CÉIDE POPS ITS CLOGS - SHALL WE DANCE?
by PEADAR LAIGHLÉIS
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him - Mark Anthony in Julius Caesar
THERE is a difference between writing an obituary and dancing on someone's grave and by the time I am finished this article, I am sure no one will have any doubt as to which of the two I am indulging in here. (If you have not already guessed when you saw my name under the above headline on the cover.) I have had occasion to comment upon Céide in the past, after my attention was drawn to the magazine by the late Mgr Cremin. Mgr Cremin was furious that the pre-launch publicity should advertise a robust respect for dissent. When it was launched in September 1997, I said:
Well now, maybe it is time for the National Catholic Reporter to imitate Céide - and fold. Liberals always talk of the sings of the times and how we must interpret them. So, let us look at a few signs of the times. The contrast between the National Catholic Reporter and another American Catholic paper, The Wanderer, was interesting. Some time ago, both seemed to have similar circulations. But on investigation, the NCR's source of revenue was due to priests who ordered multiple copies for their churches. The more conservative Wanderer relied principally on individual subscriptions from laity who went to the trouble to order it in the post. It takes no logic to deduce which of the two had the greater support of a committed laity. So what did the signs of the times indicate? And now, the Wanderer has a clearer lead.
I don't know what the circulation of Céide was. It may well have been several times that of the Brandsma Review, but I doubt it. The point is that the Brandsma Review has reached its tenth anniversary (ad multos annos!) since the horrible days in the immediate aftermath of the X Case, and Céide will not see its fifth anniversary. The Brandsma Review has been for the most part a lay enterprise, notwithstanding the support of Father Brendan Purcell and many other priests over the years - between contributors, promoters and subscribers. Céide has been first and foremost a clerical initiative, with some lay collaborators.
The Brandsma Review has always been run on a shoestring budget and seeks to present its message unadorned to those who will read it. Céide, on the other hand, was always an elegant production, complete with coloured photographs and a glossy finish. The lack of advertisements was sufficient evidence of generous donors. Nevertheless, the quality of the magazine was not enough to generate the necessary readership to sustain the magazine. Therefore, why not question the message?
Charter for a People's Church
The editorial team in Céide had absolutely no doubt about the message. In the final edition, their anonymous critic of ecclesiastical politics, An Ridire (the knight - the only Irish word apparently derived from the German language, from Ritter) spells out what the message is:
On the margins?
Since the first Pentecost, the Church has seen a lot of demagogues come and go, preaching all sorts of weird and wonderful things, just as she has seen all sorts of prophets of doom attacking her from the other side. But Céide seems to have been frozen into its own particular historical and geographical groove, unable in a serious way to engage either with contemporary cultures or - very importantly for Catholics (the Church does teach that tradition is a source of revelation) - with all the previous generations of Catholics in this and other Catholic cultures. And the Céide people are themselves an élite and a hierarchy of sorts, supremely confident that they know best.
Céide forever prided itself on being on the margins. Was it really? It attracted some very heavyweight writers over the years. It was very happy challenging the Church hierarchy, but did not relish opposing something like The Irish Times or the intelligentsia in this country. Its target audience were not the underprivileged in Irish society - given the price and content of Céide and its failure to address their real concerns.
The general views of this country's underclass on travellers and refugees, for example, would make the hair stand up straight or many politically-correct heads. The only thing marginal about the magazine was how insignificant the Céide team were in the context of the bigger picture and how this reality was lost on them.
More mediaeval view
I am not sure any more if, strictly speaking, Céide was on the Left. In some ways it was quite conservative. I was personally educated in the Enlightenment ethos (which I have substantially rejected). One of its tenets was the separation of Church and State and another was universal freedom of religion and conscience.
In one sense, it is of little significance how few in this country profess or practice Catholicism. If it is a small minority, it is our duty to act as witnesses to the Faith in the hope of conversion through example, but we may not force the faith on anyone. The Céide team seemed to have a more mediaeval view of the organic connexion between Church, State and society, believing society must be maintained within the Church at all costs.
If this meant the Church must embrace the mores of society, they seemed to regard this as preferable to writing off huge numbers of members. Céide tended towards a form of Erastianism, based as much on public opinion as secular authority. The imperative seemed to be to keep the 95% of citizens of the 26 counties who are nominally Catholic still actually calling themselves Catholic, in spite of deviations in faith and morals by a great proportion of them.
