Tuesday 27 March 2018

80 YEAR OLD TO NEWRY!


 BOYCE

THE VATICAN HAS APPOINTED THE NEARLY 80-YEAR-OLD FORMER BISHOP OF RAPHOE TO RUN THE DIOCESE OF DROMORE AFTER THE 69-YEAR-OLD JOHN MC AREAVEY RETIRED IN DISGRACE.

MC AREAVEY


WHAT A STRANGE APPOINTMENT?

This is happening of course because the small diocese of Dromore with a small number of priests has no senior priest to appoint as administrator because of the close association of all those priests with St. Colman's College, Newry and it abuser president Malachy Finnegan.

FINNEGAN


The question that needs to be asked is should Dromore be a diocese any longer when there is not one priest in it suitable to be an administrator while waiting for a new bishop?

And is it not ridiculous in this day and age to be appointing a retired man of 80 to a place where the church is in total disarray after various scandals.

The truth, of course, is that The Vatican simply do not want to know what to do with Dromore - and so they opted to put a bandage on the cancer instead of treating it vigorously.

And the non-smiling and uptight Boyce is a good bandage as he spent a lot of time in Rome, is well known there, and is nothing more than an old Roman parrot.

He may sit in the bishop's chair and he may do Confirmations but no one should expect that he will bring any warmth or healing to this ravaged diocese and its people.

 Any victims or their relatives would be well warned not to go near him. He will look at them un-smiling, nod his head, make notes and send them on their way with the feeling that they have met a tailor's dummy.

It surely says a great deal about the Roman Catholic Church that they are sending Boyce to sit on the Dromore egg. 

Is there no other cleric on the island of Ireland with bit more warmth and pastoral compassion that they could have sent in as caretaker?

If that is the case - then things are even worse than we imagined.

The RC Church really needs to examine the whole idea of what a bishop is and what is the ideal size of a diocese.

If a diocese is too small it is too incestuous and if a diocese is too big it is too impersonal.

Dromore is too small.

Maybe the answer is to take some parishes off both Armagh and Down and Connor and create a new, slightly larger diocese than Dromore with its twenty parishes.

But I do not see that happening in a Church that is unable to think outside the box.

So, for now, Boyce will stand with his finger stuck in the crack in the dyke until Rome can find a younger, CANONICALLY CORRECT,  finger to replace Boyce's.

Of course, no one is wanting to talk about the fact that fingers cannot hold back the impending torrent forever.

And they all lived happily ever after......................................



126 comments:

  1. All music to your ears Pat. In a time of crisis and challenge, all you offer is your ridicule, delight and unkindness. Not a word or a prayer by way of support or encouragement. Isn't it always easier to swipe from the sidelines or from outside the fold? During this Holy Week, perhaps it may be very appropriate to offer prayer for Dromore Diocese and for caretaker Bishop Boyce. Your speculatiin as to why no Dromore Priest was appointed is very unfair to the good priests of Dromore. In any family difficulty isn't the way of charity, forgiveness, tolerance, love, understanding and kindness the proper responses instead of always looking for the faults, flaws and imperfections? You'd make a great bystander in the Holy Week Passion of Jesus - a jeering discourager rather than a compassionate, empathetic heart!!

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    1. You omitted two, fundamentally important words from your list of virtues:'In any family difficulty isn't the way of charity, forgiveness, tolerance, love, understanding and kindness the proper responses...'. And these words are 'truth' and 'wisdom'.

      Was it wise to appoint a man who, in truth, is perceived by many as tainted through Fr Eugene Green's atrocious crimes against children?

      Jesus told us to be gentle as doves, but wise as serpents.

      Love without wisdom and truth is a rudderless ship. Perhaps, in this Holy Week, you might reflect on this...if only that those scales should fall from your eyes.

      Delete
  2. Looks like he's been dipping his face in the chip pan again.

