MAYNOOTH - WHAT THE FUTURE LOOKS LIKE!
Ireland, especially when it comes to Catholic Matters is often years and decades behind what has happened in the USA and on the Continent of Europe.
MAYNOOTH SEMINARY has had a "gay" reputation for a number of years now.
BUT as experience from the USA and Europe tells us - seminaries in which abuses are not tackled strongly - ONLY GET WORSE!
Below is one experience from AUSTRIA.
With Irish Catholic Bishop inaction and neglect Maynooth is on the path to becoming like this Austrain seminary = St Polten - became. Here is a summary from the New York Times:
"The date on the door of the Roman Catholic seminary
in this Austrian provincial capital is 1455, when it was founded by
Franciscans, but that image of hoary old age has not protected St. Pölten from
disclosures of sexual misbehaviour that have set off a major scandal in this
country.
It started early in the week when the Austrian
weekly news magazine Profil published photographs of the rector and deputy
rector of the seminary, the main school for future priests in this area just
west of Vienna, in which they appeared to be kissing and fondling seminary
students.
PRIEST STAFF MEMBER AND SEMINARIAN KISSING |
The publication of the photographs came some months
after thousands of images, apparently downloaded from child pornography Web
sites, appeared on seminary computers, prompting a police investigation.
The disclosures took on added importance because
the person in charge of the St. Pölten Seminary is Bishop Kurt Krenn, for
decades a prominent and outspoken conservative. Venerated by members of
Austria's small ultraconservative Catholic groups, he is reviled by many
liberals, who have long seen him as a major obstacle to reform.
BISHOP KRENN |
Bishop Krenn may have given some ammunition to his
critics, when he seemed to dismiss the allegations against the seminary
leaders, saying they were guilty of nothing more than ''boyish pranks'' that
may not have been homosexual in nature at all. All week there have been calls
by prominent Catholic figures for Bishop Krenn to resign, though he has said he
will not do so.
A Vienna prosecutor is expected to announce early
next week the results of a police investigation into the child pornography
allegations, and whether formal charges will be filed. On Friday, Austrian
radio reported that the prosecutor, Walter Nemec, had found child pornography
on several computers in several locations in the seminary, suggesting that
viewing such images, which is illegal in Austria, was widespread.
The Vatican is reported to be investigating the
allegations of sexual impropriety and possible criminality at St. Pölten and is
expected to rule on whether Bishop Krenn can remain in his post.
''The papal nuncio here in Vienna is informing the
Vatican about all that is going on,'' the Rev. Erich Leitenberger, the
spokesman for Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna, the highest-ranking
Catholic official in Austria, said in a telephone interview on Friday. ''It is
very clear -- and the Austrian bishops said this very clearly -- that in a
Roman Catholic seminary there is no room for pornography or for a homosexual
network,'' Father Leitenberg said.
Bishop Krenn was unavailable for comment, but his
spokesman, Michael Dinhobl, defended the comments the bishop had made in the
case. While the photographs published in Profil suggest serious impropriety, he
said, they were not conclusive evidence and should not be used to destroy the
reputations of the people pictured. Bishop Krenn, he added, has been trying to
protect the two seminary leaders from, as he put it, ''being destroyed in the
press without a real investigation.''
Father Dinhobl also said that in the matter of the
child pornography, it was Bishop Krenn himself who had brought the matter to
the police.
The scandal comes at a delicate time for the
Austrian Catholic Church, which has been striving to rebuild its image,
tarnished by allegations of sexual abuse directed against Cardinal Schönborn's
predecessor, Hans Hermann Groer, who resigned in 1995. Bishop Krenn was an
auxiliary bishop to Cardinal Groer and defended him against the allegations
that he had molested boys decades earlier. Cardinal Groer died last year.
''The Austrian church was very damaged after
Cardinal Groer, and Schönborn has been doing a very good job,'' Paul Zulehner,
dean of the Catholic Theological Faculty at the University of Vienna, said in a
telephone interview. ''Acceptance of the church was improving, and now this
scandal is terrible.''
Since the Groer scandal, the church has created
ombudsmen in the various Austrian dioceses who are charged with investigating
any accusations of sexual misconduct made against church officials. But Bishop
Krenn blocked the appointment of such a ombudsman in St. Pölten, Mr. Zulehner
said, making it the only diocese without one.
''There's no question that he should go
immediately, not in some months or after the investigation has closed, because
he is a real problem for the investigation,'' said the Rev. Helmut Schüller,
who is ombudsman for the diocese of Vienna.
