When the Catholic Church mocks the victims of violent crime by having masses to pray for the criminals

In August 2017, a mass for the repose of the soul of Alan Hawe, Cavan, was said in his parish Church. The mass for his wife and three boys who he brutally murdered had taken place some days before. He hanged himself following the murders. He had been buried with them and was exhumed when things came to light such as how controlling he was and that he had transferred his wifes money to his own account after killing her. This was to ensure his family benefited from the money.  When that was done he took his own life.

Hawe was devoutly Roman Catholic and deeply involved in worship.

Shortly, before the murders, his son texted out of evil comes good.

The priest at his funeral proclaimed how good he was.

Without regard to the message it sends out, Hawe was glorified by all regardless of what he did and buried with his family.

The observation of Marx that Catholicism works like an opiate and a placebo that keeps people stuck in bad situations was verified loud and clear.

Back to the First Anniversary Mass for Hawe in the very church where his children and wife's funeral took place.

The priest did not have to collude with insensitivity and have the Mass in the chapel at all. It was possible to do it elsewhere.

Regarding the Catholic faith, some Catholics said the prayers will be no good and they hope there is a Hell for him to burn in forever. It must be stressed that the Church is to blame for this even if it disapproves. The Church is acting confused. If you teach that some people can go to Hell forever you know that a number will be happy at the thought of somebody going there. If you teach the doctrine without being able to prove it what can you expect? What happened to innocent until proven guilty? What right have you to accuse or imply that anybody deserves to go there?

The Church knows fine well that the main thing in today’s societies about such masses is honouring and remembering the dead. It does not matter what the Church thinks – that is what the people want the masses for. Those who never say a prayer for the dead still want the masses as a public statement.

Yet the Church will say the Mass is about praying for forgiveness for Hawes soul and offering Jesus to God as atonement for his sins.

You cannot ask God to forgive the sins of another when you do not forgive them yourself. That would be hypocritical. And the Christian view is that God sees sin as horrendous and we will never see sin the way he does for we are not God and cannot see into the heart.  And if the priest and the others forgive Hawe then there are some things we must remember.  A person who easily forgives such a terrible thing when it was done to somebody else and somebody else had to suffer does not really care much in the first place.  It is easy for you to forgive when you did not suffer.  You are just another person who uses forgiveness as a cover for condoning or pretending you care.

Strictly speaking on the human level, people need to mourn what somebody has done and try to stop the hurt being too strong or getting worse. That is what matters not forgiveness. Forgiveness and trying to emotionally deal with something done to you are two separate things. The Church these days lies about that. Emotional healing is sold as forgiveness. 

Most of us see forgiving a person as compatible with regarding them as still guilty of their sin.  The kind of forgiveness Christianity advocates is a pile of rubbish and superstition. It has connotations of a person really no longer being guilty of their sin.  The person is justified or made just and God though he cannot undo the past as good as undoes it.  This is not what sensible people want.   It does not do victim or perpetrator any good.  It is just a cloak for condoning the sin.

If there was some hint that people like Hawe repented before their deaths you might understand prayers for their souls.  But when there is none it is obvious that the believers are just practically condoning what he did and want him forgiven even if he never repented.  Even if the Church does not expressly command condoning that could be what is happening for most.  The Church is still to blame for it does not live in a vacuum but is part of society.  Believers are waffling on that he may have repented in his last seconds. Repentance for such a heinous act would take years not seconds. Their hypocrisy and lack of moral compass and their Catholic religion are an insult to the victims and Marx was right that Christianity is a placebo for evil and an opiate. How could somebody in death throes be in the clear state of mind for repenting? It is not a stable unpressured situation so no true decision is possible.  It is pure magic to imagine he repented at the brink of death.  It is a fairy story.  It insults Hawe as well to say that a superficial repentance from him would count as restoring his rights to be with his family.

To get forgiveness is supposed to be about leaving the past behind and changing for the better.  If that is to be done, you need forgiveness from God if there is one.  You need to at least seek it from those you have hurt.  And you need to decide not to punish yourself for what you have done.  All of that is a lot of hard work and takes a 24/7 commitment for if John forgives x on Monday he might change his mind on Tuesday.  It is easy to fool yourself.  Only action speaks forgiveness.

If you are innocent until proven guilty then that implies you should not be proclaimed forgiven until proven forgiven.  There is no point in caring about personal responsibility for evil and not caring about personal responsibility for repenting it and turning a new leaf.  Hawe should not be proclaimed forgiveable without evidence or better still proof!

If Hawe had written a book saying the Virgin Mary was immoral he would not be getting his Anniversary Mass.  He would be excommunicated.

The Mass has a bad side - it accuses people of needing a blood sacrifice to wash away their sin and it praises the evil sacrifice of Abraham who was prepared to murder his son for God.  Evil Bible readings such as the Passover readings from Exodus are read and praised as God's word.

The argument that the Church cannot judge or take sides is rubbish.  If man made Christianity, then it is man deciding that Hawe should be prayed for. A man made religion cannot be truly good. Any good is down to human nature not it.



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