Holy Tagger escapes Church censure

Ben Fawkes writes in the Dominion Post today about the Holy Tagger, Gerard Burns. The article is on page A2 of the print edition.  To refresh memories:-

MICHAEL FOX/Stuff.co.nz SPILLED BLOOD: Father Gerard Burns splashes red paint mixed with a drop of his own blood on the monument to former Israeli leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Yitzhak Rabin, near Civic Square.

It is clear that Burns committed the defiling and desecration of the memorial.

So far it appears that the NZ Police are still considering whether they will be laying charges.

Burns is reported as being unrepentant as regards his act.

Given that the memorial is in a public place, why has the Wellington City Council not laid a complaint with the police? Why was it left up to David Zwartz to lay the complaint?

Fawkes in his article, which appears not to be on-line, but Adam has transmuted the material into an electronic version, writes:-

FATHER Gerard Burns appears to have escaped censure for smearing an Israeli memorial with blood and paint and has not ruled out attending another pro-Palestine protest today.

So the Roman Catholic Church sees nothing wrong in a priest defiling a memorial to a dead man. Therefore, the Church will no doubt not be unhappy if people go around defiling Catholic graves as a form of protest at the Church’s inaction over this matter. Of course they will be unhappy and will no doubt seek the prosecution of offenders. Unctuous hypocrites.

Then we read:-

A second demonstration will start at noon today at Wellington’s Yitzhak Rabin memorial, which the Te Ngakau Tapu parish priest splattered with a mixture of paint and his own blood last week during a protest against Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip.

So as in all the best crime stories the criminal may return to the scene of the crime

Wellington City Council said there would be security on hand today to keep an eye on the Harris St memorial.

As Adam asks above, why has Wellington City Council not taken action against the Holy Tagger?

Father Burns said he was considering whether to attend the event. ‘‘I fully support what [organisers] Christians for Justice are doing. I’m not yet sure whether I will be there.’’

The church had not banned him from taking part, he said.

Desecrating a memorial – such a Christian act is it not!

Wellington Regional Jewish Council president David Zwartz said there was no problem with the memorial being used in the protest. ‘‘It is in a public place, they are welcome as long as they don’t put blood or paint on it.’’ Mr Zwartz had lodged a complaint of wilful damage against Father Burns. Wellington police said a decision on whether to charge him would be made by the end of the week.

It will be very interesting to see if any charges are laid. Adam would not bet on any police action being taken.

Wellington Catholic Archbishop John Dew said though the church had taken no action against Father Burns, it had publicly apologised to anyone who may have been offended by his actions.

So emulating Pontius Pilate, the Catholic bishop washes his hands of the whole affair by effectively saying we apologize to anyone offended, but no matter move on, no real harm done.

Adam really does wonder why Archbishop Dew bothers, as the failure to discipline Burns is outrageous. Adam has no problem with Burns protesting. Adam does have a problem with someone defiling a memorial. He has an even greater problem when the defiler is a priest. The issue is then heightened when one considers the past history of the Catholic Church as regards Jews. That is why many will have been offended by Burns action as it is redolent of the past anti-semitic behaviour of the Catholic Church.

The church had no problem with clergy taking part in peaceful demonstrations and hoped the protest would contribute to an end to the violence in Gaza, Bishop Dew said.

How naive can you get. Neither Israel or Hamas give a toss over a demonstration by Christians for Justice in Wellington. It might make the protestors feel good about themselves, but as for contributing to a ceasefire in Gaza. No way.

By the way according to the church can we now assume that peaceful demonstrations include flag burning and memorial desecration.

A pro-Israel rally, organised by members of the local Jewish community, is to be held at Parliament at noon tomorrow

It will be extremely interesting to see what happens then.