Sunday 4 February 2018

GALWAY PRIEST SPEAKS OUT!




Dear Bishop Pat, I am a Galway priest. 

I read your piece on our diocese recently with interest. To say we have a huge problem here would be an understatement. The diocese is falling apart at the seams.

 Among the few younger clergy, there is an exodus. Either they are leaving to join another diocese or religious order or congregation, or they are just simply leaving. The older ones are dying off. 

The city is growing exponentially, and there are no initiatives to meet this challenge. 

The rural parishes are now spread between a declining number of priests. 

There is little or no engagement with the civic or university and Institute of Technology authorities, nor, it goes without saying, the plain ordinary honest-to-goodness people.

This contrasts sharply with the welcome and engagement of the Church of Ireland, especially at St. Nicholas’ Collegiate Church. 


EAMON CASEY


The last dynamic leader we had was the late Eamonn Casey. I always say we have not had a bishop since he left. Bishop’s McLoughlin and Drennan were completely ill suited to the episcopacy. They surrounded themselves with their cliques, and disparaged any priest’s who challenged the status quo or were in any kind of difficulty. 


KELLY


Now we have the returned Brendan Kelly, who has depth but the bite of a piranha. 





To be fair to Michael McLoughlin, the administrator since 2016, he has held the ship together, but it’s hard to steer The Titanic after the iceberg hits. 

We have an endemic culture of bullying. 

We have priest’s who retire, but are allowed to stay on in their parishes and their presbyteries which means the new guy coming in hasn’t a chance. Instead of vitality in lay ministry, we have priest’s who surround themselves with cliques and secretaries and sacristans who have become the de facto parish priests. Any new priest who comes along is persecuted by them. 

There is one parish in particular where no curate has survived more than two years. The curate’s house is watched 24/7 by a clique and the PP, who comment on what time the lights go on and off, on who they have in the house.  They have no privacy. The same clique has alienated a substantial percentage of the Parish. The priest is a great worker but has completely fallen under the spell of his advisors. 

There are other appointments too where priest’s are living in Hell. There is one priest who won’t get help for his serious psycho sexual issues , and who has made the life of every other priest/ lay person working with him a complete torture. Worst of all, his serious issues were flagged in his previous existence. 

We have a senior priest who has been in a relationship with a woman for over thirty years. We have several other priests in relationships, gay and straight. 

We had the forced laicization of two priest’s who had literally become rent boys. 

We have a pastoral centre that is leaking money and in a building completely unfit for purpose. 

We had a priest in our diocesan college who had to retire because his excellent strategies weren’t listened to. 

We have a diocesan secretary who is a nice guy, but doesn’t have a great personality. He is also too young for the job, and so has become a puppet of not only the now retired bishop, and the lay financial administrator who is a dictator with untrammeled power. 


DIOCESAN SECRETARY - MARTIN WHELAN


The Cathedral is run by a priest who just wants to make money. You are even charged now for using the toilet. 

No wonder the rumour was that several guys were offered the episcopacy of this diocese, and wouldn’t take it. 

God help us, Pat! 






Dear Father,

Thank you for your piece that appears to show that the Diocese of Galway is in a very serious state indeed.

The problem seems to stem from a lack of good leadership and the diocese being allowed to descend into a group of cliques.

A lay clique is as bad, and often worse than a clerical clique.

You highlight not only a lack of leadership but huge failings in administration and the control of money and assets.

It is intolerable that a new parish priest has to enter his parish under the shadow of a retired one still living in the presbytery with an intact clique all around him.

The torture of curates, which I personally experienced as a young priest, is a grave injustice.

It appears that the Galway presbyterate is as devoted to celibacy and chastity as the inhabitants of Gaynooth and the Pink Palace in Rome.

Galways needs a new, younger bishop, full of energy who will conscientiously demolish the current corrupt practices and replace them with vibrant Gospel focused ways of proceeding.

I do not think that the 71-year-old Brendan Kelly is that man.

I did not know that he was part of the piranha species. It would be good to hear more about that.

