English bishop: marriage is God’s gift, let us foster it

Dublin, Ireland, Apr 2, 2019 / 04:01 pm (CNA).- Parents and Catholic schools near Dublin have expressed their opposition to a Department of Education plan to divest a school in the area from its Catholic patronage.

The Catholic Church runs more than 90 percent of schools in the Republic of Ireland, and receives government funds to do so.

The Department of Education has requested that one of the eight Catholic schools in the Malahide-Portmarnock-Kinsealy area, about 10 miles northeast of Dublin, be removed from Catholic patronage.

The request is part of an effort to reduce the role of the Catholic Church in education in Ireland. The Department of Education wants to reach 400 multi- or non-denominational schools by 2030, through a combination of divestment from Catholic patronage and new openings.

Last year, a law was adopted to prohibit Catholic primary schools from prioritizing Catholic students on admissions wait lists.

The Irish Times reported that a letter from the board of management of St. Oliver Plunkett’s School in Malahide told parents that the board and staff are entirely in favor of remaining under Catholic patronage, and that a change would have “huge implications”.

“A change in patronage would mean that First Penance, First Holy Communion and Confirmation would no longer be the responsibility of the school. Therefore, should you wish your child to receive the Sacraments, all preparation would take place outside of school hours and at a cost to parents,” the letter said.

It added that a patronage change “would impact the day to day running and management of the school, particularly in terms of managing finance, recruitment, allocation of resources.”

Parents at local schools have also been warned that Catholic holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and St. Patrick’s might no longer be celebrated at the schools were patronage changed, and that there would be a general change of culture at the schools.

A transfer of patronage would put the schools under either Educate Together, an educational charity which has been lauded by the National Secular Society of the U.K.; Community National School, a multidenominational model; or An Foras Patrunachta, a patron of Irish-language schools.

Parents of children at the schools will be asked to vote on whether they want their schol to divest from Catholic patronage.

In October 2018 Ireland adopted a law barring Catholic primary schools from taking religion into account in admissions. Under the new law, although Catholic schools can no longer use religion as a deciding factor in admissions, schools of minority religious groups, such as the Church of Ireland, can still use religion as a deciding factor to protect their ethos.

Previously, when a Catholic school was full, the admission process to determine which students would move off the waiting list could take religion into account.

Catholic organizations in Ireland have expressed worry that Catholic children and their parents could end up discriminated against under the new law, which they also fear could threaten the ethos of schools’ Catholic education.

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Belfast, Northern Ireland, Jul 27, 2017 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- An Irish priest has decried a film festival’s plans to screen two horror films in an abandoned church next month.

The Belfast Film Festival plans to show two horror movies – The Exorcist and The Omen – at Holy Rosary Church in Belfast, a landmark church that has been abandoned since 1980 and is no longer owned by the Catholic Church.  

Local parish priest Fr. Patrick McCafferty told the Belfast Telegraph that the plan was a “cheap stunt” and disrespectful to what once had been a sacred place.

“What is their motivation for showing those types of films in what was once a sacred building that will have such special memories of spiritual occasions for lots of people,” he said.

“Should they not be sensitive to the fact that many people in that area have fond associations and is sacred to the memories of many people that were baptized or married or buried there?” the priest added.

The old church is currently set to be renovated into an Italian restaurant, with with Fr. McCafferty said he has “no problem.”

“…but the screening of horror films in there is another matter entirely,” he told Ireland’s The Times.
 
The Exorcist (1973), based on William Peter Blatty’s novel by the same name, is the horror movie famous for levitating beds, spinning heads and pea-green soup.

The book and film portray the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl and her exorcism by two Catholic priests. Blatty said he drew inspiration from a 1949 Washington Post story about a Jesuit priest’s successful exorcism of a 14-year-old boy in Mount Ranier, Maryland.

While the U.S. bishops have previously said that the film stands on “shaky ground” theologically, Catholic film critics have said that for the most part, it tries to portray a real exorcism as authentically as possible.

It won two Oscars in 1974 for best sound and best writing and is one of the 20 highest-grossing films of all time. After the film’s release, interest in exorcism skyrocketed in pop culture, sparking a subgenre of films surrounding the topics of exorcism and spiritual warfare.  
 
The other film to be shown, The Omen, is a 1976 British-American that tells the story of the son of an American diplomat who is marked with the sign of the Devil and is the Antichrist.
 
In 2006, attempts to film a remake of The Omen were disrupted on location in Croatia, with sets vandalized and burnt down. The producers blamed the Catholic Church for the disruptions, saying they had decried the film and sparked the outrage.
 
Catholic reviews of The Omen tend to urge caution, as the film can be seen as depicting evil in a victorious light.
 
Fr. Cafferty said he hasn’t seen either film, though he is familiar with their controversial content.
 
“They are not the sort of films that I would choose to watch myself. People have told me about the films and I would have seen bits about The Exorcist – I just don’t understand why anyone would like to see it in a church,” he said.
 
A spokesperson for the film festival has defended the decision, saying that the abandoned church would enhance the audience’s viewing experience, and cited that the church has been defunct for almost 40 years.

“Belfast Film Festival is well known for its site-specific special events,” said the spokesperson told the BBC, citing its 2015 screening of Jaws on Portrush beach as one example.

“The locations chosen add an extra dimension to the screening, and we think the stone cold surroundings of an abandoned church will make for a suitably chilling viewing experience for The Exorcist.”

“Many people will have their own personal reasons for disliking The Exorcist, and we respect their right to that opinion, but the truth is that it was one of the most widely acclaimed films of the 1970s, nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture,” the spokesperson added.

The screenings of The Exorcist and The Omen, to be shown on Aug. 19 and 20 respectively, have already sold out, according to The Times.

[…]

Dublin, Ireland, Dec 5, 2019 / 07:00 pm (CNA).- After the demolition of a Dublin building, archaeologists have  discovered the foundations a 300-year-old church that was used during times of Catholic persecution.

The church was uncovered by a tea… […]