Tuesday 26 September 2017

MORE VATICAN SKULDUGGERY



Skulduggery at the Vatican as former auditor-general, accused of spying, says he was victim of a 'set-up'
Nick Squiresrome THE TELEGRAPH
24 SEPTEMBER 2017




The Vatican was embroiled in fresh scandal on Sunday after a former official claimed that he was forced to step down after his investigations into conflicts of interest made him enemies within the Holy See.
In the latest case of skulduggery and intrigue to hit the sovereign city state, the Vatican countered with unusually explicit accusations that Libero Milone had been caught “spying” on officials.
Mr Milone, 69, was appointed two years ago as the Holy See’s first auditor-general and tasked with overseeing the cleaning up of the Vatican’s opaque finances.
He had an impressive track record, having previously worked for Fiat, the UN and as a chairman of the global accounting firm Deloitte.

He resigned abruptly and without explanation in June, but has now broken his silence on the reasons behind his departure, claiming that he was forced out by shadowy vested interests determined to block the reforms of Pope Francis.
He revealed that on June 19 he was ordered to resign by Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, the Vatican deputy secretary of state, and told that he had been the subject of a seven-month investigation by the Vatican gendarmerie, the city state’s tiny police force.
"The facts presented to me on the morning of the 19th were fake, fabricated," he said. "I was in shock. All the reasons had no credible foundation." He said he was the victim of a “set-up” by Vatican insiders who were scared that his inquiries were beginning to dig up dirt.
The saga began in 2015, when Mr Milone suspected that his computer had been accessed without his authorisation. He called in an outside contractor, who found that his computer had indeed been tampered with, and that of his secretary infected with a spyware that automatically copied files.
The Vatican claimed that Mr Milone had used the external contractor to spy on Holy See officials, going far beyond his brief.
In a forthright statement released on Sunday, the Vatican said Mr Milone had “illegally employed an outside company to carry out investigative activities on the private lives of members of the Holy See.” That was not only a crime, it had also “irredeemably damaged” the Vatican’s faith in him. 

The Holy See had noted “with surprise and regret” the revelations made by the former auditor-general to various media outlets. Archbishop Becciu even alleged that he had been spied on by Mr Milone. "If he had not agreed to resign, we would have prosecuted him,” he said.


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Pope Francis’s anti-sleaze auditor Libero Milone ‘forced out’ of Vatican role
Tom Kington, Rome
Pope Francis’s efforts to clean up the Vatican’s murky finances and relax rigid Church doctrine are under fire after the resignation of his top auditor and a row with four hardline cardinals over alleged rule-bending on divorce.

Libero Milone, a former Deloitte & Touche auditor appointed to great fanfare in 2015 to poke around the Vatican’s dusty balance sheets, was given the right to open any filing cabinet or computer as the pope tried to end decades of mismanagement and sleaze.

Libero Milone had been given the power to open any filing cabinet or computer as part of his mission to shine a light on the Vatican’s murky finances.

Reporting directly to Francis, Mr Milone resigned this week, fuelling speculation that he had angered secretive cardinals . Mr Milone own computer and office were broken into in late 2015.
His resignation, announced by the Vatican in a brief note, is a blow to the Australian cardinal George Pell, who was brought in by Francis as head of the Vatican’s economy secretariat to run the transparency drive.

“It looks like Pell and his group are being stonewalled,” said Robert Mickens, English language editor of the La Croix International, a Catholic news website.

Cardinal Pell’s stock may fall further if he is charged over sexual abuse allegations dating back to the 1970s in Australia where police are pouring over evidence. He has denied the claims.
On the doctrinal front, Francis’s enemies stepped up their attack over the pope’s 2016 encyclical Amoris Laetitia, in which he suggested bishops can overlook the Church’s rule on refusing communion to remarried divorcees.

Traditionally, the Church regards remarried divorcees as living in sin, instead continuing to recognise their first marriage.

However, in his bid to make the Church more welcoming and less censorious, Francis has hinted that exceptions can be made to allow them to take communion.

Some dioceses have jumped at the chance to change the rules, but four conservative cardinals fought back in September, complaining that they made public when he did not reply.
In April they sent another letter, this time demanding a meeting with Francis. When he again did not respond, they published the letter this week.

