When Northern Irish civil rights activist Bernadette Devlin came to America - VIDEO

Bernadette Devlin

Earlier this month, the Irish Film New York festival showcased a series of provocative films from Ireland, including Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey. 

The 90-minute documentary explores the rise and evolution of Northern Ireland firebrand Bernadette Devlin, who famously rose to prominence in 1969 after the Battle of the Bogside in August which brought The Troubles to the attention of the international community.

Devlin is best known for being elected to Parliament at the ripe old age of 21 and for her ceaseless commitment to justice in the North. 

What is often forgotten is that Devlin made an eventful trip to America back in 1969.  She was hoping to drum up support for the cause of civil rights in Northern Ireland, just as Eamon de Valera and John Devoy had done on earlier trips to the U.S. 

Instead, Devlin exposed deep rifts between Irish Catholics in America and in Ireland.

It seemed a match made in heaven.  Devlin was passionate and articulate.  She was a telegenic lass from the “old country” with an accent that surely charmed every third generation Irish American who heard it.

But this was 1969, arguably one of the craziest years in American history.  It was a time for choosing sides. 

And it turned out that Devlin and Irish Americans, more often than not, found themselves on opposite sides of the issues of the day.

Irish Americans wanted to hear about the dirty Brits and how the Protestants in the North were oppressing Irish Catholics in Belfast and Derry.  Devlin, of course, was more than willing to talk about this as she visited pubs, AOH centers and Knights of Columbus halls from New York to San Francisco.

But things got complicated when Devlin broadened her definition of injustice. When she began talking about how the struggle for civil rights for African Americans in the U.S. was just as important as the fight for Catholic civil rights in the North … well, Devlin found herself on the receiving end of some cold, hard stares.

Devlin ended up criticizing Irish American kingmaker Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. Those who had initially raised money for Devlin, once they heard her controversial views, gave the money to American charities instead.

By 1969, many Irish Americans had begun questioning their centuries-old alliance with the Democratic Party.  Many viewed late sixties developments from hippie culture to skyrocketing crime rates as signs of American decline. 

Many Irish Americans grew increasingly conservative.  They blasted liberals such as New York City Mayor John Lindsay, and some even supported segregationist George Wallace for president.

This, even as they supported radicals like Devlin in Northern Ireland.

The result?

“People who were wearing ‘Dump Lindsay’ buttons and who...had supported George Wallace for president” came out to support the radical socialist Devlin.

This description (of a Devlin fundraiser in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn) comes from one of the more fascinating reports on Devlin’s U.S. trip - a 12-page article which appeared in the January 1970 issue of Harper’s, written by Sara Davidson.

Davidson followed Devlin across America and along the way offers interesting insights, even as she unintentionally manages to offend all involved.  (Was it really necessary to highlight the speech of Brooklyn Irish Americans watching Devlin’s car pass by, who comment, “Why you gotta pick dis street to come down?”)

The article culminates with a Los Angeles rally before a “schizophrenic crowd” consisting of demure white-haired Irish Americans and hippies and radicals who’d come to see the revolutionary from Ireland.

Hey, it was 1969.

Facing questions about whether or not the money she was raising would be used to fund the armed struggle, Devlin cut her American trip short in early September.

Exhausted and frustrated, Devlin apparently found that war-torn Northern Ireland was easier to handle than 1960s America.

CORRECTION: As I noted in last week’s column, Democratic Party officials initially did not accept Timothy Cardinal Dolan’s offer to say a prayer at their convention back in August.  However, as numerous readers noted, Dolan eventually did visit the convention and offer a prayer. My apologies for not mentioning this.

(Contact “Sidewalks” at tdeignan.blogspot.com or tomdeignan@earthlink.net)

Here, listen to 'Barricade' from Bernadette: Notes on a Political Journey:

The yuk of the Irish - Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to party with Al Smith and Cardinal Dolan in New York

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama will once again meet 
at the Al Smith dinner in New York next week.

Next Thursday, October 18, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama will call a brief cease-fire in their war for the White House.  They will make their way to New York for the annual Al Smith dinner and yuk it up with Timothy Cardinal Dolan.

The dinner is technically a fundraiser for Catholic Charities, and the 2008 dinner raised nearly $4 million.

Or, as Romney refers to $4 million, “Tip money.”

That’s right, you can expect all sorts of jokes aimed at Romney and Obama that night.

Traditionally, the candidates for president have appeared at the dinner right before the election.  This is a fine opportunity to remind people what a trailblazer Al Smith was, and the obstacles he faced as the first Irish American and Roman Catholic from a major party to run for the White House in 1928.

It’s also a convenient reminder that the Archbishop of New York is one of the few people in America who can invite the two presidential candidates to dinner and expect them to show up.

But mainly, this is an opportunity for the candidates to flex their funny bones.

Given the state of America, however, one can imagine nervous speechwriters chewing on pencils, trying to strike the right balance between funny and wildly inappropriate.

For example, imagine Romney standing up and at the podium, offering a standard greeting, before adding, “And if anyone in the room needs an abortion, please speak to the president before you leave tonight.”

Yes, it’s going to be hard to avoid tensions between the Democratic Party and the Catholic Church.  For example, Dolan made it clear he was willing to go to both the Republican and Democratic conventions back in the summer, but only the Republicans took Dolan up on the offer.

Which might lead Dolan to quip, “Nice to see you, Mr. President.  Would you like me to leave now?”

Or,“Mr. President, tonight I kind of wish I was speaking to an empty chair.”

