McCarrick whistleblower calls for laicization, investigation
Father Boniface Ramsey, the man who nearly 20 years ago first raised flags about the sexual misdeeds of ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick, has said the Church, though finally taking action, has not gone far enough.
If the pope and bishops are to have any credibility on the issue of sexual abuse and misconduct among the clergy, McCarrick, he said, ought to be laicized and undergo a full ecclesial trial.
In a phone interview with Crux, Ramsey said “a good thing would be to laicize McCarrick. That seems to me like such an important way to show that the pope and everyone else is serious. That would be such a formidable symbol of the seriousness with which they’re taking this.”
While rumors of McCarrick’s sexual misconduct with seminarians had been widely known for years, news of allegations that he abused minors was only made public in June following an internal investigation into accusations by the Archdiocese of New York, and subsequent reports by the New York Times.
Pope Francis in July took McCarrick’s red hat away, removing him from the College of Cardinals. However, Ramsey said taking the red biretta “is nothing,” and more needs to be done.
“They’ve laicized priests for this, why can’t they laicize McCarrick?”
In the nearly two and a half months since the allegations of abuse of minors were made public, McCarrick has been ordered to a life of prayer and penance while awaiting a full canonical trial and the U.S. bishops have called for a Vatican-led investigation into McCarrick’s abuse and possible cover-up.
However, to date, no information about the trial or the investigation has been released. “We need to hear more about that,” Ramsey said.
Since June, and especially after the Aug. 26 publication of a statement from former Vatican ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, arguing that Pope Francis knew about McCarrick’s misconduct and did nothing, “everybody looks like they’re flailing about,” Ramsey said.
Speaking over the phone from the office of his parish rectory, Ramsey said “some kind of visible, understandable action needs to be taken.” And removing McCarrick from the clerical state, while not the only step, “would be an important part of it.”
Ramsey, who oversees the parish of St. Joseph in Yorkville in upper Manhattan, was the first person to formally raise concerns about McCarrick’s harassment of seminarians when the former cardinal was serving as archbishop of Newark.
A former Dominican, Ramsey was part of the faculty of the Immaculate Conception seminary at Seton Hall University in New Jersey during McCarrick’s time as archbishop of Newark from 1986-2000. He said he first raised concerns to the seminary’s rector in the late 1980s after hearing seminarians recount how McCarrick would share a bed with them during overnight visits to his beach house.
“This is something everyone in the seminary knew,” Ramsey said, explaining that at the time, he didn’t know the misconduct fell under the category of harassment, “I just knew it was wrong.”
Ramsey said the rector agreed that McCarrick’s behavior was concerning and believed that something would be done, but nothing happened.
“Some kind of sexual shenanigans kept going on,” he said, explaining that a few years later, around May of 1992 or 1993, he was kicked off the “voting faculty” for the seminary, which authorizes seminarians to advance to another year, after criticizing a seminarian who had engaged in abusive sexual behavior with other seminarians.
After Ramsey’s complaints, this seminarian, who was close to McCarrick, was expelled from the seminary. When Ramsey returned to campus after the summer vacation, he was informed by the rector that he had been removed from the voting faculty because “McCarrick knows that you disagree with him on certain things.” The rector, he said, specifically mentioned the seminarian who had been expelled.
When Ramsey confided his concerns to Archbishop Thomas Kelly of Louisville, who died in 2011, Kelly, he said, told him nothing could be done, because McCarrick “was the boss,” and “he would kick you downstairs if you approach him” about being removed from the voting faculty.
Kelly, Ramsey said, alluded to McCarrick’s behavior with men, and said, “we all know” about a time McCarrick had picked up a young man up from the airport, and this man was the seminarian who had been expelled. Ramsey said he took the comment “we all know” to mean that all bishops were to at least some extent aware of McCarrick’s behavior.
After the conversation, Ramsey said he mostly kept his concerns to himself and never spoke to any of the seminary faculty about the situation, “but they all had to have known.”
“They all knew,” he said. “If you work for Trump, you come to accept the crazy behavior after a while, [and] if you were working in Newark, this is what the archbishop does.”
Ramsey said he finally decided to write a letter detailing McCarrick’s misconduct to the Vatican’s ambassador in the U.S., Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, in 2000 when McCarrick was appointed archbishop of Washington. He said that he had been in contact with Montalvo, who urged him to send the letter despite having doubts. However, even though his letter was received, Ramsey said he was never contacted about it.
He raised concerns again to Cardinal Edward Egan, then-archbishop of New York, in 2004 after leaving the Dominican order to become a diocesan priest in New York. The two met for a casual conversation, he said, and at some point McCarrick came up.
When he confided his concerns about McCarrick, “Cardinal Egan clearly did not want to hear about this,” Ramsey said. “He knew exactly what I was talking about. Seeing how he reacted, he knew exactly what I was saying, and he didn’t want to pursue the subject.”
Ramsey then wrote to journalist Joe Feuerherd in 2005 after reading a report Feuerherd had published about McCarrick. The journalist, Ramsey said, had heard the same rumors about McCarrick’s behavior with seminarians, but had not been able to verify them, so “this is something that everybody knew, and it took one person, the guy who was abused as a child, to open the pandora’s box.”
In 2015, Ramsey decided to pen yet another letter detailing his concerns to Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, who heads the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, after becoming upset when he saw McCarrick participating in Egan’s funeral Mass in New York.
“I thought to myself, what is this guy still doing around? Doesn’t everybody know? He’s a creep,” Ramsey said, explaining that the response he got from the commission, since allegations of the abuse of minors had not yet been made public, was that McCarrick’s misconduct didn’t fall within the commission’s competence, and he was asked to take up the matter elsewhere.
“My career is filled with people not answering letters, or not answering them in the right way,” he said.
After news of Ramsey’s 2015 letter broke, O’Malley earlier this month released a public statement apologizing for failing to act on the concerns raised, however, Ramsey said he was never contacted about it directly.
O’Malley “should have been in touch before sending public statement,” Ramsey said, explaining that he received a formal letter from the cardinal only after writing to say that making a statement without contacting him first was a public relations disaster.
Ramsey’s own role as the longtime whistle-blower in the McCarrick case wasn’t made public until this summer, when reports of McCarrick’s alleged abuse of minors was reported by the New York Times.
Since then, Ramsey said only two of the former seminarians he oversaw in Newark have contacted him, and that no one from the Church hierarchy, including his own archbishop, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, has contacted him about his complaints or the role he played in trying to stop McCarrick for nearly 30 years.
Regarding the bombshell 11-page statement from Vigano alleging that private sanctions had been put in place against McCarrick by Benedict XVI in 2008, and that Pope Francis either waived or ignored them, turning to McCarrick as a confidant and advisor for the U.S. Church, Ramsey said he was “stunned” by the letter.
While he believes the core allegations raised by Vigano deserve to be taken seriously, Ramsey said he takes issue with the picture Vigano paints of a vast “gay network” operating inside the Church, calling the assertion “ridiculous.”
“I fear that this is the beginning of a crazy tangent that the Church will get on,” he said, referring to how many people have pinned the sexual abuse crisis on homosexuality in general, rather than certain priests who choose to act on their inclinations.
“There are a significant portion of clergy that are gay, and of those, there is a significant proportion that is celibate and trying to be celibate,” he said, adding that “I don’t have a problem with people falling every now and then.”
Anyone, especially young seminarians grappling with a life choice of celibacy, can fall, he said, adding that in his view, sexual sins are not the worst a person can commit. “I’d rather have a guy who falls every now and then than a congenital liar,” he said, adding that according to ancient writings from the Church’s Desert Fathers, sexual sins can be dealt with “more easily than the misuse of money or pride.”