The letter complains that “access to the Holy Eucharist,” is being given to “those who objectively and publicly live in a situation of grave sin,” adding, “What is a sin in Poland is correct in Germany, what is forbidden in the archdiocese of Philadelphia is lawful in Malta, and so on.”

The letter was sent by cardinal Carlo Caffarra on behalf of fellow cardinals Walter Brandmueller, Joachim Meisner and American Raymond Burke, who has repeatedly attacked Francis and was recently sidelined by the pope from his role as Vatican liaison to the Knights of Malta.

“I don’t think the pope needs to worry,” said Mr Mickens. “If these people had distinguished themselves by their tireless work for the poor they would have more credibility. Instead they wear fancy clothes and live well off the subsidies of rich benefactors who agree with their sexual agendas.”



PAT SAYS:

I do believe that Pope Francis sincerely wants to reform that Vatican and its officials.

However, I think that his wishes are being frustrated by the Curia - the priests and bishops who are the civil servants.

Some at the Vatican have accused Mr. Milone of being a BULLY!

Sure the whole lot of them there are bullies with very few exceptions. You would have to be a superior bully to bring all those other bullies into line. 

Some of the Vatican crowd have accused Mr. Milone of spying on them. Of course, he was. That was what he was employed to do. To watch and spy on all the corruption and get rid of it.

The fact that they got rid of him is a sure sign that he was on to them and was challenging them about their behaviour and activities.

If Francis wants to do away with the Vatican corruption he needs to bring in a large team of experienced financial investigators from some country like the USA and give them total access to every nook and corner and eventually publish their report at an international venue like the UN.

Of course, if he took that route he would be found dead in bed some morning.

 I also think it would be a very good thing if Italy revoked it's 1929 concordat and took Vatican territory back under Italy's control and give the Italian police and courts - and Interpol and the European courts jurisdiction there. 


Image result for vatican concordat 1929
Cardinal Gasparri and Mussolini sign 1929 concordat

What a contradiction it is for a statelet like the Vatican - built on nearly 2,000 years of corruption - to claim that they are the true church and represent God and Christ on earth!

64 comments:

  1. and My Lord Pat, who do you declare to be the true church of God ?? Apart of course from the Oratory at Larne!!

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  2. All out of step but our Paddy.. as the mother said at the passing-out parade..!

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    1. Is Jesus out of step, then? Since most of us, including you and me, do not walk in step with him.

      Yes, that must be it: Jesus is out of step with everyone else. (Oh, if only he would correct his error, what a better place would be this world!)

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    2. I recommend that you speak for yourself.

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  3. An overnight clear out of the Pope has once been undertaken... an overnight clear out of staff is also possible. The Jesuits would have capacity and expertise to safely clean up and then hand back to the curia. Of course the Pope would need to be in protection to limit exposure to 'morning coffee.

    But do not thing any other State bank is cleaner. Billions goes missing in budgets every year to fund ISIS and other dark organisations - some of which we probably don't even know about.

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    1. London is supposed to be the most corrupt city in the world because of money laundering. I also think slavery and trafficking are rampant in the UK.

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    2. All true. But London does not claim to represent Christ on earth!

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  4. Vatican always want to hide their investments in organisations like durex. Other people have much worse to hide.

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  5. Pope Francis appears not to have protested this man's being hounded from office. No surprise, then.

    Francis is not serious about reforming the Vatican; it was all window dressing.

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    1. Magna, on reading the blog I wondered to what extent Francis was aware either of the intrusion onto Milone/his secretary's computers, or the subsequent accusation/resignation demands. Guess we'll never know.
      In any event, with him supposedly reporting directly to Francis, it would be reasonable to assume someone of Milone's background and stature would have taken his concerns directly to Francis. This makes his resignation all the more concerning.
      Could I just add that your second comment above at 07:49 is much better at expressing your view than the earlier one. The latter's intemperate expression regrettably adds fuel to those who ridicule you while missing the point of your comments.
      MMM

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    2. Sorry, my mistake. I ought to have said, and now clarify, that I thought that your first comment Magna @ 05:12 was intemperate.