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    1. 8.46: You ignorant fool. If that's all you can offer, stay in your trailer trash cave. You have nothing worthwhile to say. You deem yourself insignificant - which probably is your sad reality. God bless, guide and watch over Bishop Boyce. He is a brave man to accept this task at his age. So, let's pray for him during this Holy Week.

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    2. A 'brave man', 12:50? Or just an egotistical one looking for an opportunity to redeem himself after Raphoe's handling of that paedophile priest, Eugene Green?

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    3. 8.46..to be a man of prayer supposedly, your post is atrocious, the words you use are so politically incorrect.
      What a reply..we do not even know if you referring to a poster or Pat....Either way, you need to temper your words.

      Delete
  3. Is Canon Liam Stevenson’s tenure as diocesean administrator the shortest in history. Should we notify the Guinness Book of Records?

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    1. No one cares enough to 'do the necessary'. Really.

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  4. The Church of Ireland has a diocese of Down and Dromore and a diocese of Connor. That might be a possible first step.

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  5. Recipes for disaster, tune into PAT SAYS - free advice and suggestions, always designed to guaranteed failure. Get your app today! Caveat emptor!!!Always.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nah! You're thinking of the Rome4U app.

      Bloody useless.

      Delete
  6. Well I could have guessed todays topic.
    Firstly the Church can and always does think out the box it is very large Church 1.2 Billion and we cannot all have it wrong.
    Bishop Boyce has just turned 78 and is a safe pair of hands for a short time. The last Papal Nuncio was to reduce the number of Diocese but met with opposition from the Archbishop of Dublin but there is a new papal Nuncio and hopefully will sort Ireland out.
    There are SIX Vacant See's, Auxiliaries waiting to go in Dublin, 22019 another 1 then 2020 Dublin followed by Tuam so it will be all change and hopefully for the Better.
    Remember Ireland will be on the World stage in August and it should be rejoicing at getting chosen and a visit from His Holiness Pope Francis.

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    1. A visit from His Oiliness? Ireland should rejoice? Are you functioning cognitively. Is this the same oily Latino who publicly slanderedbabuse victims in Chile and did not apologise publicly for his sin. Is this the same oily Latino who similtaneously speaks from both sides of his mouth? The Who am I to Judge? pope in relation to gays while endorsing a review of the Nazi popes's ban on gay candidates for seminary?

      This is Holy Week: open your eyes to the truth.

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    2. Pat, you really should do something to curtail the racism of the troll Magna Carta.

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    3. Racism? What racism was there in my comment? Pope Francis IS a Latino, you uneducated numbskull!

      The United States Census uses the term 'Latino', along with 'Hispanic', as ethnic designations.

      Your problem is that you don't want any criticism of that oily bastardo.

      Grow up, you moron.😆

      Delete
    4. There should be a new order "the Perpetual Adorers of Pope St Francis".

      Though he's not very saintly in the video where he rough handles a Vatican monsignor, or the video in which the Popemobile nearly runs over a man and it doesn't stop.

      Delete
    5. People, why do you even bother with that creepy bastardo, “Magna Carta”?

      Internet trolls are, irredeemably, a**holes.

      If you met it in real life, it would shit it’s troll pants. That’s why it hides in anonymity.

      Don’t feed it. Ignore it, or treat it as a joke; or, better still, with contempt.

      Delete
    6. Troll Carta reminds me of an unruly nuisance drunk at a public meeting - continually butting in and heckling.

      There’s a story told of one such heckler at a rally being addressed by Dev back in the day.

      The drunk kept shouting “Land for the poor! land for the poor!” all during Devalera’s speech.

      Finally, someone fed up listening to “Land for the poor!” tapped the inebriated heckler on the shoulder and said, “hey bud, here’s two acres for ye!”

      And kicked him full square in the balls! Lol

      Delete
    7. Anon. at 19:33, so Magna 'hides in anonymity'? We're under the same cloak, then, aren't we ANONYMOUS AT 19:33?

      Moronic jerk!😆

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    8. MC at 21:38 - you’re a monumental wan***!

