New Study Finds Half of Irish Catholics Returned After Pandemic

A new study by the Iona Institute has found that:

• 46% of Catholics who were regular Mass goers pre pandemic have since returned

• Of those who have not yet returned, 62% have said that it is because of fear

• 20% said that they do not know if they will return

• 4% said that they will not return

Commenting on the poll, which was a sample of 1,000 people, Iona’s David Quinn commented:

Church leaders will be encouraged that almost half of Catholics who were attending Mass regularly before the start of the pandemic have returned. In many cases, this is about the maximum a given church can accommodate because of social distancing requirements.

 What is noteworthy, however, is among those who have not returned, fear of Covid is still the main driving force even though almost every Mass-goer will be fully vaccinated by now, whereas last year, no-one was vaccinated. Clearly some work needs to be done both by the Churches and public health authorities to reduce the fear factor to a more reasonable level.

Church leaders will also be concerned that around a quarter of those who were coming to Mass regularly before the pandemic either won’t be back, or don’t know if they will. Is this because they have fallen out of the habit, or they have become permanently nervous of crowds? One way or the other, there will have to be an outreach to this group

Generally speaking, these are not numbers, especially with Ireland having endured Western Europe’s most severe lockdown and one of the world’s most aggressive crackdowns on religion during the pandemic. Gardai were seen entering churches, there were newspaper ‘journalists’ monitoring churches on webcams to spot if 5 extra people attended funerals and there was even the case of Fr. PJ Hughers, where Gardai surrounded his village to stop people from attending Mass. These have all played large psychological deterrents to a swift return to Mass.

It might be interesting to see if the recent bravery from the bishops in standing up to the government, who arbitrarily changed Covid rules today after being caught partying hard with dozens at a time across hotels in Dublin, will have an impact upon increasing numbers of those attending Mass.

Czech Cardinal's Beautiful Response to Criticism

When faith and politics collide, it is often the case that people are inclined to take sides and to forget humanity while engaging in animosity.

A powerful example of how to keep one’s humanity in a Christian spirit has been displayed by Czech Cardinal Dominik Duka this week, when he was interviewed regarding two of his employees running for election with right wing parties.

The political activities of Josef Nerušil and Hana Lipovský have caused serious objections from liberal Catholics in the Czech Republic, with twenty six prominent Catholics releasing a recent public letter calling on Cardinal Duka to disown the pair. The open letter stated:

We fear that some information about your attitudes is confusing to both the Catholic and non-Catholic publics, and in the eyes of many people, it legitimizes political forces that are completely contrary to the basic principles of gospel, joy, peace, and justice

We therefore believe that, at this moment, there is an urgent need for you to stand clearly and convincingly on the side of truth and justice, on the democratic direction of our country, in order to promote the prestige of the Catholic Church in the eyes of the public. On the contrary, the impression that the Catholic Church is dangerously messing with extreme political currents, reinforced by uncertainty about your true views, could lead to a further departure of people of goodwill from the Catholic Church.

Despite facing public pressure to disown the pair, Cardinal Duka has given an interview to Konzervativ Ninoviny in which he gave a thoughtful and Christian response on the matter:

The Church is not an organization that has led a political life. Although it is often associated with certain movements. This may have been the case in history, but the Second Vatican Council declared that this path was not possible. Each Catholic chooses according to his conscience. We know and know Mrs Lipovsky's statement, so it will now be up to her to what extent she fulfils her mission and how she goes forward. Even the bishops' conference does not tell believers which party is electable and which is uneatable. They must respect freedom of conscience and have confidence in our believers that they can carry out their political engagement in the spirit and conscience of a Christian. That's all I can say as my office, and I'm not authorized to do so.

Cardinal Duka lived under Communism and knows full well that state and church’s relationship can become toxic and authoritarian. With that in mind, another comment that he made in the same interview was the most meaningful:

We must realise that it is a democracy and, if we are a democratic state, the political parties represented in parliament meet the basic parameters of a democratic system. And then it's up to those people to decide. And then we know that a large part of political parties are silent in many areas. Even if they are radical-left actions that literally undermine all the foundations of Christian civilization. And it doesn't cause any outrage at all. We are in a situation where many people believe that only some extreme attitudes can change the atmosphere in society.

As my office, I have to deal with every mayor when I come to the parish. No matter which party he was elected to. There's no other way. Just as I have to deal with all the parties in parliament. I have led various negotiations and from different levels since 1990. I have to understand every person. Even if it doesn't go the way I want it to go. And it can go in a direction that I may even rightly consider wrong. But I can't write him off. I can't distance myself from him.

This debate is currently raging across Europe, should pro abortion pro Globalism politicians be considered to be more acceptable just because they are on media outlets every day, while nationalist and conservative politicians are faced with expulsion?

The church will come under increasing pressure to denounce non Globalist politicians across Europe as the forces of Globalism lose their grips on power, as is happening in Germany, Italy, France and Spain. The cardinal’s response seems the fairest example.

George Soros Funded RTE's Abortion Propaganda Film

In 2018, Ireland infamously voted to remove the rights of unborn babies to be alive within its jurisdiction.

One of the few amusing aspects of the whole thing was that women (and male feminists) naively saw it as a grassroots movement, when in reality it was designed as a way to unite the Left with ruling parties Fine Gael and Fianna Fail after a decade of austerity. The ‘movement’ to lower the birth rates of Irish people through abortion was not a ‘grassroots women’s movement’, but was mostly driven and funded by men, with women generally reduced to the roles of shrieking on social media and making cardboard signs that said ‘Keep your Rosaries off my Ovaries’.

One of the men who dreamt up the legalised culling of Irish babies was George Soros, making this reality through his Open Society Foundation. The Open Society Foundation contributed financially to many ‘human rights’ NGOs in the runup to the referendum, who saw no problem in campaigning to remove the most fundamental of human rights, the right to be alive.