The difference, Ramsey said, is when a sexual sin goes beyond a mere fall and involves abuse and manipulation. In the case of the seminarian he asked be expelled from the Newark seminary, “abuse was involved,” he said, and in the case of McCarrick, “this was a serial harasser, a serial predator. This was a bad guy.”
Ramsey said the reason he believes people stayed silent about McCarrick, even though everyone was aware of the rumors, is because his conduct involved “odd and inappropriate behavior,” but that at the time, “it wasn’t an outrageous sexual misdeed.”
Going forward, Ramsey said bishops “have to be subject to the same laws that priests are,” and must fall under the same public scrutiny as priests accused of wrongdoing.
Noting how some bishops have published the names of priests accused of abuse regardless of whether the accusations have been proven, Ramsey said “the same has to be done for the bishops,” who must be held to the same standard of transparency and accountability.
NY Catholic dioceses to be subpoenaed in sex abuse probe
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood has subpoenaed all eight Roman Catholic dioceses in the state as part of her office's investigation into the church's handling of sex abuse allegations. A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation but not authorized to speak publicly told The Associated Press the subpoenas went out Sept. 6.
The subpoenas seek documents relating to sexual abuse allegations, financial payments to possible victims or the findings from internal church investigations, according to The Associated Press. Ms. Underwood's office is pursuing a civil investigation into how church leaders responded to reports of abuse.
A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New York suggested the archdiocese was ready to cooperate in the investigation.
“It is not a surprise to us that the attorney general would look to begin a civil investigation, and she will find the Archdiocese of New York, and the other seven dioceses in the state, ready and eager to work together with her in the investigation," said Joseph Zwilling, director of communications for the Archdiocese of New York via email to America.
“Since 2002, the archdiocese has shared with its 10 district attorneys all information they have sought concerning allegations of sexual abuse of minors and has established excellent working relationships with each of them,” Mr. Zwilling said. “Not only do we provide any information they seek, they also notify us as well when they learn of an allegation of abuse, so that, even if they cannot bring criminal charges, we might investigate and remove from ministry any cleric who has a credible and substantiated allegation of abuse.”
He added, “We look forward to receiving the subpoena and working with the attorney general.”
The New York attorney general's office said it had taken a cue from the state of Pennsylvania and its probe for records that resulted in an Aug. 14 grand jury report detailing claims of sexual abuse of minors by clergy going back 70 years. Though the report identified more than 1,000 sex abuse claims, in Pennsylvania, only two cases resulted in prosecutions because the statute of limitations had expired in the majority of cases.
“The Pennsylvania grand jury report shined a light on incredibly disturbing and depraved acts by Catholic clergy, assisted by a culture of secrecy and cover-ups in the dioceses. Victims in New York deserve to be heard as well -- and we are going to do everything in our power to bring them the justice they deserve,” said Ms. Underwood.
She added that New York may face a similar scenario to Pennsylvania when it comes to prosecuting any cases since “many cases of abuse may not be prosecutable given New York's statutes of limitations.”
The Diocese of Albany in a statement released on Sept. 6 said it had contacted the Albany District Attorney’s office, inviting its officials “to review our records and look at how sexual abuse cases have been handled historically in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, to what extent survivors were heard and believed, what processes were followed, and what consequences resulted.” The letter was addressed to parishioners.
In an email to CNS, Albany’s Director of Communications Mary DeTurris Poust confirmed that the diocese had received a subpoena, adding that Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger said, “We have to do what is right, even if it is not easy.”
“As Bishop Scharfenberger stated in his letter to the people of our diocese, when he made the decision to ask Albany District Attorney David Soares to review our records, we believe that only by shining a light on whatever might be hidden can we bring about true healing for survivors and for our church,” she said in the email.
In Buffalo, where the diocese has been dealing with fallout following a series of television news reports that said Bishop Richard J. Malone did not remove two priests from ministry after receiving abuse allegations, George Richert, director of communications, said the office would work with state officials.
“Our diocese will cooperate with any investigation initiated by the New York State Attorney General or District Attorney,” he said in an email to CNS.
Under New York law, only district attorneys can refer evidence to grand juries to investigate criminal complaints and recommend prosecution, as long as the potential charges meet the statute of limitations, according to the New York County Lawyers Association website.
A day before New York announced its probe, the Attorney General of Nebraska asked the state’s three dioceses for sex abuse records going back 40 years.
IRISH RC CHURCH LIKE US RC CHURCH
It's great to see the US authorities getting stuck in to the RC crowd and investigating them before grand juries.
They have so much financial and sexual corruption covered up.
In many ways the US is the land of the free.
I would now like to see the police and authorities in Europe, the UK and Ireland so the same.
These RC clerics have mountains of corruption and abuse covered up and hidden away.
They need intensive forensic investigation as a religious mafia and all their dirt exposed for the world to see.
They need to have their charitable status cancelled and designated a money an international money making corporation and made pay their taxes.
The RC crew taught the Mafia, Mosad and the KGB to suck eggs.
It's great to see the US authorities getting stuck in to the RC crowd and investigating them before grand juries.
They have so much financial and sexual corruption covered up.
In many ways the US is the land of the free.
I would now like to see the police and authorities in Europe, the UK and Ireland so the same.
These RC clerics have mountains of corruption and abuse covered up and hidden away.
They need intensive forensic investigation as a religious mafia and all their dirt exposed for the world to see.
They need to have their charitable status cancelled and designated a money an international money making corporation and made pay their taxes.
The RC crew taught the Mafia, Mosad and the KGB to suck eggs.
One, two, three: dirty, stinking, rancid Roman WHORE!
ReplyDeleteThe puzzling thing is:why do ordinary Roman Catholics continue to allow Roman VERMIN to SPONGE OFF them?
Fucking Spongers!!!?
Mad Magna at 01:36
DeleteOne,two,three here we go again Polly you're at it again, with the foul languag., I now understand that you were brought up listening to that kind of language from your auld Da. You probably think it's acceptable, it is not.
You are still up at 1:36am with the GARGLE more than likely you are sponging off the tax payer like a lot who will neither work nor want. It's a case of pot calling kettle etc. Love and prayers B. Eviva Maria!
Oh, I don't sponge off anyone, dear. 😆 (Unlike the clerical pimps you idolise.)
Delete😆😆
Mad Magna at 15:40
DeleteI don't believe you, with the amount of the gargle you swallow, you must be one of the biggest spongers in auld Belfast, dear. Love and prayers B. Eviva Maria!
I don't give a f**k what you believe, you born-again idiot!
DeleteAnd I don't live in Belfast either, you moron.
(Just lettin' off steam, like. 😆)
Mad Magna at 18:39
DeleteWas it something I said Polly? you sound upset I know you like letting off steam, because you're always steaming with the drink. Glad to oblige.
Love an pryersB. Eviva Maria!
MournemanMichael.
ReplyDeleteIndeed the RC Irish church establishment seems more overly concerned with its financial acquisitional equilibrium than its supposed gospel derived/inspired mission.
Just tonight a young niece told me, with indignation, of her work colleague's letter request received from her Newtownards parish: that is, to make both a present one off substantial contribution, and a subsequent monthly donation for some parish necessity,..... something to do with rebuilding/restoring/refurbishing. (The nature of which she cannot recollect)
My immediate response was to say that the Newtownards "singing cleric" should get of his ar$e and sell more CDs!
However, here I simply convey the incredulous attitude/response of the younger generation, like that of my niece,( a very intelligent 32 yr old psychologist). They are simply not willing to subscribe to previously unquestioned/accepted RC church mandated directives.
