Wednesday 25 April 2018

ABUSE - MAYNOOTH





A BLOG READER YESTERDAY ALLEGED THAT HE HAD REPORTED HIS ABUSE BY A PRIEST STAFF MEMBER TO THE MAYNOOTH PRESIDENT MICHAEL "FANNY" MULLANEY.

He says that he was abused by a Maynooth priest staff member and had written to Mullaney a week ago requesting the contact details of the Maynooth Designated Officer.




THE MAYNOOTH ALLEGATION:

When Mullaney received a complaint about a priest I imagine that his first action would have been to copy the complaint to the priest's bishop.

If they were doing their job properly both Mullaney and the bishop should have immediately reported the complaint to the Garda and the other civil authorities. 

In fact, the complainant, in this case, had a meeting with the priest's bishop BEFORE he wrote to Mullaney.

The bishop's response was most curious: "AS THE PRIEST WAS WORKING OUTSIDE THE DIOCESE IN MAYNOOTH I HAVE NO CONTROL OVER HIM"!

But it was the bishop who sent him to Maynooth in the first place!

AND the bishop could withdraw him from Maynooth at any time!

AND it is the bishops who own and run Maynooth!

As pastors, the bishop and Mullaney should also have immediately contacted the complainant and offered them an urgent meeting and invited them to bring a support person with them to that meeting.

In Mullaney's case, to leave a complainant without any response or contact for a week is a sign that people in the Church have not yet learned the lessons of the mishandling of abuse complaints.

An alleged victim should be contacted at the earliest possible moment and offered a listening ear and a range of support measures.

In the meantime, the priest is no longer in Maynooth but has moved on to another type of ministry where he is caring for people even more vulnerable than seminarians.

Are we now seeing the beginning a NEW MAYNOOTH SCANDAL that will finally kill off this disgraced this institution?


MULLANEY


My advice to the complainant is to write a detailed account of his abuse and hand it over to the Garda.

I think he should also employ a solicitor to sue Maynooth, the diocese and the priest in question.

He should also notify the priest's new place of ministry.

86 comments:

  1. Pat, once again you let yourself down and make little of this serious story by referring to Michael Mullaney as 'Fanny'. Please cop on a bit and grow up. You speak loudly about justice, respect, transparency, accountability and rightly so, but treat others with no respect. Referring to someone else by a disparaging name is silly and in poor taste. It lessens the seriousness which you want to attach to the allegation in this story. I know that you will respond with something like, "this is what he's called by the seminarians". Whatever he might be called by others, you don't need to stoop low yourself.

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    1. MourneManMichael26 April 2018 at 10:38

      I agree with your comment Anon @ 00:01.
      And Pat, in the past you have defended some of your similar expressions as light hearted humour. I do not accept this. The blogsite discusses many serious issues, and attempts at light hearted humour apart from being misplaced, can all too easily be misunderstood

      Delete
    2. 10 38: MMM - Thank you for your comment which I was about to make myself. Abuse of any person is a very serious issue and does not warrant the name calling which Pat engages in. That kind of approach is utterly puerile and if proposed as humour, it does not fit well in this serious story of alleged abuse. There is too much innuendo, speculation and inference without any verifiable facts. If there is real abuse, which is totally unacceptable, the Gardai should be informed. The issue should not be thrown about on this blog for fun or for Pat to present himself as legal advisor, judge, juror and executioner. That's outrageous and an abuse in itself. The abuse of any person should not be used as a weapon to get at the Church. Let the appropriate authorities and professionals deal with it. Then we can have proper justice. It's not the first time Pat has shown incredible misjudgment and foolishness.

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    3. Thank you for that comment @ 11.07.
      I totally agree with you..
      It is how others here with me feel also, one hundred percent..

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    4. Good of you to join us, Fr Fanny @ 11:07

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    5. 17.32: A stupid comment. You haven't a clue. And, get a life.. plank head.

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    6. Fanny's hair is very tidy in that photo. Wonder if he uses hair product?

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    7. Steady on, Fr Michael. I know that you're worried about serving in a parish when Maynooth is wound up, with you successfully avoiding parishes for the whole of your priesthood, but why take it out on me?

      The big, unanswered question is why parish dodgers such as you, Prior, Cowboy, Ledwith, Clancy, Ahern decided who would be parish clergy even though they never served in parishes?

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    8. What, like in that movie "There's something about Mary"?

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  2. Whoever he is - he’ll be sh**ing himself now!

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  3. For a bishop to claim that because one of his priest's is working outside the physical boundary of his diocese means he is not responsible for him is utter nonsense. If the priest is incardinated it is his buisness/responsibility. Have the irish Catholic clergy learned nothing! I seems to me to be a delay tatic, keep sending the complainant from Billy to Jack. The complainant could report directly to the churches safeguarding board, which is independent. They are actually biased in Maynooth, or report directly to the guards who will also inform the HSE.

