Ireland -- is its death knell sounding?

Boston College offers aid with a requiem

By R.T. Neary

Observing the sorrow of a grandchild after his cherished stuffed animal got an unintended ride to the local landfill soon led me to observe an event that allowed for a true grasp of his disappointment.

The parallel experience was the awarding of top honors and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree to Enda Kenny, the current Prime Minister of Ireland, by the largest Roman Catholic institution of higher learning in New England.

On the surface, the latter event would not seem to be congruous, given that Irish immigrants spawned the very beginnings of Boston College, now located in Newton, Massachusetts

Ensconced on Chestnut Hill in this adjacent wealthy suburb, the institution with its majestic Gothic buildings and 2-billion dollar endowment is flourishing materially.

Impoverished Irish immigrants in the 1800s and 1900s were responsible for Boston College's founding, after the Irish were denied entrance to Harvard and other colleges in the area because of their Roman Catholic faith.

The Brahmin/Irish divide was very real, after Catholics from the southern counties followed their Protestant countrymen from the north to these shores. Antagonism was real, at times violent, and in many fields of employment NO IRISH NEED APPLY signs met them at the door.

The subsequent history of the children of Irish immigrants rising to political power and in other facets of society is well-documented.

The Irish newcomers' knowledge of the language gave them a decided advantage over other Europeans, especially their counterparts from Italy, who also came in droves. Similarly, the Jewish immigrants' knowledge of commerce, which they combined with long working hours and a commitment to education, contributed to great success – especially in the business world.

Dividends in this great land of opportunity came as a result of hard work and long hours, but higher education opened more doors to professions and other occupations in the expanding American economy.

In the late 1940s and 1950s, Irish Americans were armed with their GI bills, which they earned because of heroic service around the world in his nation's armed forces. Not only was this bill a great educational benefit to veterans, but also, it was a tremendous financial boost to schools such as Boston College.

These post-WWII years became the capstone for the progeny of the Irish immigration movement to move beyond the political realm, and we saw more M.D.s, bankers, and insurance executives, as well as writers and sports executives, with Irish surnames. They didn't run from their heritage, and they overcame much of the early antagonism their forebears encountered. While also in insurance and banking, the women were mainly found in education and nursing.

Irish pride still ran high, yet the core of it was more than the bogs and thatched-roof houses from which their forebears came. It was inextricably linked ironically with Rome. It was in the strength of their ties to their Roman Catholic faith.

While rogues aplenty could certainly be found, and double standards festered in certain parts of their society, the ability to succeed materially and still live by the Church's teachings was the ideal by which true success was judged.

The rapidly expanding secular culture, however, preferred that those descendents cross the lane into their ranks, dropping the worldwide Roman connection. A Masonic route made success much easier in many fields.

The Celtic cross, however, incorporating eternity with the sacrificial death of the Founder of the Christian Faith, was the ultimate proud symbol.

With this background of sweat and tenacity, proud Irish Americans moved beyond their much-publicized weakness for liquid spirits, and all-in-all had an impact on this area – and the entire nation – that was impressive. Some would say it was profound.

The Irish Prime Minister reached into our history books to include this past in his remarks. "The hands roughed in Irish soil were leathered in your mines, your scaffolding, your bridges, your railroads," Kenny said.

Without a view of the current legal situation back in Ireland and the domestic events of the last 4 decades in this great country, the honors bestowed on one Enda Kenny would seem to be an appropriate gesture.

The irony of it all, however, is that was the adjective used to describe the award by the world's largest destroyer of innocent human life in this state, in this country and in the entire world – Planned Parenthood. Each year in this country, they surgically destroy over 300,000 of our innocent brothers and sisters before they can exit the womb.

On that Monday, May 20, 2013, Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts was preparing their facility at 1055 Commonwealth Ave, not 15 minutes away, for their weekly shedding of blood while they schedule the intentional stopping of more than 150 beating human hearts of our own progeny before they can see the light of day.

An organization that will dissect, scald, or homogenize God's pulsating human creations should correctly be labeled Auschwitz Boston, not their euphemistic title. And by what stretch of the imagination could Martha "Marty" Walz, President of this organization that is stained with the blood of these innocents, be publicly issuing an affirmation of this award by the largest Roman Catholic educational institution in the area. The only answer is because it met their fondest dreams. The Prime Minister and his coalition government are opening the door for the legalization of abortion in Ireland, fiercely using a tragic death – combined with a court decision.

As a result of the denial of an abortion to an Indian woman in a Galway hospital and her subsequent death, a bill is being pushed which will legalize direct abortion. Kenny and his supporters proffer that the bill is needed to provide safeguards for saving the life of the mother. In reality, it is a side-door entrance to Roe v Wade's all-encompassing rule of law in the U.S. which has destroyed 55 million of our pre-born progeny.