      And +Pat: having now read the comments below @ 08:44, and 09:16, I think you need to pay heed to them. Of late, I've become less interested/inclined to follow your blogs. The endless preoccupation with sexual matters, gay or otherwise, and constant hostility and negativity often vacuously expressed in comments has become repetitious and boring.
      MMM

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    3. Thank you. A couple of changes to Church discipline does not turn Francis into a reformer. The nastier most toxic doctrines of the Church have been reinforced. And Francis has not kept any promise to do something about clerical sex abuse. Francis is the problem.

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    4. MMM at 10.10. You are not the only contributor to have become disinterested in this blog because of its' repetitive gossip and gutter approach. It fuels anti Church sentiment and does an injustice to genuinely good clerics, of which there are many. This blog has become almost pornographic in its incessant focus on matters sexual. It has encouraged vile, venomous, personal abuse against many. It claims to hold Sacred the Memory of Jesus. That is most certainly not achieved. Ever. I believe Pat needs to re-think a new vision and purpose to truly facilitate intelligent and rational debate. He allows too much abuse to be hurled about. His integrity is questionable. Some comments should be binned not printed!

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    5. Agreed, absolutely spot on!

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    6. Comments moderation by blog poster is not a debate but as you see an echo chamber for you pat, enjoy

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  6. With respect I don't understand the comment at 00.02. The Jewish people were the church of God and this didn't stop them being corrupt in certain circles at the time of Jesus. Human Nature has always had this struggle between good and evil. This does not make it right in this modern day. We are called to strive for what is good and right

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  7. They don't really claim Pat. You are Peter and on this Rock I will build my Church. I guess if you have an issue take it up with management.

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  8. The Vatican does not claim to be the True Church - the Catholic Church that is in communion with the successor of St Peter is the True Church founded by Christ. The Catholic Church is far greater than the Vatican. Were the Vatican nuked tonight, the Catholic Church would still exist and the Cardinals would convene elsewhere to elect the new Pope. The gates of hell shall NEVER prevail against Christ's Church. The brainlessness of Pat Buckley's comments, for a supposedly intelligent man!! Rant and rave to your heart's content - you and your cronies. Christ will never forsake His Church and He is with her until the end of the ages. He Himself will deal at the end with every cause of scandal and offence in His House. He will root them out - be they Pope, prelate or whoever - and consign them to the everlasting fire.

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  9. Pat, very few people take your blog seriously now. You have yourself and Magna Carta to thank for that. There was a time when some people saw you as a watchdog who might be able to expose wrongdoing but not anymore on account of the juvenile petulance (to Our it mildly) perpetually on display here every single day. Boooooring. That Carta guy by the way is obviously mentally ill. He sums up your blog. You should seek him out and steer him towards help.

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    1. Despite your frustration at trying to get the hierarchy to listen to valid concerns about abuse, clergy behaviour, etc, it seems you won't listen to concerns about your blog. Of recent months you have had numerous comments like this one but just won't listen. Your refusal to enforce standards of behaviour on this blog will ultimately destroy any good it might have done. Magna Carta started raving at 05:12 this morning. As well as helping him to get help you just need to ban him.
      Would it be too much to ask for a response to this comment and the last one? Or are you just like +Dublin?

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  10. The sedevacantists find this sort of thing grist to their mill. The more the 'RC church' lacks the qualities of being one, holy, catholic and apostolic the more evident it is that it isn't the Catholic church at all!

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  11. In today's Office of Readings,St Vincent de Paul writes that the poor and outcasts are our masters taking the place of Christ,who himself chose to be poor, and so we should respect them and honour them. Thomas of Celano in his life of St Francis recounts the only time Francis felt envy was when he met someone poorer than himself! Imagine what kind of Church we'd have with a few more saints like him around.

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  12. MAGNA CARTA

    I do appreciate your faithfulness to this Blog.

    But I do think some of the criticism of you above is justified.

    You have very valid points to make but you are inclined to go OTT with both your language and your anger.

    More than most I understand anger at the corruption and injustice in the RC institution.

    But we need to express it in a rational and non abusive way.

    Can I prevail upon you to do that?

    Pat.

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    1. Most people, if it is made clear to them that they are not wanted would back off. It is very evident that MC is someone most of us can do without.
      Why, given his self-professed genius and superiority over ALL humanity can he not permanently disappear?