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  4. so it is a serving staff member?

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  5. 'He should also notify the priest's new place of ministry'

    so the priest is no longer in Maynooth, but in a new ministry. isn't this now a safe guarding issue for this place of ministry? A lot of inconsistencies

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  6. Fr Fanny could be away, on retreat, or undertaking further studies and hasn’t seen the complainant’s correspondence. We assume the complainant is a former seminarian at the disgraced institution.

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  7. There are many forms of abuse as you know, and some might not be deemed as serious as others. If it was just suggestive comments or making a pass, it was probably just ignored. I know of a priest who is a bishops secretary in the south east (Pat knows who he is) who has made passes and unwanted advances and gropes at several good looking young guys for years, testing them to see if they’re also gay. He is an actively gay priest and is renowned for having a boyfriend who is another cleric from a different diocese, and he regularly makes passes, gropes and suggestive comments at good looking young men. It’s abuse but because they’re iver 18 nobody bats an eyelid.

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  8. I'm not sure but from the tone of the email this complaint is probably not new and likely already investigated.I suspect it's the same guy who has been on here before claiming his formation was abusive.However using the term like that would be misleading and her unfair to real victims of abuse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We all KNOW that seminarians in Maynooth have been abused in various ways - sexually, physically, mentally, psychologically etc.

      There are many forms of abuse but abuse is abuse, period.

      A victim of psychological abuse is as much a victim of abuse as a victim of sexual abuse.

      Stop making little of all forms of abuse.

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    2. During the KOB scandal, “horseplay” was mentioned quite often. Some men like that sort of thing. I would hate it.

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    3. Me too, 12:30

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  9. 09.53: Jake K, you seem to know a great deal about the lives of others. Are you a priest yourself? A "closet" perhaps and are jealous of your colleagues or are you just a nosey busybody who gets a high on clerical gossip? If the "young guys" you speak of are being abused then you should advise them to do the right thing or approach the clerics yourself and tell them of your decision to inform the authorities, including the Gardai, HSE etc...Your interpretations may be an error but if the guys are over 18, as you intimate, then that's their business. If you have a serious job, get on with it.....

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    1. A priest pestering people for sexual reasons is a very serious matter.

      No one, of any age, should be sexually pestered by a priest, or anyone else for that matter.

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    2. Pot-kettle. Pap what about you and your friend Bill carney???????????????

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    3. 11:17-Anonymous... Why are you attacking me? I AM one of the ‘young guys’ that I’m talking about, and no im not a ‘closet’ as you so horribly put it. But it’s not as easy as you make out to speak out, and maybe if you were less quick to judge others who know what it’s like to have it happen to them you’d be better off. You say that it’s their business if they’re over 18, so your basically saying it’s ok??? How can you say this? Why are you defending him? Maybe you know him yourself or maybe it’s you? Pat is dead right - as usual - no one of any age should be pestered by a priest or by anyone else EVER.

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    4. 1526

      I do not know what you mean with "you and Bill Carney".

      Carney was several years ahead of me in Clonliffe and I had no friendship with him.

      In fact I was repulsed and embarrassed at the crude things he said.

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    5. He’s baiting you Pat don’t lower yourself to his level

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    6. Anonymous “Jake K” how do we know that you are not a malicious and mischievous, pathological liar?

      How can we possibly know that you are not seeking to hurt innocent people and harm their reputations with crass innuendo, etc? Casting aspersions on the integrity of blameless people out of pure spite? We have no way of knowing. You are sniping anonymously and nudge nudge wink wink.

      If your claims are true, there are very simple ways of dealing with them. Stop inventing obstacles and pit falls that don’t exist.

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    7. 15.28: Jake K. Stop complaining. Go to the Gardai or other relevant authorities. I don't believe you are young....but this blog is not the place to try to ascertain names or to indict innocent people. Go to the Gardai with your complaint. Pat is not reliable as he uses any information as a weapon to exact vengeance against his former Church, from which, incidentally, he profited both financially and economically. Find a more measured, trustworthy person.

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    8. 19 30 Pat out for vengance I wonder. Perhaps in the past but that is my opinion rather than judgement. In my own case I dont bear the church any Ill will. In the past I just wanted out. Jake Ks posts are disturbing. Abuse is everyone's concern. If the church is as sad a place as this blog portrays I wonder why more is not being done

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    9. What's the difference between financially and economically?

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    10. The same could be said about you, 17:25!

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    11. 20.04: Financially - money, bonuses..: Economically - a house, meals provided, bills paid for, car allowance. .etc. Clear enough.

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    12. Must check the dictionary definition.

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  10. There are indeed many forms of abuse but someone who labels another person as an abuser without using the appropriate channels is also acting abusively.

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  11. “Are we now seeing the beginning of a new Maynooth scandal..?”