But YOU have made a beginning.

YOU have SPOKEN OUT.

Be sure that many people will read what you have written.

Will it make a difference?

Only if those who read it take note and do something to save Galway drowning in its current mud bath!


ANY OTHER COMMENTS ON GALWAY DIOCESE?

ON OTHER DIOCESES?

bishopbuckley1@outlook.com

150 comments:

  1. The correct plural is "priests" without an apostrophe

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    Replies
    1. And the correct plural of "gay priests" is also 'priests'.

      Delete
    2. Great start!! Attack the grammar and spelling and walk around the elephant in the room!! Maith an Fear!!

      Delete
  2. So the diocesan secretary is "too young" and doesn't have "a great personality"
    The bishop is too old
    And what about the writer, himself? I suppose, like Goldilocks' porridge, he is "just perfect" .
    What does he expect Pat to do ?
    What a twerp!

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  3. I always thought Galway was safe. Shows what I know. The western dioceses are in tourmoil. I was thinking of applying as a seminarian to Galway but this makes me think twice

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    Replies
    1. I shouldn’t worry yourself as Galway is probably better off without you alleged potential Seminarian.

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    2. Please do not disturb your vocation because of a blog and one Priest who has written about the Diocese please follow your vocation and think about the New Archbishop who is likely coming from Rome to sort Dublin out.
      Has this Priest every wrote to the Papal Nuncio likely NO, or even the Congregation for the Clergy in Rome likely NO and how about with the See being vacant did the clergy of Galway send in information and nomination for the Bishop likely NO but they can all gossip among themselves and write to blogs so really they Deserve Kelly who should not be getting moved at 73.
      However there maybe light at end of the tunnel as Kelly will not be there long and maybe the disheartened clergy will write to Papal Nuncio and Cardinal Mark Outlett at the Vatican.
      If what is written is correct it must stop.
      Usually clergy at 75 becomes Curates again or supply.

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    3. They're were looking to tops anyway.

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    4. You can't expect to be taken seriously, 11:18 with such a poor display of writing skills. 40% would be a generous mark in this case.

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  4. Doctor Casey was a walking saint. My father would take me to his masses. There’s still a picture of him in our house. God be good to him. He had human frailties but may the light of heaven shine on him this night and may heaven be his bed.

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    Replies
    1. Remember Annie.

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    2. You mean, Bishop Casey.

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    3. Was the problem Bishop Casey or Crazy celibacy? I think the latter. I met Bishop Casey. He was a gentleman, unlike most peacticing bishops I've met.

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    4. Hw didn’t have a doctorate. Calling a bishop ‘Doctor’ without one is a vestige of unwholesome and undue deference in a modern society. It doesn’t happen in the UK.

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    5. But not too much a "saint" to break his vows and set the headline for dozens of other copycat scandals to follow through the next generations. Some example that was!

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  5. Bishop pat is well on the ball.

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    Replies
    1. In La-la Land most of the time...

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    2. Head the ball more like

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    3. 2.47: Can I be so rude and ask....whose ball is Pat well on????

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  6. It's a sad picture. Much worse than in my day but I can identify with elements of the clique mentality which can poison a parish or diocese. I think the Galway Priest is on the ball and what is said here requires following up.

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    Replies
    1. Do they have the guts or just willing to stand by some should look at themselves and see what action they can take and there is many options open to them and Confidentially too.

      Charlie Brown was a disgrace so Albania was Good for him that be him likely finished next move likely back to the Vatican.
      The Vatican gets THREE Names for a Bishop so nothing must have been said about Kelly about the state of the Diocese.

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    2. Seán, The writer paints an overly pessimistic picture. He omits to mention the many kind, hard-working and humble priests in the Galway Diocese.

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    3. Yes , poster 14.03
      I think you're correct.
      I certainly don't recognise the "Galway situation" the blog writer describes!
      Is this the diocese as we know it? It is a very unbalanced picture.
      Perhaps that priest is suffering from depression or smarting after a failure or disappointment.