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    2. But Pat - don't you filter the comments? Magna seems to get through with his rantings whereas various comments I have made don't get posted (probably like this one)!!

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    3. Bishop Pat @ 10:51, I've just read your comment.

      Since you asked, I shall try to temporize my language and imagery towards the institutional Roman Catholic Church (though, as I've intimated before, why some of this should concern you so much is puzzling, since Old Testament metaphor sometimes describes the unfaithfulness of Jews to Yahweh as prostitutional. So there IS clear biblical precedent for my approach).

      I loathe the institutional Roman Catholic Church (as Isaiah and Ezekiel, among others, loathed the ancient Jews' unfaithfulness to God) for its sexual hypocrisy, its monumental self-regard, its financial corruption, and general (and blindingly obvious) worldliness. It TRULY has abandoned her loving 'spouse' to play 'the harlot' ( or 'whore') with the world.

      But I must warn you: it will not stop the criticism and the abuse I have had to endure from posters here (mostly priests, I suspect, and their unquestioningly loyal supporters); these represent the institutional Church, not Christ. And they will continue to attack me, as they do this blog, since they'd rather their corruption remained hidden.

      I feel that you have taken NONE of this into account in your evaluation of my contributions to the blog. If I am right, you have done me a deep injustice. If I am wrong, then I should naturally expect to see evidence that you are calling out my detractors as least as often as you call me out. But I see no such evidence of this. For instance, the poster @ 08:44 today describes me as 'mentally ill'. This is abusive and, historically, is a tactic used by totalitarians and dictators to discredit opponents; Stalin in particular used it routinely. And yet, I did not hear you call out this poster as you did me. Why? Again, the poster @ 09:16 describes me as 'raving', another abusive reference; and yet, you did not call him out. There will probably be others on this blog today who will be equally abusive to me, if not more so. Will you maintain your silence if they do?

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    4. Dear MC, thank you for reading my request. And thank you for the above which is all true but expressed in more considerate words.

      I promise you from this moment I will not publish ad hominem comments about you but comments that challenge your thoughts.

      If I have done you any injustice I ask your forgiveness. It was certainly unintentional.

      Pat.

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    5. I'm so glad we"re all now singing from the same song sheet and can put this behind us :o)

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    6. Thank you, too, 17:48. (Sorry for the late acknowledgement.)

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  13. Good morning Pat. More skulduggery in the Vatican. No surprises there. Anybody with half a brain and a bit of insight would have long since worked out that the institutional Roman Catholic Church is a highly political, controlling body obsessive about its image, power and wealth. It continually reinvents itself to try to keep one footprint ahead of ever sinking sands. It's use of the Magisterium, it's emotional, material and financial control of its clergy and its reliance on the blind faith of generations have helped it become the monolith it is today. Indeed I agree with much of what Magna says although I disagree with its tone and invective. Thankfully I have long since seen through the sham and discovered a direct line to God requiring no third party involvement. Anyway the quare boy that I am I must now settle back into my big chair and finish today's Times crossword.
    Dalriada Dick

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    1. Drinking a pint of Guinness in Cushendun it warmed the cockles of my heart to see you back again Dalriada Dick. You have been missed much.

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    2. 11.29 I have come to the same conclusion. Why should I want these dysfunctional power crazed people between me and my God.

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  14. 11.00
    So do one if this is all you cantalk about

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    1. 12:06
      What does this mean?

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    2. I am telling 11.00 to leave....simple

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    3. Welcome back DD. We missed your pithy comments. I very much agree with your analysis of the RC institution, and thank you for summing it up so concisely. I'll have a BB in my 'big chair' tonight. Cheers.
      MMM

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  15. MC is most welcome in my eyes to express his own mind and feelings. It makes the day exciting to see how he winds you all up so easily. MC u r the star �� of this blog, don't change.

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  16. 14.44
    Don't be ridiculous!
    There are no stars of that ilk... certainly not in our book!

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    1. so YOU are more than one person 15. 33. ?
      Can you not just speak for yourself ha ha ha
      Think you will find that '' ridiculous'' is just you

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  17. Yes, we are agreed.. We speak for dozens... Don't you even read the other posters continual opinions?!!