Its wording "Where there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother, including the threat of suicide," opens the proverbial pandora's box. Its absurdity is far beyond the ridiculous. Suicide? Do we hear the death knell now across the Atlantic?

The glee at Auschwitz Boston had to permeate the entire fortress, as they made further in-roads into the Roman Catholic organization. B.C.'s Law school has honored the likes of Vicki Kennedy, second wife of the late former Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who was singled out for awards by the abortion industry for his overwhelming support. Among other award recipients was former Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, who almost single-handedly brought same gender "marriage" to the state. She formerly had sat on the board of an abortion facility that performed over 1000 of them a year.

No, the Planned Parenthood connection to B.C. is far from being new. None other than former U.S. Representative Robert Drinan, one of the most famous Jesuits in B.C.'s history, received high marks from them for pushing their agenda in Congress. As well as serving for 10 years in Congress, he was Dean of B.C.'s Law School for 14 years. He had a strong relationship with Newton and Brookline's wealthy and politically powerful secular Jewish community, who were major supporters of and contributors to Planned Parenthood. Drinan roundly endorsed abortion promoter Barney Frank, who held the seat for the next two decades.

In a 1974 letter to a Planned Parenthood lawyer, Drinan referred to the Right to Life Movement as " the powers of darkness," and on March 11, he stated that "it appears that a small element within the Catholic Church is seeking to impose their view on the rest of the nation." He may very well have been correct, but they were on his side of the spectrum.

During the earliest post-Roe years, two prominent Democrats, who held the highest of offices in government, refused to pick up the political cudgel and stop the abortion carnage by supporting efforts such as a human life amendment. One held the office of President of the United States, James Earl Carter, the man who ran in the wake of the Watergate scandal as a Bible-believing "born-again Christian." The other was Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

O'Neill's position in government was the pride of the B.C. establishment, and a campus building was named after him while he was still living. In reality, he came across as a go-along-to-get-along boorish politician, lacking any class. Needless to say, they lionized him on Chestnut Hill and through these environs. He played the game.

As long as 25 years ago, B.C. had made some abortion referrals to Planned Parenthood. When it came out in the open, they quickly undertook damage control and, as usual, proved they had a Teflon lining.

Tragically, however, a B.C. graduate who took a position working for Planned Parenthood in the office of their Brookline clinic was one of the victims in the shooting rampage of a mentally unstable homosexual hairdresser named John Salvi.

B.C. graduate Jack Connors, who made a fortune in the field of advertising, is one of their chief fundraisers and very influential politically. He has hosted a fundraiser for President Barack Obama at $17,900 a plate, which raised over 2 million dollars. Obama, who has asked God to bless Planned Parenthood, voted 3 times while an Illinois state Senator to deny medical aid to babies born alive as a result of a planned abortion.

It was interesting that Prime Minister Kenny, in his acceptance speech on May 20th, referred to the B.C. graduates as "the Obama generation."

In analyzing PM Kenny's words to the 4395 graduates and some 20,000 in attendance, it is difficult to find anything beyond what should be well known by those of Irish descent – or any others for that matter.

The media coverage all mentioned 50 to 60 peaceful protesters holding signs that opposed the awarding of honors to one who is so forcibly pushing for the legalization of abortion in Ireland. They included parents, students, and Right To Life proponents

While he mentioned to the Irish press that he was branded at home as being worse that Herod, no mention was made in his acceptance speech of the controversy surrounding him in Ireland or here because of his abortion law promotion.

In this acceptance, which certainly ran quite short of being Soltzhenitsyn in quality, the Prime Minister admonished graduates to "Be successful, be well, be happy, above all, by yourselves."

Yet, in news articles, several mentioned how the graduates and over 20,000 in attendance rose to applaud his words. Several stories conspicuously noted that school officials offered that "standing ovations are rare at commencements."

My parents – who crossed that rough North Atlantic to these shores from Ireland, met, married, and gave birth to 6 of us – came very much to mind with this award. And as the Memorial Day weekend followed, with our garden coming to full bloom, reflection on the past and these Irish roots became an unquenchable urge.

Why are these weak-kneed men, dressed in girlish attire, now claiming they are any part of the richness of spirit and the faith these Irish immigrants held so dear? My father told us that "Keep the Faith" was the last admonition directed at them as they were bid goodbye to a land they loved dearly. We descendents were now witnessing the all-out battle for the final destruction of its core values.

The towns of Boyle, and another on the River Shannon with the odd-sounding Gaelic name of Rooskey, both in County Roscommon, would not be seen again for decades. While their families had survived the potato famine in the mid-1800s, by the turn of the 1900s life by any standard was still meager.

Both parents came from families of 7 children, with my father being the youngest and his mother dying as a result of his birth into this worldly existence. My parents told their children never to forget these roots, and this is why the honor bestowed on one Enda Kenny with his literally suicidal political agenda is so downright revolting.

