Galway Advertiser 1994/1994_03_17/GA_17031994_E1_016.pdf 

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C O M M E N T

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hat, to begin with, is a saint? Most definitions would agree that a saint is a person who, through the man ner of their life or, in certain circumstances, death, demonstrates those qualities of unselfishness, love for others and devotion to God that are attributed to the figure who stands at the very beginning of the Christian faith. The first saints were martyrs, people who were not prepared to renounce or com promise in any way their Christian principles, even in the face of certain death. Eventually, when Christianity became the of ficial religion of the late Roman Empire and persecution had ceas ed, so did the criteria for sainthood alter. Soon sainthood was being attributed after their death to desert ascetics like St. Simon Stylites, who spent the greater part of his life on a tall pillar not far from the ancient city of Antioch, and others who, while not going quite so far, pursued holiness with the total detennination of an athlete training for the Olym pics. In more recent times, while martyrs, like the Franciscan priest Maximilian Kolbe, who perished in Auschwitz, and Oliver Plunkett, continue to be canonised, the emphasis on the spiritual "athletes" has been replaced by a deeper appreciation of the authentic Gospel virtues of goodness and service to others in the lives of those elevated by to sainthood. Patrick, who is known to us through two brief documents - the Confession and the Letter to Coroticus - most scholars agree were actually composed by him, flourished from early in the 5th century until, probably, its last quarter, dying, according to the Annals of the Four Masters, in 493. From at least the 7th century he was regarded as pre-eminent among the Irish saints, and by the 9th century his feast day, March 17th, was being celebrated by the Irish in Europe. Devotion to the saint was car ried to the United States by the enormous numbers of emigrant Irish and today he is one of the most widely recognised saints in the Christian Church. There are a great many Irish saints, and Gerald of Wales, who wrote the first "outsider's" account of Ireland in the late 12th century, noted with some concern that "the saints of this land...are more vindictive than the saints of any other region". It was not only visitors who mentioned this quality. Another old chronicle says that the 6th century St. Ruaddan, "loved curs ing", and many scholars have argued that the early Irish saints inherited the mantle of the Druids, along with their uncanny powers. There seems to have been more of Merlin the magician than Mother Teresa in these early Irish holy men and women. What significance has St. Patrick and the other saints, for us today? For those whose faith remains as strong as ever, they serve much the same function they have always done; their closeness to God is an example and a stimulus, while their humanity makes them accessible as intercessors in prayer. Have they any significance for an increasingly secular population? The late Hubert Butler suggested they had; he wrote in one of his essays: "For the Irish people to forget the saints is for them to forget their childhood. We are emotionally and intellectually com mitted to them. They beckon us along a private road that leads not only to the Irish past but to the past of Europe. It is through them that we can learn about the youth of world and the infancy of religion." Psychologists tell us that genine maturity comes only through the acceptance of childhood and its integration in the adult. As a people this is no less true. The sprig of shamrock is a testimony to the legacy of Patrick and his peers down through the centuries. Whatever the reason, we should wear it today with pride.

St. Patrick and the Saints W S

Hot A
Dear Editor, Having read the letter entided "Hot Press- A Threat to the Family?" in your issue of March 10th, I feel compelled to write a response. This lady chose to describe Lesbians as "un fortunate women", which is indeed not the case. Con sidering that society has for far too long knocked homosexuals and labelled us as sexual deviants and social outcasts, it came as no sur prise to me to read her com ments. However, in reply to her letter I would argue that she is the unfortunate

a ^Threat? Replies
woman. Obviously she has never had the privilage to associate with, or get to know, a Lesbian. I can on ly pity her, for I can count a number of Lesbians as close friends and know that they are the most loving, vibrant and indeed beautiful people one could ever hope to meet. Her's is a prime example of the small-minded medieval attitudes that brought about discriminatory legislation and helped to foster bigotry and hatred, the effects of which we are still suffering. I would further challenge this woman to define the family that is at threat. Is it one man and one woman, plus children?; two men and children?; or two women and children? In line with your comment last week where you asked "Homophobia anyone?", we already know her answer. Yes! and make it a double! Yours, Brian Fitzpatrick Co-ordinator ENSEMBLE, Lesbian and Gay Youth Group, P.O. Box 45, Galway.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY 1 8 9 2

T. PATRICK'S Day has long been celebrated as a Na tional holiday, a day to remember the patron saint of the country, its first apostle.
It has also been a time to remember the Irish scattered aroung the globe. Those in Australia. N e w Zealand, North America and Great Bri tain, were particularly called to mind in the St. Patrick's Day
editorial o f the Galway dicator of 1892. Vin