The pictures published in Profil, three in all, do
not seem to support some of the more sensational allegations that have appeared
in the Austrian press about orgies at the school, fuelled by alcohol and
pornography. There is no nudity or partial nudity in any of the pictures.
FATHER WOLFGANG TOUCHING A SEMINARIAN |
But one does show the deputy rector, the Rev.
Wolfgang Rothe, embracing a seminarian, whose face is blurred in the Profil
article to protect his identity, and kissing him on the mouth. In another
photograph, the rector of the seminary, the Rev. Ulrich Küchl, is shown in what
looks like a T-shirt with his hand over the genitals of another man, who is
wearing a priest's collar.
''The priests' parties were quite open,'' Christian
Rainer, the editor in chief of Profil, said in a telephone conversation. Mr.
Rainer said the magazine had been investigating allegations of sexual
misconduct at St. Pölten for several months.
''It was quite easy,'' he said, ''because there are
so many people there who want to get rid of this bishop and wanted the scandal
to surface.''
PAT SAYS:
MAYNOOTH is in a bad state. But it could and can get worse. To get worse all that is needed is:
1. The Irish Bishops to do nothing.
2. Unsuitable staff members to be left in place.
3. Compromised bishops covering up for compromised priests and seminarians.
4. The unspoken acceptance in Maynooth of sexual activity.
5. The unspoken acceptance in Maynooth of internet / mobile sex sites.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Similar situation to Maynooth Pat in that even photographic evidence was rubbished as proof.
ReplyDeleteMaynooth is going to get much worse before action will finally be taken.
The homosexual network is in the ascendancy in the National Seminary of Ireland.
Maynooth it seems to me is like a slow motion car crash - every day I am waiting for the bang. What is going on with our Irish bishops - there must be a reason why there saying nothing and its time we find out.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that Archbishop of Dublin Martin was going to do something - seems to me he only wanted the publicity of looking like he was doing something.
I am very disappointed and angry with this - what is the papal nuncio doing ????? come on the game is up ! we need action NOW.
Another resignation yesterday - now 7 dioceses needs a new bishop - talk of a papal visit in 2018 - looking at the situation now , I'm sure Pope Francis will not come near the place until changes have been made.
Mass this morning - PP says collection pot is down and diocese needs funds - 10% of my salary and everyones there to fund the diocese without a bishop - roof leaking in the cathedral , pp driving a BMW I dont think so.
Come on Pat - the trust is with you - its time to play the KING card. or even an ACE
Brid in the West
Story dates from July 2004
ReplyDeleteNot on this topic but...
ReplyDeleteBishop...what exactly is this title that has been bestowed by Pope Francis on fr Andy Dolan in Bellaghy? He us now monsignor and is "chaplain to his holiness" what's that all about? Maybe in some bizarre way to coincide with the 4.5 million seamus heaney centre in Bellaghy??
Yes was wondering why Pat omitted that.
ReplyDeleteSensationilsm....perhaps
TG for Google
You may be right Brid in the west @9:32, it timing though, when to play the King first and then the ace to win the game, there needs to be a lead in, ducks lined up, all that, this blog needs to go viral, perhaps the time is now!
ReplyDeleteDoes your Church have a web-site?
ReplyDeleteWhat time do you hold your service?
bishoppatbuckley.org.
DeleteSundays 12 noon.
Seems many here know things that haven't been disclosed yet
ReplyDeleteBring it all on
The sooner we get stuff into perspective the better for us still practicing Catholics
There is so much "stuff", even in Ireland you would require a whole library.
DeleteBut I agree.
All must be brought out ibto the light.
There is so much "stuff", even in Ireland you would require a whole library.
DeleteBut I agree.
All must be brought out ibto the light.
Burn the kip!
ReplyDeleteThat wont guarantee the banishment of all that is evil.
Perhaps we can pull together all we know through Pat, get a good dossier together and structure a report out of it. We need a strategy. Trickles of revelations everyday are fine but I belive between us we've enough to burst the dam!
ReplyDeleteWil D West.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to merge dioceses together ? or what would need to happen. For example Clonfert and Galway - both waiting now for new bishops - could one do the job?
If the church is a garden what sort of greenhouses are our seminaries. Don't answer that. What I mean is we need to work with God to renew the fallen garden of Eden. I speak metaphorically because the buggers seem to be doing sweet f all in the real world
ReplyDeletePat, did you ever think of putting your sermon on your blog for a Sunday? If we believe that Sunday is the Lord's Day, it might be a bit nicer to hear some positive words from you about the Resurrection. What do people think?
