Sunday 4 September 2016

"SABBATICALS" AND "FURTHER STUDIES"

SORRY FOR LATE PUBLICATION OF BLOG TODAY

PARTICULARLY BUSY SUNDAY


"SABBATICALS" AND "FURTHER STUDIES"

FATHER BRENDAN COLLINS - DERRY - ON SABBATICAL
I IMAGINE that this Blog's readers do not speak the language of the Roman Catholic Church - and I do not mean LATIN. I mean the language of the EUPHEMISM - A euphemism is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that may be deemed offensive or unpleasant.

And therefore in the DIOCESE OF DERRY DIOCESAN CHANGES 2016 (effective 9.9.16) we learn that the curate of Longtower Parish, Derry, is gone on sabbatical.

In the Catholic Church sabbaticals happen when one has completed 25, 30 or whatever number of years in the priesthood.

But Father Brendan Collins - ordained in 2013 - has just done 3 years in ministry! So his "sabbatical" comes very early indeed - almost even before he got properly started!

The Catholic Church has other euphemisms for priests who step aside for a while - "GONE FOR FURTHER STUDIES" - "GONE ON RETREAT" - "TAKING TIME OFF TO CARE FOR A SICK RELATIVE" - "TAKING A PERIOD OF REFLECTION".

So why are we talking about Brendan Collins? 

Two weeks ago I was sent a story about Brendan by an anonymous source. The same source has communicated with me before and I always found their information to be reliable. But out of respect for Brendan I got in touch with him via email and asked him to get in touch and comment on the story. He did not do so. 

Two weeks later another source sent me the Derry Diocesan changes and commenting on the inclusion of Brendan being sent on sabbatical.

From my 40 years experience in the Church I imagine that what has happened in the intervening two weeks is that Brendan went off and had a chat with Derry bishop DONAL "GIRO" McKEOWN and they decided to head off the coming storm by announcing a sabbatical. In the Catholic Church it's called CRISIS MISMANAGEMENT.

Then another source sent me the following:


He was in Rome during the troubled years and had an unusual length of time as a Deacon - apparently Monsignor Eamon Martin (Admin at the time) was delaying ordination.

So it appears that Brendan has been on the Church's radar for quite a while. 

Sometimes when priests go on a sabbatical that's the last we ever hear of them. The Church hopes that by the time the sabbatical is over people will have forgotten all about the priest.

I have made the decision NOT to publish the story I was sent on here until such time as I can have it confirmed. 

DERRY CHANGES:

Fr Eamon Graham, Adm Long Tower, to be PP Lavey and PP Greenlough, residing in Lavey;
Fr Aidan Mullan, CC St. Eugene’s Cathedral, to be Adm Long Tower;
Fr Noel McDermott, CC Faughanvale, to be PP Faughanvale;
Fr Brendan Crowley, CC Burt Inch & Fahan, to be PP Errigal;
Fr James McGrory, CC Culdaff and Clonmany, to be PP Coleraine;
Fr Patsy Mullan, retiring as PP Faughanvale, to be CC Faughanvale;
Fr Charles Keaney PP Coleraine, to take a twelve-month sabbatical, before new appointment in September 2017;
Fr Fintan Diggin to be CC Burt, Inch & Fahan;
Fr Eugene Hasson, PP Lavey and Greenlough, to be CC Omagh (Drumragh);
Fr Karl Haan, CC Errigal, to be CC Clonmany and Culdaff, residing at Culdaff;
Fr Paul Fraser, CC Creggan, to be, in addition, Director of the Diocesan Pastoral Centre;
Fr Dermott McGirr, CC Omagh (Drumragh), to be CC Ballinascreen and Desertmartin, residing at Desertmartin;
Fr Peter O’Kane, Director of Diocesan Pastoral Centre, to enter the novitiate of the Dominican Order;
Fr Brendan Collins CC Long Tower, to take a twelve-month period of sabbatical leave from ministry.
Fr Micheál McGavigan, CC The Three Patrons, to undertake further studies in Canon Law at the Catholic University of America, Washington DC;
Fr Christopher McDermott, newly ordained, to be CC St. Eugene’s Cathedral;
Rev. Malachy Gallagher, newly ordained Deacon, to Parish of Templemore.


OTHER RECENT SABBATICAL-EES:

FATHER PATRICK RELIHAN - DIOCESE OF CLOYNE:




Father Relihan was the vocations director for the Diocese of Cloyne and chaplain to the large secondary school in Youghal in Cork.

Bishop Willie Crean announced that Father Relihan was GOING FOR FURTHER STUDIES.

We heard nothing more about him until he then popped up in shirt and tie as the director of a Cork Youth Service.


THE "NEW" MR PATRICK RELIHAN

Bishop John Flemming of Killala and retired Bishop John Magee of Cloyne - and indeed retied Archbishop Dermot Clifford of Cashel and Emly could tell us fascinating stories on this one.


