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POLISH NUN SILENCED FOR SPEAKING OUT ON NUN ABUSE.

by Jonathan Luxmoore The Tablet

Poland’s Catholic bishops ‘reacted with outrage’ to Mother Olech’s decision to publicise the scandal, a source said

Poland’s most senior nun has been banned from further media contact after condemning the sexual abuse of religious sisters by Catholic priests in her country, and welcoming the Pope’s recent highlighting of the issue.

A church source told The Tablet “urgent internal enquiries” were underway to establish how the interview with Mother Jolanta Olech, secretary-general of the Conference of Higher Superiors of Female Religious Orders, was run last week by the church’s official Catholic Information Agency, KAI. The source, who asked not to be identified, added that Poland’s Catholic bishops had “reacted with outrage” to the 78-year-old Ursuline’s decision to publicise the scandal, and said the nun had been cautioned to avoid further public statements.

In her 14 February interview, Mother Olech said no comprehensive data had been collected on the abuse of nuns in Poland. However, she added that she had been notified of “very painful” cases during her years as Conference president and secretary-general, none of which had been made public, and welcomed the Pope’s pledge on 5 February that the Church was now tackling the “scandal” of priests and bishops who molested nuns.

One young Polish nun had been forced to leave her order after becoming pregnant, Mother Olech said, while the priest who fathered her child had remained in his post without “any serious consequences”. The Ursuline added that most abuse cases had been “covered up in the dark recesses of the human spirit”, but said she hoped the new generation of nuns would demand support from beyond their immediate congregations.

“This isn’t the first time this has been raised, and we don’t know if it will change much – but it should at least show some people the time for concealment is over”, Mother Olech told the KAI agency. “Certainly, this problem has a wider setting and reflects a general attitude to women in our society, a society to which church groups belong, and in which they’re formed and shaped”.

Poland is currently home to 17,858 nuns, mostly engaged in teaching, healthcare and charity work, but also employed in parishes, seminaries and diocesan offices, according to a late January Church report, although its 105 female orders have cited falling recruitment, alongside a drop in priestly vocations.

A senior member of the Warsaw-based Ursuline order denied that a formal ban had been imposed on Mother Olech for her interview, but told The Tablet on Monday the nun had “said all she had to say”. “As secretary-general, she’s been well placed to know what happens here – and what she said is certainly true”, the order member said. “We haven’t heard of any concrete action being taken against her by the Church for saying it”.

It was the latest of many outspoken statements by Mother Olech, a former sociologist and Vatican diplomat, who also served as Superior-General of the Polish Ursulines in 1995-2007 and as a consultant to the Vatican Congregation responsible for religious orders. In 2017, she told Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza daily she would resist any infringement of the dignity of nuns, while in March 2018 she said religious sisters should be better paid and acknowledged for their work alongside male clergy.

In her KAI interview, she said she doubted many Polish nuns would wish to be involved with the US-based MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault, launched via social media in October 2017. “But we must, as nuns, look after ourselves – we’re not children or people without free will”, the Ursuline told KAI. “We have our dignity and must be aware of this in our relationships. We can’t allow ourselves to be used – we must respect ourselves and ensure others respect us”.

In a brief statement to The Tablet on 20 February, Mother Olech denied being the object of “any prohibitions” in connection with her Catholic Information Agency interview, but provided no further information about the circumstances of her KAI disclosures.

LETTER TO PAT FROM AN AFRICAN WOMAN
Good morning Bishop Pat Buckley

I was browsing on the internet about PRIESTS WHO PREY ON VULNERABLE WOMAN and came upon your blog, from – 2016.
I live in Africa.
Tell me who can help me get over the pain of this happening to me?
Is there is a group I could join??
I have reported the issue of this man to his Superior as well as his Bishop.
Do you counsel as I cannot afford to go for counselling or do I get help some where else?
I do not wish to seek revenge but rather find closure for myself.
Nothing ever happens to these immoral priests. They just continue to minister and without consequence.
They get protected and a little slap on the wrist and the woman, even though I have all the evidence is doubted and asked what is my motive 😦
I feel no one hears me and he has caused further emotional pain to me, not because I was in love with him but rather he has betrayed my trust in him as a confidant and what i believed was a friend, it is abuse.
It is very frustrating and like hitting a brick wall all the time.
Thank you
I look forward to your reply.
Kind regards
Xxxxxx

PB Dear Xxxxx

Its a pity you are so far away.

Im sorry for all your suffering.

Would you like to communicate with an Irish woman who has suffered like you.

Bishop Pat.

XX Thank you so much, that would be wonderful. I communicate via this email address, if that is okay.

You very kind. Yes indeed I have suffered and no person takes it seriously even though I have all the evidence, as usual he just continues without consequence 😦 it is very upsetting and traumatic.

Have a wonderful day

God bless you

PB Would you like me to write to his bishop?

XX Hi Bishop Pat

I did and he replied that what is the truth about the content, the motive and how reliable is the story and I must approach his superior which I did. I also asked that it be published for all to see that such a man is prowling around in the media, as where would he meet such a person and got told to approach some committee so they can act on it directly. They have never again replied to me via email. I cannot afford to make phone calls. Okay I only sent that a few days ago and people can get distracted by other issues but I feel that when it comes to an adult and it is not a case for the police but it is abuse as in power abuse, which constitutes sexual abuse, it is not taken seriously. They Catholic Church sadly, have many hypocrites in it and I myselfam a Catholic. It would be nice to just talk to someone who has gone through a similar experience as I realise possibly the only way one will get closure is by talking about it to someone who can relate to it as well.