Thank you @OpenSociety for helping us make @the8thfilm https://t.co/JNXmId4wul

— Aideen Kane (@aideenkane) June 18, 2020

The media tried to make light of Soros’s involvement, as did pro aborts, but ultimately the vote was almost entirely the creation of Soros, Irish based Anglo media and those in the establishment who wished to lower the birth rate. The pro abort boots on the street were mere pawns and had no real impact upon the result, as can be seen in Poland today, where naive women carry identical posters from those Soros used in Ireland, fully convinced of their own originality and independence in the process.

Now, Soros has funded a new film in which ‘he primary focus of this new documentary is on the dynamic female leaders of the pro-choice campaign’. They then have the gall to mention ‘grassroots activism’, even calling it achieving the ‘near impossible’. The oligarchs must be laughing.

Despite round the clock promotion on Irish Government Media, the film has garnered little in the way of genuine enthusiasm from ordinary Irish people, many of whom voted to remove the rights of unborn babies based on ambiguous promises. The film’s press release is mired in anti Catholic fantasist delusions, stating ‘It shows a country’s transformation from a conservative state in thrall to the Catholic church to a more liberal secular society’.

Ireland is traditionally one of the least civically informed nations on Earth, with many unaware that later that year, pro abortion politicians rejected amendments to ban sex selective abortions, to ban abortions for disability grounds and refused to permit pain relief to be administered to babies in abortion. Most recently, many are unaware that babies have been stabbed in the heart and born alive during abortions and left to die. Many are still convinced that they passed a law for emergencies.

Tonight’s propaganda piece may be one of the last stings of the dying wasp of RTE, which is now thankfully looking close to bankruptcy.

It also signals the end of the 3 years of the Repeal movement, with its two main leaders, Zappone and Varadkar now embroiled in a corruption scandal.

1/3 of Irish Women Who Aborted Called Helpline After

Despite the Irish government’s claims that they wanted to save lives over the past year and a half, they managed to successfully abort over 6,000 babies during that same period.

An annual report has revealed that 2,000 of the mothers of those babies called the HSE’s MyOptions helpline for ‘post termination support’. This represents almost 1/3 of the total number of abortions.

Overall, 10,000 women called the helpline last year while going through a crisis pregnancy, which has been made harder by the pro abortion’s government’s anti family policies.

The numbers calling the helpline were actually higher in 2019, with 13,214 calling the crisis pregnancy line and 2,793 calling the post abortion helpline.

It is likely that some may now be repeat abortions, thus reducing the need to get support, but Ireland does not publish detailed information on topics such as that like the British do so we can only guess.

There is also a ‘webchat’ service, where a person hired by the government speaks to the person who has aborted their child and offers ‘support’.

The report also stated that 11 face to face services established for support were unable to operate as normal due to the lockdown restrictions in 2020.

Research reports and publications - sexualwellbeing.ie

Repealgate Overshadows RTE's Abortion Movie Night

Tonight was supposed to be a fun night in for the girlos of the Repeal the 8th movement, which stripped Irish babies of the right to be born and has killed around 15,000 of them already.

Instead, a dark cloud has descended over the largely middle class movement, as its two leaders Leo Varadkar and Katherine Zappone are embroiled in a scandal over the latter’s appointment to a lucrative fake role and both of their attendances at a social gathering at a Dublin Hotel.

Varadkar could barely contain his contempt last month when he spat ‘Yeah they’re off’ at Catholics regarding Communions and Confirmations. His disdain was played down by the media, as he was spotted attending several outdoor events for Dublin Pride, even as pro Varadkar journalists contemptuously warned clergy that Communions could ‘risk lives’.

The whole thing started to unravel last week however, as a number of bishops signalled their intentions to defy Varadkar’s edict, which was the straw that broke the camel’s back in this instance. After a year of events such as having Gardai surround a village where Mass was taking place, storming a church in Athlone and many individual cases of Gardai visiting priests because single digits of extra mourners had attended funerals, enough was enough.

The move coincided with pro censorship Biden campaigner Zappone being appointed to a made up role of Free Speech Czar, where she would be paid tens of thousands of euro for 60 hours work a year. Bilderberg member Simon Coveney, who spent much of the past few weeks dropping in for tea to leaders in Africa (yes, really), claimed that it was a real job, but only exacerbated public outrage.

Now, the story has taken on a whole new dimension, with reports of both attending a Zappone centric event at a Dublin hotel alongside 50 others, which is not permitted under Covid rules.

The story has flattened the triumphant mood of Ireland’s abortion lobby, who were hoping that tonight’s Soros funded film The 8th would recreate the joyous mood that they had celebrating removing a baby’s right to live in Dublin Castle in May 2018.

Zappone and Varadkar were the heroes of that day. One part Indian, gay and Protestant educated, one American and a Lesbian, it was seen as the birth of a new Ireland.

It was the birth of a new Ireland alright, where the cronyism carries a rainbow flag instead of a brown envelope.

Ken Moore

Irish Priest's Incredible Comeback To Radio Caller

Despite themselves infamously breaking Covid Rules earlier in the year with a large party, Ireland’s State Media have worked overtime to create a fictional crisis within the Irish church which apparently hinges on ‘divisions’ over returns to Communions and Confirmations.

To create this façade, they have brought Father Tony Flannery on a number of broadcasts, failing to tell viewers and listeners that he is currently suspended from public ministry by the Vatican.

Flannery appeared on RTE Radio this morning to express reservations about children being allowed to make their First Holy Communions and Confirmations, citing public health advice.

RTE, who broadcast a skit earlier this year which accused Catholics of worshipping a rapist God, also invited Fr. Brendan Kilcoyne of the Brendan Option podcast from Immaculata Productions.

One listener reacted angrily to the suggestions of opening, stating:

I am horrified that bishops and priests are willing to break public health guidelines. Disgraceful!