ReplyDeleteBrid in the West, I think Nuncio Brown is a big part of the problem.
ReplyDeleteHe's too palsy walsy with some highly suspect clergy who kiss his ass in the hope that they will get a purple hat.
What Nuncio, ever before, ran around the country like Brown, who would turn up at the opening of an envelope???
Brown enjoys being 'brown-nosed' by sycophants and wannabes.
7 dioceses without bishops?? Clonfert, Meath, Cork and Ross are all over the retirement age and no sign of being allowed to retire (John Kirby of Clonfert is 78 years old!).
Clogher, Ossory, Killala and Galway will be lucky if they get bishops before the end of this decade of the 2st century.
What exactly does Brown do apart from accept invites from lick-arses? I think its time Rome reassigned Charlie Brown. He has too much time on his hands and seems very amenable to ass-kissing clerics who have their eyes on bishoprics!
Killala is vacant? +Fleming is only 68. Another 7-10 years left in him?
DeleteMaybe the person meant that Fleming is vacant? Lol
DeleteThere must be many bishops who support the vicious homosexual culture in Maynooth. Their inaction is otherwise inexplicable.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what is wrong with our Papal Nuncio? Is he blind too? Someone please tell him to go to specsavers.
John Kirby never wears his purple zucchetto anymore - I have seen him at two funerals for bishops and the ordination last weekend and he was not wearing it - why is this?
ReplyDeleteWho need bishops...what exactly do they do
ReplyDeleteConfirmations...no that can be done by lesser mortals
Keep priests in check ...no ...I think the faithful of the parishes should help and guide their priests, not the the other way around.
Far too many on here obsessed by who is going to be a bishop...tbh I couldn't give a fig after witnessing what some of them have been up to during their illustrious careers...eg S Brady...Bishops should be discontinued asap, they don't give leadership...thinking of the infamous mcquaid.
In Church of England the parochial church council is the main decision maker in the church in theory. Consultation is the in word....
DeleteBrid in the West, there have been way too many car crashes and gratuitous victims in Maynooth already. It really does make me sick when I hear some bishops trying to foster vocations to the priesthood while simultaneously turning a blind eye to the "goings-on" in the National Seminary. I saw a clip on the 9 o'clock news last night of the Episcopal Conference in Maynooth with the bishops staring like zombies into their laptops. The state of the seminary should be their main priority. This whole thing is so frustrating and soul-destroying.
ReplyDeleteMark my words: Maynooth will destroy itself while the bishops look on from the sidelines like startled deers caught in the headlamps.
There are many more car crashes to come.
12:09, I think that what Pat is doing is far better than many watery sermons I have heard from the products of Maynooth.
ReplyDeleteMaynooth is rotten and the time for doing nothing is past.
There is no point in being a stupid Pollyanna singing and dancing while carnage is the order of the day in our National Seminary.
What do think?
ReplyDelete12 09... You need Fr Larry Richards videos
One being ...no bible no bed
Brid in the west
ReplyDeleteJust don't put any more dosh in the box...what year is the bmw? No way should a pp be driving that
Many parishes stop the dosh when there is a problem
I d never support giving money to be spent on erring priests going for long vocations to usa or Spain or Rome.
Or paying out to victims of abuse
Rome has plenty of ill gotten gains...it's time they donated it
@12.09 I think that is a great idea for Pat to give us his sermons on a Sunday. Many Bishops do it. Bishop Barron is one that comes to mind. He did the fine programme a few years ago on the Catholicism series.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice every once in a while to have a break from all the negative stories. Sunday is a day of rest. And Maybe Pat if you could put your sermons on line it could give us some time of reflection and lift our spirits.
Bishop Pat, Does your Church have a parish council or do you operate with a Synod system like the Church of England?
ReplyDeleteAreal nice priest - Fr. Andy - not the type to being erected in titles, either
ReplyDeleteWe are a small community - "The Church that meets at Larne"
ReplyDeleteAs a result we ALL talk about everything and make decisions in common.
The community trusts me - and listens to my guidance / advice.
But there are no bosses here.
How many members are there in your church(s)? Do you have a number of Churches? I think I remember you had a church for the faithful in the South?