Hiding
Dear Editor, Don't you think that peo ple who write letters to newspapers should be com pelled to print their names and addresses along with their message? I ask the question because an anonymous letter ap peared in last week's Galway Adveriser. "Hot A Threat to the Press" Family? ' was the title you gave it. The letter complained about a certain Eamonn McCann who apparently made reference in "Hot Press' to a priest who is sup posed to have fathered a child. What I find hypocritical about the anonymous moraliser's letter is that it complained, not that the priest had done what priests are not supposed to do, but that the newspapers had reported that he had done it. I have no way of knowing whether the anonymous writer is male or female. What I do know is that peo ple who write to the press complaining about press freedom pose no small threat to democracy. The public have every right to be kept informed about priest ly fornication. What kind of country do you think we would all be living in if editors were for bidden to report the sexual antics of an entire social class? Just supposing that clerics had carte blanc to roam at will through the sexual undergrowth without fear of social sanction. Can you im agine the kind of rogues gallery that would soon be clamouring for the same privelege? I know your readers are too intelligent to be taken in by the kind of guff put about by the likes of your anonymous letter writer. For my part, I would rather put up with silly publications

Anonymity
like "Hot Press" than let anonymous moralisers tell me what I can or can't read. Anyway, why shouldn't priests be free to dip their wicks if they want to? For the life of me, I cannot understand why the papacy imposed the celibacy rule in the first place. If I were a priest I would burn my dog collar rather than put up with such nonsense. The irony is that celibacy adds nothing to holiness. I have spent most of the past thirty years roaming some of the remote parts of the world. I have spoken to shamans and priests from many primal religions. "What I don't unders tand," a polygamous old witchdoctor said to me one day, "is why your Catholic priests must give up sex. Yet, they are always doing it with different women. The same priests call me a sin ner and say I should be burned when I tell them I have more than one wife." Perhaps what your anonymous correspondent ought to be doing is organis ing a petition to the papacy demanding abolition of the celibacy rule instead of pestering editors with com plaints about press freedom. Trying to dictate sexual morality while hiding behind a veil of secrecy is a practice that editors (in cluding yourself) might well discourage. What would your readers think if they found you bur ning at the stake in the mid dle of Eyre Square! Who would edit your newspaper then? A.R.D. Finnan 5 Tirellan Heights Galway.

Emigration statistics and the massive decline of popula tion since the middle of the century were not forgotten. Still there was hope. N e w railways were being con structed and what were con sidered the mistaken govern ment policies of the past were b e i n g replaced by m o r e b e n i g n a c t i v i t i e s in the economic sphere. Those were presaged by the establishem e n t o f the C o n g e s t e d Districts board. For the West o f Ireland in particular this body gave hope that the appalling conditions of the countryside would im prove!!! A speech by Lord Z e t l a n d , the T o r y Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, at the annual banquet given at the Royal C o l l e g e o f Surgeons, w a s an indication o f the e x pectations from this n e w departure. T o some it may have appeared as part of a plan to kill H o m e Rule by kindness. Nevertheless it must be seen as an acceptance of the special needs o f the p e r i p h e r a l a r e a s o n the western edge of Europe. The work o f the Congested Districts Board cannot ever be forgotten. It has to d o a great deal in building roads and bridges, erecting piers and harbours and in giving an im petus to e c o n o m i c develop ment in areas which badly needed an infrastructure if they were to escape from a c y c l e o f poverty. It was coincidental that at this very time a national m o v e m e n t w a s about to begin. The Gaelic League c a m e into existence the very next year. A s this raised the i m p o r t a n c e o f the Irish Language it also added a new significance to the Gaeltacht areas. S o Tory Policy and a n e w national awakening com bined to help the West. One of the first achievements o f the m o v e ment to bring new life to peropheral regions was the establishement of a telegraphic link with the Aran Islands. This week in 1892 the parish priest sent the first telegram from Aran to the mainland. It w a s hoped that the islands had entered a new era of prosperity.
T h o m a s P. O'Neill

Thanks to U C G Hospital
Dear Editor, As a medical card reci pient and as a patient in the University College Hospital in Galway for seven days recently, I wish to offer my sincere thanks to the Matron, and to all members of the medical profession and nursing staff in the Casualty and St. Ann's female ward, and to all who contributed to the excellent attention and treatment I received for my speedy recovery that could not be excelled in any of our Irish hospitals. Name and Address with Editor.

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