She, like me, having seen no sensible coherent responses from the RC establishment concerning abuse concerns, wishes to have nothing more to do with the RC church establishment.She now practises nor follows any RC church requirements nor does her parents. I certainly can't blame them.
And it was revealing that much later tonight, after much alcohol and discussion, she and her parents, in their late 60's and 70's, both now retired from high profile health/social care positions, acknowledged the lack of sensible responses from the RC establishment to all those present widespread concerns of abuse.. We agree that the RC church we all were inveigled and incorporated into, with maturity we now recognise that while it formerly provided positives of social cohesiveness, it nevertheless masked an unhealthy underlying deference and dependence on those at the apex of many RC parish based organisations, namely the local representative of the RC hierarchy.
But the present reality is that many of us want nothing more to do with the RC Church of our subservient former dependent unquestioning obligatory adherence.
I find great joy in the current questioning of youth, and their persistent examination of former unquestioned "truths".
Michael
Michael
Thanks for thoughtful posting, Michael. Good article on the young “nones” by Christian Mocek in NCR 06/09/18. BXVI’s wish for a smaller Church is coming to pass far more rapidly and dramatically than he could have imagined or wished for, though he himself greatly contributed to its collapse. However there is another model, authentic and true to the Gospel, “ ... a wild idea held in the hearts of millions of people who are utterly disinterested in authority and power and rules and regulations, and very interested indeed in finding ways to walk through the bruises of life with grace and humility.” It’s not over yet.
DeleteThe Church was growing under Benedict. More priests, more seminarians, more at the General Audiences. All in freefall under Francis and his covering-up and denials are not helping at all. The dismal Irish visit shows that Francis is certainly doing his bit to make it a smaller church. Though with his favourites Maradiaga, Tobin, Coccopalmerio and Cupich etc running about we can't claim it's a purer church.
Delete12:08, you're more concerned with 'knocking' a particular model of Church (epitomised by Pope Francis' more pastoral outreach) than with reform of systemic abuse and corruption. These evils were features of the Church, too, under popes JPII and Benedict XVI.
DeleteWhy no investigation of the teenagers held in solitary in US jails while their parents serve their sentence?
ReplyDeleteWho is behind this string of State investigations? Some right-wing Catholic lobby? Who is paying for them?
Typical left-wing Catholic response: let's hid abuse.
DeleteMAYNOOTH
ReplyDeleteBishop Buckley I'm scared to return to Maynooth on September 17th. Imagine Pat I'm a grown man who is terrified of three senior seminarians who control everything. My parents are also very concerned for my safety and future. Collins during my first day in seminary told my parents all is fine here and pass no remarks on the media. Collins is not good.
What about not going back?
DeletePat my source witihn Maynooth informed me there is an internal financial review of missing funds. Off record ............
DeletePat my source witihn Maynooth informed me there is an internal financial review of missing funds.
DeleteEamon Martin knows full well Fr Xxxxx slept with seminarian Xxxxxx
DeleteYou need a strong young Australian to protect you, my dear. Decades ago at Allen Hall, John Coughlan was warning seminarians not to speak to the press. Well, he would, wouldn’t he?
Delete@08.48 Gosh! John Coughlan the Rector of Alice Hall who became the convicted paedophile. Speaking of paedophiles I heard on the news yesterday that a Fr Francis McDermott was in Court and is facing 20 charges of abuse. Sounds horrendous for the children involved. Too many people took Coughlans advice and didn't speak to the Press.
DeleteFather Francis McDermott is a Northampton Diocesan priest who “retired from active ministry” in 2005. Now why was that when he was just over sixty, and packed off to Devon? Bishop Doyle waffles on about paramount importance of protecting adults and choldren, full co-operation with the police, blah, blah, blah, but there is a whiff of the usual cover up here, don’t you think?
Delete@08.35 I hope that (alleged) Seminarian doesn't go back to Maynooth for the sake of the wider Church. Let's face it, if that is the quality of candidate that Maynooth is currently attracting then God help us.
DeleteWho no media articles this year informing the nation as to how many newbies are in Maynooth?
DeleteBlame the victim alert at 11:43.
DeleteMaynooth stopped putting out press releases about newbies when it fell to single figures.
DeleteIt was in my parish newsletter last weekend that Dromore Diocese has 2 candidates. I'm not sure that this figure is for 2 new seminarians or 2 seminarians in total. They even named the students and what parishes they are from which I didn't think was right given that they should be allowed the time and space to discern.
Delete08.35 If that’s the view you have formed of your dean/formatjon director, it’s unlikely you’ll make any progress. Another profession perhaps....
DeleteJust a few random thoughts as I flick through the postings of the last few days over a cuppa. Being an old pussy cat, I don’t even know what BDSM means, though I think I get the S & M bit. If that is part of formation at Maynooth, then maybe the unfortunate Australian from the Beda would have fitted in where his penchant for fisticuffs would have been greatly appreciated. Good question whether we take the supernatural seriously, but ask the clergy that one as according to old tossers such as Cardinal Scola, all God cares about is your marriage certificate - particularly if it’s a same sex one. Finally the headline about the Pontifical Secret never being the same again made me smile over the absurdity of it all. What is it actually - that they’re all screaming homosexuals? I could do without all the ranting, but good work, Pat!
ReplyDeleteAh, happy memories of the days before the council! The example a friend gave me was the Passionists but I'm sure this happened in other orders. On penitential days the lights would be turned off in choir and the religious would undo the upper part of their habit so that it fell from their belt and their upper body was bare. They would then all whip their backs.
DeleteMove along now, nothing Freudian, sexual or self-injurious to see here at all. Simply in the name of penance and humility.
Of course 'mortification' in private was practiced too, by the use of such things as the cilice and discipline.
The life of the RC church is merely a front for a cult of bullying, domination, kinkiness of all sorts and control.
Probably a lie you heard from ladies man Darcy.
DeleteMONTGOMERY AND BEDA AUSSIE
ReplyDelete08.36 Yes indeed, 'the Beda incident' is the cause of much Clerical talk at the Congress in Liverpool. This is pertinent as two of the major players are here, Vin Nichols and Montgomery. Nichols appeared cool as a cucumber as per last night and Montgomery acting as if nothing has happened but he did enjoy his sandwich lunch. I'm told the 'Beda incident' and this blog were discussed in detail at the Archbishops Council meeting which ran over time before the train trip up North. Still many unanswered questions over this debacle.
That’s because nothing will happen. Tom and his antics are small fry compared to other stuff which has been covered up. Do you know whether Vin travels in 1st, by the way, or takes the preferential option for the poor?
Delete@09.18 It might be considered "small fry" to you and the powers that be in Westminster but it's the laity who are funding these pulpit pooves. One, two, three, BAAAAAAAAA
DeleteAnonymous at 11:15
DeleteHiya Magna, you might have tried a better disguise altogether.
anonymous at 11:15
DeleteHiya Magna, You might have tried a better disguise!
It wasn't me, sir. Really.😆
DeleteHeadline story in Catholic Herald prints letter from now Cardinal Sandri at the Vatican acknowledging Father Ramsey’s Reporting of McCarrick’s conduct in November 2000, the same month he was transferred to Washington; he would be made a Cardinal later. Now JPII was still Pope, and Ratzinger certainly not weak and enfeebled then ( he pulled that one later ). And the trolls are trying to dump all this on Francis. Not that he doesn’t have a lot to answer for either, but nor does the future lie with Old Mother Burke and his henchmen such as the highly selective breaker of seals, Archbishop Vigano.