Would the Boston College honoree tell me that my grandmother should have had less than her 7 children and she then would have lived many more years? Obviously. Mr. Kenny, this screed would have been non-existent. My mother, I can hear her now, would have called you a blatherskite and an educated boob.

My parents never had much formal education, but they did have the ability to think very clearly. My father in directing us to use our thinking powers wisely admitted that he did receive the Master's rod on occasion. Work in the fields precluded him from getting many years of schooling, and he had to read aloud to hear his own words. But as he always said, "It was a broad back that brought him to this country – and the willingness to do a good day's work Nothing more was needed."

What these impoverished Irish immigrants who came to these shores had in those days was character, obviously sorely lacking in the Kennys, Leahys, Dunns, Connors, Groomes, and all the pseudo-sophisticates who are "appropriately" supporting Planned Parenthood's aims.

Instead of "standing ovations," the haughty Jesuits on stage should have dropped to their knees, asking all to join them as they beg forgiveness from the Lord who certainly was with them at the founding of the institution – but who clearly has departed their grounds. They are fully aware of the innocent blood now on their hands.

How many $17,900 dinners have their supporters run for A Woman's Concern, Friends of the Unborn, or Pregnancy Help? And how many times have they read the biblical lines of serving God, not Mammon?

In the media's eyes, those on stage basking in self-serving adulation represent the Irish-American heritage. But future history will record their deeds accurately. While they have long-since put their own souls up for sale, a price will surely be paid for their complicity in the innocent blood that is being spilled in the abortion chambers.

Multi-million dollar advertising agency campaigns to sanitize the activities of an organization snuffing out over 300,000 humans annually have only a limited life. Truth always wins out in the end.

It is no secret that the homosexual culture, which invaded the ranks of the Roman Catholic clergy, was composed of men overwhelmingly of Irish descent. Several religious orders such as the Jesuits had massive PR machinery, and with media cooperation managed to appear not to be complicit. They were, however, far from clean.

The predatory sexual acts of the Geoghans and the Shanleys were spun so as to appear to be a malady only existing in the Archdiocese of Boston. The scandals helped the media drive Cardinal Archbishop Bernard Law out of Boston, and it gave B.C. the opportunity to acquire valuable adjacent property for expansion.

The current Cardinal Archbishop of Boston, Sean Patrick O'Malley, whom the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops appointed Chairman of the ProLife Committee, was forced into a corner and asked that the invitation to Kenny be rescinded. He simply did not attend the graduation to give the benediction. It served as a distraction, however, as Cardinal O'Malley is vulnerable, as he has still failed to answer for his silence in the give-away of the assets of the 6-hospital Caritas Christi Healthcare system. Together with complicity and alleged fraud, there are still many questions unanswered with regard to audit discrepancies.

At the time of the B.C. graduation ceremonies, the Jesuits, who have done their best to elude the adverse publicity that has been heaped on Boston, were in fact the subject of another major story. The Jesuits in Chicago admitted to a 19.6 million dollar agreement that was made with 6 male plaintiffs. It resulted from the Jesuits covering up predatory sexual assaults over the years by one of them, Donald McGuire, S. J.

As we celebrated Memorial Day, a great deal more feeling emerged to put the parallel experiences in perspective, as though the driving wind of Pentecost was still prevailing. Our grandson's stuffed animal was gone forever, but the feeling of the Irish heritage being crushed turned in the opposite direction.

That group of men draped in foolish-looking garb could never destroy the enormous goodness of the well-intentioned Irish immigrants who came to these shores. Conversely, these self-identified academicians and unimpressive politicians served to illuminate the hypocrisy we have witnessed in recent decades.

As Memorial Day 2013 was celebrated in the wake of the B.C. graduation, family and national pride emerged by the fact that my father and his three sons all served in uniform during three wars for this country. But above and beyond that service, the remains of a first cousin lie on the bottom of that Atlantic Ocean which my parents and forebears crossed from Ireland to find a new home in America. A Nazi torpedo sent him to his eternal home in God's kingdom.

I will never forget that Gold Star which hung in the living room window of my Irish immigrant godparents for many years. Nor could I ever forget the love they extended to me as I grew to young manhood. On this Memorial Day, I realized that surely because of that Gold Star, they added a little more to the love they showered on me in my role as godson to them.

When the final words are written of the Irish contribution to this American society, this son of Irish immigrants rests assured it wasn't what B.C. President Leahy and his cohorts tried to claim on May 20th.

Rather, it will be the acts of polio victims Dr. Joseph Stanton and former Boston mayor John F. Collins, and Andrew Carney, Tom Flatley, Ignatius O'Connor, and countless others I could list here – few known to the public. They were "doers of the word, not hearers only." And may I continue: "not deceiving themselves."

The words of Enda Kenny, which will resound more than his banalities when he said, "On such a proud day, in such Glorious company, God is indeed in His heaven."

We are compelled to add, "And He shall come to judge both the living and the dead."

© R.T. Neary