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    9. MC at 16:45. From now on let’s call you the Slimey Caucasian.

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  7. Bishop Boyce needs our prayerful support at this time. I'm sure he will be a kind caretaker Bishop and hopefully will gather a supportive, caring, discerning team around him. It's very easy to be critical when sitting at a laptop looking for every minute failing. It's always more difficult to present creative, constructive, renewing solutions. While I recognise the immense errors of judgments, flaws, failings if the Church and the hurt caused to many, I believe in these days of Holy Week we should pray earnestly for a true purification of the Church, that it may genuinely seek the mercy of God, repent and be a truer image of Christ. In my life and work as a priest I have encountered many critics within parishes who are all too ready to be discouraging, yet are not very quick to volunteer. It's better to be affirming, positive and creative. More conducive to community building.

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  8. An excellent choice.. We need a firm hand.
    Comes the moment - - comes the man!

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    1. Comes the moment...comes the, er, wrong man.😆

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    2. Shush Magna - - or he will arrive in person and hit you a right crack on the bum!
      Be careful.....

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    3. Bishop Casey in his drunk-driving trial blamed the wine waiter for having a "heavy hand". A classic defence.

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  9. Oh well Vatican news has issued this news realease surely some Archbishop's and Bishop's should consider their position and at least offer it.

    https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-accepts-resignation-of-irish-bishop-criticized-for-handling-of-abuse-report-24760

    Scotland this past few weeks has had the Paul Moore case kept in a Grace and Favour House and supported by THREE Bishops and yet found guilty at the High Court of abusing 3 Children as Parish Priest and a seminarian. so Gallowoway Bishop's should look at themselves.
    Then the National Sunday Mail covers Archbishop Tartaglia who is giving a girl payments because she was allegedly raped by a deceased priest yet Mario Conti gave his a clergy burial, grace and favour home yes TWO Archbishop's.
    It is time for change and last week the Bishop's Conference of Scotland announced the New Safeguarding policies coming in May.
    Really you could not believe it but it is all true.
    https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/catholic-church-facing-payout-over-12247401

    And in fairness to McAreavey it was in 1996 his saga but in Glasgow and Galloway they are active now.

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    1. Our illiterate sexually obsessed gay Scot is at it again.

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  10. How slow is the Roman Catholic church in appointing Bishops. In the Derry Diocese it too three years after the stepping down of Seamus Hegarty before Donal McKeown was appointed Bishop in 2014. It should not be terribly difficult to appoint a new Bishop, should it?

    I have had experience of Bishop Boyce, as some of my family are based in Donegal. He is about as warm as a lapland. His grating voice and total disconnection from the laity is not what Dromore needed, they needed someone young, someone not from Ireland to administer them and to be their Bishop, not an aged ice block who already has a litany of failures in his own previous diocese of Raphoe. It seems the Catholic church never learns.

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    1. It’s a stop gap arrangement. The Vatican had JMcA’s resignation forced on it. And more power to him that he took the matter into his own hands.
      It normally takes two years or so for the process to come up with a new bishop. That’s why the Dromore situation took the Vatican by surprise.
      Bishops should be elected locally anyway with some input from neighbouring diocese.

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    2. The Congregation for Bishops only considers episcopal appointments every other Thursday morning and it just considers 4 dioceses at the meeting. This is one of the reasons for the wait, sometimes for years, for appointments.

      Italians do very many things very well, but bureaucracy isn't one of them.

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    3. Clogher Curate, from 14 March to 27 March inclusive, a period of less than two weeks, appointments were made to more than 9 dioceses. You must be making a mistake.

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    4. Thank you, I checked with a friend in Rome. He said that these were announcements of bishops appointed via the four a fortnight process.

      I appreciate your courteous response.

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  11. You miss the point entirely Pat. Boyce is another ‘Wounded Healer’. Watch the BBC programme ‘This World - the Shame of the Catholic Church’. Boyce features in it. It is a total insult to let this man near Dromore. Fr Eugene Greene in Donegal Says it all. They may have well sent Brady that’s how bad it is, but he is now tainted. Boyce the golf player, we don’t want him in Dromore.