      Delete
    4. There is at least 60 Priests and maybe a few Religious Orders so a few bad apples will NOT spoil the cart.
      maybe the Galway Priest writing should look at himself and say what have I done to help the Diocese rather that write a blog.

      you know what idle hands do,,,,,

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    5. 14.03 I agree. There are many good priests and people. By the grace of God they carry on

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    6. Very poor writing bordering on the illegible at 11:23, 14:40 and 15:14 - presumably all from the same source.

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  7. It seems only recently we were reading about strange goings-on at Galway, including the priest who went on holiday to Rome and ended up beaten by dick peddlers behind St Mary Major Basilica the first day he arrived. Now all this is coming out! Seems +Pat is right again.

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    Replies
    1. Pat is likely right again on some of this but the Priest should look at himself and the throwing of stones.
      Who has he spoke to ... the New Papal Nuncio, did him and his fellow clergy recommend anyone else to be Bishop.
      Nope good to have a gripe and he and attack the Church and Galway Diocese so now we will get all Diocese under attack.

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    2. I know Dick Peddlers; he has bever been to Rome.

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    3. Magna at 14.43, I suspect Dick Peddlers found you more handsome and easy than the Roman lot! Tell us more about him....

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    4. Yes, 22:01, I confess that I am handsome👅, but I am never easy.😆

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  8. Dear Galway priest, you claim that in both cases of forced laicisization the priests had literally become rent boys. They charged. And you know this. How?
    Because if it is not true that money was exchanged then your assertion is false and you have done them a serious injustice.

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    1. There's more ways of getting "paid" than getting cash?

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    2. Its like findom but focused on the gifts rather than the money.

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    3. That’s true. But the charge of prostitution is specific and includes the element of exchanging sexual favours for financial or monetary return (including benefit in kind) where the reward is the motivation for the action in the first place.

      Can the Galway priest verify that this is the case? And if he can, how?

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    4. You think the blog writer was authentic !!

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    5. For example, eat, drink, or sleep with it.

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  9. I'm looking forward to another day of interaction between the two Magna's...

    I love how they need each other- though I think Magna 1 is getting a bit sick of Magna 2. Magna 1 is finding it hard to realize he's not the only Magna in the village.

    An exciting day ahead

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    Replies
    1. Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock

      Exciting, isn't it 09:14?

      As for Galway, never had much time for it after that arch-hypocrite, Casey, left his mark (not to mention his deposit😆).

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    2. 09:14, there is, and ever can be, only one: it is I. (The impostor would have said 'me'. No education worth mentioning😆)

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    3. Magna 1 though rude at times can make a coherent point.

      Magna 2, which is you 9:14, write like a child.

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    4. No *I'm* the only Magna in the village!
      Honi soit qui mal y pense! Which of course the pretend Magna Carta would translate, 'ashamed may be who ill there thinks'!
      Actually judging by his mood the past couple of days I have a feeling today will be another Alka Seltzer day (see my comments last Sunday).

      Delete
    5. Your comments last Sunday, Faux Magna? Yes, they did lower the bar somewhat on acceptable standard of literacy and erudition, not to mention syntax, spelling, punctuation, etc.😆

      I'm surprised you suggested a trip down that particularly mudded memory lane; I'd die of embarrassment.😆

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    6. Magna Carta (blue) - could you desist from the constant use of that absolutely hideous emoji?

      Every time you use it, one asks oneself, is that emoji meant to represent his “cum face”? (hence the sensation of hideous!)

      I’ll tell you why that question presents itself:

      (a) you are, clearly, very much in love with yourself;

      (b), obviously, you “get off” on your constant prattle;

      and (c) you are such a total tosser.

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    7. Pat you should bar the both of them. 1 is an aggressive troll and 2 is just taking the piss.

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    8. 14:04, I use emoticons, not emojis.😆 And if you consider this one in any way representative of a ' "cum face" ', then I dread to think what you've been...ahem!...coming and going with.