Fr. Brendan paused for a second before replying:

Society is itself doing things that we find absolutely abhorrent, such as for instance abortion, but we have to live with that

Radio Caller: I am horrified that bishops and priests are willing to break public health guidelines. Disgraceful!

Based Irish Priest: Well society is doing things that we find abhorrent, such as abortion

🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/ldlmksPhCp

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) August 3, 2021

RTE will air pro abortion propaganda film ‘The 8th’ tomorrow, which was made with money from a grant by George Soros’s Open Society Foundation.

Maybe they will include this scene.

Pro aborts: Nobody takes abortion lightly

Also pro aborts: pic.twitter.com/QVJCAfYjjX

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) September 11, 2019

How to Pray the Rosary in Latin

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Crédo in Déum, Pátrem omnipoténtem, Creatórem cáeli et térræ. Et in Jésum Chrístum, Fílium éjus unícum, Dóminum nóstrum, qui concéptus est de Spíritu Sáncto, nátus ex María Vírgine, pássus sub Póntio Piláto, crucifíxus, mórtuus, et sepúltus. Descéndit ad ínferos: tértia díe resurréxit a mórtuis: ascéndit ad cáelos: sédet ad déxteram Déi Pátris omnipoténtis: índe ventúrus est judicáre vívos et mórtuos.

Crédo in Spíritum Sánctum, sánctam Ecclésiam Cathólicam, Sanctórum communiónem, remissiónem peccatórum, cárnis resurrectiónem, vítam ætérnam. Amen.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Páter nóster, qui es in cáelis, sanctificétur nómen túum. Advéniat régnum túum. Fíat volúntas túa, sícut in cáelo et in térra.

Pánem nóstrum quotidiánum da nóbis hódie, et dimítte nóbis débita nóstra, sícut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nóstris. Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem: sed líbera nos a málo. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen.

Áve María, grátia pléna, Dóminus técum; benedícta tu in muliéribus, et benedíctus frúctus véntris túi, Jésus.

Sáncta María, Máter Déi, óra pro nóbis peccatóribus, nunc et in hóra mórtis nóstræ. Amen.

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins and save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.

O Jésu mi, ignósce nóbis, libera nos ab ígne inférni, ad caélum tráhe ómnes ánimas, praesáertim máxime indigéntes.

Hail holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us. And after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary,

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

O God, Who by the life death and resurrection of Thy only-begotten Son, hath purchased for us the rewards of eternal salvation, grant, we beseech Thee, that meditating on these mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sálve Regína, máter misericórdiæ: víta, dulcédo, et spes nóstra, sálve. Ad te clamámus, exsúles fílii Hévæ. Ad te suspirámus, geméntes et fléntes in hac lacrimárum válle. Éja érgo, Advocáta nóstra, íllos túos misericórdes óculos ad nos convérte. Et Jésum, benedíctum frúctum véntris túi, nóbis post hoc exsílium osténde. O clémens, O pía, O dúlcis Vírgo María,

V. Óra pro nóbis sáncta Déi Génitrix
R. Ut dígni efficiámur promissiónibus Chrísti.

Orémus:

Déus, cújus Unigénitus per vítam, mórtem et resurrectiónem súam nóbis salútis ætérnæ præmia comparávit: concéde, quæsumus: ut hæc mystéria sacratíssimo beátæ Maríæ Vírginis Rosário recoléntes, et imitémur quod cóntinent, et quod promíttunt, assequámur. Per eúndem Chrístum Dóminum nóstrum. Amen.

Health Minister Said 'Church Have Lot to Answer For', Criticised Archbishop

A newly unearthed interview from Stephen Donnelly has exacerbated the growing rift between the Minister for Health and Catholics, especially in light of incendiary comments that he has made about First Communions and Confirmations.

The Health Minister has issued a warning to the bishops which the Irish Independent referred to as ‘blunt’ today, on the same day that an explosive interview with Hot Press was unearthed on social media. In that interview, Donnelly admitted to smoking marijauna and enjoying it, he also admitted to having visited a ‘strip club’, but refused to be drawn on questions about other drugs that he had used. In the interview, he also stated,

I’d like to find a way to decriminalise small quantities of weed. If a grown adult wants to grow a herb and then smoke it, and there are no negative consequences for other people, then they should be allowed to do that.

This seems remarkably different from his opinion that Catholic bishops are ‘putting lives at risk’ by performing Communions and Confirmations, in church settings where not a single transmission of Covid has been linked.

After being asked was he religious, Donnelly (who also stated that his campaign for election was managed by someone who had led Obama’s campaign in Toledo) told Hot Press:

I’m a non-practising Catholic. I would describe myself as spiritual – not in a twinkly bells sense. But I do believe that there is more out there than what we see in the physical world. I do believe that Jesus Christ was around 2,000-odd years ago. Was he the physical personification of God the Catholic Church preaches? I don’t know.

He then continued:

I have huge difficulty with some of the Catholic Church’s dogma around things like homosexuality and abortion and the role of women. And, I think, sadly, they have a lot to answer for.

In 2018, Donnelly (who’s government presided over 3,000 domestic violence 999 calls being ignored in large numbers during lockdown) claimed that the church ‘promoted’ a ‘shameful, hypocritical and destructive view of women across the Globe’.

Mary McAleese's Rome speech is powerful. Speaks to the conflict between Christian values of love & respect versus shameful, hypocritical & destructive view of women as second class citizens, and worse, promoted by the Catholic Church across the globe. https://t.co/KklxGT8GOU

— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) March 9, 2018

Donnelly (who’s government have been criticised for their poor responses to domestic violence) then double down on his sectarian slurs.

Ollie mate - breath. It's Friday. We're playing Scotland tomorrow. It's okay for people to have different opinions. If you think the Catholic Church has been doing a good job promoting equality between men & women, then that's your view.

— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) March 9, 2018

Donnelly also tried to interfere in the internal matters of the church with a tweet that unleashed a Twitter mob after Archbishop Eamon Martin, after the Archbishop followed church procedure by stating the automatic excommunications of politicians who vote for abortion.