ReplyDeleteSorry - should have checked this peculiar habit of my computer in anticipating what I meant to say - which was of course - Mgr. Andy has no interest in fancy titles. I.e. 18.31
ReplyDelete19. 49
ReplyDeleteWe believe you
Where hundreds wouldn't
Yes, Charlie Brown is out of his depth in Dublin. The boyos have him where they want him, around their little fingers. As for the constant procession of sycophantic brown noses to his door... doesn't say much for his judgement. But, then, his old boss, Joseph Ratzinger, wasn't a good judge of character either - look at some of the characters he surrounded himself with. I hear the Nuncio got a dressing down by a senior curial cardinal a while ago, about the 'dickheads' he was appointing in Ireland!
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that no one appears to have mentioned one of Maynooth's more notorious deans, Niall Ahern, who destroyed and scarred so many young men during the 1980s and 90s. After all, I'm told, Paul Prior models himself on Ahern and looked up to him during his own time as a student. Maynooth's problems are not new! The 1980s were awful and Ledwith wasn't the only problem. Olden was on the bottle and gave a free hand to Ahern and McGinnity, although the latter was fairly harmless - camp as Christmas, but not nasty. The Junior Deans were the only normal ones in the place. Then Olden got the boot and once Ledwith took over, life became far more difficult for Ahern, because Ledwith detested him. Then there was Tom Clancy from Cork, an egotistical idiot. Ledwith used him, had him made vice-President, and sneered at him. He told Clancy that if he accepted the vice-presidency, he would build him a little house in the college cemetery, like the one for Eugene O'Growney, when he died.Clancy loved the idea, but couldn't hear Ledwith's sneers. Of course, Clancy packed all sorts of people out the door for being gay, or 'suspected' of being gay, and in a few cases he caught guys in the act in Bottom Marys. Closer to Armagh, there are all the strange goings on around Sean Lavery, the director of Sacred Music, a Columban priest from Dromore originally. Ledwith and Lavery did not see eye to eye and Ledwith got rid of him eventually. Lavery had a loyal northern following from Dromore and Derry, including a certain Eamon Martin. Back in the early 90s there were strange stories circulating about 'Frank' the night watchman, walking into Lavery's apartment one night in the Junior Infirmary, because he found the door open. He called out Lavery's name, but got no reply, so he proceeded further and opened the bedroom door, only to find the Rev Doctor in an awkward position with a certain eminent Derry seminarian. This was supposed to have happened a few months before Lavery's suddent departure - or, more accurately, his failure to return after the summer holidays. Ledwith was brazen enough to use something like this, even though his own house wasn't clean. After all, these were the years when his 'catamite' as the seminarians in 2nd and 3rd Divine called him - the Mexican, Jaime, was around the place. You'd see him leaving for concerts in Dublin at the National Concert Hall with Ledwith in his car. The laugh is that he was called the 'catamite', but no one really believed it was true at the time. The thing was named correctly, but naively no one really thought the two of them were at it. Strange times back then too! All sorts of good guys were broken and destroyed and they weren't conservatives like some of the ones in Maynooth now. They were also very bright fellows, but too honest, idealistic, and not wily enough for the politics of the place.
ReplyDeleteNiall Ahern never questioned students about erections, wet dreams, etc. He never forcibly "extracted" information about a student's sexual orientation.
ReplyDeleteGranted, some students did not like Niall - even loathed him. However, Niall was a good judge of character and most (everyone makes misjudgements) of those he asked to leave, shouldn't have been priests and went on to fulfilled lives in the lay state.
Niall took a personal interest in the wellbeing of many of the students he asked to leave and made sure they had jobs. An awful pity the current formators are not as discerning of bad vocations as Dr Ahern.
Tom Clancy, indeed, was a complete buffoon. Frank Duhig, Junior Dean, Limerick diocese, was a most genuine and good man.
If Prior is modelling himself on Niall Ahern, he lacks both the intelligence and creativity of the the former Middle Division Dean. Also, as stated, Niall had no interest in students' sex lives.
Yes, indeed, Jaime is well remembered among the alumni of the late 80's as Ledwith's catamite. The Mexican was the subject of many a ribald comment by some students. Ledwith was one seriously twisted and devious creature.
Everyone, of course, will now be speculating about the identity of the "eminent Derry seminarian", caught, it would seem, in a Grindr moment, with that old Music Hall queen, Sean Lavery.....
Frank, the gate-keeper, by the way, was a nosey old bastard, who wore a B Specials type of uniform. He enjoyed shopping students to the authorities. May he rest in peace.