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  12. We don’t want Boyce in Dromore after Fr Eugene Greene in Raphoe. Wears a huge big amethyst ring, lords it over people, speaks like an oul doll.

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    1. "oul doll" is a sexist comment and is disparaging to women .

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  13. I don't know +Boyce. He may be a very nice and holy man. But, he is retired, and he is 78. Why, oh why, do we keep our Church running on the efforts of old men ! In the Anglican Church, bishops and priest retire at 65, maybe 70 for a bishop, but generally earlier. It is right that men who have given years of service are given the opportunity to lay down the burdens of office and enjoy a bit of life. But we seem tp have this ridiculous notion in the Roman Catholic Church that ministry and ordination is synonymous with dying with your boots on ! It's ridiculous, and makes us look ridiculous.

    Some relatives of mine were telling me recently about their parish priest who is over 80 and is running several parishes. They were in awe of him. He couldn't possibly retire because there is no one to talk over, and so at 80 plus he is plodding on. Again, ridiculous. All the man is doing is putting this finger in the dyke and holding back the inevitable. When he keels over, as he most definitely will, the dyke will crumble, and all his efforts and sacrifices will have been largely in vain, because the inevitable will happen. I told them that I thought it was stupid and that rather than canonising the man and making him out to be some sacrificial super hero, they should rather be seeing the situation as an indictment of the Church, and of his bishop and diocese, that they have not come up with creative and timely solutions for parishes and sacraments, that do not rely on the services of a clapped out 80 plus year old. Too many bishops are too scared to engage with the inevitable and to make sure that they come up with structures and ways of being Church that recognise the reality of the present age. Instead, they 'encourage' old men to carry on, they amalgamate parishes and put more burden on the shoulders of these old men, and younger ones who inevitably will find themselves burning out, and in many diocese import priests from far and wide with disastrous consequences, not least the rather colonial and imperial 'raping' of third world countries of their talented people, as we do for health care professionals. We need to stand on our own two feet, we need to think creatively about how we can be Church here and now with what we have. And not by relying on old men and overworked younger priests, and priests imported from the far reaches of the globe.

    Solution ? Real and effective lay ministry and leadership. Clergy who can be married with families, and emotionally and psychologically rooted. Women who have great gifts to offer to the Church and ministry, including ordination.

    But, what do we do ? Forbid discussion of the latter two completely, and only half heartedly engage with the first. Rather we rely on the likes of + Boyce and old men to keep the show going. But for how long ? Not for too much longer, I think, and then the whole thing will come crumbling down.

    And, let's get away from the notion that our priests are so special that they should keep on going forever. They are human beings - and how much we hear about their humanity in + Pat's blog, with stories of their behavioural, emotional, psychological and sexual failings ! I'm afraid the indelible sacramental character that the Church tells us that priests receive at their ordination and which is taken by clergy as imbuing them with instant priestly wisdom and authority, is not enough to stop them falling in to dysfunctional behaviour ( which no surprise given their inadequate training, education, and the ridiculous elevated clerical culture in which most of them have been brought up !).

    So, let's start by letting old men retire; let's find new way of being Church; let's stop kidding ourselves that we can hold back the inevitable; let's start to be a bit normal and sensible about this Church that we hold dear, and ensure that it has a future. + Boyce and his like, nice men though they might be, are the past. Not the future. And not the solution.

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    1. Why must an overseer/presbyter be a cleric. There is no more need for this than for a cleric to render a homily, or for an altar server to be male.

      Clericalism and patriarchy: the twin evil pillars of Roman Catholicism. And they are crumbling before our very eyes.😆

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    2. It is not the Church it is most these Bishop's and Clergy will not retire and Rome does not want to be seen as throwing them out.

      Ireland has to many Diocese that is a fact and Bishop's like + McDaid should say they are going Now just like the Late Bishop John Mone did and Paisley was filled quick.