      No, I'm not in love with myself; do try to be accurate: I'm in AWE of myself.😆

      Delete
    9. Hey guys! Been a genius weekend so far.. Did the Ballymena hike on Fri. Your neck o'the woods Magna, buddy? Hanging out in Belfast. Easing down to dinner. Jason C.

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    10. Well howdy there, Jason C! (Doing my best with Americanisms to make you feel at home.)

      Did you run into any of the Carta clan while moseying around Ballymena? The side of the family that squats there (I mentioned them yesterday or the day before) are instantly recognisable with their extraordinarily low brows; usually, the hairline and eyebrows meet. They tend to grunt a lot. Its all of that inbreeding, I'm afraid (the 'muddy gene pool'), and Faux Magna was drawn straight from it. Don't tell him that, though!😦 I think its why he trys to 'ape' me (an unfortunate choice of word here, perhaps) to create the illusion of normality. Thank heavens I come from the other end of the Carta gene spectrum!

      Anyways (See? I am trying hard at a little trans-Atlantic cordiality.), have you tucked into an honest-t'-goodness Ulster fry yet? It's our haute-cuisine. (Yes, you read that correctly.😡) You can't leave the place without doing so. Why, it would be like going to the States and not sampling a hot dog!

      So what do you think of our fair land so far? Meet anyone interesting on your travels...apart from Carta clan members? No gunmen? No one asked you yet which 'foot do you kick with', an idiomatically quaint way we have here of determining your belief (Catholic or Protestant) and whether you should get the crap kicked out of you, or whether you should get a buddy-style slap on the back and sent on your way. Yes, we really are a gregarious lot here.

      Ack, sure enjoy yer dinner.😁

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    11. Jason, buddy, I'd invite you to lunch at my place, but there's not much room in an old cardboard box, and not much eating in a stale corned-beef sandwich I rummaged from a public refuse bin two days ago. (Yes, I've been keeping it for a special occasion.)

      And yes, I'm still under the arches in Skid Row, but I'm not feeling sorry for myself; no way! I keep my spirits up with rousing renditions of the Psalms (well, the more hopeful ones; the others are too bloody depressing). And I'm helped along in my singing with a hefty drop of 'Devil's Buttermilk' to wet my whistle. Oh! Excuse me: you wouldn't know what this means, would you? Well, now I'm going to do a little more for entente cordiale between our two great nations: Northern Ireland, and its junior partner, the United States of America.

      'Devils Buttermilk' is an idiom for 'alcohol' (or, as Uncle Sam would say, 'liquor') and, apparently, was much used by that stalwart of Northern Ireland politics, Rev Dr Ian Kyle Paisley. Not in an approving way! Heavens no! Quite the contrary, in fact. However, I've found it numbs the pain and improves my vocal-chord range. Sadly, the local constabulary, who have no musical appreciation whatever, disagreed on two occasions and arrested me.

      Anyways, enjoy your dinner. Me? I'm off to the Culloden.😆

      Delete
    12. Magna, I guess you don't look into the mirror too often. Nothing aesthetic to be discovered...if what I remember of you is anything to go by...as they say...ageing can be a bitch!!

      Delete
    13. Indeed, 22:08 - the years have not been a friend to Magna.

      Delete
  10. MC one v MC2 I believe is taking from the blog and taking things down a side street. MC2 please choose another name and carry on as normal.

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    Replies
    1. i’ll Do no such thing sunshine.

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  11. Anyone know how many seminarians Galway has now? They were doing relatively well a few years ago as far as I know.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 09:32 - one seminarian.

      That's thanks to yet another clique in the diocese ensuring that no orthodox prospective seminarians need apply.

      Delete
    2. 16:51 And a good job too.

      Delete
  12. The second one could call him/herself Maior Carta.

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  13. After Eamonn Casey they just appointed one safe pair of hands after another.

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  14. 09.14 I think it’s time for you to see a Doctor because quite frankly you sound sick in the head. If that’s your idea of an exciting day ahead it’s about time we sent for the men in white coats.

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    Replies
    1. Hey! Where are you, buddy ? Sure glad you're there!
      ..... Jason C.

