The RC bishop of Down and Connor, Noel Gold Door Handles Treanor wants to take £1,000 a month from a Belfast soup kitchen which feeds the hungry and the poor!
This soup kitchen is based at St. Patrick’s parishin Belfast and was set up by a previous curate of the parish.
The soup kitchen in run by volunteers who cook some of the food in their own homes and bring it to the soup kitchen.
The soup kitchen is run in a disused premises adjacent to the church.
Noel Treanor made a PR and photoshoot visit when the kitchen was opened. As far as I aware he did not roll up his sleeves and perl spuds!
The problem arose recently when a company that runs Northern Ireland cinemas decided to donate £1000 a month to the soup kitchen. Very good of them.
But then Noel Treanor, the new PP Eugene O’Neill (who is not liked by many parishioners) ant the diocesan chief operating officer, Tiernan O’Neill, according to a parish source, heard about the £1000 a month and demanded it be given to the diocese to cover costs.
The volunteers and others are not happy to fulfill the diocesan demand.
As a result, the Presbyterian church down the street has offered the soup kitchen free accomodation in their church.
Also angry about the Treanor/O’Neill demand for the money is the local SDLP councillor Paul McCusker who has been very supportive of the kitchen.
I wonder if the cinema company yet know that their donation to the poor will be taken by Treanor/O’Neill duo?
Will the volunteers bow down to them and let them take the poor’s money?
Why does a wealthy diocese, with millions in property and millions in cash, need this money?
Treanor needs to be careful because he already has a reputation for spending millions on renovating his palace.
He also has a reputation among clery and religious for liking expensive wines, European junket trips, etc.
Noel of Bling and his honcho O’Neill need to keep their hands off the purses of the poor and hungry.
And Chairman O’Neill needs to understand that the Catholic people will not tolerate bully PPs any longer!
Let the Soup Kitchen move down the street to those generous Presbyterians.
Let the Soup K
BISHOP PAT BUCKLEY 
86 replies on ““ROBIN HOOD” TREANOR WANTS TO ROB THE POOR AND HUNGRY!”
Please, someone, tell me that this story is not true!
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If this is true it cannot be legal. Money given on charitable Trust for a soup kitchen must be used to feed the poor.
Incidentally, this also raises the legal arrangements of parishes. The debt of a parish is legally the parishes – because the parish is legally a seperate entity to the diocese. No diocese seems to wade in to cover the debts. But all too often dioceses seem happy to transfer wealther from a parish to a diocese. Proverbally, the diocese will have it’s cake and eat it.
Annoyingly enough this is the same tack as the church spouts to revenue about independently employed priests when avoiding employer prsi, working time acts and unfair dismissal suits. We all know priests are effectively employees.
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Your opinion on this legal matter doesn’t sound reliable (11:51). Such a barely literate piece doesn’t inspire confidence in the contents. Someone with a legal background wouldn’t get away with writing like this.
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9.35 (and 9.26).
The critique is of what you have written.
The medium is the message.
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11:51
Anyone who regularly reads this blog must know how little regard I have for Bishop Noel Treanor. Which may make what I am about to say appear the height of irony.
Presumably, those ‘costs’ include heating and lighting, which the parish is currently funding. (But at £250 per week Even in summer?😰)
From a legal point of view, it could reasonably be counterargued that the generous donation of £1000 per month by the cinemas would indeed be put to charitable use if it were covering the running costs of the soup kitchen.
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Would Jesus charge the homeless for heating and electricity?
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8.56 cannot address the content so he will attack the style. Poor performance by anon @8.57
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Perhaps you are right Magna, that such a counterargument might be made. Indeed charitable activities have legitimate costs. However Trustees have a duty to mitigate those costs so thst €250 light & heat per week needs some degree of accounting for. You point “even in summer” is the crux of it.
Ultimately however such activity sadly often results in doners withdrawing.
Incidentally to commentator at 8.57. If you have nothing good to say, why say anything at all? You attack me rather than respond to the comment. Do you expect me to employ a legal secretary and proof all comments on a blog? I’m not running a law firm or law school here. Head off to the local citizens information centre if you want free legal advice. And get an on-line identity rather than hiding in the bulk grouping of the anonymous.