      In Galloway Scotland the Bishop emeritus will not retire he is 92 and does more that his replacement as you never here of =Nolan in the diocese but you here of his J & P Work and the past Vicar General is still in a parish at 84 however they do not want imported clergy but willing to let 75 plus work on.
      Then in Glasgow + Conti will not give up either at 82 he keeps going and takes on more and like it says above his replacement just amalgamates parishes and takes no decisions.
      Scotland and Ireland needs addressed and both do not need all the top brass now.

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    3. What on Earth does "being Church" mean?

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    4. 16.27 illiterate gay sex-obsessed Scot is spouting again.

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    5. 17.02 Relax i’s also a term of affection in these parts.

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    6. John Mone was a total gentleman as Bishop of Paisley. We could have done with his ‘like’ in Ireland. Lovely man. Very humble. Never met his like.

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    7. I've heard that too.

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    8. Well said 13:55

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  14. The Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday at 10.30am in Newry Cathedral would be a challenge for any bishop. You can watch it here: https://www.churchservices.tv/newrycathedral

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    1. There is no Chrism Mass in Newry this year.

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    2. I remember in the Derry Diocese during the three years when there was no bishop, the oils were blessed by the retired bishops and diocesan administer in a short ceremony on Holy Thursday morning. That happened in 2012 and 2013. Bishop McKeown celebrated his first Chrism Mass in April 2014.

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    3. 15:38, with everything moving so fast it's hard to keep up. The Cathedral website has indeed announced that the Apostolic Administrator will celebrate the Chrism Mass at 10.30am on Holy Thursday. It will be our first opportunity to see and hear him.

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  15. @12.47 Totally agree with you. Francis may as well have sent Brady to Dromore, it’s only up the road. Total insult appointment to look after Dromore. It says a lot for the new Papal Nuncio? Doesn’t say much for him after just landing in Dublin!!

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  16. Pat maybe you should offer the good people of Dromore your leadership as Bishop of Larne and Dromore. The change could be for the better.

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  17. Your take on Boyce Pat has me in stitches. 100% correct. Nodding, an attempt to smile, parrot and tailors dummy lol. You have this man of to a tee. I think someone said earlier ‘an oul doll’ still laughing at this expression as it’s true.

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  18. I believe Fr Sean Mc Evoy has returned to his parish after 8 years.
    How disgraceful was that.Shame on Brady.

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    1. Why was he away for 'eight years'? Give us sone context, otherwise your denouncement of Brady is meaningless?

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  19. Will Boyce live in the Bishops Palace in St Colmans Newry when he’s Administrator? Who’s paying him?

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    1. How do you expect Pat to know who is paying the new Administrator? Very strange question..

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    2. The Diocese is paying him as does every other diocese pay their priests. Was the previous incumbent not a religious ? Wonder did he draw a salary for the order or did the vow of poverty follow to the palace?

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    3. It goes without saying that the Apostolic Administrator will occupy the bishop's residence and receive whatever income would have been due to the bishop. No doubt he will relinquish for the moment any income he has been receiving as a retired bishop.

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    4. 15.16: Such an inane comment and question! What business is it if yours to know who may be giving him a salary? He's offering his time, energy, service and commitment for free....That I know.

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    5. So if you know...’’that I know’’..why are you so rude about a question of salary, nothing inane about it.

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    6. Bishops salaries are the business of those whose contributions fund them.
      Transparency requires that all should be just that.

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  20. Big Hank at 14-20. I know you were having a laugh when you suggested +Pat be sent to Dromore but what has been cobbled together couldn’t be worse!
    Perhaps Fr Eugene Green will be incardinated into Dromore as advisor on a Ministry to Youth Programme. I thought things couldn’t get any worse. F**k !

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  21. Bishop Pat, this appointment is a total disgrace.

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    1. Francis made the appointment.