ReplyDelete@09.44 Cardinal Sandri you say. Where is the most loved Sarah these days. We were all advised to write to Sarah and the Papal Nuncio on many occasions.
DeleteCardinal Sarah is at the Holy See and he is 74 in November however his time of office is up in June and it seems Pope Francis is not going to renew his office as he and Cardinal Marc Ouelett are seen as right wing.
DeleteIt seems his Assistant Archbishop Arthur Roche wants back to a diocese so it seems he maybe going to Southwark in October or he may wait till 2020 and get Westminster.
Cardinal Sarah is certainly one of the Best in Rome.
Will be sorry to see Sarah go. Who will I write to now I wonder.
DeleteExpose the lot of them. They are the biggest and most evil crime gang in the world. Satan is roaming the RC church. They dress up in cloaks of respectability but are anything but. They hide behind the gospels but are rancid evil rats who for years had people living in fear by playing their mind control games. They preach. They teach but they don't practice. A bunch of hypocritical scum. BP is right. Take away their charitable status and make them pay their taxes. I bet that a lot of their Diocese are busy shredding records. If the NCA can hit paramilitaries effectively why don't they target this biggest organised crime gang starting with gestapo headquarters in Lisbreen. They make me sick to the pit of my stomach
ReplyDeleteWavering Catholic at 10:11
DeleteWavering Catholic your arse, your comments tell us exactly what you are. You're completely anti catholic you have nothing positive to say at all and your comments make me sick to the pit of my stomach. Be honest and feck off and admit what you are a Non Catholic.
Bp Pat, please try focus on UK and ROI rather than international scandals.
ReplyDeleteNow with the additional input of Fr Mulvihill, together you must have enough to keep us gravely scandalised for years.
By the way, did you ever get to the bottom [sic] of the Sallynoggin affair? I wonder.
Big Mick hasn't been dipping his wick at Sallynoggin as well, has he, Bp Pat? The handsome devil!
DeleteIts a long way from Clare to Sallynogin.
DeleteWhy does Down and Connor have to provide homes in exclusive areas to retired bishops, current serving administrators like O'Hagan and the lothario himself Ciaran Dallat when there is plenty of decent space in parochial houses. Spending this money on these properties and the upkeep of them is theft of parishioners money. But then again can we expect anymore from Treanor when he lives in luxury. Can anyone please tell me why this man hasn't been sacked. He has a cheek to go and get his photograph taken giving out food st st Patrick's soup kitchen. How many times has he been back. I despair of this diocese. They need to appoint Fr G Magee who isn't an ass licker and will shoot from the hip and clean the place up. He could start by selling Lisbreen and its acres of garden (for one man). I know one thing. Christ would not feel at home in Treanors palace. Thieving , lying , deceitful rats led by a spendthrift conman. People waken up to the truth. You are being plundered
ReplyDeleteI realise that you know the answer although you've phrased your comment as a question, but the business of the Catholic Church is building an empire. It is completely modelled on a mediaeval court, and its officials expect to be continually favoured, beyond questions and never to have to do a stroke of work. That is why the priesthood has traditionally been so attractive. Even the old high Mass was modelled on a mediaeval court, twisted to apparently represent the'court' of heaven.
DeleteThis is of course bollocks.
Wavering Catholic @10.11 & @10.30. I think it's clear you are not a No.1 fan of Down & Connor or Bishop Noel lol. Are you in fact Fr G Magee yourself?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 11:10, I was wondering the same myself about this “wavering Catholic”.
DeleteFr G Magee indeed. Is that the man ran away to the monks in Portglenone but couldn’t settle? Why was that?
Is that the man renowned for his violent temper and scathing tongue in St Malachy’s College, in the long tradition there of viciousness towards teenage boys?
He will save the diocese of D&C will he? Yeah right. Something fishy about you and your espousal of your hero’s cause, “Wavering Catholic”, methinks.
The monks of Portglenone have housed many unsavoury characters over the years for all sorts of reasons. Recently some who have appeared in Court for abuse of minors have given their address as c/o Bethlehem Abbey. Little do the people shopping for their religious items in the shop there realise who is actually living next door in the guesthouse. Is it true people who write to those housed there simply address the envelope: Paedophiles, Portglenone.
DeleteYes and look how empty their choir is.
DeleteDidn't they shelter an IRA fugitive?
DeleteIt was a safe house for years and still is but to a different sort of criminal.
DeleteGLASGOW PP BUYS HOUSEKEEPER £18,000 KITCHEN AS BIRTHDAY PRESENT!
ReplyDeleteSame everywhere mate. Archdiocese of Glasgow for example. I’m a Priest here and the retired Arch still resides in a grace and favour Mansion with several swanky rooms whilst the current Arch lives in another posh pad that was fitted out at substantial cost. Lots of empty or under occupied properties but not posh enough I am afraid. Although accounts are published, never in such detail. how dare the lay faithful be told what their money is spent on. I also know one PP who spent £18k on a new kitchen as a birthday treat for his housekeeper. No authority from the Diocese and it is being paid up on hp in smaller amounts to keep it off the radar.
11.31: Priest, whoever you are, who is paying for your pad? Who is paying for your food, car, facilities??? What's wrong with you priests who do a hatchet job on your colleagues? is it jealousy? It's certainly not done out of a sense of justice or real concerns about expenditure. Also, Rev. Fr. housekeepers in many parishes provide a very worthwhile service to the parish community. You may not agree but I think you are part of the moaning, aggrieved clerics and I'm sick of your appearances on here complaining about supercilious things like a kitchen. It has nothing to do with the subject matter of today's blog. Fr. - grow up, get a life and look after the poor, the elderly, the homeless. Get from behind your squinting windows and do something useful.
DeleteNowadays, even truly religious Poles think it's ridiculous that priests are still disguising their concubines as housekeepers, although I imagine in this case, it's a faghag disguised as a housekeeper.
Delete11.31 You are certainly not a Priest from the Archdiocese of Glasgow.
DeleteFor a Start The Oaks is owned by the Archdiocese and what did you want to throw a man out who saved a diocese from going under the Archdiocese was in Millions of pounds of debt a crumbling Cathedral and Archbishop Conti saved it all and left Glasgow Very Health.
Archbishop Tartaglia home was property belonging to the Archdiocese and they spent a small sum getting it ready for him but one will be sold off.
They are moving the Tribunal into Clyde Street to save money.
Finally you if you are a Priest they cannot spend over 10, 000 as it needs to go to the fabric and finance committee.
It likely be the case that the kitchen was not fit for purpose and the Director of property has to approve it all however the problem is older priests would not spend a penny in their homes and now costing a fortune to improve some still have the old double sinks from the 70's.
You have been listening to Gossip and that is a fact.
There is very few parishes in Scotland with housekeepers living in now as it is usually admin and housekeepers by day.
Hi 1218. The Parish pays for my upkeep in terms of board and lodgings. No car, a small monthly allowance to cover the basics and although my accommodation is water tight (just), it is certainly not luxurious, neither should it be. To help you understand the type of person I am, I have logged into on line banking (on a computer that was a gift) and I can confirm that my balance is £874.32. My life savings. Even if I had such a amounts to modernise my kitchen, I wouldn’t. The poor and needy are always welcome at my door, for your information I have never contributed to this blog, and this contribution is not made out of jealousy. Your final point about doing something useful. I have said Holy Mass in 2 Parishes today, baptised an infant and now I am making a pot of soup to take to some elderly and housebound Parishioners when I visit them after I cover Vigil Mass this evening for a sick brother. I wish you a good day and I hope that you find peace. You sound very aggressive. God bless. PS - I also have £45 in cash which is from Mass stipends.