Crowning with Thorns
It would have been salutary for the Céide team to have reflected on the Third Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary, the Crowning with Thorns. Listen to the mob before Pilate: "We have no king but Caesar!" Our Lord, with the mock crown on His head, clearly announces to Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world. The Céide worldview did not seem to acknowledge the subtle distinction between sacred and secular authority. You do not deny the kingship of Christ just to accommodate the crowd.
Given that Der Ritter gives divorce as an example of creative compassion, I seem to recall a particular divorce case where some creative compassion was demanded. A certain progressive and very successful cleric reckoned he could acquire an annulment for his employer and failed, ending his life with the words "If only I served God as well as I have served my king..." A reactionary layman stood up to the king at the time, at the cost of his life - and proclaimed himself at the scaffold to be "the king's good servant, but God's first". If they don't know what I am talking about here, the writers in Céide would do well to rent the video A Man for All Seasons for a night.
Well, Céide have not succeeded in accommodating the crowd. Instead they have faded into oblivion, largely unnoticed by the world around them. They have not impressed a new vision on the Catholic faithful in Ireland. And for all their trumpet blowing, the desired innovations within the Church are as far away as ever. And last time I checked, John Paul II was still Pope.
I do not believe this is the last we will hear from the Céide team - they will still be around for some time. But they will not be so fast to launch a magazine like this again. Their support base is not growing. It is dwindling.
Now, can anybody strike up a hornpipe? I think I want to dance.
The Brandsma Review, Issue 61, July-August 2002
Céide, my friends, is a bunch of ancient hippies talking to themselves. For all their talk of imagination and creativity, they offer only the smae worn-out clichés. Harmless as it seems, this medicine has well-nigh destroyed the Church in Holland, Canada and elsewhere. These guys just don't get it. (BR, Issue 33)I returned to the theme last year:
This [the American National Catholic Reporter] has been the flagship periodical of the American Catholic left since the Second Vatican Council. It has been losing steam for some time...The United States Catholic left, hard and soft, is losing support. Would Céide profit by their example (BR, Issue 54)Signs of the times
Well now, maybe it is time for the National Catholic Reporter to imitate Céide - and fold. Liberals always talk of the sings of the times and how we must interpret them. So, let us look at a few signs of the times. The contrast between the National Catholic Reporter and another American Catholic paper, The Wanderer, was interesting. Some time ago, both seemed to have similar circulations. But on investigation, the NCR's source of revenue was due to priests who ordered multiple copies for their churches. The more conservative Wanderer relied principally on individual subscriptions from laity who went to the trouble to order it in the post. It takes no logic to deduce which of the two had the greater support of a committed laity. So what did the signs of the times indicate? And now, the Wanderer has a clearer lead.
I don't know what the circulation of Céide was. It may well have been several times that of the Brandsma Review, but I doubt it. The point is that the Brandsma Review has reached its tenth anniversary (ad multos annos!) since the horrible days in the immediate aftermath of the X Case, and Céide will not see its fifth anniversary. The Brandsma Review has been for the most part a lay enterprise, notwithstanding the support of Father Brendan Purcell and many other priests over the years - between contributors, promoters and subscribers. Céide has been first and foremost a clerical initiative, with some lay collaborators.
The Brandsma Review has always been run on a shoestring budget and seeks to present its message unadorned to those who will read it. Céide, on the other hand, was always an elegant production, complete with coloured photographs and a glossy finish. The lack of advertisements was sufficient evidence of generous donors. Nevertheless, the quality of the magazine was not enough to generate the necessary readership to sustain the magazine. Therefore, why not question the message?