FATHER CIARAN DALLAT OF DOWN AND CONNOR:



Ciaran Dallat made one of his parishioners pregnant and was then given a SABBATICAL bu the bishop of Down and Connor - Noel Treanor.

Treanor has been trying to put him back in ministry - but so far its all being kept quiet.

He is supposed to be a chaplain to MAGHABERRY PRISON but is not listed as so in the diocesan year book/

FATHER RORY COYLE - ARMAGH:




Rory Coyle as we know was caught on GRINDR - showing his face and his nether regions.

Latest news is that he is in a sex addiction clinic in the USA.

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HORNYANDYX - MAYNOOTH:




Kevin McElroy the Maynooth seminarian who is on a leave of absence and is supposed to be living in Cork is spending TODAY on the golf course in his home town of BALLYMENA.




We wish him a hole in one and pray that he keeps his balls out of the rough.

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A LOAD OF NUNSENSE: :





TODAY'S PICS:


PAPAL NUNCIO CAUGHT WITHOUT HIS TROUSERS


THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Don't Quit!
by Anonymous

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–
You may succeed with another blow.


Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.


Success is failure turned inside out–
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

36 comments:

  1. I love that poem, Pat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The former seminarian who was stalked should consider making a formal complaint to the stalker's diocese. If something happens and this stalker guy is a problem, then they won't be able to say they were unaware. The whole business has become a sick joke. They are ordaining problems who go on to wreak havoc and make a mockery of the priesthood. Yes, it is unheard of that a newly ordained priest goes on "sabbatical".

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  3. Sabbatical I recall as being linked to the word Sabbath and rest. As you rightly imply it is a code word for fix or indeed recycle the cleric on trouble. For many bishops it may mean shit hide the fecker until I decide how best to minimise the damage

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  4. Perhaps the Derry priest Fr Brendan Collins is going to follow a media career on the back of his stunning performance recently on a catholic video channel where he opposed same sex marriage.
    Could the Maiden City gives us the successor to the late Bishop Fulton Sheen.
    Dalriada Dick

    ReplyDelete
  5. what ever happened to Puck? that jock strap image is imprinted on my mind, and not for the better. has he resumed pastoral duties or will Ray Brown be sending him for 'further studies'

    ReplyDelete
  6. Charlie Brown always wore short trousers! Looks quite animated in his shorts does the Papal Nuntio,orange and green, interesting!
    Wil D West.

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  7. Isn't Hughie Con Connolly on a sabbatical this year? Has he actually gone away, or is he still lurking in the undergrowth? It's a very weird sabbatical he got: BEFORE the end of his term of office. Never heard the like of that before.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Reading the changes it would seem that Fr. Collins will be is expected back - Bishop above you posted the following: Fr Brendan Collins CC Long Tower, to take a twelve-month period of sabbatical leave from ministry - but why did you leave out the rest of that sentence as it appears on the Diocese of Derry website? --- Fr Brendan Collins CC Long Tower, to take a twelve-month period of sabbatical leave from ministry, before his next appointment in 2017. Was this deliberate or by accident - because you left it in after Fr. Charles Keaney appointment - exactly as it appears. Why the selective editing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I received by email and copied and pasted it. No editing apart from highlighting Fr Collins in bold.

      Delete
    2. Brendan and Charlie have more than one thing in common.

      Delete
  9. Lots of priests with opinions have become very quiet as of late. I suspect they are afraid Pat will publish their photo, someone will recognise them from a hook-up, and all hell will break loose.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you for that reply +Bishop - I accept it came to you via e-mail and you posted what you got - it seems the person who send you the e-mail then was the one who delibarately left out the end of the sentence out. I can only conclude that this is someone up to no good

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sabbaticals often never end. We will havento wait until 2017 to see if BC returns.

      Delete
    2. “Spend time in prayer” can also mean permanent exile, or even a substitute for signing on at the local JobCentre.

      Delete
  11. An interesting list of changes though never heard of a diocesan priest leaving to become a novice in an order - why would this be the case and is it common?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is not particularly unusual. Some people are just more suited to the life of an order. Dominican’s are having a huge spurt in vocations at the minute. He will still be an ordained priest but will have to go through all the stages of becoming a Dominican. Nothing suspicious here.

      Delete
  12. +Pat you are right that some sabbaticals never end - there was one PP who when onto 'further studies' in Derry quite a number of years ago never to be heard from again - name no longer on Diocesan website and thats not to mention the MIAs named but have no appointment

    ReplyDelete
  13. I often wonder if priests like Fr Brendon ‘Bedsgood’ Collins are coerced into making statements opposing same-sex marriage, etc. because the Church know all the embarrassing facts about someone. I always thought that was the case with Keith O’Brien being forced by the Vatican to make ever increasing outlandish statements about homosexuality and same-sex marriage until, finally, his former priestly lovers put a stop to him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If someone was covertly 'active' while in ministry one would think they wouldn’t be brazen enough to make such videos. Would you not want to keep your head below the parapet?