Archbishop Eamon Martin just refused to rule out excommunication for TDs for a yes vote tonight. The hypocrisy is galling.

— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) July 10, 2013

Many Catholics are still convinced that they are living in the late 70s or early 80s and that any playful to and fro with politicians will not ultimately affect them and that it is still licit to throw a few quid into the Fianna Fail church gate collection.

When legions of Gardai are surrounding villages to stop people attending Mass, as happened in Cavan earlier this year, then it is time to wake up and smell the coffee.

The Hot Press Interview with Stephen Donnelly | Hotpress

Dying With Dignity Bill Was Only One Battle

Many have heard the favourable news that the Justice Committee of the Oireachtas (Ireland’s Parliament or Congress) concluded that the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020 is not “legislatively workable” due to “a number of drafting errors, there were a number of technical legal errors.” [James Lawless]

This Bill “was dismissed on technical, not ethical, grounds.” Maybe through technicalities, but a victory nonetheless. The demise of the Bill should be perceived as carrying the day in a major battle — not prevailing in the war.

James Lawless, Chair of the Justice Committee, said that Assisted Suicide & Voluntary Euthanasia is “…a very important issue…but this needs to be done properly…all the issues which the OPLA [Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers] have stated, they can be overcome.”  

“They can be overcome…”

A loaded statement from any Barrister-Politician! Lawless was talking about the wording of the Bill primarily, though he seems to imply overcoming all opposition to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide too.

The coalition government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party have ‘drunk the Kool-Aid’ of misguided ‘compassion’ laced with ‘absolute personal autonomy.’ This has led them to support Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. Sinn Féin is not much better. They pledged “…support for the new legislation which would let people who are terminally ill decide the timing of their own death” which clearly fits with their support of Westminster imposing abortion onto Northern Ireland.

Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O'Neill “support London's rule in the North.”

Other jurisdictions allowing Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide have not become more compassionate, though they do become more tolerant...tolerant to damaging our Human Rights. A few people will gain a brief sense of control through Assisted Suicide/Voluntary Euthanasia [AS/VE] but this comes at an enormous cost to society as a whole. Medicine in several countries has changed, forever.

Please consider reading other article on Euthanasia, Society and Medicine in Catholic Arena, including:

HARD CASES MAKE BAD LAW.

https://www.catholicarena.com/latest/hardcaseslawmay21

PUTTING THE EUTHANASIA GENIE BACK IN THE BOTTLE.

https://www.catholicarena.com/latest/euthanasiagenie 

The ‘flawed legislation’

While speaking on Newstalk, campaigner Michael Nugent made the unsubstantiated claim that Assisted Dying is already taking place “even though the legislation is not there” and that Ireland needs "…legislation to regulate something that's already happening.” Ireland does have legislation regulating Assisted Dying and Euthanasia — the Justice, Law and Criminal Procedure Acts!   

Lawless praised the Dying with Dignity Bill as an “important Bill” which was “opening up a conversation which needs to be had.” The Justice Committee received over 1,400 submissions, most of which were opposed to the Bill. These included: the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland; the Irish Palliative Medicine Consultants Association; the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland; the Irish Society of Physicians in Geriatric Medicine; the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland; the Irish Healthcare Professionals for Dignity in Living and Dying, amongst others.

There was one submission from a group of 100 doctors called the “Irish Doctors supporting Medical Assistance in Dying” (IDsMAiD) who support “medically assisted dying.” As of the 27 July 2021, @IDsMAiD1 on Twitter had 172 followers and a total of 19 Tweets! (If, as Nugent suggests, Euthanasia is already occurring in Ireland, one would logically investigate these 100 doctors first!)

Thank God the Irish people and the medical profession were so vocal. In 2015-16 the Canadian Medical Association and Alberta Medical Association provided NO opposition to the introduction of Medical Assistance in Dying (AS/VE) into Canada. Such silence showed acquiescence, if not clear approval. Since 2016 the progression has been so rapid that Canada has already made it legal for doctors to kill people — Canadian citizens — suffering from mental illnesses alone, by 2023.

Medical Ethics

The Medical Council of Ireland is explicit in its guidance to the profession: Section 22.6 of the Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners states: “You must not participate in the deliberate killing of a patient by active means.” If a Minister of Health ever pressures the MCI to change this Section, expect some new iteration of the “Dying with Dignity” Bill.

Conclusion

Ireland has faced many tough problems over the past 18 months, including the COVID pandemic, a prolonged lock-down, the effects of mass immigration and civil unrest. During this disaster, the Irish government perversely tried to sneak through this shabby legislation for Assisted Suicide and Voluntary Euthanasia.

As has happened in other countries (the UK right now) this sort of legislation will keep coming, and coming, till the liberal politicians get their way or the voter tells them otherwise through the ballot box. Next election, the same liberal ‘modern’ politicians will bribe the electorate with shiny cups to drink from the communal trough, so that they can get their way later…

Perhaps the plain cup is the better choice? Then maybe, Ireland will not have to choke down more of this flawed legislation.

DO NOT LET THEM WIN THE WAR.

Dr. Kevin Hay.

Kevin is a UCD grad and a rural Family Doctor in Alberta, Canada.

You can follow him on Twitter @kevinhay77 (though please be careful on Anti-Social Media!)

Social Democrats Founder Falsely Claims Communions 'Putting Lives At Risk'

Despite there being no public evidence of a single transmission of Covid 19 in a Catholic church, the co-founder of the anti clerical Anglo Centric party Social Democrats, Stephen Donnelly, has today baselessly claimed that bishops are ‘putting lives at risk’.

In what the Irish Independent called a ‘blunt warning’, the former prolife politician and now pro abortion Minister for Health and ardent self proclaimed ‘feminist’, claimed that he ‘understood the frustration among people of religious faith and saluted the patience shown by church leaders of all denominations’.

