AMONG men of the cloth, the Bishop of Killaloe Willie Walsh has the reputation of a maverick. It's apparently a reputation he likes to play down."Please don't portray me as in any way different to my colleagues," asked the bishop, who has announced he will retire in January, aged 75.
He is, though. There can't be many in the Catholic hierarchy who would profess to have no difficulty with civil unions, be they gay or otherwise, as Bishop Walsh did this weekend.
His views on celibacy (he has called for a debate) and on women priests (no difficulty with them either) are already well-known.
So has his forthrightness got him into trouble?
"I have been bishop for 15 years. I have never had any serious disagreement with any one of my colleagues. We would certainly, at meetings and that sort of thing, take different positions on different questions. But I think deep down, we do have a very strong respect for each other. And I think that while we might differ in our views on various questions, it's never personal. And I think that's very important in life," he said.
Friday morning in the Bishop's Palace, a grand building on the outskirts of Ennis found Bishop Walsh in forgiving and generous form. He was dressed in a navy Tommy Hilfiger sweater, a shirt and dark trousers; and his shock of white hair gave him the look of a dishevelled academic.
The large drawing room, over-looking the manicured lawns where he once invited Traveller families to camp, is his office-cum-living space.
On this morning, Bishop Walsh was inspired by the encyclical from Pope Benedict XVI which dwells on human dignity. He doesn't want to talk too much about personal things, although he happily shares details of his working day to swat off accusations that bishops live in ivory towers.
He does his own shopping, goes for a carvery lunch each day as he no longer has a housekeeper, and sometimes goes to the pub. "I would honestly believe that I am very much in touch. It annoys me when people say bishops live in ivory towers or are out of touch," he said.
He freely admits that he sometimes grapples with aspects of the Gospel, even though he is a bishop.
"I would see that, for example, people in second unions and the idea of permanently excluding them from reception of the sacraments. I find that very difficult. Again, there is the whole question -- I find it difficult to understand why women are excluded from full participation in ministry. I find these things difficult to understand. With any teaching we have to try and understand the reasons behind it."
He reckons excluding people just causes difficulties. "Whether it be exclusion of Jews, exclusion of Travellers, exclusion of homosexuals; if we exclude groups of people and in some way categorise 'them' as them as opposed to 'us'," he said.
Didn't Pope Benedict verge on exclusion when he spoke of saving humanity from homosexuals? "I certainly don't think for a moment that Pope Benedict would want to exclude any group. I suppose that sometimes that message comes across in the Church."
As for the Government Civil Partnership Bill that will give legal recognition to same-sex unions, the bishop has no problem as long they don't call it marriage. He is the first bishop to say so. "I have no difficulty about recognising civil unions in law. I have a difficulty in calling it marriage.
"I just think that marriage, you are changing the nature and meaning of marriage. But generally speaking, I am very reluctant to interfere with the civil authorities.
"I think it is something very sacred. But I don't have any difficulty with civil recognition of partnerships, be they gay or in any way caring partnerships."
One of the most bizarre moments of his career must have been giving a character reference for Sharon Collins, a Clare woman later convicted for hiring a hitman to kill her partner. He hadn't met her very often, he said. He knew her mother better. He wrote that in his dealings with her, he found her truthful.
According to Bishop Walsh, the "difficult, nightmarish part" of his career has been the child abuse scandals. He said there was "enormous pressure, I don't mind admitting it, of a sense that if you don't get this right, you could be attacked and be vilified.And that's a serious pressure.
"So that whole area has been extremely difficult, a sadness about it, a shame about it, very serious pressure and yet, in some way, a privilege. A privilege to sit down with someone who, for the first time maybe after 40 years, tells you of their dreadful experience."
Some victims of clerical abuse may take exception to his views on abusive priests though. He refuses to see them as monsters. Most of the time, he said, he feels "compassion" towards them. "I often say I come across evil deeds but not evil people. Most of the priests against whom allegations are made are dead, in this diocese.
"I have an enormous difficulty to confront a colleague with whom you have worked and asked him to stand down from the priesthood. But should you be angry? You might sometimes have a sense but overall the sense is one of heartbreak really. In many, in most cases they are broken people. Very often abusers have been victims themselves . . . I know that is a dangerous thing to say because some people paint these people as monsters. The victims must always be the first priority."
Following the Ryan report, the Church hierarchy are bracing themselves for another shameful roasting in the Commission of Inquiry into the Dublin archdiocese.
There seems little doubt that it will show in excruciating detail how priests were shielded by the hierarchy. Bishop Walsh said he doesn't know what's in it. "Certainly it is clear that it [the report] will be very shameful and will be a very sad. I know that the Dublin diocese is preparing for it," he said.
Bishop Walsh is retiring at an uncertain time. He had to cut the wages of priests and administrators by 6-12 per cent after the diocese lost €7m in investments left to it in legacies.
The recession certainly isn't sending people back to Mass, and he said he honestly doesn't know what the future of the Church will be. He intends to continue to work as a priest in some capacity, though. He has already joined a choir.
"Even just having time for friends, time for a game of golf and time for talking to people. I'm looking forward to it."
His message is simple: he reckons we're all in the same boat and he has yet to meet someone who has figured it out.
He says: "What I would like is that we seek the truth in love and that we don't attack people who have different views to ourselves."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
SIC: II