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Does it really take 250 pound per week to heat the soup kitchen on a Friday and Saturday night. What about other service users
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Bishop Pat, I am not defending such an action, just pointing out that there may be a legal defence for it.
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9.20: Pat, no, Jesus would not charge the poor or homeless for anything. But neither would he take a stipend for baptisms, weddings, funerals, visiting the sick at home or in hospitals – presumably?? So the truth about Jesus’s generosity and compassion is lost on all clerics who take offerings and/or stipends! Surely, my Lord, you agree? The question you ask is relevant, so what is your answer?
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My answer is – “The labourer deserves his wage”. Many of the weddings I do the people are spending up to £20, 000 on it and the honeymoon. Not only do I provide spiritual services I also provide the legal and registration service. All for £300. Anyone who can not afford that is not obliged to give or give a donation of their choice. I too have living and travelling expenses and I have no salary from anywhere. Nobody is obliged to use my services. I think that is very different from charging the poor and homeless for the food they eat.
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Word from the Phoenix Park is that Noel Treanor is to be appointed to Dublin within the year. Diarmuid Martin is keen to retire and Noel has been spending a significant amount of time in Dublin and Rome getting up to speed. Donal McKeown will be appointed to Belfast leaving Derry free for a new appointee.
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If what you say is true, and I doubt it, there will be celebrations in Belfast and Derry.
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11.20: Where is the proof that Bishop Treanor “took” the money given to feed the hungry? We need proof not innuendo or hearsay. Please.
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The proof is there
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As a priest in Donegal I was quite surprised to hear that the good priests of Down and Connor recently awarded each and every one of themselves a €1,000 annual bonus in addition to their usual stipend. Maybe these clergy should do the right thing and put this back into their parishes or towards some worthy cause?
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The naivety of a raphoe comment. Go home and give yourself a payrise.
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This is absolutely shocking but somehow not surprising. Since O’Neill came to st Patrick’s he has alienated more parishioners than the previous 4 PP’s put together. The man is a lazy so and so. He has yet to set foot in the soup kitchen which was set up by Fr McGrattan. So concerned about Fr McGrattans abilities he made life so difficult for him that McGrattan asked for a transfer. He did the same with the next curate Fr Milo who also asked for a transfer. ONeill is from a working class background in Antrim yet he speaks with such a plummy foney accent he wouldn’t be out of place in an English conservative club. Since his arrival he has introduced a series of charges for parishioners to get married in their own church. Now this scandal. O’Neill, Treanor et al would do well to remember that St Patrick’s belongs to the parishioners and not them. The parishioners are very proud of the Work this soup kitchen does for the poor and needy. It is a complete success story due to the hard working volunteers. ONeill is a wannabe and will do anything to stay on the good side of the bishop of bling and he will raise as much money as he can regardless of who it hurts if it pleases Bishop Bling. To levy such a charge on the soup kitchen is the lowest of the low and most unchristian. When Jesus fed the masses did the landowner charge him for the masses occupying his land? No he did not. Fr Eugene O’Neill is a failure as a man and a priest. St Patrick’s is ours not his and he shames us all by pulling this stroke. The sooner he is gone from this parish the better. As for Lisbreen (the tax collectors) is anyone really surprised. Their administration team however are only doing what they are told by bishop bling and his henchmen. This is a great example of how the Catholic Church under Treanor’s reign in Down and Connor operates. Pathetic. If you are a parishioner or volunteer in St Patrick’s then oppose this or soon O’Neill will be charging you an entrance fee to get into your own church
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I know nothing about the ins and outs of parish finance, but it does seem avaricious to take money intended specifically for the homeless. However, an inverted snobbery seems to be at play in criticising Fr. O’Neill’s voice; how long has he been left Antrim now? Probably since he was about 18. I find the tone of his voice rich and full. In contrast, it is Fr. McGrattan’s strange, over-precise diction which grates and seems unnatural to me. Horses for courses, I suppose.
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Maybe he went to the Henry Dolittle voice school?
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O’Neill is a total actor. He performs. It’s all theatrical with him. No substance whatsoever. He’s in the priesthood for himself and what he can get. He’s feeding his own ego – not the flock entrusted to him. He needs the spotlight on him alone and that’s why he didn’t get on with Fr McGratten and Fr Milo.