DeleteHousekeepers provide a worthwhile service to their community! Wtf?
DeleteOut here in the real world a housekeeper is a servant who is paid to look after an individuals house. Only wealthy and privileged people have servants. That's why priests have them, to free up their time to play more golf.
1258. I am well aware of the £10k rule and as you know, many ignore it. In this case the PP is paying £2k every other month to keep it under the radar. The old kitchen needed a new cooker and a paint job. Not £18k for an aga and a smeg fridge. So as a reward for Mario saving the Diocese he is allowed to reside in a luxurious South Side property at lay people’s expense? The runnings costs are huge. Mario took the credit but a finance committee did the work. Granted he did a good job on the Cathedral. For your info, Philip’s modernisation of Pollokshields was very excessive. How about Philip and Mario flog their pads or turn them over to the homelsss or asylum seekers and move into an under occupied Parish House to save money and to bring them back to reality. Oh, sorry. Those in charge couldn’t possibly do such a thing.
Delete13:02 sounds like the sort of priest who 'does' for himself, as we used to say. Perhaps this is the way to discern what a Christian leader is about- if he washes his own underpants and makes soup for people he visits. The other sort is busy ranting on here about how busy he is and what a hard life it is.
Delete1310 is spot on. Plenty of housekeepers here in Glasgow and many still do sleep over to prepare Father’s breakfast. Should get off their fat lazy arses and cook, clean and iron like the rest of us. Try doing a proper job
Delete13.02: If you are such a humble Priest, shut up about others. I don't believe you one bit re: Your savings. But that's your business. You should just do your own work and stop snooping on others. All parishes, as you know, must discuss all expenditure with their parish finance committee and also through Diocesan Committees. I think you are trying to cause unnecessary trouble around someone you dislike. Petty and infantile.
Delete1342. Publish your email address and I will gladly send my statement over. I am not snooping, just exposing. Finance Commitee? Yeah right. I don’t dislike him at all. He is just being dominated by his hoosekeeper and he isn’t the only one!
DeleteANONYMOUS AT 12:33
DeleteOh! you're such a jealous Old Queen Are you not?
13.27 the Archdiocese owns a lot of property and will be selling it as if it is not needed.
Delete+ Conti is 84 what do you want to do kick him out and he is very self supporting.
+ Tartaglia it was his Gym that cost the money to try and assist with his health but everyone knows that he is not too fit and likely when he meets Pope Francis later this month he will likely as him to speed up the process for an Auxiliary.
Glasgow is very lucky so far as each parish does accounts and sends it to Clyde Street for audit but every other diocese has went over to Sage and every parish is with the same bank and the Bishop or Finance officers can check it at any time.
Glasgow will likely get SAGE accounting at some point they are working on the same email address parish @ rcag.org.uk.
You must know everything must go through Finance Committee's and Diocesan finance Council.
If you are correct about this kitchen then send an anonymous letter or email to Director-Finance@rcag.org.uk and Louise will certainly pick it up.
There is NO way this Parish Priest is doing honest accounts and it is time the Archdiocese looked at all his accounts.
1606:
Delete1. Letter on the way to Louise Devine. Thanks.Good advice.
2. I don’t want Mario out on the street! I like him! That wasn’t my point.
3. Why didn’t Philip join a gym and why should lay faithful pay for gym equipment for his pad? (He loves his Fitbit and is now obsessed).
4. out of the 3 names put forward to Rome for Auxiliary - 2 were found unsuitable, the other declined. Another 3 names now put forward.
5. Said Parish Priest and others have good amounts of cash elsehwere to keep money away from Diocesan snoopers!
7. The Diocese need to review the need for and amount paid to some of the office staff such as Director of Communications.
8. All accounts at Clyde Street must be fully transparent including items such as private hospital treatment paid for a few years ago for a Priest who was involved in an altercation in a gay pub.
19.18 the Archdioceses accounts are on the web site and can be looked at in person at Clyde Street.
DeleteEach parish should provide accounts to the laity every year as per Canon Law.
Looks like a lot of them at it then with not correct accounts and everyone knows the Ex Parish Priest in Saltcoats got jailed for 90k on the parish cards gambling.
I do hope you are sincere and wrote to Louise Devine and she will certainly pick it up and the Fabric and Finance will likely call that priest into Clyde Street.
All accounts are transparent as they need to go to OSCR every year and you can see them on there web site too.
Sadly you have came across a priest not doing it correctly.
Wonder what priest who was in a Gay pub.
She must supply exemplary services to that PP!
ReplyDeleteHi Pat. Yes. She likes to sleep over a few nights a week and I don’t think she is cleaning her worktops all night!
DeleteA straight Priest in Glasgow? That is a revelation!
DeleteFr. Montgomery hails from Glasgow! Is he not a straight priest also from there?
DeleteWill wonders never cease!
DeleteA pearl necklace would have costed less than that bloody kitchen.
DeletePlenty pearl necklaces going, over in the Pipeworks near the Cathedral if anyone is passing. Usual Clergy discount applies Fathers.
DeleteHow old is Vinny ? Must be over 70 by now, and can't have too many years to go until his 75th ? And, I bet, he has his eyes on having a few years in Rome in charge of some Dicastery until he gets to 80. He is an ambitious man. So, whatever he does over the next few years will be seen through the prism of his advancement. Don't expect him to do anything to rock the boat.
ReplyDeleteI would not want to be Fr Montgomery at the moment. Vinny will be as furious and cold as he can be, and Montgomery's star, if ever there was one, will definitely be waning. As someone said before, Vinny will not be happy that the focus of bad publicity has been brought to shine on him and Westminster because of Montgomery. Vinny will exact his revenge, coldly and calculatingly.
The question is, who will succeed Vinny ? I'm sure the net is being cast and people are already being looked at for Westminster. Who will it be ? Stock of Leeds ? Whoever it is will have to deal with a pile of shiite left by Vinny, including the likes of Montgomery and the gay cabal of ex-Anglicans, plus the less exuberant native RCs who are a bit quieter about their predilections. And the other reprobates that live comfortably on the backs of the offering of the laity.
Never mind about the so called important issues of marriage, divorce, contraception, abortion etc. which have been preached at us for decades, the Church firstly needs to attend to how it runs itself and the awful exercise of power, privilege and abuse that has been going on for decades. The cat is out of the bag now and people like me know that there is a festering cesspit at the heart of the Church which has to be drained. The Church has lost all credibility to order itself, and so I believe the laity should step up and subject the clerics to some sort of governance and accountability. We cannot leave it to the bishops and the clerical establishment. They have shown themselves to be untrustworthy and unreliable in the way they have led and governed the Church. Bishops and priests and clerics should be employees of the lay Church, accountable and answerable. That will stop a lot of the silliness that goes on in clerical circles. And provide safe oversight for the young and the vulnerable who have been so egregiously and sinfully abused by clerics and bishops, not to mention those of us in the pews who have been hoodwinked by such plausible people as Vinny and others. I have got to a point where I don't believe a word that they say. If they have lost me, then they will have lost many, many more. Do they realise that ? Probably not.
He was born 8 November 1945 so is pushing 73 and I can assure you that you considerably underestimate how he wants to end his 'career'.
Delete@11.54 Well said servingblogger. Who will succeed Vinny? That's the million dollar question but look at his predecessors and that tells you a lot. Stock in Leeds is a humble holy man and there are good reports from there after that disaster cockroach before him. However, Stock is a prodigy of Vin Nichols, he was promoted by Vin to be education czar in Birmingham, promoted again by him to the Bishops Conference and then to bishop of Leeds. Vinny it seems could have started work a long time ago ensuring who replaces him in Ambrosedan Avenue. One things for sure it wont be Archbishop Montgomery.