This is despite the fact that his soon to be Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has been seen repeatedly celebrating ‘Pride’ on the streets of Dublin over the summer, with Irish journalists working overtime to ignore the videos and images, having played down his breaking of restrictions last May when he was spotted drinking in the Phoenix Park. There was also the heavy establishment presence at the recent Festival of Sacrifice in Croke Park, which was presented as a totally acceptable event. They have also allowed Drag Shows to proceed, with children present.

Unacceptable @CorksRedFM If you don't protect your children from exposure to Drag Queen sexualisation nobody will. pic.twitter.com/V82PmgqFAl

— Hermann Kelly (@hermannkelly) July 28, 2021

The government have repeatedly twisted the knife on Catholics since accepting the bailout from the IMF over a decade ago. They shut down the Vatican Embassy, twisted the Mother and Baby Homes history to include something about babies being flung into a septic tank (without evidence) and in recent months have sent Drew Harris’s Gardai to intimidate Catholics in their places of worship, even surrounding Fr. PJ Hughes in Cavan in a China style show of strength as he said Mass. It is highly likely that they will attempt to do the same again before year’s end.

Donnelly is the founder of the Social Democrats, a party who have amongst other things suggested government regulation of Confession and banning prayer vigils near abortuaries. One of their TDs infamously claimed, before she was elected, that she would have an abortion for every minute given to the conclave in 2013.

More recently, the same TD expressed her confusion at Ireland’s restrictions on Mass being eased, when at the time they were the most draconian outside of China and North Korea.

Donnelly is no longer in the Social Democrats, but Fianna Fail. For some reason, many Catholics still vote for Fianna Fail despite their hard pro abortion positions and growing anti clericalism, as well as their active work in attacking the pro family policies of Hungary and Poland.

They have seen no problem allowing abortion clinics to continue and to allow wedding numbers to resume to 100 while limiting funeral numbers and outright forbidding Communions and Confirmations.

Now is the time to get behind your bishops and priests, when the next lockdown comes a scapegoat will be needed and you can bet that they will be high on the government’s list for blame. This is not the Ireland that you grew up in, to be am Irish Catholic now is to be considered hostile to the Irish State itself.

Ironically, Communions and Confirmations have taken place as normal in the United Kingdom, meaning that there are areas in Northern Ireland where they can happen but not minutes away across the border. The Irish government have also had no problem with tens of thousands travelling each weekend to Belfast and other places for partying. Only the most gullible would accept this ban as being sincere.

Catholic Arena

Irish Prolifers Continue Fight Against Abortion

Last week, Sinn Fein/Westminster signalled their intention to establish ‘services’ which would provide controlled destructions of unborn Irish babies in Northern Ireland.

Sinn Fein, who are now a Unionist Party in all but name, gleefully supported London’s continued rule in the North, celebrating the deaths of Irish babies. Where Bobby Sands once claimed that ‘Our Revenge Will Be The Laughter of Our Children’, Unionist Sinn Fein reply, ‘Our Laughter Will Be The Deaths of Our Children’.

Prolifers have not accepted defeat yet however, despite the massive odds against them, with the parliaments in London, Dublin and Belfast all determined to abort Irish babies.

In Belfast this past weekend, Precious Life arranged baby shoes in the shape of the number 1,556, to represent the Northern Irish babies killed by abortion doctors in the past 15 months.

Their vigils have faced extreme violence from pro Westminster Irish Republicans (it’s a thing now) in recent months, who have demanded that the prolifers bow to London rule in the name of the Irish Republic. Nonetheless, they have persevered and this display shows a powerful reminder of the lives already lost and yet to be lost to abortion in Northern Ireland, with ‘Catholics’ Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees Mogg culpable for the issuing of the edict.

In another event, Catholics took to the streets of Dublin to discuss abortion with the public and to hand out leaflets as seen in the video below. 3 years since the removal of the 8th Amendment and it appears as though many Irish still don’t understand what they voted for that day.

Across the country, there were prolife vigils at medical facilities.

This one below took place in Roscommon.

As George Soros’s astro turfed propaganda piece ‘The 8th’ airs on Irish State Media channel RTE this week (a heavily funded station which recently claimed that Catholics worship a rapist God) it is worth reminding people that they might not have had the trajectory that brought them to abortion in the past decade were it not for the IMF bailout and the close cooperation between the forces of international banking, large corporations, George Soros, the Bilderberg secret society and the Irish left.

The Irish prolife movement is a movement of the people. It is speaking for the weakest. It gives a voice to the past, present and future of the Irish nation.

The ‘Irish’ abortion movement is a movement of the oligarchs, the bankers and the Imperialists. It speaks for the strongest, the richest the cruellest. It gives a voice to those who wish to kill the Irish nation.

Costa Rica Catholics Pray for End to Latin Mass Ban

Last week, Catholic Arena were among the first to report on the complete ban on the Traditional Latin Mass in Costa Rica.

Today, those Traditional Catholics who were shut out from their right to the Latin Mass have gathered at the residence of their Apostolic Nuncio to pray for mercy and for its return. Carrying photographs of Pope Francis and the Vatican flag, they knelt and prayed the Rosary as they begged their powerful clerics to exercise kindness in allowing the Latin Mass to return.

Their Facebook page stated:

We want to reiterate that tomorrow's event IS NOT A PROTEST, it is a day of prayer or public ′′ vigil ′′ that we will make Costa Ricans faithful in absolute communion visible with Pope Francis and our Bishops, on the basis of Canon 212 § 3:

They have the right, and sometimes even the duty, on their own knowledge, competence and prestige, to express to the holy pastors their opinion about what belongs to the good of the Church and to manifest to others faithful, saving always integrity of faith and customs, reverence toward Pastors, and given the common usefulness and dignity of the people.