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1.57: Each Diocese pays priests differently. If you know the full circumstances of this payment, tell us, otherwise it could be completely misconstrued very wrongly and unfairly. What is your personal financial arrangement? Tell us for comparisons…..are you implying something else?
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If this story is true it’s illegal. Money given for charity is for that specific work and no otger unless otherwise stated. Can this story be verified properly?
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Fr O’Neill is like Treanors sheriff of Nottingham. He has applied charges for everything, even putting up the price for lighting a candle!! This priest is destroying St Patrick’s. He is so aloof from the parishioners. Maybe because they don’t speak like him he thinks that they are beneath him. Sooner he is gone the better. He is not well liked at all which is probably a first for St Patrick’s whose parishioners usually embrace and cherish their priests. This man however is a bloody joke. He’s a Lisbreen man through and through. He’s not a priest either for nor if the people. Strikes me as a social climber who is very ambitious to attain higher office. Strangest priest I have ever come across in St Patrick’s. Doesn’t fit in at all
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9.29: Prices rise all the time everywhere. The Church requirements of purchasing candles, altar wines, communion hosts, altar linen, etc….all continue to rise. What is the priest meant to do? You are petty and stupid.
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He could publish a set of accounts identifying his reasoning for charges so as not to alienate himself from parishioners…
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HG, I can’t fathom why there is a charge for candles at all. Havent parishoners already paid for them, in advance, through parish funds?
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1.48: You’re very out of touch Magna. Shrine candles are very costly. Not all people who attend church are regular contributors for the upkeep of the Parish and Church. A marginal profit is generated by candles nut not much. So, don’t be so thick….and deliberately mischievious.
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2:22
I wonder why some parishoners do not contribute regularly. Hmm?😕
Regardless, your answer is a red herring. (And my previous post was not mischievious, but a relevant question.)
Candles have always been sold to parishoners, even though those same people had already paid for them through parish funds, which THEY built up, not any nember of the clergy.
The same principle applies to the selling of plots in cemeteries. Even though parishoners have already paid for the burial site as a whole, they are additionally charged for individual plots. Profiteering by the clergy?
You are the mischievious one, ‘Father’.
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3.15: My dear child, Magna, how often do I have to repeat that you are out of touch. Since you are not church friendly I don’t think you know too much about candles. They are costly. Many people drop into our church for quiet prayer and to light candles. They are not regular church goers. I respect people’s decisions and choices. I make no judgment. But I don’t make an issue out of requesting 30c per candle! Now, if you are stretched, I’d let you off for 10c!! Darling Magna, get a life. Please. I must now go and visit the sick….
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5:01
It wouldn’t matter how often you repeated yourself, ‘Father’ : like recycled homiles (as yours undoubtedly are), ‘twould, er, lack credibility.😆
I couldn’t help noticing that you didn’t explain (much less justify) parishoners’ paying double (or more) for candles and for cemetery plots. In fact, you said absolutely nothing about the latter, which, of course, is much more serious. As for the candles, you merely repeated, childlike, that they were costly.
I’m sure the sick look forward to visits from a priest like you.😆
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Sounds like Fr O’Neill is a modern day Fr Kennedy……entitled, superior, sniffy. And look what happened to Fr. Kennedy ! So, he needs to be careful.
As to who succeeds + Martin of Dublin, the Church needs to think very carefully. Appointing any of the current crop of bishops is to embrace the culture of failure. They are discredited. Treanor especially. How do they think that someone like him, or indeed any of the present crop, is going to be an improvement ? They need to think completely outside the box and find someone who is not tainted or discredited and can have a fresh vision. But, they won’t. It will be promoting those who have already failed and been found unworthy. That’s the way it works in an old boys’ club like the college of bishops.
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We read that + Martin of Dublin is looking forward to retiring to his apartment near the Colosseum in Rome ? Well, lucky him. How’s he come to afford that ? What a nice life to lead, frequenting the cafes and trattoria of Rome. He’s only been a bloody archbishop, for God’s sake ! Such airs and graces. Why doesn’t he settle in a little retirement flat in Dublin and help out in a local parish ? Why this grand retirement programme, which the vast majority of us couldn’t possibly afford ? These priests and bishops think that they are entitled to live the life of gentry. What arrogance !