Or, “If anyone needs a gay marriage ceremony, please speak to the president.”

In 1996 and 2004 the candidates were not invited to the dinner, and most people believe these non-invites were spurred largely by Democratic support for abortion and other social issues.

And you can bet this year’s dinner will have an awkward moment or two.  The New York Archdiocese, after all, is one of many organizations currently suing the Obama administration in a fight over whether or not contraception should be made available to employees through health plans.

Obama, of course, could ease this awkward moment.  With sight gags, for example.

Blow up a condom like a balloon.  Or toss birth control pills at the crowd.

But even then some people probably wouldn’t laugh.  As it is, over 2,000 people have signed a petition at alsmithscandal.org to voice their opposition to Obama’s presence.

Catholics, according to the protest organizer, “felt betrayed” by the invitation to Obama. “They felt like the cardinal placed a knife in their back. They felt let down and disappointed over this apparent show of weak leadership.”

Not that Romney is going to be let off easy. Dolan may introduce the Republican candidate by saying, “Now let’s make sure we make Mitt Romney feel welcome.  After all, he is a member of a strange religious cult.  And I don’t mean go-into-a-box-and-whisper-to-a-priest-to-forgive-all-your-sins crazy.  Or look-the-other-way-when-priests-sexually-abuse-boys crazy.  I mean real crazy!”

Then there’s the uncomfortable fact that the whole point of fundraising for charity might be a little lost on Romney.

“Why in God’s name are we raising money for poor people?” Romney may ask.  “I thought that fine Irish writer Jonathan Swift solved the whole poor people problem two centuries ago when he wrote A Modest Proposal.  You can be sure that in a Romney administration I will take that proposal and it will be a whole lot more than modest!”

Yes, given the state of the world, it will be good to laugh for an evening.  It might make us feel better when we break down in tears and realize the joke’s on us.

(Contact “Sidewalks” at tdeignan.blogspot.com or tomdeignan@earthlink.net)

Religion and politics go perfectly together, but is the church closing their doors to possible parishioners?

Archbishop John J. Myers (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Tom Moran was “born into a devout Catholic family, the fifth of nine children,” as the Irish American columnist wrote in a column this past Sunday for the Star Ledger newspaper in New Jersey.

Moran, however, now declares himself “a spiritual refugee,” who has “fled a million miles from the church.”

He, of course, is not the only one.

“One in three American adults was raised in a Catholic family, but fewer than one in four identify as Catholic today. No other church has shed so many followers, according to surveys by the Pew Charitable Trusts,” Moran writes.

This bit of soul-searching was prompted by a controversial letter written by Archbishop John J. Myers, the spiritual leader of the Newark Archdiocese.

Myers lengthy pastoral letter on marriage and family encouraged Catholics to vote a certain way in the upcoming presidential election. 

“Catholic citizens must exercise their right to be heard in the public square by defending marriage,” Myers writes. 

In short, Myers is placing gay marriage, as well as abortion, at the center of the 2012 election.  He adds that Catholics who don’t share his views should probably not receive Holy Communion.

Moran and many like him are wondering why such a prominent religious figure would release such a highly-charged document on the eve of the closely-watched presidential debates, and just a month before this hard-fought election, in which religious values have played a central, often contentious, role.

It’s easy to say religion and politics don’t mix, and that Myers shouldn’t go about endorsing candidates, even though Myers never technically mentioned that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan (who is Catholic) are members of a political party whose views match the Catholic Church’s.  Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden (also Catholic) support abortion and gay marriage.

Trouble is, religion and politics have always mixed, like it or not. 

“Dagger” John Hughes, the Irish immigrant who more or less built the New York Archdiocese, openly supported political candidates who joined him in his fight to rid New York’s schools of their deeply Protestant influences. 

John Drina of Massachusetts was a Catholic priest who joined the anti-war movement and actually won a seat in congress in 1970.  He was followed a few years later by Robert John Cornell of Wisconsin, a priest who served in Congress until 1978.

So, if you don’t like mixing religion and politics, that is your right, but it’s been happening for about as long as people have been mixing scotch and soda.

Perhaps the real interesting place to get some thoughts on the archbishop’s priorities is St. Anne’s school in Jersey City.  Or Queen of Angels in Newark itself. 

Those are two of eight schools in the Newark Archdiocese that were slated for closure in an announcement earlier this year.  Yes, Catholic school closures are generally about budgets and finances. 

But across the country, budgets and finances are in bad shape because so many Catholics are indeed
voting.  But not at the ballot box. 

Catholics, instead, are voting with their feet, by attending church fewer and fewer times.  They are voting with their pocketbook, simply unable to pay the high cost of (an admittedly very fine)
Catholic education.

Are people fleeing the church solely because of abortion and gay rights?  No, but most polls show the vast majority of American Catholics disagree with their leaders on these issues. 

And while it is easy to say an institution such as the Catholic Church has little use for polls, it’s going way too far to suggest that the church is some timeless institution that never changes or responds to the political tone of the day.

Myers, for example, is a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a body which would probably not exist but for pressure created by victims.

Ultimately, it is perplexing why so many church leaders choose to make abortion and gay marriage the most pressing issue of the day, going so far as to suggest support for these issues precludes Catholics from participating in the sacraments.

Is this an institution that really wants to be closing its doors to anyone at this point?

Doing so may go over well with some on Election Day. But it only creates more and more spiritual refugees.

(Contact “Sidewalks” at tdeignan.blogspot.com or tomdeignan@earthlink.net)