The Humble Pilgrim

Dublin airport, this morning.

Back from Davos.

Wayne O’Fathaigh writes:

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin on the 9:30am Swiss Air business class from Zurich. Rocking Ralph Lauren!! Good thing they don’t owe the state restitution…Oh and he was expressed through passport control.

 

But on whose dime?

Anyone?


118 thoughts on “The Humble Pilgrim”

    • Business class offers the passenger flexibility; something ABM would need given his hectic schedule. BUSINESS CLASS IS NOT FIRST CLASS!! There’s a difference. Anyway, a bishop is entitled to a business class flight in keeping with the seniority of his position. Hierarchical organisations afford privileges to those higher up the hierarchy — egalitarianism holds no sway as far as the Church is concerned.

      Priests fly economy, unless there’s a pressing reason not to. I can assure you that ABM does not fly business class for vanity reasons — the man needs a break from his schedule, peace and quiet to do work, and space where he is not hassled to pray for so-and-so/bless medals/bless holy water/say Mass/etc.

      • “egalitarianism holds no sway as far as the Church is concerned”

        You can say that again. ‘Tis one of the many ways in which the Church diverges from the message of Christ.

        • Jesus was an authoritative figure of his time. Fitting, given that the Truth is not ascertained by consensus — it is divinely revealed. Egalitarianism is one of the modern world’s follies. It results in mediocrity, a tyranny of individualism and the denial of objective truth from our lives. Egalitarianism also leads people astray and causes emptiness inside the person which results from it’s nihilistic nature.

          And who are you to say what the True message of Christ is? You sound like one of Fr Tony Flannery’s merry followers.

          • Which is *exactly* why Yeshua chose to hang out with the working classes instead of the religious hierarchy of the time.

          • So you are making a direct equivalence between the son of God being given a hearing and clergymen living in luxury?

            Jesus to a rich young man:
            “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

            I can’t really see how Martin is following this.

          • While we are on the subject of divergence from the philosophical basis of the Church, does Martin really think that a Jesus who charged the moneylenders out of the Temple would be hob-nobbing with financiers in Davos?

        • Diverges from the teachings of Christ?

          The guy who said his dad was a king?

          That guy?

          Pains me as it does to say this, but ABM is right – Christianity is not egalitarian. Never was. The whole thing is predicated on a jealous celestial autocrat who knows what you’re thinking, and can and will punish you for your thoughts and the insufficiency of your devotion to him.

          Where I differ from ABM is that I think that’d be a bad thing – were it actually true.

      • i was so confused there for a minute, I thought you were referring to yourself in the third person.

        You were, weren’t you?

  3. I am no apologist for the Catholic Church nor am I a practicing Catholic, but is this not an invasion of this man’s privacy?

    • I am going to have to agree with you on this one. I dont think any of us need to see people just going about their business.

      I would rather see a stolen bike or (cant believe I am saying this) a limerick from John Moynes.

    • Well if this is an invasion of privacy so is every other famous person photographed out and about

    • It’s also an invasion of privacy to say publicly that homosexual acts between consenting adults is immoral.

    • I think revealing the details of his flight and his passport control experience are an invasion of the man’s privacy. The photo probably is not, he is a public figure and has been photographed many times. For all we know he may have been given an upgrade, either way it’s none of my business.

      • Revealing his ‘passport control experience’ is most definitely not a violation of privacy.

        Why does he get a ‘expressed’ through passport control? Why doesn’t he get in line like anyone else? There is still a kow-towing to the Papists in this state.

        It isn’t like he has to wait long. Passport control are a joke in Ireland. Unless you are brown they don’t even pretend to do their job propoerly.

        • It should rightly be a matter of public concern

          If you are an Al- Quaida terrorist trying to bomb a plane, all you have to do is disguise yourself as an Archbishop. And presumably walk on with a bomb in your hand luggage.

        • It’s tabloid nonsense, there is no public interest. The man probably got through passport control like we all do in Irish airports.

        • > Why does he get a ‘expressed’ through passport control? Why doesn’t he get in line like anyone else? There is still a kow-towing to the Papists in this state.

          Oh get off your cross.

          You can pay for fast-track passport control. I’d imagine this is what he did.

      • he’s perfectly entitled to fly business class – but regardless, who knows what class he’s actually flying on – i wouldn’t take some lad’s twitter remarks as proof. and who actually cares…

  5. WOULD YOU STOP WITH THE CATHOLIC BASHING!!!

    He’s just a guy at the airport.