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Roman Catholic clerical arrogance costs. And the sheep pay for it, in more ways than one.
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Good point. Martin is by no means among the worst though he is a serial offender when it comes to junket trips. Fitting that Treanor is pictured with a weekender bag. What pastoral role do bishops have now that they have delegated basic functions such as confirmation? With the internet there is no need for popping backwards and forwards to Rome save for the obvious reason which is career networking in that cesspit. In Westminster, Nichols too is always off somewhere, as was his predecessor – the classic Roman networker. Before him, Hume played the stage of the British establishment, while the hidden reality of the goings on in his own diocese told a very different story. Heenan was the last decent bishop in Westminster, who took his pastoral role seriously, and managed to run the diocese during the tumult of the Council and aftermath with just one or at the most two auxiliaries – and heard confessions in his own cathedral! I always hated the way the “saintly” Hume was promoted and admired by the fawning press in comparison with his predecessor who was dismissed as an old Irish biddy. Heenan was a good man RIP. As for the English Benedictines … oh dear, oh dear …. Sorry if this is a bit off track.
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10.46: You should research your facts first before making such definitive judgments. You are wrong in your guessing. Totally. But nothing like gossip and hearsay to keep lies going!!
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Eugene O’Neill is a prize Prat and indeed has alienated many of St Pat’s parishioners.
Indeed, like the missing “Dean” of Belfast, he’s a walking clerical parody.
Nothing to do with his strange accent. His pastoral skills are ZERO.
He is very lazy and lives for his “away” time – away from the parish –
much like the disappeared “Dean” used to – who now has all the time away that he can handle – and then some!
O’Neill made the previous two curates’ lives miserable to the extent that they asked to be moved after just a year of his arrogant carry on.
It needs to be impressed upon Mr O’Neill that the day of clerical dictatorship is at an end.
I suspect this taking from the homeless may be more to do with
O’Neill than NT and O’Neill is engaging in his usual ass kissing. NT won’t like the bad publicity if this story is true.
If this story is true, the local papers will be reporting it and it will look very very bad indeed.
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Magna darling, look I’ve got a fan club! I’m the Diana Dors of Larne!
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So I see, Mommie Dearest. And just right, too!
We Cartas could get by on our ‘yummy’ looks alone.✔
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11:16. I’m neither petty nor stupid. I have lived in that parish for 60 years and I can guarantee you that a candle does not cost 50p to buy, especially when they are being bought wholesale and in bulk. The New Lodge is one of the most socially deprived areas in the Diocese and for a Christian “leader” (and I use that word very loosely) to try and extract money from the faithful is a disgrace. Your comment of me being stupid and petty is misguided. St Patrick’s belongs to the people not Fr O’Neill. He is there as administrator of the parish not there to raise money for Treanor. Look at the finances of that parish. Despite it being in a most socially and economically area, it is vibrant in terms of its finances. You would be better knowing what you are talking about before you comment. Fr O’Neill is indeed an entitled buffoon who appears not to have embraced the people of St Patrick’s who also are neither stupid nor petty . They do not deserve this fool of an overseer. The people have sought to do something noble and Christian by operating the soup kitchen from the grounds of their church, not O’Neills church. That he or the diocese has sought to impose a charge upon them is ridiculous. That he has sought to charge people in the parish for getting married is ridiculous. That he has sought to increase the price of lighting a candle especially when it is generally old people who do it, is ridiculous. He is operating St Patrick’s as a business in order to please his master, Treanor. This is what is really stupid and petty and not in keeping with the message of the gospels. The people of St Patrick’s are the salt of the earth. It’s such a pity that their “pastor” is not. Yes, a man who believes in his own entitlement , a snob who does not serve his parish well at all and a man who is both petty and stupid when it comes to the running of this ancient parish. Indeed his actions are disgraceful and he treats both the parish and his parishioners with disdain. I am one of those parishioners and a volunteer and we know a foney when we see one. We will be there long after both he and Treanor have gone but it may take us a while to undo the damage he is doing. What more noble cause is there than feeding the poor and needy. O’Neill wouldn’t know as he hasn’t set foot in the soup kitchen since he arrived in the parish. We are disgusted with this man and his bishop for their money grabbing. I wonder what Christ would say? Do you 11:16 think that Christ would be proud of his actions?