      Delete
  15. Priests who leave clerical life are often treated as traitors and pariahs. However, people often don't know the bigger picture. The cliques, ungrateful parishioners, indifferent cultural catholics,the bullying, cold and distant bishops, unsupportive fellow clergy, the fallout from the scandals as well as a host of other issues can create a climate where a man might just be tempted to walk away. It is easy to scapegoat and condemn a man who leaves. Youthful idealism can quickly turn to cynicism and we should be slow to judge. It can be a very agonising and painful decision to make. It takes a man of great faith and courage to persevere in priesthood in a healthy and wholesome way in these very dysfunctional times.

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    Replies
    1. But you can get all those negative things and challenges in ANY profession, poster 11.20
      This is the real world, mate!
      Why do you think you had to go through that long formation process if it wasn't to sort out the men from the boys? Don't be so self-focused... Think outwards to the needs of others and see how you improve mentally.

      Delete
    2. 11.20. You are correct in your observations. We are living in very changing and challenging times. Apart from the obvious reasons for low morale and disillusionment among clergy, very often the apathy, indifference and ingratitude of parishioners are contributory factors to the sense of isolation felt by many clergy. It's a sad reality today - part of the changing landscape for priesthood but it's very difficult to continue in the face of the challenges and to refind vision, energy and hope.

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    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    4. I'm with poster 14.56 on this one...

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  16. Dear +Pat, you are going to think I am taking the Mick, but I am not. Have you ever heard of a priest refusing (his religous superiors) to say mass on a Sunday? The priest in question is notouriously lazy and self centred, not to mention acedemicly ungifted. He once resigned (a regular occurrence) from a position on an ash Wednesday and went on a sun holiday, on an ASH WEDNESDAY!

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    1. @ 11.29

      You don't sound too "academically gifted" yourself with such incorrect spelling!

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    2. I'm dyslexic. is that my fault?

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    3. 11:29 Everyone knows who you mean. He's an OP.

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    4. The Lee fields

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    5. What is he doing in ministry/priesthood then? And, even more so, in religious life?

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    6. Drone.

      “Even drones that survive the mating flight are ejected from their nests, as they have served their sole purpose by mating.”

      Delete
  17. Ireland has too many Diocese that's the problem as well but that may change as Charlie Brown was told to by he was to busy being a "Super Star" sadly his promotion to Albania is anything but.
    The Vatican may have been struggling to get someone to take a diocese if it is in such a bad state as they look at Three people for it and sadly they opted for a guy with only few years left.
    I always say to those who LOVE the Church to write to various people and I will say it again
    The Bishop of the Diocese, Papal Nuncio, Congregation of Bishops for Bishops appointments or Diocesan affairs, Congregation of Clergy for Clergy Good or Bad, Congregation for Devine Worship and the Sacraments for liturgy and the Sacraments.
    Pat will not sort out the Church in Ireland the Church will but he will certainly help cleanse it.

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    Replies
    1. I wish you wouldn’t keep banging on about writing to the Nuncio, various Congregations in Rome and Bishops of Dioceses because you sound repetitive and annoying. Write all the letters you want but get it into your thick skull - they will be ignored so there is little point writing anything and little point suggesting people do it. Comprehendi?

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    2. 11.36: Such utter tripe and nonsense! What age are you? My 6 year old niece writes infinitely better than this crap you've presented here today. You should go back to school and learn to write proper english. It's so poorly and confusingly written I can't make sense of it. Try again.....

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    3. 14.43 you need help Comprehendi. LOL you are living in a dream they certainly do not get ignored I have had replies back from Cardinal Sarah, Cardinal outlet to mention too and yes there has been big Changes and you can see that is the Scottish Bishop's diaries in Glasgow Archbishop Philip is out doing Confirmations around the diocese usually was left to PP but not now.
      So your living like the rest in the Church of old Bishops must be accounted for now.

