rommelpotterij, want mijn vader heeft het geld al op de toonbank uitgeteld Machiavelli and the Irish clergy abuse scandale

By Vinnie Nauheimer
VOFT

Four bishops is a good start, but its right out of the Machiavelli playbook. In chapter XIX: Essential to Avoid being Hated or Despised, Machiavelli advising the prince on how to maintain power, he says, “thus if it was in those days necessary to satisfy the soldiers (bishops) rather the people, this was because the soldiers (bishops) were more powerful than the people. Nowadays, princes must satisfy the people, for they are more powerful than the soldiers (bishops).Consider the following passage: “To this end he (the Prince) appointed Messer Remiro d’Orco, a cruel and energetic man, as governor giving him full powers. This official, to his own great renown, soon made the province peaceful and united” The Duke fully aware of the hatred that Messer d’Orco was inspiring rode in and promptly executed him, which brought the Duke instant acclaim from all the people.

S. E. R. le Cardinal Franc Rodé au Trône.

The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church is feudal in nature. Every bishop and cardinal has to swear a most sacred oath of fealty to the Holy Father including his life if necessary. So what if four bishops have fallen on their crosiers? Does a department store change its culture by replacing the dummies in their windows? There are hundreds of Irish priests standing in line with bated breath ready to assume the title and power that goes with being appointed bishop. Is Diarmuid Martin the pope’s version of d’Orco? Was Martin given the authority to chop heads? If so he is using that authority well.

The danger is, as pointed out in The Prince, that it is in the best interest of both the pope and the church to have a man like Martin in place. Will the abrupt forced resignation of a few bishops after the obligatory protests of innocence appease the masses or will the laity demand more? How far is Martin and his Prince prepared to go to appease the masses?

And what of the Cardinal Emeritus Desmond Connell? Will the Irish laity forget that he appointed the now disgraced Eamonn Walsh as his senior secretary while Archbishop of Dublin? Was that appointment tantamount to pronouncing Walsh as his heir apparent? Will the laity forget that Connell was shamed into dropping his request to withhold 5,000 documents regarding clerical abuse from the commission even as he was Cardinal Emeritus; this despite those same documents being handed over to the commission by Archbishop Martin? Was that Connell’s final embarrassment leading to a capitulation of the power and papal authority wielded by Martin?

Will Martin be rewarded for slaying his fellow bishops with an elevation to the rank of cardinal and be given a shot at the white hat? Most assuredly so, but the biggest question is the following: “Will anything change within the church?” Sadly the answer to that is a resounding no unless the laity gets deeply involved. Why, because the Prince is still in power and the Prince is still calling the shots and no Prince will never voluntarily relinquish power.