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Whatever the truth about O’Neill “never setting foot” in the soup kitchen, certainly your Most Rev Bishop Treanor has! Was it only so he could have his photo shoot publicity plastered on P. 108 of the 2018 D & C diocesan directory? The photo shows him standing behind a food laden table handing over plate of sandwiches alongside a Fr Dominic McGrattan, a CC from a Belgian abbey with a D & C email address: presumably one of Treanor’s “international clique.” Described as “helping out” at St Patrick’s weekly soup kitchen there stands Treanor in his black suit and clerical collar, a parody of the Victorian “Lady Bountiful.” I doubt if he ever got his hands dirty with getting stuck in helping!
MMM
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This greedy money grab by the D&C diocese parallels the similar Newcastle saga two years ago. The redundant primary school and land (formerly gifted to the people of Newcastle) was verbally agreed to be sold by the local RC clergy to the council to build a much needed leisure centre. However diocesan intrusions led to giving back word and selling it to Lidl despite much public criticism.
Where’s that money gone Lisbreen?
MMM
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Probably paid for Treanor luxurious pad. They are a bunch of money grabbing Pharisees. And O’Neill is just ass licking by trying to squeeze every penny out of the New Lodge to keep Lisbreen happy. Unlike some belfast priests who actually go into their parishes and schools O’Neill is found wanting in this regard as well. Truly a very lazy man who wants maximum return for minimal effort. Has he ever walked the streets of his parish? I doubt it very much. Probably afraid that he will be told a few home truths. One of the biggest mistakes ever Treanor has made in appointing this entitled idiot to the beautiful parish of St Patrick’s. Cannot state strongly enough how unhappy we are with this man. We deserve better.
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Then, Anon@ 1.31, as has often been said here before: stop all financial contributions, and encourage others, and publicise why.
MMM
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Story in Catholic Herald that Rome’s city council is now going to appropriate the cash thrown in Rome’s Trevi fountain for its own purposes, whereas traditionally it has been given to Caritas for the benefit of the city’s homeless. I’m in two minds about this. No doubt the Herald wants us to follow the Catholic line that an anti-religious left wing authority wants to attack the Church by depriving her of her greatest treasure i.e. the poor ( ha! ha! ). On the other hand I see no reason why the Church should be better or more trustworthy at administering funds than the state. In Britain I deplore the abrogation of the state of its responsibilities in favour of “charity”. Then there is the question of corruption. Is the Church more or less corrupt? We all know suckers who have handed over twenty quid to Father in the sadly mistaken belief that he’ll do some good with it, whereas these days it would barely buy a bottle of premium brand gin.
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2.06: Cynicism at its worst…..
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+ Treanor: if you are reading this blog, and I suspect that if you are not some of your underlings will be, then I suggest that you take note of the comments about Fr O’Neill. They appear to be coming from a number of correspondents with actual lived experience of this man and this parish. And, if even an iota of what they are saying approximates to the reality, you should be very worried. And, you should be doing something about it. Allowing a man like this to ruin a parish for his own aggrandisement and self-importance is sinful. I suggest during one of the intervals between your trips to Rome, Brussels, Paris and wherever your european networking takes you, you take a bit of time to consider this situation and show some pastoral leadership. It it means moving this man on, or out, then you need to do it. His wellbeing and interests are far less important that those of the parish and parishioners. I suggest you focus. And then act. If one of the diocesan apparatchiks is reading this, I suggest you get + Treanor to take some interest.
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@2:36pm, well said! If Noel has any titter of wit, he will take note of the upset being voiced about O’Neill because he is causing grave disquiet in St Pat’s.
The problem Noel faces though – what on earth to do with a man like O’Neill who has nothing to offer any Parish?
O’Neill is a self-centred little dictator. But the people of St Patrick’s won’t put up with his carry on in this day and age.
He was responsible for the last two curates wanting to be moved. It’s time he was shipped out.
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Any sightings of the ex-Dean recently ? Life is so boring without reports of his doings. Please share, if you know !
