In the two cases mentioned, and there are loads more if we wanted to dredge that ditch, Eamonn Casey’s relationship was probably a short term thing But Michael Cleary was to all intents and purposes living the life of a (typical :-)) Irish married man at home. As there was just the one child I guess we could assume the use of contraceptives.
As a kid growing up with both those dudes a presence of sorts in my life, I always felt that Casey was too good to be true and that Cleary was too sweet to be real. I guess I was right about both of them. I feel for Casey now ,I see him as much a victim of the church as anyone. Not that he sees it that way now. What a Pope he would have made!

Maria wonders about people who are committed to removing the office they hold.
I wonder which of Adams, McGuinness or their fascist cronies it is that as head of the Army Council of the IRA they claim in their ‘day job’ to being committed to disbanding? How real is there committment and will we ever know?

I also agree that the church has made a lot of progress over the last 2000 years in refining and explaining (away?) the teachings of Jesus in order to make them applicable to modern life. Also to make them more suitable for the church. I suppose it is an open question as to what extent they have succeeded, or whether their efforts are admirable or abominable. Personally, as a non-Christian, I don’t particularly care one way or the other about doctrinal purity as such.

http://esplodere.com/johnandgenia/about_us/popebono.html

In theory, you know, the cardinals can elect any Catholic male, though I think technicalities of canon law would prevent them from choosing a married man.

Snarky comment written and then deleted.

But I just wanted to say, that if Bono were made Pope, I personally would consider joining up.

“This is a song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles—and we’re stealing it back!”

Is there an opportunity for write-in candidates?

When we read of Irish bishops with a 17 year old child by their housekeeper (or some similar situation) are we to imagine that they did it a couple of times years ago (could happen to anyone) or that there has been an ongoing relationship happily employing contraceptives for the last 16 years? There never seem to be 10 kids.

Apologies for any irreverences detected.

The Church’s ethical teachings are largely an attempt to tame Jesus’ teachings into a reasonable system of ethics for living in the real world, which 2000 years later hasn’t ended and shows little sign of doing so. Hebraic prophecy + Greek rationalism = Catholic Christianity. At the very least you’ve got to admit that the move from Jesus to the Church is intellectual development, not regress.

(Or sure, we all believe Christ existed—but honestly, aren’t his views more attractive as they’ve been translated/systematized/compromised/what-have-you by the Church than as you would take them to be merely on the basis of biblical accounts?)

No, chris, I would say the complete opposite. In fact it is a cliche for non-Christians to note their admiration for Christ’s teachings while deploring their interpretation by His self-described followers.

(Or sure, we all believe Christ existed—but honestly, aren’t his views more attractive as they’ve been translated/systematized/compromised/what-have-you by the Church than as you would take them to be merely on the basis of biblical accounts?)

I’m not talking about leading the Lib Dems.

I can think of a few people appointed or elected to roles they they were committed to detroying or terminating in some way. Chris Patten in Hong Kong is an obvious one, and I’m sure there are plenty of examples of people committed to finishing off an institution at a more or less natural concluding point.

But the first example of someone willing to accept an office he/she is committed to eliminating an office in a more scurrilous sort of way might be a character called Donal O’Buachalla, a Fianna Fail hack who was the last Governor General of Ireland. The Governor General was the representative of the King in Ireland after the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1921. As far as I remember, De Valera appointed O’Buachalla with the sole intention of making the office seem so ridiculous it would be easily abolished.

O’Buachalla happily went along with it and eschewed official transport for his own bike. He also stayed living in his own rather humble home instead of moving into the official residence, and generally ignored the office altogether. O’Buachalla finished in 1936, no one else was appointed, and the office was rendered entirely moot by the 1937 constitution which declared the republic.

A similar category might be those who occupy (or in some cases refuse to occupy) offices they are opposed to in principle, like UKIP MEPs, Sinn Fein members of the House of Commons, and other assorted trouble makers.

The fun we could have here, it’s mind-boggling…!

For all his talent, charisma and iconoclastic energy, John Paul was never the man for that job.”

Is there a man for that job? It seems unlikely that you’d find someone who was at once willing to accept the office and committed to the elimination of that office.