      Delete
    2. Those priests weren't his lovers; they were his victims.

      Delete
    3. Was Collins 'active'?

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    4. Probably passive, legs akimbo, like O'Brien.

      Delete
    5. Yes, they were O'Brien's victims - not his "lovers".

      That big bastard once gave a retreat to the priests of Down and Connor at Garron Tower in 2000 and talked about having fallen in love once with a woman.

      A whole load of horsehite as we know now. He was eying up the young priests at the time.

      I do recall, however, overhearing the former Dean of Belfast saying how "taken" he was with Keith Patrick's "honesty", "humanity" and "openness".

      I think a phrase the ex-Dean used was - "the sheer humanity of the man", uttered in that slightly breathless, giddy, voice he falls into, when he is somewhat starstruck, smitten or spellbound. LOL

      Delete
    6. He'd be sixty-two at the time... dirty old bugger.

      Delete
    7. I am told that one of the Big Dean's favourite stories - with which he regaled many a stupefyingly bored listener at a dinner table - was about Cardinal Hume after some big Do taking off his vestments and accoutrements.

      Seemingly, once he took off his cassock he was only wearing a vest (and trousers of course) and some of his flesh was exposed.

      A nearby minion was watching this shedding of garments and, according to the Dean, George Basil (who was a decent enough old skin) said to the minion: "yes, underneath all that, I am only flesh after all".

      I would loved to have said to the Dean: "well, what the f**k did he think was going to be there? Fur???" ;-)

      Btw, any sightings of the Yeti around Chelsea or Sloane Square these days? I hear he cuts a lonesome figure, like Francis Thompson, staring vacantly into the Thames.

      Delete
  14. Gives a total new meaning to lost on active service!! :-)

    Rasputin

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  15. Arrogance, conceit, ego and self importance know no bounds among some clergy. Sadly, when those attributes are tinged with a tad of feeling untouchable a painful downfall can sometimes follow.
    There was an aptly appropriate quotation in the Illiad, I think.
    "Those whom the gods will destroy they will first make mad!
    Maghera Micky

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sometimes totally fanatical or unsuitable candidates for the priesthood end up leaving the likes of Maynooth and get ordained by some order. Declan Gibson of the Raphoe Diocese, a nephew of the famous violinist Tommy Peoples, was notorious for years for violent aggravated robberies and violence. He had a criminal record. He does not come across as very mentally stable on the personal level. He joined the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and is now a priest of the French extremist Catholic order, Missionaries of the Holy Eucharist. I approve of banning the burka but I think the state needs to ban the kind of habits those orders put their members in. It is very intimidating and too different from the norm for comfort. It clearly shows those men are navel gazers for the clothing is just a dehumanising barrier.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Worth a try? - "Take, for example, the spiritual and physical penalties declared by the 4th Century architect of Eastern monasticism, St. Basil of Cesarea (322-379AD), for the cleric or monk caught making sexual advances (kissing) or sexually molesting young boys or men. The convicted offender was to be whipped in public, deprived of his tonsure (head shaven), bound in chains and imprisoned for six months, after which he was to be contained in a separate cell and ordered to undergo severe penances and prayer vigils to expedite his sins under the watchful eye of an elder spiritual brother. His diet was that of water and barley bread - the fodder of animals. Outside his cell, while engaged in manual labor and moving about the monastery, the pederast monk was to be always monitored by two fellow monks to insure that he never again had any contact with young men or boys."

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  18. Brendan is cute. I'll take him on a date if hes interested.

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  19. Before any gay priest who leaves can ask for trust from the lgbt community he needs to earn it to join the community.

    We need to remember that the following Church doctrines need to be firmly opposed and despised and renounced.

    That even one act of gay sex is a serious sin that deserves everlasting damnation.

    That if a gay man is meticulous about safer sex because he has loads of partners and harms nobody he is still bad and a sinner.

    That it is okay to honour a Bible that has violent homophobic revelations from God.

    That Jesus having had gay sex would mean he was not God's divine son.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And your point is, ..........??????????
      MMM

      Delete
  20. I am finding some othe contributions to this blog which are fom catholic clerics very dark and strange. Have we any hetros left in the church? Out of the dozens of priests, bishops and cardinals that I have met and worked with only 2 were straight.
    God help us all.
    I have no homophobic leaning but I draw the line at hiprocasy.

    Rasputin

    ReplyDelete
  21. To make a statement such as this, Rasputin, you must have proof.
    What is it?????
    This is clearly an illogical - probably insane conclusion - give your evidence?

    ReplyDelete