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This blog is indeed monitored by the Diocese. However a feeling of entitlement and of “we know better” still exists in Lisbreen. I would be very surprised if Treanor takes any action. The man simply doesn’t care. He doesn’t want to be in Down and Connor and can anyone really blame him. It is a cesspit of a diocese and mirrors what is happening on a bigger scale within the Catholic Church. O’Neill will be left to ruin St Patrick’s and he’ll be given somewhere cushy when he’s finished. The people of St Patrick’s will be left to clean up his mess. If indeed Treanor does not remove this man it will be very short sighted of him. This will make the job of the next PP almost impossible. A proud parish who have suffered over the years more than most and Treanor sees fit to appoint this clown as it’s pastoral leader!! He could start by getting out into the parish. However I fear that it is too late for that. Parishioners are most unhappy with this man and his lack of Christian leadership. The imposition of charges on the soup kitchen could be his undoing. Let’s hope so. A self serving egotistical beurocrat not fit to lead this parish. If you are reading this Bp Treanor or any of your henchmen then you should be thoroughly ashamed of this appointment. Please do not do what is the norm for your diocese and bury your heads in the sand. St Patrick’s needs a Christian pastor who acts in a Christian manner towards its parishioners. It does not need an ass licker who will seek to squeeze the faithful for every penny he can get. The people in the soup kitchen are hard working volunteers who are trying their best to provide an honourable and Christian service. Christ threw the money people out of the temple. If indeed you are truly Christian leaders then you need to remove this man from St Patrick’s. He has alienated too many parishioners and will continue to do so. Our parish deserves better. How sad of an indictment would it be if our volunteers are forced to go to a different church to provide hot meals for the homeless or needy. Shame on you Fr O’Neill and more shame on you Bishop Treanor for allowing or enabling this man to continue in this way
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Did no one notice that this priest was unfit for public Christian service before this matter arose? I’m sure that given the comments today that other parishes who have had “the pleasure” of this man’s tenure have experiences to share. It would be interesting to hear from some. If this matter makes the local papers it will certainly not be good PR for + Treanor’s diocese. Fr O’Neill does not seem to be a good fit for this parish. He might be better suited to a more affluent parish or more suited to a real job in the real world. Very sad situation indeed when volunteers seek to raise funds for the homeless and needy and are hit with these charges. Yes the sheriff of Nottingham is alive and well and living in St Patrick’s presbytery.
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Is this the same Fr Eugene O’Neill who visited Francis Campbell the previous British ambassador to the Holy See every year on the queens birthday so that he could toast the queen of England, the same Fr Eugene O’Neill who said that there is no desire anymore for a united ireland? Is the man a Brit spy or just someone who wants to go places. Sounds like a right knob. He’s toasting the queen in the British embassy whilst her soldiers were beating the crap out of the people of the New Lodge. He’s some man that one
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Yes 4:37pm – the exact same one! A West Brit through and through; but you could forgive that if he had even a modicum of decency towards people. He’s a nasty piece of work. The very worst man Treanor could have picked for the New Lodge. He’s so far up his own jaxie he would need a week in the Mater to have himself extricated.
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Treanor is a money grabbing non religious bishop. He refuses to preform confirmations incase he has to deal with the rif raf who pay for his lifestyle. As an abused child of the so called church I have on numerous occasions tried to meet with this infamous character to no avail. He couldn’t care less. He’ll meet is maker and I’m not too sure Our Lord will be very happy with him. Aslong as he has a great time here at the parishioners expense he’s gonna risk it.
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So let me get this straight:
1. Fr Eugene O’Neill went out of his way to ensure that he was present in the British Embassy in Rome with Francis Campbell so that he could toast the queen! Francis Campbell was a contemporary of O’Neills in the wing in St Malachy’s college. Campbell eventually dropped out whilst O’Neill was forced to complete an extra year as his superiors doubted his calling !
2. Fr Eugene O’Neill apparently stated that there was little desire for a United Ireland. Was this because it would ingratiate him more with his friends in the British Embassy?
3. Fr Eugene O’Neill is appointed as administrator to St Patrick’s parish; a staunchly republican area that suffered greatly at the hands of British soldiers; their commander in chief being the very one Fr O’Neill went out of his way to toast
4: Fr Eugene O’Neill imposes a series of charges on his parishioners for services including the lighting of candles.