After their bishops banned the Latin Mass in their entire country, Costa Rica Traditional Catholics gathered outside their residence today and prayed for mercy while holding images of Pope Francis and the Vatican flag pic.twitter.com/RBjvQdO7qj

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) July 31, 2021

Hopefully the Nuncio can return to Rome with a message that relays their faith and desire for mercy.

Learn the Our Father in Latin

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Páter nóster, qui es in cáelis, sanctificétur nómen túum. Advéniat régnum túum. Fíat volúntas túa, sícut in cáelo et in térra.

Pánem nóstrum quotidiánum da nóbis hódie, et dimítte nóbis débita nóstra, sícut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nóstris. Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem: sed líbera nos a málo. Amen.

Irish State Permits Drag Shows for Kids But Not Communions

As they take their holidays this weekend, the Irish government have reacted angrily to efforts by Catholics to host First Communions and Confirmations for children.

A number of bishops have already signalled their intention to proceed with these, having had to change plans at the last minute repeatedly, including when Leo Varadkar cruelly announced ‘Yeah they’re off’, when asked about them at the end of a recent interview. That insult, deliberate or not, appears to have been the final straw for the bishops, as it coincided with clips of Leo Varadkar celebrating ‘Dublin Pride’ on the streets of Dublin.

Now, the angry responses from Micheal Martin ring hollow with images of another Pride event being ignored by the government. Those images came from Red FM, who organised a surreal drag show in the presence of children in Cork this past week.

The event called ‘Heels on Wheels’ was organised by Cork’s Red FM and involved Drag Queens travelling to a number of homes to eh, perform.

Red FM’s Facebook stated:

We had great fun last night joining Cork Pride in surprising five happy households with Heels on Wheels, an outdoor performance from some of Cork’s favourite drag queens

The children present looked objectively terrified, as many on social media noted.

Unacceptable @CorksRedFM If you don't protect your children from exposure to Drag Queen sexualisation nobody will. pic.twitter.com/V82PmgqFAl

— Hermann Kelly (@hermannkelly) July 28, 2021

We’re not particularly interested in the ins and outs of the event as such, but it is interesting that Micheal Martin failed to express upset at children attending that particular outing. There is no doubt that this government appears to have gleefully enjoyed shutting down Mass, changing rules at the last minute and sending Gardai to storm Catholic churches in the past year. If they have not done so, then that public relations issue is their problem and not the problem of Catholics.

How to Pray the Hail Mary in Latin

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen.

Áve María, grátia pléna, Dóminus técum; benedícta tu in muliéribus, et benedíctus frúctus véntris túi, Jésus.

Sáncta María, Máter Déi, óra pro nóbis peccatóribus, nunc et in hóra mórtis nóstræ. Amen.Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen.

Taoiseach Fumes as Church Defies Hypocrite Government

On Irish State Media today, Bilderberg member Simon Coveney openly bragged of travelling to Kenya and Somalia in recent days.

The controversial former prolifer has attended pointless junkets in locations as far flung as Iran and Turkey as his own people were under de facto house arrest during much of 2021.

The hypocrisy of Coveney, and others, was often highlighted during increasingly draconian attacks against religious freedom in the Irish State. Some of these attacks included Gardai being sent to confront priests who were distributing Communion, national newspapers watching webcam footage of Catholic funerals and reporting on 5 (yes 5) extra mourners and even footage of Gardai storming a church before Mass in Athlone in images that shocked the world.

Now, in the wake of a stream of images of Taoiseach in Waiting Leo Varadkar regularly attending large outdoor events for ‘Dublin Pride’, the Catholic Bishops have finally said ‘enough’.

In a statement released yesterday, the bishops stated that they would be allowing Communions, Confirmations and Baptisms to proceed as planned. The anti Catholic government have repeatedly strung the church along on allowing these events only to change their minds at the last minute, leaving the religious authorities to deal with angry parents and disappointed children.

Yes, there is a merit to children arriving to Mass on any given day to receive their First Holy Communion as some have suggested, but perhaps that is better off as a future initiative. Right now, the church were being made fools of by a government that has repeatedly mocked and derided them in the Dail, yet now expected them to accept their discriminatory decisions as being made in good faith.

The increasingly maligned Taoiseach Micheal Martin, who will step aside to allow for Leo Varadkar to resume the role soon, has reacted angrily to Bishop Kevin Doran's statement on the matter.

Martin stated he opposed ‘‘any unilateral breaching of regulations no matter what quarter they come from”. The Fianna Fail leader, who was once prolife but turned his party into a pro abortion outfit, continued ‘I'd say to the church authorities that the Government's only motivation here in terms of the regulations we have brought in, in respect of gatherings and congregations, is to protect people and to protect people's health. That is our only motivation and I think that should be accepted in good faith’.

His anger eminated from Bishop Doran's statement that ‘‘The mission of the Church cannot be put on hold indefinitely”. Surely even the most ardent anti Catholic could not say with a straight face that the church should think of the discriminatory behaviour of the past year as being ‘in good faith'.

The bishops have done the right thing. They have been singled out because of bigotry and spite, for no other reason. It is impossible to take in ‘good faith's such restrictions from the same politicians who were hissing and abusing Catholics praying outside churches during lockdown and who were recording videos of processions and uploading them to media to encourage bullying of people of faith, not to mention those who picketed a Catholic church recently to demand that they fly certain flags.

Stand by your bishops and support them.

Between now and when the government attempts to inevitably shut down Masses at Christmas again, we are all in this battle together.

Biden Campaigner Handed Lucrative ‘Free Speech' Role At Expense of Irish Taxpayer

Notorious ‘change work' figure Katherine Zappone has been handed a money spinning made up position by the Irish government, prompting outrage and bewilderment across the political spectrum in the country.

