Sunday 17 July 2016

SEMINARIANS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED AND RAPED !!!

SEMINARIANS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED AND RAPED !!!

COMMENT FROM A PARISH PRIEST




The Irish Catholic Church is gravely ill, promoting dysfunctional men to positions of which they are unworthy and, for which, they are unqualified.

The Catholic Church in Ireland is guilty of thwarting a direct intervention of the Holy Father Emeritus, BXVI, which sought to purify the Irish Church after sexual abuse scandals, which were more damaging than centuries of persecution.

The present Holy Father should consider revoking Ireland as the venue for the World Meeting of Families in 2018. 

There is no enthusiasm for this event, currently, in Parishes, given the corrupt and compromised personnel appointed to oversee it.

Please, Pope Francis, DO NOT COME TO IRELAND!!! Do not glorify serpents and wolves with your presence. If you must, send a message by video-link, that is, if the whole sorry event cannot be reassigned to another country.

Pope Francis, please show that you are serious about the eradication of scandal in our beloved Church and stand up for victimised seminarians in Maynooth. 

Intervene. Remove dysfunctional and corrupt men from positions of influence over idealistic and good-hearted students, who desire to serve God.

Over the years, former seminarians (in their late teens) have confided to me that they were sexually assaulted and abused by "late vocations" (men in their 30's and 40's), in their rooms, late at night. 




These assaults consisted of forced masturbation and anal rape. I hope this movement of VAMA, will empower these students to come forward and break their silences (we cannot and must force them; rather EMPOWER them when they feel able).




I would appeal to seminarians who have suffered sexual abuse by fellow students and/or sexual abuse, or inappropriate professional behaviour, by Maynooth staff, to contact a trusted priest/religious, or layperson and confide, to that person, their story (stories), asking that they bring it to the episcopal conference and Papal nuncio. AND ALSO GET IN TOUCH WITH VAMA!!

THE TIME HAS COME TO SECURE OUR NATIOANL SEMINARY AGAINST SEXUAL ABUSERS AND PRURIENT SEXUAL PREDATORS!! 

Parish Priest,
Ordained in the mid 80's,
Deep South of Ireland.




VAMA CONTACTS:

vamaunited2016@hotmail.com

083 831 3151

30 comments:

  1. PP, your piece is utterly shocking!!!

    What happened the victims and those who attacked them?

    What do you do if the Irish Bishops and the Nuncio do not listen or act?

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    Replies
    1. They left the seminary (the victims). The alleged perpetrators (as far as I know) were not ordained.

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    2. What do you do if the Bishops and Nuncio do not act???

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    3. If they do not act, Maynooth is finished. Let's hope VAMA helps!

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  2. Imagine if these boyos had done the jobs they were supposed to be doing, instead of apparently getting their rocks off, going on power trips and playing cruel mind games with students???

    Is it any wonder that many Irish dioceses have no vocations at all and that ordinations are as rare as hen's teeth???

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  3. My God. The ordeal many of our young priests have survived.This is horrific. They deserve better support in parishes.

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  4. Indeed, the thoughts of the grinning jokers who will be overseeing World Meeting of Families is sickening - Brown, the Martins, "Wounded Healer" Brady and all their wannabes and hangers-on. Here here to its cancellation in Ireland and moving it elsewhere!!

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  5. When men who feel psychologically/physically inadequate are put into positions of trust and authority, ensuing mayhem can result. The need to dominate and bully others to cover up deep seated inadequacies comes to the fore. Such individuals can cause untold damage and destruction. Instead of nurturing and building up those in their charge, they often are driven to do the very opposite. Deep down they feel threatened and will exert control for control's sake. It beggars belief how the incompetence and stupidity of the hierarchy could rubber stamp such appointments. Thirty years ago, I had a profound (and naive) respect for bishops. However,the constant drip drip of scandal, cover up and incompetence during the past twenty years or so has completely altered my outlook. They no longer deserve our respect and it is safer to evaluate them in the same way we seem to judge politicians. Not even your average priest trusts his bishop. That says it all.

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  6. Bishop Pat, I wonder is pope Francis aware of the current scandal in the Irish church. Ie maynooth. Or are the Bishops going to create another cover up?

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    1. Im sure he is not aware.

      The Irish Bishops have been covering up the Manooth stories for years.

      Many bishops have had theur seminarians report Maynooth to them !!!

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  7. Yes, the World Meeting of Families in 2018 is a joke! The Irish Church is not fit to host such an event. As a priest working in a parish I know that here is no interest in it. We need to have a root & branch reform of the church before any good can happen........when I meet with some of my colleagues (all of us ordained in the 80's or early 90's, we always conclude that, as a church, we are f*****! The whole structure will have to collapse before any renewal can happen. The World Meeting of Families is a smokescreen, giving the impression that all is well. Eucharist Congress 2012 was another smokescreen. I never attended any part of it because I couldn't collude in things that have no connection with everyday catholics. We need 11 diocese instead of 26, we need new bishops from overseas, and we need to begin again with a leaner church, and hopefully a more pure church than what's there at the moment.

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  8. Whoever the above PP is I would know him if he trained at Maynooth, since I was there at the same time.

    I have to tell you that I never once, during my time at Maynooth and afterwards, heard
    any such claim of sexual abuse of seminarians, especially any as serious as this PP has alleged.

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    Replies
    1. Just asking - not being aggressive-

      Are you saying he is lying?

      What do you mean by "especially any as serious as this"?

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    2. Bishop Pat, I cannot say that this person is lying: I have no window on his, or any other, soul.