5: Fr Eugene O’Neill now seeks to impose charges on those providing for the homeless and needy
Does Fr O’Neill see himself as some sort of British landlord?
Is Fr O’Neill even a Christian?
Does Fr O’Neill care about his parishioners?
Is Fr O’Neill more concerned about his own status than he is about anyone else?
Does +Treanor condone O’Neills actions
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Ah, Francis Campbell. Now there is a Queen of the first order. And a salacious gossip. Now Vice-Chancellor of some Catholic University in west London. No doubt a capable man, but perhaps someone one would be cautious of ? And, he’s definitely a West Brit. Joining the British Civil Service / Foreign Office. Strange background, strange character……
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A small number of D&C clerics furiously brown-nosed Campbell during his tenure in Rome. Timo was another one, needless to say, desperately seeking Campbell’s invitations. He’s not much use to them now though.
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That just about sums him up
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5:57. Tut tut. I’m sure you meant to say Ulster independent Clinic. Fr O’Neill couldn’t possibly go to the Mater. He’d have to mix with mere mortals. Perish the thought
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O’Neill treats people with utter contempt and he does so because he knows he will get away with it. Treanor will do absolutely nothing.
What is O’Neill doing all day today? He’s ringing his few clerical conies and they are all laughing their ballocks off at Buckley, his blog, the homeless, the volunteers and the dullards and plebs of St Patrick’s Parish.
There’ll be a gin and champers party later in St Pat’s Presbytery and you could name the guest list. That’s exactly what he’s doing – make no mistake.
The Ginny Annes will be doing some amount of tittering behind the candelabra you can bet; and there will probably be a Skype call to the former British ambassador to the Vatican.
He treats even public representatives like his serfs and he looks down upon people, like Paul McCusker and the people who run the soup kitchen, as fools and clowns.
He’s a contemptuous narcissist like too many clerics. Only when their money dries up will they, perhaps, learn how to behave like decent human beings.
So zip up your wallets and close your purses, folks. Go to a different parish for Mass and leave him to it. Because you will get absolutely nowhere.
I’ve observed this specimen for quite some time and his attitude of utter disdain for people and his profound selfishness is deeply, deeply ingrained.
He wasn’t popular even in St Brigid’s so the poor New Lodge …. I mean what on earth was Treanor thinking????
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A senior priest in Down and Connor had serious misgivings about ordaining O’Neill but he was ignored/overruled. So there ya go and the rest is history.
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Pat it’s unfair to say you pay you’re way!
You took residence in a house which doesn’t belong to you and pay nothing towards it.
I live in a council flat and struggle to pay my rent monthly. I wouldn’t mind if I had your luxurious lifestyle and free house!
You cry so that others may feel sorry for you.
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I do not need anyone to feel sorry for me. I am in this house legally after a matter that appeared before the high court. If you ever need to use this house let me know. Im sorry you are struggling. If I can help I will.
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I never said I was a lawful tennant. I am not.
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Yes indeed. I too have witnessed this man. An utterly reptilian creature who believes in his own self importance, looks down his nose at people and likes to associate with the great and the good. Let’s be charitable here and suggest that Treanor put him in St Patrick’s to learn some humility! Alas, if that is the case, the project has failed. The man has become even more up his own ass. He would do well to remember that God said that whoever gives to the poor will not want and not whoever takes from the poor. Paul McCusker is a counsellor for the people, cares for people and goes out of his way to aid the homeless and needy. Fr O’Neill shows the characteristics of someone who only cares about himself and elevating himself into higher echelons. This is 2019 Ireland, not 1950’s Ireland when we all feared clerics. O’Neill needs to waken up to reality any to waken up to the Christian message. What an utter fool. A contemptuous man to say the least. No wonder he was held back in the seminary and that’s saying something given the dross they let into parishes
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Interesting insight into HM’s former Ambassador to the Holy See. Should I infer there is no Mrs Campbell? He is not the only refugee from Rome whose career hit the end of the road there. Our old friend from the Beda, Mgr Roderick Strange, also found a berth at St Mary’s as Professor of Theology. There is also an ex Anglican, Ashley Beck, who suggested a few years ago that children of single or unmarried Catholic parents should be discriminated against in applications for Catholic schools. I am suspicious of the Theology set-up there, as its run by Stephen Bullivant who likes to promote his heterosexual and traditionalist credentials in the Catholic Herald. Quite a mixture, though I don’t suppose all the PE teachers in training there give a toss.