Bilderberg extremist Simon Coveney has denied that the position of Freedom of Speech Czar was created especially for Ms. Zappone, but nonetheless stated that he refused to consider anyone else for the ludicrous position, since she ‘happened to live in New York’, near the UN. Despite Ireland’s homeless crisis and looming economic difficulties, Zappone will net a cool €20,000 basic salary for the made up role, which Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has stated will involve only 60 hours ‘work’ PER YEAR. Zappone is expected to receive expenses for the fake and pointless job also.

Zappone is an American who received an Irish passport in 1995. She was handed a lucrative Senator position by pro austerity left winger Eamon Gilmore and anti Vatican Taoiseach Enda Kenny. In 2016, she was elected to the Dail. The American lesbian stated that Ireland’s prolife 8th amendment ‘oppresses us with the burden of choicelessness. As long as the Constitution treats a foetus as equal to a woman, her autonomy can be nothing more than a myth’.

Zappone was handed the position of ‘Minister for Children’ by the Fine Gael/Fianna Fail government, as the ‘Repeal the 8th’ movement became wed to the cruel austerity positions of the regressive government. Rather than protect children from conception, as one would expect of a ‘Minister for Children’, Zappone worked eagerly to remove the rights of unborn children to be alive during pregnancy, which had been protected under the 8th Amendment. She was the essential driving force behind the movement to remove their rights, leading to the 2018 scenes of bloodthirst at Dublin Castle which shocked even hardened anti baby cultures such as Zappone's native United States and the United Kingdom.

After being roundly rejected by Irish voters in 2020, Zappone promised to continue her ‘change work'. She campaigned for Joe Biden during his election campaign that same year, stating after he had won, ‘We needed to bring democracy back to America.

“And we were voting as well for the character of the man, the values that he holds as well as the plans he’s put together.”

Here we go! #votebidenharris #Demconvention #election2020 #usa🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/WGxCqv2aJC

— Katherine Zappone (@k_zappone) August 12, 2020

Wearing my pearls to celebrate Madame #VicePresidentHarris pic.twitter.com/CeSw7aOwXy

— Katherine Zappone (@k_zappone) January 20, 2021

41 days to confine the Trump era to history.... Do everything possible now to get the #Vote out... #VoteBidenHarris2020 let's make this happen..

— Katherine Zappone (@k_zappone) September 23, 2020

Her appointment as Freedom of Speech Czar has been roundly mocked by all sectors of Irish society, though her Repeal colleagues have been unconvincing in their protests. In a car crash interview with state media today, Bilderberg member Simon Coveney (who was once prolife but now is not) stated, ‘Some people have responded to this as if this was some kind of makey-up job to do a favour for Katherine Zappone. It was nothing of the sort’. While the ‘doing a favour’ part is unprovable, the ‘makey up job’ part is clear. The official title ‘UN Official Envoy for Freedom of Speech’, is laughable and an insult to the intelligence of the ordinary Irish people, who pay for this.

Coveney has stated that no one is questioning her suitability for the role, however we must do so. In 2019, Zappone was among an Irish delegation who travelled to an international anti baby conference in Nairobi, Kenya last year, in an event that was termed ‘neo colonialisation’, as it sought to encourage Africans to embrace aborting their babies instead of delivering them alive. Western nations accused of ‘neo-colonialism’ as they try to impose abortion on Africa during pandemic (righttolife.org.uk)

Minister @KZappone, leading Ireland’s delegation at #NairobiSummit for #ICPD25, attends this morning’s vibrant Opening Ceremony where global leaders commit to ensure universal sexual and reproductive health and rights for women and girls around the world #KeepThePromise pic.twitter.com/mvJ0022ynO

— Embassy of Ireland (@IrlEmbKenya) November 12, 2019

Taoiseach Micheal Martin has laughed off criticism of the role stating, ‘It’s not a big deal, we move on now’.

Micháel Martin on the appointment of Katherine Zappone as UN special envoy on freedom, "it's not a big deal, we move on now.😡😡😡

— Pádraig O Coileáin (@c46_p) July 28, 2021

When we get regular comments on our social media asking us ‘What happened to Ireland?’, it might be worth considering if any other country would allow a leading member of the Democrats (or even Republicans) to be made a Senator (without the election of the people) and then to take a prominent role as Minister for Children (while seeking the legalisation of abortion) and then to be handed a cash laden ‘Freedom of Speech’ role because of (according to Bilderberger Coveney) her work in LGBT campaigning.

This story looks set to run for another week, but Zappone is royalty to the Irish LGBT and abortion movements, she will keep it, even against the will of the people who rejected her at the ballot box last year.

The issue has turned personal in many ways and perhaps some might consider our words as an attack on Zappone or Coveney themselves, but they are just a symptom of how attaching LGBT or abortion to a job or to a role can lend it legitimacy, even urgency, when it is of absolutely no benefit whatsoever to the Irish people.

Those claiming outrage but who voted for the ‘change work’ of the past decade have made their beds, they can now lie in them.

Catholic Arena

RELATED: Children's Minister Katherine Zappone praised by top white witch for her interest in the Wicca tradition and studying witchcraft (thesun.ie)

Canadian Terrorists Behead Statue of Baby Jesus

Canada is a rogue state that refuses to address, even encourages, terrorists within its borders.

These terrorists have been emboldened in recent months by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's refusal to condemn, let alone stop, their atrocities. So far these attacks have included arson, vandalism and desecration. Trudeau's former adviser Gerald Butts also came out and stated that he ‘understands’ why the terrorists are attacking Catholics. The terrorists are essentially blaming the Catholic church for burying bodies that the secular authorities refused to pay to repatriate from Residential Schools. They are also attempting to deflect from Secular Canada's ‘Sixties Scoop’, where secular Canadians stole indigenous kids between the 60s and 80s, using mainstream media to run a campaign of encouraging rehoming thousands of native children with woke secular parents instead.

In the latest attack, a statue of the baby Jesus was DECAPITATED at Sainte-Anne-Des-Pins Catholic Church in Sudbury.

