I assume it was you Doubting Thomas, who posted as Guest just above, and said:

"Your argument seems to rest heavily on the view that because Mass has always held such a central role in the life of three-quarters of the people of Ireland, plus the millions in the diaspora, it cannot be separated out from the ethos of an organisation that is focused on Irish Music, Dance and Language (though the last less so where I live). I'm afraid I don't accept the logic (and I grant that it is a logic of sorts)."

I'm going to say this again, one more time. Comhaltas is an Irish arts, culture and language organization, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. It's constitution clearly states it IS NOT JUST A MUSIC ORGANIZATION. It has branches around the world. What you are attempting to do is lop off the linguistic and cultural aims of the organizztion, to suit yourself. It is beginning to appear that Doubting Thomas, along with those who defend him, clearly don't want to bothered with the Irish culture and language aims of this organiztion, so they are using the ruse of religion to try and rid the organization of any activities except Irish music, without going directly after the language and culture.

They are disingenuously doing this, by claiming that Comhaltas IS NOT a cultural organization, and that the culture encompasses and includes a Catholic ethos.

Their reason for wanting to do this is the power and influence Comhaltas itself. Because it is the main body concerned with Irish traditional music competitions both in Ireland and internationally, what they want is the organization's resources, without the cultural baggage that currently comes with it.

That, my friends, is the definition of cultural theft.