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  22. Listen to Nolan on Radio tomorrow. Dynamite. Priest doesn’t want Boyce anywhere in Dromore.

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  23. The Catholic church is a gerontocracy. Francis is 80, so if an octogenarian can lead the global church Bishop Boyce should be able to run the party-sized diocese of Dromore.

    Why didn't they recall Hugh Connolly from Paris? He never taught there though he was probably a pupil there. Or is Hugh's card marked because of Maynooth?

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    1. Androgerontocracy?

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    2. Yeah, I think Hugh Connolly would be a good choice.

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    3. Mgr Hugh Connolly28 March 2018 at 20:40

      Thanks.

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    4. Hugh Connolly went to the Christian Brothers (Who are no longer in Newry)

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  24. Buy the kindle edition of Breaking the Silence by Martin Ridge to fill yourself in about Boyce and Hegarty and the top priests in the Raphoe diocese. Fr Columba Nee accused the diocese of burning files to hide clerical abuse. http://www.romancatholic.miraclesceptic.com/paedopriests.html

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    1. Fr Columba Nee, who used to celebrate the Gregorian Mass occasionally, entered Maynooth with Mgr Joe Murphy back in 1986.

      I wasn't in their class. Columba was another bright spark who went to the Irish College Rome in 1989 but he's disappeared from the internet and seems to be a worker in a homeless shelter in London. One of the many good guys.

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    2. Gregorian Mass? What do you mean? A Gregorian Mass is an expression to refer to saying a Mass for an intention 30 days in a row without interruption?
      Are you confusing this term with another one - perhaps a ‘Tridentine’ Mass?

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    3. "Tridentine Mass" is a misnomer.

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    4. I wonder if Clogher got that term from someone associated with The Anglican Missal which refers to the Roman canon as The Gregorian Canon.

      Until this very moment I never appreciated the wilieness of the editors by using this term. What an interesting way to appeal to the primitive church to allay the fears of an evangelical bishop!

      Yes, Tridentine Mass is a bit of a misnomer but it is helpful to distinguish it from that produced by the nightmare of Vatican II.

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    5. Most priests who celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass use the Missal approved in 1962 by liberal Catholics second-favourite Pope, John XXIII and it was the Missal used throughout the Council sessions, a Council which decred that existing rites be retained "with great care".

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    6. Gregorian Masses and the Gregorian Mass are not the same.

      https://liturgyguy.com/2017/07/23/busting-the-myth-of-the-tridentine-mass/amp/

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  25. We can all think of very good priests, close to the people, empathetic, constructive, even prophetic. Why are they not being drawn on? Or are they turning down the bishop role? Or do you have to go through some sort of bureaucratic channel to get to the level of being considered suitable for bishophood?

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  26. No evidence of Holy Week or Easter mercy or compassion in this blog today. Many who are commenting are just armchair critics with little to offer by way of creative solutions. The majority of priezts -(good) - will spend this week celebrating the most important Sscred Mysteries of our faith. Let's pray for all of them. And whike Bishop Boyce may not be to everyone's satisfaction, he is not deserving of the abuse expressed here by many, including some priests! May God bless and guide him.

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    1. 19.24 To have a blog where people can discuss the horror they are experiencing in the church and what should be done about it is merciful and compassionate. Holy week has many layers.

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    2. 19:24, well said and I support your observations. Bishop Boyce has my support and my prayers.

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    3. 'May God bless and guide him'?? God won't get a look-in with Boyce. That codger sold his soul to Rome a long time ago.

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    4. 19.24 just armchair critics..really? Boyce has not been abused here. And when the scared mysteries are celebrated properly, those celebrants will come to see the pain of Jesus often inflicted by the celebrants themselves and if they are genuine they will do everything in their power to stop hurting others. There is plenty of mercy and compassion if you would simply look for it.