ReplyDeleteCardinal Vincent is 75 in November 2020.
DeleteHe sits on the Congregation of Bishops so has a say in every Archbishop and Bishop appointments However the Prefect of Congregation of Bishops time is nearly up so be interesting to see what happens.
If anyone is going to get a post in Rome it will be Archbishop Leo Cushley.
12.17 you mention Roche well he is supposed to be getting Southwark in October when Archbishop Smith retires.
Westminster likely get Stock, Longley, Davis.
Southwark and Newcastle likely filled this year.
I'm sure his successor is of no importance to him, once Westminster ceases to be of use to Nichols he will lose all interest in it.
DeleteI have a feeling he may actually be the next Pope, because after a controversial pope like Francis, who is busy weighting the college of Cardinals in his own image, it is likely a smooth uncontroversial politician like Nichols could be elected. In the present climate the clerical gossip about the candidate will weigh heavily and Nichols has always been careful not to handle pitch. If the worst that can come out about him is that he made an error of judgement about Montgomery, then he isn't really a risky candidate. In terms of making the church look like it's cleaned up its act Nichols wouldn't hesitate to hang other people out to dry so would actually be fairly media-friendly.
What's that I hear? The Holy Spirit? Oh he won't get it look in.
Leo Cushley has no personality, the clergy here detest him and are leaving in droves, he has treated his Priests appallingly and the Scottish Laity Network are on to him.
DeleteAnonymous at 13:33
DeleteIt's not personality that you need to lead an Archdiocese it is firm leadership and loyalty to The Magisterium which His Grace Archbishop Cushley has. K.O'B had too much personality and we all know where that lead too it's high time the priests of that Archdiocese obeyed their Ordinary he was sent in to clear up the mess O'Brien left and what a mess that was. He deserves the support of both Clergy and Laity. God Help Him.
There’s as much chance of Buckley becoming Pope as there is Vin Nichols. Wise up.
DeleteAre you for real 1425, or are you one of the few who are so far up Leo’s behind that you are lost in there? Leo is only interested in himself and his own reputation and to hell with anyone else. The Bishops, Clergy (apart from his small cohort of angels) and lay faithful detest him. One meeting already taken place at Wimbledon with the Nuncio with the Laity network. Another is scheduled in 4 weeks for the Clergy including me. Don’t trust him as far as you can throw him. He told lies about giving last rites to KOB and about other stuff just to make himself look good. He will be gone by next summer. Watch this space.
Delete13.33 Archbishop Cushley is cleaning up the Archdiocese and placing it on a sound financial footing.
Deleteif you are one of his clergy well you should maybe apply for a transfer to Galloway or Argyll and the Isles and there you can do what you want.
I am glad the heat in the kitchen has got too hot for two of his clergy and one has gone on sabbatical and the other has retired young sadly the laity have to keep him so Archbishop Cushley has done well.
The people who are trying to help clear KOB name a bit will be glad that only one of the three who sent the anonymous letters are in active ministry.
Archbishop Cushley will be in Edinburgh for a long time highly respected for being a humble Holy Man and he will get the Cardinal's berretta over John Keenan.
If Archbishop Cushley goes back to Rome then Edinburgh will get Keenan or Nolan.
14.58 well we will see if you are correct and if you are then Galloway will be rejoicing if Nolan gets transferred.
DeleteAnd the Star with the Synod Keenan thinks he is going to Glasgow but if Cushley goes then Keenan will be front runner for Edinburgh or maybe you prefer Big Brian from Argyll and the Isles.
Time will tell.
Anonymous at 14:58
DeleteIn your dreams His Grace will still be in the Archdiocese for at least the next four years till he sorts out the mess he has been landed with after the KOB debacle. If you are example of the clergy he has to deal with probably one of O'Brien's night prayer group the sooner you're gone the better, you vowed to obey your Ordinary and his successors. The Laity network what ever that is were of no use when you had KOB so I would not trust them or you as far as I could throw you. For the sake of the Faithful of the Archdiocese it will be good if all these disloyal people are gone long before next summer. So that Archbishop Cushley can get on the great work he is achieving.
Can you Scottish clergy put your handbags down for one minute and stop bickering like infants. God it's even worse there than I thought
DeleteI will not be obeying Leo or anyone else thank you. I’m not in the faith movement, nor was my formation in Rome, so I am not in favour. He is avoiding me like the plague and I hear he is planning on shifting me. Won’t be happening! I will be seeeing the Nuncio in a few weeks with 4 others as we need rid of him. Keith may have had issues keeping it in his pants, but at least he had a personality and knew how to speak to clergy and laity. Leo has asked to go back to Rome in 2019 and we are all hoping that his wish is granted. John Keenan is already being lined up. Maybe Gilhooley will come back too!
DeleteAnonymous at 18:33
DeleteI am not a priest, I live in Dublin, and unlike You I don't carry a handbag, you're a silly aul Queen altogether.
Gilhooley will not dare return here.
Delete19.27 Leo has jus done the clergy changes because Jim Smith has went on early retirement and I wonder why but everyone knows why....
DeleteJamie Boyle thinks he runs the Archdiocese but it is a dream of his and his Foclare interview he said Mike Regan was the Best ever that was a shock sadly Mike died before he was put out by Leo Cushley.
I take it you are the last of the bunch based in an Edinburgh parish.
Canon law states you must do as your Bishop asks.
Remember all Scottish Bishops and Nuncio are in Rome 23rd to 30th. September.
There is one common theme running through the comments today: accountability. The only way to force the hierarchy to stop behaving as they are is starve them out. This tactic works with everyone. Stop putting money in the plate, because you lose control of where it goes.
ReplyDeleteIt is much easier to move money online nowadays and so easier to control where it goes. Targeted giving (say to specific priests, works, projects or charities whose probity is certain) ensures money goes to worthy causes rather than to grace and favour mansions.
If you have concluded that it is impossible to give to the church and avoid corruption then of course there is always the option of stopping giving completely. Personally I think this is better because it will force the church to use hidden reserves - God forbid the hierarchy should have fewer than eight bedrooms each!
Yes, if a lack of income causes a financial crisis it will be the clergy lower down the food chain who are forced to cox and box first, but then it's their own silly fault for serving a totally corrupt institution.
You are right about Vin's patronage of Marcus Stock, which I think is well deserved. As you say, Stock is a humble and holy man, intelligent, although he can be a bit serious. He's not a bundle of fun ! But, he would make a good appointment for Westminster. So, Vinny has done one good favour for the Church in the England/Wales. Whoever it is, he will have a job on his hands.
ReplyDeleteI notice in The Tablet that the Archbishop of Brisbane talks about the Church having to become humbler and smaller. It sounds as though he is beginning to get the mood music. I will be interested to see how that works out in practice ?
I am still convinced that the only way forward is for the Church to become less clerical led (oh, I know all the arguments for a clerical Church, Peter, his successors, on this Rock I will build my Church etc), and more led by the laity with oversight of the clergy branch. The clergy could concentrate on being holy and being spiritual leaders, rather than being managers of finance and property, and concerning themselves with interior design and new kitchens. I will believe Coleridge of Brisbane in his desire to be more humble and holy if he comes up with a model that approximates to that.
How's the Eucharistic Congress in Liverpool going ?! Any blogger there ?