      Delete
    4. Write "English" with a capital E

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    5. Pst will not "cleanse" "the Church. No one pays him any heed (except you, bloggies)

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    6. 15:50 I couldn't agree more. Your comment made me giggle

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    7. 15.50 I can tell you I am degree educated and no need for your ignorance's.
      It is a shame you cannot understand English or the working's of Holy Mother Church.
      I certainly will pray for you.

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    8. If only you knew how many people have written to those you suggest and made great effort to do it, often more than once, and only received a worsening of their situation. No immediate hope is sometimes better than a false hope.

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    9. 15:50 is correct. Utter tripe.

      18:50 If you did get replies from all those Roman sources you say you wrote to, they were all probably laughing up their sleeves at such poor literary skills. I imagine you wrote using a Scottish address. I hope it wasn't an Irish one.

      On second thoughts, Cardinal Sarah's office would have a lot of experience of this standard of written English. The latest Mass translation is a case in point.

      Delete
    10. 20.08, I'd like to know what you achieved at degree level education because your articulation of comments is juvenile and unintelligible. There should not be an apostrophe or an "s" attached to the word ignorance. Your version doesn't exist. Neither should there be an apostrophe or an "s" in working. My points are sufcicient to highlight your literary impoverishment.

      Delete
    11. How could parishioners in Roman congregations read letters written in English. I'm also confused about the method. Would the PP read out the letters after the Gospel, as happens with Pastoral letters from bishops? And where would you get the parish addresses in Rome. Are they online?

      Delete
  18. @9.14
    Oh please . Is that your idea of an "exciting day"?!!
    Try to upgrade to knitting or Bingo...

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  19. Clogher diocese is also in a mess.........two retired bishops still acting as though they are in charge and Joe Mc Guinness acting as if he's already the bishop.
    Most younger priests have either left or just given up trying. They do their work but have zero interest in the diocese. Many of the older clergy still carry on as if they are in charge. Indeed several approaching retirement age have made it clear that they will not be moving out of the parish - what chance has a new PP got in a situation like that? One PP would only retire if his curate became the PP (which Joe Duffy went along with!); another one refused to retire for six years beyond the age and only stepped down at 81! The Vocations Director is 84 and still acts as though he is the VG. He continues to sit on the Chapter and tells everyone what to do. There are men ordained 30 years who are still curates because older men won't quit. Clogher is a mess and only strong, visionary leadership from an 'outside' bishop will save it. I have no faith that we will get anyone except Joe Mc Guinness because clergy haven't even been asked their views by the nuncio and an appointment is pending soon.
    Like Galway, and most other dioceses, Clogher is leaderless and aimless and in a total mess.

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    1. Met McGuinness. A very 'bitchy' priest. Have said this before, but it needs to be said again and again.

      He would not, in my opinion, be good for Clogher as its bishop.

      Delete
    2. Clogher is a very troubled diocese and several of our priests are allowed to be away from the diocese with no discernible pastoral appointment.

      Why for example is Noel McConnell allowed to live in a house in a Maynooth housing estate? What's he doing there?

      Ben Hughes is doing a never-ending study of sex addiction and it would appear that Paddy Connolly is to be allowed to spend his entire priesthood in Limerick. Ian Fee has disappeared, off doing some New Age thing.

      As for Joe McGuiness did we not suffer enough under the previous Joe? The new Joe is the oiliest, bitchiest priest in Clogher.

      And a first-class shit is made Prior of Lough Derg.

      Delete
    3. I am going to guess this is a Priest writing this at 13.27 and I thought you should know when a See becomes Vacant or a Bishop reaches 75 then the Clergy, Religious, and Laity can write to the Papal Nuncio at any time although in this case time maybe short so I would urge you write now to the Papal Nuncio.
      As for Joe McGuiness I have watched him on web cam doing funerals and other Bishops their and your nearly correct he thinks he is the Bishop but your mistake he thinks he is the Pope.
      Very much a careerist and that was just watching online so please get people to write to the Papal Nuncio as appointments are done every Thursday and approve by the Pope on the Saturday but I think Lancaster will be next announcement as Bishop Campbell has sent a prayer to every parish to be said daily for his replacement he wants to go now.