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    5. The wall of silence Bishop Boyce has brought to the sex abuse scandals in Raphoe makes him an inept leader, a man who cares more about the institution than the people. His predecessor Hegarty was no different, as he has the taint of Mr Eugene Green (I will never give that vile rat his clerical title) scandal on his hands. So, we can be a little bit more critical when this 80 year old retired businessman called Philip Boyce is brought out of retirement by Pope Francis to lead a diocese which is crumbling down all around him.

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  27. The changes in Dromore are sad, pathetic really. While we must wish good on Boyce for his short tenure until things get sorted, let's hope the situation moves all clergy to look at what is happening and which could so easily happen in their own dioceses and so get their act together. Very embarrassing for a layperson to be looking at the disarray.

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  28. as granny used to say about Father Buckley, "there's a bit of a want in him"

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  29. The saga of Dromore. Bishop resigns because he is tainted in handling of priest/ children abuse scandal.
    Vatican appoints standin also tainted ( and officially criticised) in relation to priest/children abuse scandal.

    You just couldn’t make it up !!!

    As you say often Pat, Jesus wept.

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  30. Wait for Bishop Boyce on the radio tomorrow.



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  31. When I heard last night that Boyce was going from here to Dromore I just couldn’t believe it. The only thing that would have topped that would have been if they announced that Seamus Hegarty was going as his auxiliary.
    An absolute mess. What is the Vatican and the Nuncio thinking?
    Derry priest.

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    1. I am from Derry, and I just love to know if I know the priest who is posting on here. I think many parishioners do not really know their clergy. Yes, all the scandals aside, the majority of the parishioners have no idea how their parish priest or curate is feeling. I would be interested to hear from this Derry priest what he thinks of our diocese at the moment, under the "leadership" of Bishop McKeown. Thank you.

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  32. I have said on here before that Dromore is too small and should be split between Armagh and Down and Connor.
    Bishop Boyce is only a stop gap so I wouldn't get too worried - the question is that if Dromore states who gets it ? Surely not that insufferable bore and lick arse Timo Bartlet. Are they any decent dicoesan priests in Dromore to take it on or is an outsider required?

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  33. 80 is the new thirty-something in the Catholic church.

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  34. Can't wait for BBC Stephen Nolan on BBC Radio Ulster at 9am - it's online

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    1. Fuck Nolan the fat shankhill road hun .. he's luvin breaking the Catholic Church .. please God the Church can trample this demon into hell

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  35. Oh how I laughed when I read that this old fart will be rolled out in Dromore. I had posted for McAreavey's resignation, but now I think McAreavey should be brought back. Boyce is like diesel on a fire.

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  36. In my diocese tomorrow Wednesday the Chrism Mass will be held in the Cathedral. It will be a rather off-putting self-congratulatory cleric fest. Lots of priests milling around looking rather self-satisfied, some surrounded by cronies from their parishes. It is not a very edifying sight, and speaks very little about service and ministry, rather about self-importance and showboating. And, I'm absolutely sure, there will be a sizeable number who will be renewing their priestly vows but who have no intention of keeping them at all ! They know this, I know this, and increasingly many other people are beginning to know it and see the hypocrisy that is alive and kicking. I'm sure the bishop knows it too, but it's in his interest to play it down, because otherwise he would have even less priests than he now has to cover his parishes.

    After the Chrism Mass, lunch is offered to the assembled priests. And guess what ? The lay workers in the Curial offices have been asked to come down and to serve the assembled priests ! Sounds a little bit like the wrong way round, doesn't it, after such a public spectacle of dedication to being the servant priest and the example of simplicity ! Perhaps they could have invited the lay workers to come from lunch, and have the priests serve them ?

    The optics are just wrong. It stinks of self-satisfaction, self-importance, clericalism, and an inability to see that all that clerical stuff is just so outdated and irrelevant. They just don't get it. Apart from the few laity, who are clergy fags for the most part, the rest of the Church and the rest of the world just aren't bothered or impressed.

    I despair !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Listen to Nolan at 9am.

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    2. Listen to Nolan at 9am.

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    3. Have you thought of turning Anglican? You'd probably be happier there. Remember that St Paul says that the Lord loves a cheerful giver.

