Ledwith, it’s harder to blame Catholics in Ireland for not being faithful.