    Sounds like it, +Pat. It’s been a while, a couple of months at least, since the last one.

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    Replies
    1. This case is historic abuse - 10 years ago.

      While it is not a sex scandal - it is still a serious matter and a scandal.

      Other former seminarians need to step forward.

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    2. Not a sex scandal? That'll be a change.

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    3. How can other ex-sems step forward if they don't know the identity of the abuser. Several priest names spring to mind from my time in Maynooth in the 1980s. It was a very troubled place then but very unscrutinised. It was only with the Ledwith business that the truth started to leak out.

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    4. It's good to hear that things are settling down and going more smoothly .

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    5. It's still a very troubled place and beyond cure at this stage.

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  12. Should they do so. They should report to the appropriate authorities. This blog is not in that category

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  13. Anyone looking to enter priesthood these days needs either a good circle of support on the inside or a good solicitor. Either way its a dark place full of psychological power play. Instead volunteer abroad, give to charity or follow a career helping others. Those standing on the streets praying loudly have got their reward.

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    Replies
    1. Anyone thinking of entering Maynooth after all that has happened would be diagnosed as having mental health issues!

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    2. they had 51 men at the open day.

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    3. All Grindr users, probably.

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    4. There's no way there'll be 51 first years in the Autumn. There's nowhere to put them, now that virtually all of the seminary buildings have been leased to Maynooth University.

      Mind you, they could return to having two to a room, as happened in my day. The lads would love it and it would be so romantic.

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    5. Anyone thinking of entering Maynooth Seminary needs to have a good supply of underwear. Preferably below the age of 20 and with a waistband of 32 or under.

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    6. No, I don't agree that people with genuine vocations should be "diagnosed with mental health issues"
      In fact, I think it will be the very opposite! It will be the strongest and most mentally mature men who will display the confidence and willpower to ignore all the hype and make it through to a successful conclusion..

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    7. If men have a vocation then it will be a success for him in Maynooth or any other seminary.

      Things happen that’s life. I don’t think Maynooth was given a fair deal with the press. Scandle sells and attracts a disproportionately high response on this blog for example. That is a failure on us as humans.

      Maynooth formed very holy men who serve very well as priests in our dioceses.

      The gossip on this blog and in other places is a reflection of a disturbed mind. It has no reflection on Maynooth or the priesthood.

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    8. 18:02

      Have the doctors told you whether or not your blindness is reversible?

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    9. The Junior Infirmary should be taken back into use by the college to house some of the 51 new first years joining later this year. The Junior Infirmary saw some action in its time, especially in the 1990s It can't have helped that it's located close to Logic House, home of the music department.

      Pat knows all the details and if it ever made the press it would be a resigning matter for a well-known churchman.

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    10. I meant 1980s.

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    11. You can’t begin formation without a psychological assessment. In +Pat’s time as a seminarian it wasn’t the case so in fairness to +Pat he is talking nonsense.

      Anyone with baggage won’t pass the assessment and thus won’t be admitted for formation. That’s the type of person who will then come on here and slander the Church and the holy priesthood. No one like rejection. Many are called but only few are chosen.

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    12. When I was a junior student I had a boyfriend who was a lay student in Maynooth. I remember him kissing me once in the corridor at night. then we realized a camera must have seen us. This was about 3-4 years ago. He now lives in Canada with his new boyfriend.

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    13. That particular story about the well known cleric will never appear in the media. One of the two participants (a Lurgan-born priest on the teaching staff, died in 1999). The only witness, Frank the night watchman, who told all to his seminarian friends, is also dead.

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    14. 18 48 Psychological assessment. They are all at it nowadays. It can be an indicator but like everything else it is not foolproof. There is no substitute for common sense and a real lived faith

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    15. Explain Rory Coyle, Gorgeous and King Puck, 18:48, not to mention Horny Andy, Gannon and Fr Derwin and the handsome one in Cork, plus all the other Missing in Action?

      Very few are chosen if Maynooth has only twenty or so seminarians lol.

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    16. Hi Sean 20:01 I agree re foolproof but at least it weeds out people who for some reason believe they’re being called but in reality the priesthood is a shield - Pope Francis was very clear on this when he said priesthood is sacred and cannot be used to fix a deep rooted psychological issue. People who for whatever reason feel they don’t fit into society can often see the priesthood as a shelter and probably do believe they are being called but it is for the wrong reason.

      If they had them beforehand it may have prevented the terrible damage that has been served on God’s Holy Church.

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    17. Lies @ 19:17. The term "junior student" has never been used in Maynooth. In which building's corridor did this made up incident occur. If you want to pretend to be a current or former Maynooth seminarian at least try to get the lingo right.

      Here's a test. What's the Graf and where is Inner Sanctum?