    If he was pictured eating an irish breakfast would you complain he should be having porridge and water.

    This is not news

  6. On his way back from State business in Davos!! Claims humility & asks for support from people to run his church & then flys on a€ 800 each way airline ticket??

    • and yet the Catholic Church cant find the money to pay the abuse victims. Hypocrisy much?

      • No abuse victim is left wanting for money. All have been compensated or are at an advanced stage of the redress process. I challenge you to name one person who hasn’t received a cheque.

          • The various redress boards are either finished, or are nearing completion. There are however, a certain cohort of people who want to keep them spinning indefinitely for various reasons. They will not let it go and refuse to draw a line with the past. These people will forever be bitter and need to be left behind. That said, we should never forget the horrors of institutional abuse.

        • Eh the Irish Government ABM is pending a rather large cheque which various religious institutions are refusing.

        • … I know of one abuse victim who has tried several times to commit suicide ….so I assume there are many victims of clerical abusers who have taken their own lives.

      • I travel that route on a regular basis on Business class covering my own ticket so I took an average of my last 5 tickets.

        As for who paid for it or his rather nice designer clothes I have no idea.

    • “These people will forever be bitter and need to be left behind. That said, we should never forget the horrors of institutional abuse.”

      Ah ABM, you’re a gas man. The “horrors of institutional abuse” is actually the one thing you want everyone to forget about. Methinks ye doth protest too much!

  7. How more pathetic can Broadsheet get??? Why don’t you balance this up by covering the new bishop in Cloyne bashing the banks???. Nope???, didn’think so, and some people on here call the church hypocrits???

    • Oh wow, the Bishop of Cloyne, long after the horse has bolted, ‘bashes’ the banks. What a brave, moral visionary.

      • I mean imagine it? Imagine a private organisation that didn’t molest a load of kids lumping its debt onto taxpayers.

        The very thought.

  12. D’ya know this lad isn’t the worst
    And I doubt he booked himself a Business Class ticket

  13. Religion is all about money anyway. Profits are repatriated back to the vatican from churches all around the world. They are all sorry now because their income is decreasing with the lowers numbers attending mass and the older god fearing generations going to meet their “maker”.

  14. The catholic church can’t find the money to pay the victims of abuse and yet this man is flying business class and has Ralph Lauren luggage? Perfectly reasonable to post this as it illustrates the unashamed hypocrisy of the catholic church.

  15. That Broadsheet thought it worthy of publishing also says a lot………
    S**t stirrers / Curtain twitchers.

    • Errm no!. The question that needs to be asked is, what is a Roman Catholic Bishop doing at a meeting of political and business leaders. (It doesn’t say anything on the ticket about religious leaders).
      Hint – He may be seeking to influence people of importance.
      This has to be a legitimate cause of concern because the Roman Catholic Church is an absolutist institution that will interfere in the State legislature if can.

  16. What a nasty post. Invasion of privacy, snide, unwarranted. On who’s dime? Flight details? And the sneaky shitty quality of the photograph. Cowardly.

    And about one of the their few good guys too. Well done Broadsheet!

    F**king arseholes.

    • Cosmetically, he may be ‘one of their few good guys’ but that doesn’t mean all that much. It is the equivalent of being the skinniest person in fat camp.

      It is a relevant question. Who pays for all this? Do Irish church goers throwing a few quid into a basket on a Sunday realise it?

      Does the taxpayer realise that Archbishops get to skip the queue at passport control?

      • I doubt you paid, so what’s your problem? So what if catholic mass goers paid?

        How about you asking who paid for Senator Zappone’s unvouched 20K in expenses? We did.

    • How is this guy a good guy? He’s only trying to save his corrupt bullsh*t organization. All he talks or cares about is saving the organization. Coming clean is only the tool he uses to achieve that, it is NOT because it is the right thing to do.

      A good man would not remain part of that organization. They would try and dismantle it.

  17. Bishops need to be prioritised through passport control because they can only move diagonally.

  19. You should just hire an airport correspondent and be done with it. Maybe follow it up with a Brown Thomas correspondent.

    What about sending the sh*t of those in fancy clothes to a lab and analyzing it for truffles?

    Let’s expose those spending money. The bastards.

    It’s like a Monty Python sketch round here sometimes.

  20. Interesting that it says DIE on the sign above his head. Wouldn’t fancy getting on that flight!! : )