With the escalation and frequency of terror attacks, Canada is now fast approaching the persecution levels of certain countries in Africa and Asia, with the red martyrdom of being murdered for the faith now looking like a realistic imminent threat for Canadian Catholics. The terrorists know that their Prime Minister will not take action against them, they know that his advisers ‘understand’ their terrorism, so why wouldn’t they escalate it?

The Canadian media, who encouraged secular people to ‘scoop’ indigenous peoples into their homes during the 60s, 70s and 80s, have been encouraging these attacks from day one. They are also falsely claiming that these terrorist attacks are being committed by indigenous Canadians when in fact, they are being committed by Antifa, feminists and woke secularists.

The global church needs to speak out as it would against similar attacks in Nigeria, China or elsewhere. This violence is only escalating under Justin Trudeau, Catholics need to call on their governments to expel Canadian ambassadors, people need to boycott Canadian businesses and Canadian churches need to to start protecting themselves since the police seem to have no interest in doing so.

Church Destroyed and Priest Attacked in Dark Week for Scottish Catholics

Two awful stories from Scotland this week.

Firstly, a priest in Edinburgh was attacked by a man brandishing a broken bottle. The aggressor entered St. Mary's Cathedral and asked the priest, who was praying alone, if he was a priest. When he stated that he was the thug then tried to stab him in the head with a broken bottle.

The priest managed to grab a chair and fend off the demonic thug, whi repeatedly lunged at him in an effort to shove the broken bottle into his head.

Eventually the violent coward fled the scene and the priest avoided injury.

Then last night, the third oldest church in Scotland erupted in flames in Glasgow.

Established by Irish priest Fr. Daniel Gallagher in 1858, the church hosts many of the Polish Community's Masses in the city.

Authorities are still investigating but both events come at a time when Anglo Protestant countries such as Canada and the United States have been gripped by anti Catholic terrorism. We hope that this is not the case, but the growing hatred for Catholics from Anglo Protestant journalists and politicians is a form of stochastic terror, where elites incite attacks by egging ordinary people into them. This has been done in Canada through conspiracy theories about ‘mass graves’ being created to facilitate ‘mass murder’. In reality the secular Canadian authorities woudln’t pay to repatriate the bodies and the Residential Schools had no option but to bury those who died on site.

Please pray for an end to the current demonic forces plaguing Catholics in Anglo Protestant countries.

Bishops Condemn Sinn Fein/Westminster Abortion Brutality

In a strongly worded statement released this week, the Catholic bishops of Northern Ireland have condemned Westminster and Sinn Fein's abortion imposition on the six counties.

Last week, Westminster instructed that abortion ‘services' be established in Northern Ireland, to the shrieking support of Michelle O'Neill and Mary Lou McDonald, who are now Unionists in all but name, as are all Sinn Fein supporters by association with a party who now recognises the authority of Westminster to make laws for Ireland.

These laws are among the most extreme abortion laws in Europe, with their existence proving offensive for several reasons. Firstly, as the the bishops point out, it is an act of violence against the unborn. Secondly, there is the laughable insult to the Good Friday Agreement and to Sinn Fein's supposed desire to be separate from British Rule. Thirdly, there is the delusion that Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees Mogg are representative of some nascent Catholic influence in the British establishment.

The statement from the Northern Ireland bishops is a good one and Catholics need to be reminded that there is more to one's Catholic identity than one's postcode, wearing a Celtic kit or even getting married at Westminster Cathedral.

The statement in full:

The decision last week by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis MP, to direct the NI Executive and Department of Health to make abortion services available in Northern Ireland by 21 March 2022, is gravely disquieting. It is the latest in a line of decisions by the current Westminster Government which we believe threaten the fragile balance of relationships at the heart of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.

Sadly, some of our local political parties seem content to welcome this unilateral move by Westminster on an issue which is of fundamental importance to local voters, while rightly challenging such unilateral impositions on other issues.

With many others, from a wide range of moral, philosophical and religious backgrounds, we have consistently held that the right to life of every person, irrespective of stage of development or ability, is the prior and essential right of all other human rights. Our shared search for peace is driven in no small part by our collective rejection of the brutality and demeaning of human dignity that occurs when the right to life is diminished in any way. Thankfully, we live in an age when sensitivity to the preciousness and fragility of all life on our planet, even in its most microscopic forms, is better understood and appreciated. The failure to extend this sensitivity and care to our own fellow human beings in the womb, as well as to mothers in pregnancy will, we believe, one day be seen as a grave moral blindness on the part of this generation and a profound dereliction of our responsibility to uphold the most basic human right of all – the right to life.

In unilaterally imposing this direction on the local Northern Ireland Assembly to provide abortion services, it is as if the Westminster Government, and those local parties who have supported them, believe the answer to the issue of providing compassionate care for a woman and her unborn child in pregnancy can be framed simply and exclusively as a “healthcare issue”. Absent from the discussion however are the thousands of unborn children, who have no legal protection and whose humanity is excluded from the political equation. It is for this reason that the argument for the protection of all human life can never be abandoned or referred to human rights experts alone. Westminster has imposed an unjust law. Christians, and all people of good will, can never stand silently by and fail to raise their voices at any attempt to ignore completely the fact that unborn children are human beings worthy of protection.

As our society prepares in coming months to engage in the ultimate expression of democratic participation – the election to our local Assembly – we encourage all Catholics, and those share our view on the inviolability of all human life, to reflect carefully on the issues raised by this succession of unilateral impositions by the Westminster Government. We encourage everyone who believes in the equal right to life and compassionate care for a mother and her unborn child to ask local candidates and political parties to explain their position on these interventions and on this most fundamental of all issues.

*This statement is issued in the names of Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh & Primate of All-Ireland and Apostolic Administrator of Dromore; Bishop Noel Treanor, Bishop of Down and Connor; Bishop Donal McKeown, Bishop of Derry; Bishop Larry Duffy, Bishop of Clogher; and, Bishop Michael Router Auxiliary Bishop of Armagh.