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    18. 20.27 There is something in what you say. I believe there is no such thing as totally selfless motivation. Much is a mixture that is unravelled over time. Did people come to Jesus because they wanted healing or the Kingdom or does it make a difference

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    19. Pat Buckley knows who I am, and what I know @ 19:17, and what I know and what I observe is detailed and well recorded.

      P.S Maynooth isn't simply a seminary.

      rc_2016eire

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    20. ‘Inner sanctum’ is that what they call it? ‘Graf’? Honestly! The cruising names they come up with!

      I suppose there’s a corridor called lollipop lane?

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    21. Unfortunately you are correct, lay students have no place in a seminary. You were using innuendo to imply you were a seminarian.

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    22. Unfortunately, 21:06 you are correct. Lay students have no place in Maynooth, which only exists because for most of its life was a seminary. Your innuendo-ridden post was hinting that you were a seminarian in this blog context. Who cares if lay students are kissing in Maynooth University?

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    23. 21:18 there's the "Pink Corridor". Joseph Briody wrote about it, available via Google.

      In my time, those of the antique disposition who'd survived to IV Divine lived in a quiet corridor adjacent to the Senior Dean. That part of the college was called Foxrock, after the salubrious Dublin suburb.

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    24. The introduction of a propaedeutic year for all applicants for priestly training is an attempt by the trustees to control the lusts of the young gay trainees.

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    25. 21.06: Very cryptic or very threatening. Did you stay the course or did you find some other guy? Not going to Canada? I dare say you chose the lay student - you did the chasing or were you "chased" (not chaste)? ... tell us more.

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  14. Why are people obsessed with scandals ? What purpose does it serve ? Let’s focus on the good things in the Church and remove from our focus the negativity and poisonous bitter cheap shots.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah! Let's just return to a culture of secrecy and cover-up.

      Ride on, man!😆

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    2. Because scandals attract press attention and that's the only thing that makes the bishops react.

      Take Rory Coyle, for example. In the good old days his accuser would have been fobbed off and Rory would have been sent to a new parish.

      Incidentally, how much is Rory's treatment costing and for how long can Armagh sustain it. Healthcare in the US is notoriously costly, plus there's his living costs. I wonder if it appears as a separate item in the annual report and accounts of the diocese?

      Could Pat ask Martin Long?

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    3. Why is Father Coyle receiving healthcare treatment in America? is it serious? I remember him well

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    4. He got a dicky belly after eating some Ginger Nuts.

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    5. How did you and Fr Coyle become acquainted, 19:12? Was it on Fabguys or Grindr?

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    6. magna 16.18: Ride on, man...where did your "riding" take yo to today and with whom? Haven't heard from you since ..but keep riding...

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  15. to the individual who offered me a drink two days ago, I sincerely apologize for the delayed response. I'll have a large brandy. sure we should all spoil ourselves :)

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    Replies
    1. sit down there Canon I'll pour the dropping of brandy. any news with yourself?

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    2. How'ya Canon, is it yourself that's in it? by Jaysus you're looking well. Any craic with ya? isn't there a great stretch in the evenings altogether

      Delete
  16. 15.13....you mean
    ‘’ sweep all under the Carpet’’ equals ...remove from our focus the negativity...

    You couldn’t make it up.

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    Replies
    1. 17.11: But you do make it up! The amount of unverifiable facts, dangerous innuendo, speculation, hints at names all day is outrageous behaviour. If any person is aware of abuse then go to the Gardai - not Pat Buckley who only uses the information as a battering hammer to beat The Church he so despises. Abuse is horrendous and any person's experience of abuse should not be played around with or "misused" on this blog for venting hatred. VICTIMS should be encouraged to go to relevant authorities. Judgments are being made by Pat who appears not to be in full possession of all facts. Very wrong and this constitutes an abuse of another kind.

      Delete
  17. Pat said the other day that the alleged abuser was not on the academic staff. The only non-teaching priests on the staff of Maynooth are the president, the deans and the spiritual directors. So it must be one of them from 10 years ago.

    There are a few retired priests living there, but Pat said the alleged abuser had been given a new pastoral assignment, so they can be ruled out.

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  18. It's the manipulation of conscience that I find most difficult to forgive. It's a form of exquisite psychological torture.

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  19. Have they bothered to appoint a new vice-president to replace Fanny or is there no point now that Maynooth is tiny now and on the verge of closure?

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  20. Pat, can you not tell the safeguarding office in New House, Maynooth that you are aware of an unacknowledged report to the Maynooth president and ask them to check with the president's office why there has been no response? I believe the CEO is Teresa Devlin.

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  21. +Pat, in the case of Maynooth how discredited must it become before it's totally discredited. We must be reaching the end of the line?

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  22. Who and when did that pervert priest abuse you girls making first confession
    How horrific was that?
    A supposed sacrament taking place.
    Disgusting...how can anyone ever go to confession again....after reading that today.

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