To anonymous at 11.50 No I am not G Magee and no he is not my hero but if what you say about his temper is true (and I have no reason to not believe you) then he is no better than the rest. From personal experience I have always found him to be decent but I guess there's another side of him and that saddens me. No I am not a fan of Down and Connor. I think it is a cesspit run by an aloof buffoon who is quite happy to spend spend spend the people's money on himself and his self seeking egotistical consigliere O'Hagan and his chief enforcer Fr Joe. The people of Down and Connor have suffered greatly over the years and their church continues to rip them off. True there are a few good priests within its ranks but these are in the minority and are too afraid to speak up for fear of retribution from Lisbreen. Why does one man have to have a massive house with acres of land when homes could be built on it for families in need of accommodation. Why continually cry poverty (newtownards and try and get more money from hard working people. Let them sell their land which has been given to them and get off the people's backs. In summary I believe that the hierarchy within D and C could not give two hoots for "their" people and are only interested in getting in as much money as possible. The gospels have been left behind but then D and C have never in my lifetime been blessed with a decent Christian bishop
ReplyDeleteI believe Stock is coming to Southwark replacing Peter Smith?
ReplyDeleteArthur Roche has asked to go back to a diocese and it seems it will be Southwark in October or November but certainly before Christmas.
DeleteJust learned that in my neighbouring parish of Saul that a considerable amount is being spent on replacing the windows of the parochial house to keep them "in character" with the house. Are they for real? Millions starving around the world and they are worried about windows being "in character". Honestly you just couldn't make this stuff up. Here we go again. Treanor spends money on his own. That man needs his neck polished with brasso. Whilst my nom de guerre is "wavering catholic" it would have been better if I'd named myself ex Roman Catholic. Can't stress enough how much darkness exists within that organisation and what we have learned so far is only a trickle (which will soon become a tsunami) of misdeeds being carried out or covered up.
ReplyDeleteMight that be a planning stipulation for the replacement of faulty windows? After all Saul is the oldest Christian church site in Ireland and planning regulations are fairly stringent in areas of historical or special interest.
DeletePerhaps if you asked PP Paul he could enlighten you.
You live in Downpatrick, then?
DeleteWavering Catholic: (Moaning would be more apt):13.41: Would you just get lost. Just shut your mouth. Another moaning, silly, gossipy, shallow fool. Another one do my look g for s**t to throw at the Church. You need your mouth washed with do so each and, you Imbicilic fool. Just leave the Roman Catholic Church. Obviously you aren't doing much by way of bringing something worthwhile to the community or world....Get a life. Judgments, gossip, hearsay, innuendo - you're pretty masterful at all.
ReplyDeleteNO one has to look too hard for 's**t' to throw at the Church: it's all over the place!
DeleteAnd it's detectable not by sight, but by stench. 😆
Mad Magna at15:36
DeleteWell you certainly don't look hard, you're never done giving out about The Holy Church. The stench you smell is because your nose is too near your behind. Love and prayers B. Eviva Maria!
Wavering Catholic at 13:41
ReplyDeleteI wish you would stop wavering, and just go, you're such a bore you have nothing good to say about the Church. It would be more honest of you if you just changed your nom de guerre to ex Roman Catholic because that's what you are. Good bye, not missing you already.
Yes let's all look for good things to say about the church and ignore the caca.
DeleteTell us something good about the institutional Church, then.
DeleteAh, g'wan! 😆
You could just imagine wavering catholic sour gob looking up at you from the pew and scowling at everything and everyone. Sounds a mega disgruntled bore, massive chip on shoulder. What happened, did you get knocked back by Father or the Bishop. There's one like you in most parishes you auld whinge bag.
DeleteI'm trying really hard. Someone once made a very pretty high Mass set.
DeleteHappy? Lol
This is the second time this week my ironic comments have apparently been taken literally by different people. Perhaps I should start using more facial expressions ��
Believe me when I say that I think the many evils the church has done far outweigh the good. Clergy, religious and lay people can slave away all they like, their good works are a drop in the ocean of abuse, torture and scandal.
Anonymous at 14:56
DeleteInstead of looking for the Caca, why don't you give yourself a break from slagging off The Church and start looking for the good their is plenty, you and your type just don't want to see it. Eviva Maria!
What is this transparent good, then, about the institutional Roman Catholic Church (aka 'the Roman Whore')? 😅
Delete😆
Where is Treanor from
ReplyDeleteJust across the border??
Maybe it’s his advisors who call the shots.
Monaghan.
DeleteIt is interesting to read the comments today. I'm not a priest, obviously, but I'm wondering what it must be like to be a Catholic priest now, in the face of such hostility.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I'm forced to conclude that even if your own intentions are good you are representing an organisation which, it is increasingly becoming apparent, is rotten to the core. It is also increasingly becoming apparent that a lack of awareness of this rottenness is no longer plausible.
I do understand that this is a difficult situation for a serving priest and it makes defense of your own situation difficult. Nor are there plausible alternatives, if you actually believe that the Catholic Church is the Catholic Church.
TBH I can see priests of good will increasingly finding there is no alternative to leaving the priesthood, in the future.
In my own profession (a health profession) there are only two main providers in my city. I have worked for both and while my current employer has failings, it is nowhere near as bad as the other one: I was forced out after whistle blowing and have actually reported them to our regulatory body.
If you are a disillusioned Catholic priest there is no alternative and no regulatory body. Perhaps as the tide of Revelations of cover-up grows, more priests will leave and become independent or set up alternatives?
Priests in denial can abuse Bishop Buckley on here, but as the coming wave of evidence makes denial less plausible I think more priests may find their consciences forcing them to change position.
@14.53 The Church has been through trials and tribulations before and it goes full circle. Not that long ago priests were being hunted down and murdered in the most graphic way possible so it could be a lot worse and it has been worse. I don't think I ever heard Christ saying it would be easy for anyone who chooses not only to serve but to follow him.
DeleteTo many comments on Westminster, Edinburgh and Glasgow most of us have only heard of Cardinal Nichols, we have no clue about all these other names. And to be honest don't want to. Let us concentrate on our own mess here, before we start on other places which we know very little about.
ReplyDelete@15.08 We here in England don't know a lot about the Irish situation or the names mentioned on a daily basis but we read it with interest and patience anyhow. The blog is for everyone not just YOU. I think it should be the editor of the blog to decide what or who to concentrate on not YOU. If you don't want to read or know about what is being discussed outside of Ireland I'm sure your phone/iPad or computer has a off button.
DeleteWell said 1621. Blog is for the many not the few. Pat is a good blog master and will cover as much as he can.
DeleteYes, well said indeed, 16:21.
Delete(And here it comes) BUT it would help the rest of us if, instead of posting just for one another, you gave us here some background on the clerical murk over there.
To anonymous at 14:05 and 14:13. Instead of your ignorant and ill informed rants read what it says in the book of Ephesians: take no part in the works of darkness but do everything to expose expose them. So no I won't shut my mouth. I will continue to speak out against the evil that is inherent within the RC church even if it bores your infantile minds. Salvation isn't a game we are talking about. If you are happy to put your money in the coffers of the RC church then fill your boots. Calling it a church is rich given that a church is s body of believers in Christ. But even the Devil believes. He doesn't follow though. By your fruits are you known. You are right. I am an ex Roman Catholic but my shackles have been taken off and my spirit is free. I am a Catholic in the true sense of the word. However I will never turn a blind eye to abuse, misogyny, avarice and cover ups in Christ's name. So do me a favour or better still do yourselves a favour and grow up and take your blinkers off. The RC church is nothing more than a mind control money grabbing autocratic empire. They care not one jot about you. YES there are some good holy people within its ranks but they are being smothered by the darkness that is prevalent within it. I hope I will continue to bore you until that small seed of doubt is ingrained in your ill informed minds. Oh the joys of being free from fear and mind control. I wish that joy on you all 😁
ReplyDeleteWavering Catholic? at 15:17
DeleteYou have just admitted you are an ex Catholic, so stop calling yourself "wavering catholic" I have no doubts,I have no fear and no one controls my mind. I think you are ill informed you have swallowed all the usual anti catholic rhetoric. I have to tell you the joy of belonging to The One True Church is beyond price, I wish that joy on you.