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The presence or absence of a Mrs in anyones life is never a reliable sign of how a man might hang.
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Getting back to the reptilian creature that is Fr O’Neill, who was the senior priest who had misgivings about this man and what were they. Did he foresee that this oaf would be self seeking, pompous and an ass licker. Mr O’Neill, if you are reading and I suspect you are, this will not be comfortable reading for you today but you cannot say that you didn’t bring it upon yourself. Then again you probably don’t give a toss. You have and continue to destroy St Patrick’s. Get your grubby little hands away from our soup kitchen. You are pathetic and it is right that we condemn you as you are an anaethema to everything Christ teaches. You need to leave us and we will pray for you that you may achieve some humility and grace
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Lines between St Patrick’s and Lisbreen going haywire today. Oh dear. Money money money must be funny in Eugene’s world.
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HE HO HI Perhaps the best to come out of this is the goodwill of the church down the street. More of this stuff needs HIlightinHI This is where Jesus and true christians can be found. Build on examples like this and praise God but
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There hard to find in any Parish a genuine, sincere and Holy Priest, very few in ministry!
Most still rule by power trips and on the way abuse others while sitting on there high pedestals!
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9.40: You obviously don’t look beyond your nose, you idiot. Such arrogance. You phillistine. Open your eyes. Are you an exemplary Christian?
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10.59
Simple term for you to digest!
Are you a ‘Clown Priest’ act from a circus?
You certainly give that impression you foolish tool bag!
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I am! 😆
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Fr O’Neill must have been particularly bad when some in authority had misgivings about ordaining him. After all they have ordained some eejits. The mind boggles. That he has been let loose is sinful. Shows how much concern the diocese has for people. I would suggest +Treanor et al take cognisance of parishioners feelings in Saint Patrick’s and remove this man. Rather than be a shepherd to Christ, he appears to be more of a goat
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This doesn’t surprise me considering the fact that the Catholic church are charging £3,000+ for a grave these days. Their robbery from the poor and humble has to stop. We are not on this earth to follow these robbers. They will meet their maker and will repent!!
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Who is Timo who you say befriended Francis Campbell?
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I thought Bishop Treanor was the PP of St Patricks NOT Fr O’Neill ???
Fr O’Neill was a good parish priest when in Killyleagh, and later PP of both Killyleagh & Kilmore he got on well with parishioners and went out of his way to tend to his flock
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At 11:21pm – Not everyone in Kilmore and Killyleagh were in possession of the rose-tinted lenses you obviously got at Specsavers!
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I thought Bishop Treanor was the PP of St Patricks not Fr O’Neill??
When PP in Killyleagh Fr O’Neill was loved by his parishioners and got on well with them, and later when PP of both parishes of Killyleagh & Kilmore.
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Hi Eugene at 12:19am. No. He wasn’t “loved”. He was away a lot of the time.
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I found him aloof, disinterested and he was away as often as possible.
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Soup kitchen opens it’s doors twice a week to help the vulnerable and the homeless, 7.00pm-11.00PM, Friday and Saturday. The running costs to run the Kitchen for 8 hours a week x 4weeks is £1,000! That’s 32 hours a month the kitchen is open. The kitchen has been nothing but a beacon of hope in many people’s lives. Treanor needs to have a good hard look at his own christianity!
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Can’t believe what I’m reading here, the sheer nonsense. Free candles! What a bloody sense of entitlement. Most churches rely on candles for operating expenses. St Patrick’s is open every day, huge expenses, heating, insurance etc. People spend thousands on weddings and whinge about the cost of the church. What is it, £150 if you’re from the parish? I’ve been going to Mass for fifty years and there’s always been a cohort of whingers. Didn’t like Fr Bradley, Fr Blaney was grumpy, Fr Magee was too slow. Never ends. St Patrick’s doesn’t own the old school buildings and as far as I know the diocese doesn’t either.
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You are mistaken about that
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