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    4. @15:02 are you saying Joe McG is even oilier then Timmo - the Bishop of Clogher in waiting?

      Delete
    5. 15.02: Clogher Curate: What a screaming bitch you are! If you have such contempt for your fellow priests and Diocese, you should seek laicisation. I doubt if you can offer meaningful service with that attitude. You are disgusting.

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    6. 15.26 Are you for the 100th time again suggesting people write to the Nuncio, will you give it up. It’s pointless, useless, time wasting, hopeless, futile, silly and foolish to do so - do you get the message.

      Delete
    7. Clogher curate at 15:02, Ben Hughes is chaplain to NUIG. Noel McConnell has left the priesthood and is now pursuing a different lifestyle.

      Delete
    8. Fr Ben Hughes is a chaplain in Galway University

      https://www.nuigalway.ie/chaplains/contact-us/

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    9. 15.02
      You shouldn't whinge so much. You haven't said a single complimentary thing about one of your colleagues.
      So obviously you can't be trusted.

      Delete
    10. If I were the Nuncio. I would not listen to the hate-filled opinions of anyone who hadn't a good word to say about his fellow clergy. I would soon spot their jealous agenda!
      I don't imagine he is any less astute.

      Delete
    11. We know all about Noel McConnell. He was a vicious butch in Clogher, then after an all-expenses paid sabbatical, he was taken in by the nuns in Rathcoole in Dublin. He's an RE teacher and bizarrely the school chaplain after taking his hand off the plough as a priest.

      The best thing about Noel is that being prone to obesity as a student he's ballooned. But he sees no irony on taking pupils on Trocaire trips to Africa and being photographed holding baskets of food.

      We also know about Ben Hughes. He tells the bishop what he's doing next and not vice versa. He's turns his back on Clogher following two well-publicised spats, one involving a grave (in which Joe Duffy took the family's side against him) and one in Belleek.

      Delete
    12. Typo alert. Of course I meant that Noel McConnell was a vicious bitch, definitely not butch. He did the Sem course yet somehow became briefly a teaching priest at St Michael's College, Enniskillen. What a farce that was, even the Board of Governors thought it was strange.

      Delete
    13. Doing the sem course in philosophy doesn’t block someone from doing th BD -as many a good and talented man has done.

      Delete
  20. I'm looking forward to seeing the appearance of Magna Carta 3.....
    Magna Carta 1 will be delighted with the following he is having.
    Magna Carta 2 will be overjoyed with increasing the numbers of Magna Cartas.

    Oh what a beautiful life
    What a wonderful world
    Tis a gift to be simple
    Tis a gift to be free

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    1. 15.09. But it's not a gift to be silly in promoting any more magnolias....two is sufficient, in fact too many! We need tulips!!

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    2. Tip-toe through the tulips, through the tulips, through the t-u-u-u-lips. Tip-toe through the tulips with 'lil ole me.😆

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    3. All we seem to get are pansies here!!

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    4. Ah ha! I've finally placed who the fake Magna Carta is. Before his er, operation, and beginning a new career as, well, whatever he is now, he was called Darlene Edwards and had a lucrative singing career. 'Tiptoe through the tulips' was one of her hits, and you can hear the Magna formerly known as Darlene, sing it here:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN6j_G1JZOw

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    5. 19.27. Pansies indeed are plentiful on this blog followed by too many shrivelled prunes!

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    6. Magna at 19.02: Can you and I go tip toeing thru the tulips? Love to share a flowery moment with you..but only if you'd accept roses with thorns!! .

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    7. Then stop posting, 19:27.😆

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    8. Magna is trying to let us know that his bulbs are up.

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    9. I agree, 10:27. So please stop posting among us menfolk.😆

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    10. Menfolk/womenfolk - I'm confused about which category you fit into Magna! Enlighten me....

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    11. Magna 2 and a half.5 February 2018 at 16:15

      The Blogger Magna, newly arrived here, is partial to pink gin, prosecco and, from time to time, Rum Pansies. But please don't judge a book by its cover.