Charter for a People's Church
The editorial team in Céide had absolutely no doubt about the message. In the final edition, their anonymous critic of ecclesiastical politics, An Ridire (the knight - the only Irish word apparently derived from the German language, from Ritter) spells out what the message is:
The success of the divine conspiracy - enforced accountability, decline of vocations, the growth of lay structures, the end of oppressiveness of clericalism, the sweep of democracy - will ensure the continued implosion of structures that militate against the progress of the Church, sharing the Good News. The game is up, lads. God's hand will not be stayed.I thought this rather ironic. It came at the end of a charter for a People's Church. A People's Church which will be governed by lay structures, with
...[a] more creative and compassionate response to issues like divorce and remarriage...the reconstitution of a new priesthood will lead to married clergy and in time the ordination of women. The next concerted push of the forces of democratisation...will sweep aside the creaky structures that paid too much respect to élites and hierarchies.To the barracades, comrades! When I read the above, I heard a choir singing in the back of my head:
Partiya Lenina, sila narodnaya/Nas k torzhestvu Komunisma vedyot! (Party of Lenin, strength of the People/To Communism's triumph lead us on!)For those who don't know, I am quoting the Hymn of the Soviet Union. I am not accusing Der Ritter of being a Stalinist - only of being oblivious to the irony of using this type of rhetoric: the irony is that the game is actually up for Céide rather than for Our Mother, the Church.
On the margins?
Since the first Pentecost, the Church has seen a lot of demagogues come and go, preaching all sorts of weird and wonderful things, just as she has seen all sorts of prophets of doom attacking her from the other side. But Céide seems to have been frozen into its own particular historical and geographical groove, unable in a serious way to engage either with contemporary cultures or - very importantly for Catholics (the Church does teach that tradition is a source of revelation) - with all the previous generations of Catholics in this and other Catholic cultures. And the Céide people are themselves an élite and a hierarchy of sorts, supremely confident that they know best.
Céide forever prided itself on being on the margins. Was it really? It attracted some very heavyweight writers over the years. It was very happy challenging the Church hierarchy, but did not relish opposing something like The Irish Times or the intelligentsia in this country. Its target audience were not the underprivileged in Irish society - given the price and content of Céide and its failure to address their real concerns.
The general views of this country's underclass on travellers and refugees, for example, would make the hair stand up straight or many politically-correct heads. The only thing marginal about the magazine was how insignificant the Céide team were in the context of the bigger picture and how this reality was lost on them.
More mediaeval view
I am not sure any more if, strictly speaking, Céide was on the Left. In some ways it was quite conservative. I was personally educated in the Enlightenment ethos (which I have substantially rejected). One of its tenets was the separation of Church and State and another was universal freedom of religion and conscience.
In one sense, it is of little significance how few in this country profess or practice Catholicism. If it is a small minority, it is our duty to act as witnesses to the Faith in the hope of conversion through example, but we may not force the faith on anyone. The Céide team seemed to have a more mediaeval view of the organic connexion between Church, State and society, believing society must be maintained within the Church at all costs.
If this meant the Church must embrace the mores of society, they seemed to regard this as preferable to writing off huge numbers of members. Céide tended towards a form of Erastianism, based as much on public opinion as secular authority. The imperative seemed to be to keep the 95% of citizens of the 26 counties who are nominally Catholic still actually calling themselves Catholic, in spite of deviations in faith and morals by a great proportion of them.
Crowning with Thorns
It would have been salutary for the Céide team to have reflected on the Third Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary, the Crowning with Thorns. Listen to the mob before Pilate: "We have no king but Caesar!" Our Lord, with the mock crown on His head, clearly announces to Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world. The Céide worldview did not seem to acknowledge the subtle distinction between sacred and secular authority. You do not deny the kingship of Christ just to accommodate the crowd.
Given that Der Ritter gives divorce as an example of creative compassion, I seem to recall a particular divorce case where some creative compassion was demanded. A certain progressive and very successful cleric reckoned he could acquire an annulment for his employer and failed, ending his life with the words "If only I served God as well as I have served my king..." A reactionary layman stood up to the king at the time, at the cost of his life - and proclaimed himself at the scaffold to be "the king's good servant, but God's first". If they don't know what I am talking about here, the writers in Céide would do well to rent the video A Man for All Seasons for a night.
Well, Céide have not succeeded in accommodating the crowd. Instead they have faded into oblivion, largely unnoticed by the world around them. They have not impressed a new vision on the Catholic faithful in Ireland. And for all their trumpet blowing, the desired innovations within the Church are as far away as ever. And last time I checked, John Paul II was still Pope.
I do not believe this is the last we will hear from the Céide team - they will still be around for some time. But they will not be so fast to launch a magazine like this again. Their support base is not growing. It is dwindling.
Now, can anybody strike up a hornpipe? I think I want to dance.
The Brandsma Review, Issue 61, July-August 2002
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