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    1. Not any more.
      You ++++++ are silenced.
      Keep up your interesting, intellectual postings Magna.

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  18. MAGNA CARTA

    I have not published three comments this afternoon that were offering you personal abuse.

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    1. Thank you very much, Bishop Pat.

      In return, I promise that I shall try very much harder to be respectful of others who post here.

      I further promise not to post if I have been drinking.

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    2. And the abuse was coming from Roman Catholic Priest....or Priests
      Imagine !!!!!!!!!!!

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    3. Nauseating claptrap. Magna Carta playing the victim and Buckley enabling him. Magna Carta is a bombastic bully and both he and Pat Buckley can both go to Hell hand in hand. They are welcome to each other. Utterly obsessive and irrational hatreds feeding of each other. Wiping the dust from my feet.

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    4. MC I think I can imagine how frustrating it can be. For years I realised I was wrong in some respects. What I did not realise that "they" could also be wrong at the same time if that makes any sense. That was then and this is now. I wish you well.

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    5. I very much doubt if you have ever, even once, refused to publish any of MC's vicious, boorish, contemptuous, paranoid attacks on your readers on this blog. You are totally biased, Pat Buckley. You allow MC a free hand and then you round on those he provokes with his outrageous insults as if it is all their faults. I, for one, am walking away from your blog in disgust. It is a waste of time. Dialogue with the profoundly deaf is a waste of time. You are only interested in what coincides with your own bigotry. Hence your cosseting of this MC individual with his twisted versions of truths and warped half truths. You are welcome to each other. I am not a cleric by the way. Quite a number of the contributions here are/were from lay people. I'm sure most priests have better things to be doing despite yours and MC's bigoted and hatefilled opinions of them.

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    6. 01:43, you are wrong: he did refuse to publish a number of my comments. On one such occasion, I, in frustration, posted him a reply, in which I called him a 'hypocrite' for exercising censorship, something he had admitted to hating.

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    7. Sean @ 23:48, thank you for your good wishes. And for the prayers you've offered.

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  19. LETS ALL HAVE A ROBUST DEBATE - ON THE ISSUES - AND NOT NAME CALLING.

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    1. "A ROBUST DEBATE"?? I had a growing respect for you, Pat. It is gone now that you have taken sides, against equally "faithful" blog readers and contributors, with the odious Magna Carta. I'm off. There's no point. Yer man, Magna Carta, has made similar promises before to pull his horns in. He'll be as bad as ever in a few days time. Won't be annoying myself by listening to any of it any further.

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  20. But, Bishop Pat, we all have to endure capcha. That means that you have to approve every post before it appears. Over to you, and it's your blog.

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    1. try writing two comments, one that parrots Pat then your own.. Guess which will get posted??? Mo discussion on this blog.. now delete this Pat

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  21. Pat, I have lost all respect for you after you have refused to publish comments I made earlier re: Magna's bullying. You have forfeited your integrity and principles. Now you are a censor - all because of the bullying of Magna whose behaviour here has been questioned by many. He is being given preference which is unfair to the decent, good, reasonable contributors. Shame on you and shame in that bully - Magna. Conscience and moral compass - have deserted you.

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  22. Hmmm....Pat, will you cease name calling also in relation to your depiction and caricaturing of priests and bishops? You, Pat, have hurt many priests.Truth. Will you now promise to curb your nastiness? Will you now respect others as you ask us to do re: Magna? Will you practice CHARITY, MERCY and KINDNESS to those who simply fail in their humanity? Will you for once stop attributing ulterior and sinister motives to priests and bishops? Will you stop spying on presbyteries? Time Pat to hold a mirror to your own behaviour.Finally - will you practice the gospel of Christ - for once! Sometimes bullies win the day - as has happened by giving in to Dear Magna....sickening!

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  23. Pat you're keeping your head lower than a Larne Bishop.. Lets Have a robust debate on the censoring off comment section please?

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  24. Bishop Pat,... with the "repetitive gossip and gutter approach" someone called you above and you censored my reply.... Even though you delete comments like this, the reading through the comments makes it obvious whats going on... an echo chamber for the Bishop.. now delete but remember

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