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  21. The institutional Catholic Church in Ireland is a shambles. End of !

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  22. Safe pair of hands, no imagination, energy or engagement with clergy or flock needed, cocooned in palaces abs surrounded by lackeys telling them how great they are. Result empty churches low vocations.

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  23. Pat, do you think the Church is continuing to undermine and target you? I only ask because I was reading through a past blog from last year were you said that you and people close to you were being singled out for attention by the Church. Is this still the case? Very worrying and sinister if it is.

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    1. 18.22 The Church is too busy and Big to single out people and yes + Pat had a bad time years ago but things have moved on he is still in a property I think belonging to the diocese due to a court agreement.
      But the Church teaches joy and Forgiveness.

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    2. I imagine the once-powerful Catholic establishment has tried to discredit the blog at times. I just hope +Pat hasn't fathered a secret love child.

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    3. To me as a blog reader Pat is in the cross hairs he should start tracking iPhone addresses!

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    4. 18.22. Might be paranoia but there could be something in what you say. The blog in general paints an animal farm picture of the church

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  24. I see from the news we have a new Dean of Belfast. Still no sign of the missing Dean though. Will he no come back again?

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  25. 'Pat, do you think the Church is continuing to undermine and target you?'

    It probabbly is but we are, and will be, ok. Come join us!

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    Replies
    1. no thanks your grand.

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    2. Paul at 19.47: a boring, silly response. Get a life....

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    3. Paul at 19.47 yesterday: Why ask such a stupid question on this blog? Aren't you in daily contact with your Bishop "Pat"!! Seems communication on a one to one may be awkward.....And don't you think as a newly ordained you'd have more useful ways of living your "ministry". Or has the "Pat effect" taken hold for the worse in your life?

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    4. My apologies - my post last night at 22.49 should have read:

      "No thanks - you're grand."

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  26. 18.22: No need to worry. Pat isn't terrified of anyone. He's well able to fight his battles. So, you should concern yourself with more important issues. Go and work for the homeless..

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  27. @18.22 What exactly are you insinuating? The Church has no interest in Pat Buckley or his ‘associates’.

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    Replies
    1. A lot of people have more interest in Pat than.in the corrupt RC Institution

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  28. He is no longer a member. Don't you ever take in what Pat says?

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  29. I’ve heard from a friend in Rome that Pope Francis intends to resign at the end of February! Can this be true?

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    Replies
    1. it could be true, it could not be true. I might get up at 7, I might not get up at 7. Sure who knows.

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    2. No it's fake news It is more important than ever nowadays to always chech your sources carefully and don't be gullible.

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  30. Maybe a blog for pat to focus on this coming week and who would take Francis place ?.

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    Replies
    1. Tim Bartlett or Joe McGuiness.

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  31. Why is Fr. Murchadh O'Madagain working in Florida when priests are badly needed in Galway?

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    1. Because, like the Church of Ireland, and other professions/walks of life, it’s a good idea for a person to have an ongoing say in where they work. That’s why clerical jobs are advertised in the Gazette and elsewhere. It’s the way things should be.

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    2. Priests are badly needed in Florida too and the weather's a lot nicer so it seems a rational choice by that Galway priest with the over-complicated name.

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    3. 13:41 A chauvinist comment. If it were an Islamic name would you have something else to say?

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    4. Good luck to the people of Florida in pronouncing that name.

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    5. Please rush me the Gazette. I've been a curate in Clogher for over thirty years. Light duties in the Sun appeal, maybe as a chaplain to a convent in California.

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    6. Three syllables - there are four in Cornelius.

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  32. Bish, can you please provide an update on the deacon from Clogher and the deacon from Tuam?

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    1. Kevin Connolly?

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    2. Real deacons or permanent deacons (you know the middle-aged married men active in their parish, who'd never before heard of a deacon and then in their late middle-age discovered a vocation to be one? LOL).

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  33. 21:44
    If you heard it, it must be true.

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    Replies
    1. Not everything you hear is anywhere near true!

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