      I find it strange that reports of these alleged and gross crimes did not make it to every point of the Maynooth grapevine, and quickly. Maynooth had a
      well-deserved reputation for gossiping, and little (if anything) passed unnoticed and unremarked.

      Strangely, neither I nor any of my many colleagues heard anything of these
      alleged criminal obscenities .

      What I meant by "especially any as serious as this" is what I suggested above: that I find it astonishing that reports of such depraved acts, if they
      occurred at all, did not make it to every corner of the seminary before the day was out.

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    3. Understand. Maybe both parties were ashamed?

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    4. Yes, that's a possibility. But it's possible, too, that reports of these allegations didn't circulate like wildfire because no such incidents took place.

      These allegations (and they are just allegations at this point) are extremely
      serious and must be handled with great sensitivity in the interest of justice, both for the alleged victims and the alleged abusers.

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    5. I agree. Its just that people have had few chances to tell their story up to now.

      In my first 2 years as a young priest two pp's tried to sexually assault me and I was afraid to tell anyone and afraid I would not be believed.

      It can take people years to speak up.

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    6. I hope you booted them both in the nether regions. I know I would have. But then, I know, too, that not everyone has my tact and diplomacy, so to speak.

      Yes, I accept that some people will bury such abuse of themselves for their own reasons. It is just that I,as a man unafraid to use his fists in self-
      defence , have trouble coming to terms with someone allowing another to
      abuse them in this way. If it really happened, I sincerely hope those responsible are made to face up to what they so cruelly did.

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    7. I didn't actually. I was only 24 and they were canons and big men in the diocese. I found it very embarrasing and just avoided them in the future.

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    8. Fair play to you, Bishop Pat. You're a good man, a better one than I am.

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    9. Bishop Pat, by way of addition, I pray for you. Please pray for me. I struggle so much sometimes I wonder whether I can go on.

      Go in peace.

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    10. Ah now, Magna Carta, sure I would bet you're a fierce man altogether with the aul' fists.

      Whether or not you and I "know" each other is irrelevant.

      Let me clarify matters a bit further:

      These were two lads, at two different times, separated by a few years, who shared with me these traumatic experiences.

      Both had left the seminary and, as far as they knew, their alleged attackers did not persevere with their vocations.

      Both victims had moved on with their lives. They were deeply ashamed of what happened.

      What happened to them was not the sort of thing, Magna Carta, they would have wished to be "gossiped" about in every corner of Maynooth.

      You seem not to understand very well the dynamics of sexual assault and abuse. Male victims of sexual assault, especially in the past, invariably did not report such abuse for many reasons: fear, embarrassment, profound shock, fear of what others would think/say about them, dread of police examinations/investigations and publicity - and so on. This is well documented by therapists and experts in the field.

      They swallowed their shame and buried their trauma deep. Not all young lads would be so ready with their fists as you, Magna Carta, for many reasons. Try and have some understanding and compassion.

      Abusers seek out quiet, vulnerable lads - rarely those full of braggadocio. They make sure there are no witnesses to their abuse and that it will be the victims word against theirs.

      In an environment like a seminary, this scenario has further ramifications that stop the victim speaking out.

      I wish to amend a typo in my third last paragraph: "we cannot and must force them; rather EMPOWER them when they feel able". The word 'NOT' is missing before 'force'.

      We cannot and must not force those who suffered to come forward but we can encourage them towards empowerment.

      Hopefully, the airing of this issue on this blog, over the last few months, will help those who suffered in the past (and maybe in the present too) to realise that they are not at fault and that they are not alone.

      It should come as no surprise to anyone, including Magna Carta, that such incidences should occur in seminaries and that those who suffered them should bury them deeply in silence. Read The Ferns Report and consider St Peter's College, Wexford, for example.

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    11. Magna Carta, Of course I'll pray for you - and daily.

      I'm truly sorry you wonder if can go you.

      You strike me very much as one of the good guys.

      If you ever want a private chat let me know. Pat.

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    12. Anonymous at 23:12, you make a very good point. And no, I don't fully understand the mechanics of sexual assualt; I'm not that omniscent. But your cynicism is what I shall most take away from your comment.

      You had an opportunity to teach someone who tries to do good, but is so aware of his shortcomings. But your sneering "blew it".

      May God forgive you. I mean that.

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    13. Thank you, Bishop Pat. Thank you.

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    14. Magna Carta, go and take a good hard look at the often "sneering", cynicism and the self-righteous (indeed, "omniscient") approach you take on this forum, along with your immediate efforts to question the veracity of what I was saying and to cast aspersions on my motives for contributing to this discussion.

      With your big fists swinging, you hardly came over as someone open to being taught.

      God bless you. I mean that.

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    15. Yes, I did and do question the so-called "veracity" of your allegations, especially since you posted them anonymously. I, too, post anonymously here...but then, I am not making such serious allegations against anyone.

      You seem affronted that anyone should dare question your claims. Grow up, and join the world of adults. Show even a little of the humility I presumethat you, as a priest, would encourage others to show. If you care to hide under the cloak of anonymity while accusing others, have the maturity to know that you will be challenged. And then take it like an adult rather than a whining juvenile.

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    16. Magna Carta - RIGHT BACK ATCHA!

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  9. Things on here have got awful serious.

    Where's Big Lil from Prince Albert St?

    I miss her sumthin' shackin, so ah do.

    Wee Maisie from Moyard.

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    Replies
    1. I'm sorry that things have become so serious.

      But there is ALWAYS a place for humour and satire.

      By the way Dean Kennedy was seen in Hillsborough in recent days.

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