the satanic rites of independent newspapers

John Cooney wrote a piece of bowdlerised verse in the Irish Independent yesterday, asserting that of all the priests and Bishops and Cardinals and Popes in Rome, only John Cooney's favourite putative liberal infiltrator Archbishop Diarmuid Martin was really a man.

Really a man, eh?

Ah yes.

The John Cooney test of manhood.

Apparently the deciding factor is having allied yourself with John Cooney in attempting to criminalise a generation of honorable, decent, dedicated, heroic, Bishops.

Anyone who dares to defend the Bishops against Independent Newspapers' pogrom, isn't a man.

Even the Bishops themselves who insist on speaking for themselves, fall below the highfalutin Cooney standard of masculinity.

Malign, no?

But not the most malign thing you'll see in the Irish Independent of a morning.

The most malign strategy adopted by Independent Newspapers, RTE, and the Irish Times during their joint attemtps to remake the church in their own image, has been the constant use of two supposed sex abuse victims to convey the false claim that sex abuse victims generally wish to humiliate the church.

Now Independent Newspapers, RTE and The Irish Times have always ignored the vast preponderance of sex abuse victims.

That is to say, they ignored the 99.99 percent of victims, the 999 out of every 1000, who were not abused by anyone with a connection to the Catholic Church.

But now we see the media also ignore the preponderance of the tiny minority of victims who were abused by people with links to the church.

They take two supposed victims of church linked abusers, and elevate them over all the other victims of church linked abuse.

By using a select pair of victims to push Independent Newspapers own war with the church, Independent Newspapers has clothed itself in a veneer of faux compassion.

This was the killer application in the present persecution of our ancient religion.

The victims who were willing to spout the Independent Newspapers line were Andrew Madden and Marie Collins.

The deceitful genius of the media in using these two time and time again is borne out by the fact that most of us will not talk back to apparent sex abuse victims.

That means whatever guff Andrew Madden and Marie Collins propagate, it goes completely unchallenged.

And it's always these two.

If victims of sex abuse at the hands of churchmen generally agreed with Andrew Madden and Marie Collins, it would have been reasonable to hear from a few more of them.

But no.

Independent Newspapers, RTE and The Irish Times continually revert to Andrew Madden and Marie Collins as though Andrew Madden and Marie Collins speak for every victim.

Last week on queue, Andrew Madden and Marie Collins were quoted in the Irish Independent issuing ultimatums to the Pope.

Their statements were the usual mix of dictat and victimhood.

Andrew Madden: "We have set out what would be an appropriate response to the Murphy report for the Bishops and the Vatican. They have two days to get their act together."

According to the Irish Independent, Marie Collins stated that if the Pope didn't accept the Bishops resignation it would be a bad indication for the future of the church.

Marie Collins: "It's the very first thing that needs to happen to move forward."

Here are my questions for the thus far unquestioned Andrew Madden and Marie Collins.

Are you aware that you are being manipulated by anti Catholic scoundrels in Independent Newspapers, RTE and The Irish Times who have always sought to destroy the ancient church and who care nothing about sex abuse victims?

Does your supposed victimhood mean that no one may ever disagree with something you say or do?

How many sex abuse victims exactly are in the groups of which you are a part?

Do you accept that many victims of clerical sex abuse disagree with your ascription of guilt beyond the actual abusers to the bosses of those abusers, ie Bishops?

Do you accept that many victims of  sex abuse disagree with everything you are doing?

Do you accept that many victims of sex abuse disagree with the Murphy report?

Do you ever wonder why so much attention is paid to supposed victims of clerical sex abuse while the vast majority of sex abuse victims who are abused by non Catholics in hospitals, sports clubs, schools, and in the family home, are never interviewed on RTE?

What is it about you that RTE likes so much?

Aren't all sex abuse victims as important as you and as entitled to a hearing?