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    4. MournemanMichael28 March 2018 at 08:59

      Never having been to one before, I went to the Belfast one about three years back. My observations:
      1)How uncomfortable looking were the priests, particularly afterwards, with little interaction, and many scurrying off ASAP.
      2)How "pained looking " was D&C bishop Treanor mingling outside afterwards mostly with laity family groups while the priests seemed to be avoiding him. Mind you it was during the Dallatt fiasco.
      MMM

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  37. So we have a very reverent on today extolling the virtues of Boyce and humbly praying for him in every other post, whilst being extremely obnoxious to other posters who are stressed and concerned about Boyce rearing his cover upping head again.

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  38. 23:02 your comments regarding the Chrism Mass sound so familiar. At least we in Clogher won't be having one for the second year running.......Joe Mc Guinness suggested in 2017 that there shouldn't be a Chrism Mass because we hadn't a bishop. Many of us were relieved, except for some like La Flynn, who was disgusted. One of his big moments chanting before a half empty cathedral, taken from him in one swoop!
    While we have never been offered lunch on that day, our experience is probably quite like your diocese. The best way to deal with the Chrism Mass is to simply avoid it if it causes you so much grief!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. La Flynn used to infuriate concelebrating priests on Lough Derg by insisting on singing the Eucharistic Prayer the whole way through, while the other priests stood there mute.

      It's always about La.

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    2. La's sister, a Sr in Mount Lourdes, Enniskillen was an excellent maths teacher. She was, unlike La, humble and self-effacing and she privately and without fuss gave free maths lessons after hours to non-grammar school pupils.

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  39. I wouldn’t count on Boyce’s Dromore exile being short lived. There’s nothing as permanent as a temporary ecclesiastical arrangement.

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  40. Was lunch not offered during Joe Duffy’s tenure?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There was always a big repast in 1 Darling Street when Joe Duffy P pontificated across the road in St Michael's. The saintly Mrs Duffy (RIP), who was the housekeeper for the PP Enniskillen put on a big show for the confirmation dinners.

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  41. I didn’t really rate Fr E Murray on Nolan today.
    He could have given a more intellectual opinion...he sounded like someone with a limited vocabulary.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MournemanMichael28 March 2018 at 11:30

      Sounded to me he was very weary, worn out and despairing. Yes his speech was slow and tedious, but knowing nothing about the man, given the subject and his personal experience and views, his responses were hardly surprising.
      It was good to hear the East Belfast born again Christian speak so highly of him.
      He is to be commended for speaking out and I wish him well.
      MMM

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    2. Thank MMM, yes I expect he isn’t in good health, if it’s the Fr Murray of old.
      Good on him, he is his own master...not afraid to to speak out.

      Delete
    3. It's not the Fr Murray of old. He's middle aged.

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    4. Thank you.
      I think he is Fr Raymond Murray(the priest of old)

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  42. Your blog was right 100%. Nolan show at 9am.

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  43. So ask Norfolk if you have concerns re Fr Murray.
    What a laugh the response was from the powers that be.

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  44. Is this the same Fr Murray from the ‘troubles’ time who lived amongst the people.?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fr Murray on Nolan is about 44-45 years old, he sounded alot older.

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    2. That would be the effects of the vodka!

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  45. Sounds like Fr Murray definitely doesn't want Phyllis anywhere near Dromore.

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  46. I wish Rome would stop this nonsense of religious order priests becoming bishops. It rarely works out well. Remember that these were men who didn't feel called to be a diocesan priest yet will accept being a bishop over diocesan priests.

    No order would accept a diocesan priest being parachuted into an Abbey, priory or other religious house of whom he'd never been a member.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is Boyce froma religious order?

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    2. Carmelites (OCD).

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    3. 20:59

      Spot on. It is bizarre .

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  47. No wonder he hadn’t a clue when in Raphoe.
    That is so unfair to those priests who had to work with him.

    ReplyDelete