The musings of anonymous at 23:46 brings back memories of my time in Maynooth. All of what he says is true!!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 2:35 - yes, you care correct - Niall Ahern didn't ask students about erections and didn't make a fuss about sexuality - that was more Clancy's sphere. Niall did damage many people, however, with his rough amateur psychological methods. I'm not surprised that you defend Niall - he always elicited huge loyalty or deep hatred. I remember, in my time there, the class a few years ahead of mine tried to choose him for their classpiece in 1989 - but there was an unholy row that left deep divisions within the group - and Enda McDonagh made it in the final vote. Yes, Niall had a good kind side and did take care of some students, but the problem is that he was not consistent - he also did damage to many, and in my case, it took a long time to get over it - I'm not so sure that everyone got over it.
ReplyDeleteIt shouldn't be too difficult to work out the identity of the eminent Derry seminarian. He was ordained, is no longer in Derry and was the college cantor.
Ah jaysus. Yer not serious?
DeleteHey Armacanus, I thought it might be the man himself posting, but I doubt that. More likely he's trying to have this blog removed. Re Charlie Brown being called a 'dickhead' - was that Cardinal Pell who called him that?
ReplyDeleteWould that be Pell the molester? He's some dickhead himself!
DeleteWell, well, well, you're well informed. It may well have been Cardinal Pell - it would fit. I believe he was in the country some time ago. Anyway, he does visit regularly and he has Irish friends in the more conservative circles - clerical and non-clerical (particularly Judiciary and Law Library). Yes, it would fit. Must ask my Tyrone friend to give me more details - he only said 'curial cardinal'.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of 'dickheads' and Willie Lee calling Dermot Clifford a 'bollocks', I'm reminded of how blunt these boyos can be - they'd put Fianna Faill politicians in the shade. But back to Clifford the 'bollocks' - is this the same Clifford who was driving while under the influence a few years ago and crashed into the back of a woman in Co. Limerick? The poor woman got his licence plate and reported it to the Gardai. They checked the plate and said - holy fuck - and didn't want to handle this hot potato. So, they got a young Garda to go to the house in Thurles and ask His Grace if he had fucked a woman up the hole in Co. Limerick - to which he replied 'No', although the young garda saw the damaged car in front of the house. The 'bollocks' just lied and got away with it. End of story. Amazing in Ireland of 2013 or 14. And the poor woman was told to forget about it, that it wouldn't be worth the trouble pursuing the matter. And, there it rests.
ReplyDeletePat, you are doing a great service through this blog. It's about time that the lid was lifted off the whole rotten cauldron.
ReplyDeleteI am a gay priest myself, but my problem with the Gaynooth lot is the hypocrisy and double-speak and double-standards. I think of all the good guys who were run out of Maynooth over the years because they were honest about being gay - and in many cases, wanted to try to live a celibate life. And then you have the guys who swear promises of celibacy on an altar not meaning a word of it. How can you trust someone like that? I'm not talking here of the guy who struggles trying to live a celibate life as a gay man - I'm talking of the boyos who never intend to even try - who want it all - whatever shred of status the collar still brings and an active sexual life. And, the bishops collaborate in this. We all know of bishops who know full well of sexually active priests and tell them to be discrete - go to London father, go to Manchester father, but don't be shitting in the Boiler House in Dublin father, that's too close for comfort 'I might have to deal with that or be embarrassed by that'. As for the sexual antics of the bishops themselves, I assume they keep their willies in their pockets until they get to Rome to the 'Sauna Pontificia' as one of the saunas near the Irish College is known. Then again, might be risky there, you might meet some of the PCI guys.
Keep up the good work, Pat. We are all enjoying it.
Anon at 22:39 - what can't I be serious about? Pat Buckley doing a service, or Dermot Clifford ramming a Limerick woman up the ass, or the Derry seminarian? I'm afraid it's all true.
ReplyDeleteAh for fucks sake! Was there any other witness to the Derry boy and Lavery? Old Frank is long dead. This could be the explosive, the fucking dynamite, that will blow the whole edifice to smithereens!
DeleteThe point about Clifford, is that he left the scene of an accident and then denied having been there. Most ordinary people would have the book thrown at them in court for doing that.
ReplyDeleteSo, this sauna pontificia, does this mean the pope goes there?
ReplyDeleteNo, no, not at all, lol.
ReplyDeleteIt's called that in Rome - mostly by clergy, actually, because so many curial officials and Roman theology faculty professors go there. Plenty of bishops too and archbishops. The cardinals are more discrete.
Luckily for the Derry boy, Frank was the only witness, but he recounted it, at the time, to a seminarian from Galway, who was ordained, but who was laicised recently. Lavery is dead too.
ReplyDelete