15:17 at Wavering Catholic.
DeleteIt’s blear you never were a member if the RCC. No Catholic would refer to ‘the book of Ephesians.’
So what’s your game?
Treanor is from Monaghan. O'Hagan and wee Joe ( a very dangerous man) pull the strings.
ReplyDeleteO'Hagan is a camp old thing, singing at any opportunity. Those Priests should shut the frig up and man up, and stay in their parishes. My God, what an image of the priesthood they present. Enough to make you sick. All that Ave Maria stuff. I despair !
Delete@20.03 You mean Eviva Maria
DeleteTo anonymous at 14:05. I work quietly and respectfully with the homeless and drug addicts but as I said earlier your comments are ill informed. Mine are not gossip. They are facts. Someday truth will set you free
ReplyDeleteYou see, Bp Pat, no ones really interested in foreign scandals judging by the comments so far. Give us a good old Grindr shocker soon, or an update on Amy and the disappeared.
ReplyDeleteWhat’s going on regarding foreign so called ‘scandals’ is criminality. There’s a tsunami of crime within the RC Church in the USA to be uncovered in the months ahead. It’s likely to have a knock on effect in other countries including Ireland and Great Britain. The RC Church is imploding in the USA. Legal experts and academics are calling the RC Church an international criminal organization that’s committed crimes against humanity!
DeleteIt’s laughable that clerical contributors to this blog are wondering whose likely to get what ‘hat’ in the future.
Who’d want to be a bishop in the contemporary RC Church!
Maybe it’s time for Pope Francis to call another Vatican Council.
Why call another Vatican Council when the last one hasn't even been implemented.
DeleteFor that very reason plus the role of women in the Church and women priesthood plus compulsory clerical celibacy plus sexual ethics plus clerical criminality....etc...wake up pastors!!! What’s gone on is CRIME! WORLD WIDE!....
DeleteWhen Jesus said ‘follow me’ did that include the cover up of the abuse of children and vulnerable adults?
A lot of clergy seem to use scripture very selectively.
1638: you are absolutely right ! Once the US authorities get their teeth in to this, there will be all sorts of high profile clerics in the US doing the 'perp walk'. They are ruthless over there. If they think there is any organisation or connivance to the crimes that have been committed by clergy and colluding bishops over the decades, they will act ruthlessly. McCarthyism will seem like child's play. Yes, who would want to be a bishop, or even a priest, in this day and age. You won't see a clerical collar in Dublin these days. Why not ? Too dangerous. Too many people will have a go at you.
DeleteClogher website. Major hatchet job taken on mass times and provision across the diocese
ReplyDeleteSeveral Priests in Scotland are on grinder. Lots of them shagging all over the place and with each other. A certain Priest in Glasgow has been with his boyfriend from a neighbouring Diocese for over 25 years. None of them preach about homosexuality though and keep it as quiet as possible. Groups of them holiday together. Bishops know about it and are all ok about it. No faces on grinder profiles. They follow later. Fr xxxx xxxxxx from Glasgow hung like a donkey.
ReplyDeleteNeed something to do to keep warm
DeleteUp there I suppose. I bet they are all good Priests though, so celibacy is clearly a load of crap.
Size isn’t everything dearie.
DeleteFar too many boys were ordained to the Priesthood and let loose on the People of God to do a mans job. Psycho sexual, psycho emotional and socially inept individuals with arrested development. ‘Follow Me’...Is that what Jesus was calling these boys to do...to have profiles on grinder! Appalling stuff from individuals who supposedly devoted their lives to the Lord.
DeleteUs Motherwell Priests are known to be xxvwe too sweetie.
DeleteYou lot posting about "grinder" are wind up merchants and talking through your asses. You can't even spell the correct word ffs. Get a life.
DeleteWe know from Bishop Pats blog that members of the clerical caste have had profiles on grindr. Maybe having a profile on grindr is a modern day expression of being an alter christus!
DeleteOr maybe there’s evangelization going on behind the scenes!
Will someone tell me what constitutes ‘a good Priest’?
ReplyDeleteA d...
Delete(Don't tempt me. 😈)
Ok. Let's get serious: a good priest is one who keeps his vows/promises made at ordination, including (and quintessentially) his vow of obedience. Which means that every Ronan- collared pimp cashed in his conscience in order to be a good priest.
Unfortunately for the wider world, this can make him a very bad person indeed. A moral automaton quite prepared to do his bishop's/superior's bidding, no matter what, in the inexplicable belief that God actually is addressing him through these Roman Catholic totems (like Cardinal Sean Brady).
Yes, it really is as insane as that. And you truly, emphatically, could not even plausibly make it up.
I forgot to include morally arrested development in relation to the many many boys ordained to the Priesthood.
DeleteMournemanMichael
DeleteGood signposting a key issue Magna: unquestioning blind obedience in misguided belief.
But then it's said that God "moves in mysterious ways!"
Michael
Mad Magna at 20:40
DeleteOk. let's get serious a good priest is one who keeps his vows you're right for once except for the bit about obedience. You seem to have a problem with that. Is it because you were found wanting and flung out of the Seminary and the bitterness has never left you. There is nothing wrong with obedience Polly try it I'm sure it will make you a better person and not so nasty. Love and prayers B. Eviva Maria!
Utter, unqualified asshole alert at 23:23. 😆
DeleteThanks for the warning Magna and everyone is well aware of the Prayers and Eviva Maria and can see the dislike you have for each other.
DeleteMad Magna a t02:45
DeleteUtter parasite' and auld alcoholic alert at 02:45
Anonymous at 18:02. I haven't swallowed any rhetoric. I merely post what I know to be true and as for being ill informed I'm more informed than you will ever know 😜. It is your right to try and defend your church but come on. A church that covers up child abuse, covers up finances, covers up rapes of seminarians, elevates to positions of power those who cover up and you call that the one true church!!!! No organisation has come away from the teachings of its founder, in this case Christ himself, than the Roman Catholic Church. Peter might well have been the rock on which the church was built but his successors have broken that rock bit by bit. You are sick in the head if you can take any joy from that my friend. One true church! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
ReplyDeleteWavering Catholic 20:43
DeletePlease stop using the title Catholic from your name . you are not worthy of that title. You are not in any way Catholic. you are indeed ill informed, and yes I will defend my Church, and yes it is The One True Church! I do not have to try. You are an Apostate of the worst kind. You are the one who is sick in the head and you will be the sorry one in the end you wont have any joy then my friend.
Oh, Bp Pat, try to squeeze another scandal out of big Mick Lomansey... or just make one up!
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous at 22:58. It is obvious that you do not understand the word Catholic. It does not belong exclusively to the Roman Church. Call me an apostate or whatever you choose. I prefer the term "enlightened " 😁
ReplyDeleteWavering at08:01
DeleteYou re not enlightened and I would prefer that you did not use the title Catholic to describe yourself because you are not worthy. You just sound like that degenerate idiot Magna you are even using the same stupid moon faces in fact I would't be surprised if you are her.