The first set of permissions in Dublin, Belfast, Derry, Donegal, Sligo, Ballina and Islandeady was a good start. But that was not the end of the matter. First of all, Ireland is roughly divided in half by a barely noticable geographical phenonemon called the Escar Riada. This is a long low mound extending from Dublin to Galway. All these locations are north of the Escar Riada. So roughly half the country was untouched by the Apostolic Letter.
In addition, many petitions did not have the desired effect. In the Dromore diocese, petitions were organised in Lurgan and Newry. I am told about 1700 people signed one such petition. When this was presented to Bishop Francis Brooke, he alleged that the signatures were sought and obtained in the pubs. Good to know a bishop has confidence in his flock in Ireland.
In the Killaloe diocese, south of the ancient border, a petition was arranged in Ennis, Co Clare. Bishop Harty dealt aggressively with the organiser of the petition, which was reported in Faith and Family, a journal circulating in Ireland at the time which was banned in Veritas.
In Cork, Bishop Murphy of Cork & Ross is said to have said he would only allow the traditional Mass over his dead body. An elderly SMA missionary named Fr Thomas Higgins said a daily private Mass for years in the SMA house in Wilton in Cork.
This is a small selection of the petitions which failed, a point I will return to later on in the course of this narrative.
HALLOWE'EN: THREAT OR OPPORTUNITY?
10 years ago
2 comments:
Bishop Murphy's attitude was particularly striking given that the SSPX acquired a church in Cork in the late 1980s - a former C of I church in Sunday's Well. Don't know how big the congregation is, but it's still functioning. Some people I spoke to at the time said they actually got the impression that elements in the diocesan apparatus wanted trads to go off to the SSPX because then they wouldn't have to bother with them
I don't think Bishop Murphy was anyway unique among Irish bishops in his attitude. He might have been more outspoken about it.
At the time, the then auxilliary, Bishop Buckley, made more sympthetic noises in Cork. But it took sometime after he succeeded as Bishop of Cork and Ross before he did anything.
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