You very kind

PAT SAYS

I am keeping in touch with this woman and introducing her to an Irish woman who has been through similiar.

92 replies on “POLISH NUN SILENCED FOR SPEAKING OUT ON NUN ABUSE.”

It’s from a biased source. Therefore it must be lies, the authors have an agenda and the alleged facts of the story are unworthy of any further consideration.
That’s what people say on this blog when conservative sources are cited.

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The truth is at the top of my agenda. Saying something is untrue simply because it appeared in an unliked newspaper, website, blog etc is silly.

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@10.58
Read Lifesite article today to inform yourselves on the “unreasonableness” of Cardinal Pell’s conviction.
It’s good to be informed -otherwise how will you be able to counter those who think he is innocent.

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I am filled with rage when I read about this dysfunctionsl, patriarchal, mysogynistc, fratricidal institution and its dehumanising and degrading treatment of men, women and children; and all in the name of Christ.
I have the deepest contempt for Roman Catholic priests: liars and hypocrites, murderers of the truth.
How I wish this were 1930s Spain, when socialists knew precisely how to deal with these travisties!
(Just suggestin’, like.😆)

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12.00: Magna, at this stage you are so hatingly predictable. The abuse of any person by a cleric is an outrage and all of us condemn it. Your expression of outrage is no greater than how I as a priest feel. I abhor all abuse, even the abuse you spew out in this blog. So don’t lecture others and make so obnoxious a judgment on all clergy. You may think your comments are clever but sadly, they are motivated not out of any sense of justice or concern for victims/survivors, but to vilify, ridicule and seemingly condemn all before you. Your words are those of a dangerous despot. You should pray for a spirit of inner calm. I am more disgusted and outraged at abuse than you’ll ever be as I work each day seeking to care for people as best I can and am conscious every moment of encounter with parishioners how I personally need to give greater witness to God’s mercy. I doubt if your continued abuse of others on this blog attains anything positive or life changing apart from satisfying your pathological hatred of clerics and perhaps giving you the only sense of purpose in your life. All done with a glass too many of booze!

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@9:04am and everyone else:
Please don’t waste your time responding to the “Magna Carta
Composite”.
You are wasting your energies. It’s name is legion for it is many.
This composite of trolls is simply seeking to “rise” everyone for its own amusement.
You are not dealing with one person but a group of mischievous and malevolent individuals, under a puppet master, who pulls the strings.
Ignore it.

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Stuff and nonsense!

You vowed obedience to a mitred Christ-betrayer, not to Christ. So your protestations of moral wholesomeness cut no ice with me.

You moral coward and hypocrite.😆

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I meant that MC’s spelling is poor. The blog was much better before he took over. The comments were usually funny and often urbane. It’s mostly abuse now, though the excellent Magna’s Mummy is an example of the craic in happier times before Pat allowed MC to seize control of the blog.

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1.05: Magna, you are becoming a beaten man of no importance to anyone. What a sad little life you live. We’ll keep praying for your healing of mind, body and spirit.

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12.00 Magna: Your brain cells are nearing their end. That drink is burning any little semblance of humanity inside you. What a pity. You absolute lonely, creepy loser!

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10:00
The mayenooth composite brigade of the ******************are back in the job!😯
The usual psychological defense, projection, employed from this bunch of the kollared klub! 😆
I wonder, whose pulling their strings?😜

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12.00: Mag, the poisonous one, does rage come in a bottle like the usual gins and whiskeys? You seem all too filled with rage, causing you to become apoplectic and madly dangerous. Be careful that your faux outrage doesn’t choke you with all that screaming and shouting….😆🐴😥😥you 😁😁clown…

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Did you read your comment before posting it, 3:26? No? Thought not.
You call me ‘filled with rage’, ‘apoplectic’ and ‘madly dangerous’, and yet, somehow, you decide my outrage is, er, ‘faux’?
You don’t ‘get’ the contradiction here, do you?😕

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Mrs Carta, How are you keeping? I remembered you at the Galway Novena…..just as I was getting in the car! not to worry pet, there is always next year.

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she should have addressed you as your excellency. very rude of her. just my opinion. I’m traditional like that.

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The church is full of abuse. one need only look at it in an Irish context. its defies the very essence of the scriptures. There is so much happening in the Irish church. We only need examine the Maynooth scandals, Dublin and Grindr issues to see that our issues are not simply local but transcend into an international context. Thank you bishop for all you do for highlighting injustice. more power to you.

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12:11 & 12: 14

Great to hear ‘voices’ of strong Irish women ( I’m NOT intending to patronize by saying so).
The Church needs to be challenged, particularly by women, on female exploitation within the Church.
Would Jesus condone such abuse?

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Don’t you think that it was the women who came out well at the abuse summit?
God the midwife of our race
Chose women
To be means of grace.

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E.G. the Irish nuns who have no vocations and are closing convents. That must mean that their vocation was useless as they were not permanent deacons or priests. lol.

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Isn’t it amazing how americanisms such as, “seeking closure” spread!
Cultural colonisation.
I notice she says she is from Africa but doesn’t specify the country, however I wouldn’t imagine the police (whom she references) in any African country would be too concerned about sexual offences committed against any age. Far too common.

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I find the authenticity of this alleged nuns letter highly dubious. The American use of language by an African and tone are just highly questionable sorry.

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You would, wouldn’t ye, Sherlock!😆 Ever hear of satellite T.V.📡
How do you know what influences there may have been in this woman’s life? Answer is; You don’t know, do ya? 😳

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@ 11.03
The grammar and fluidity are completely sporadic. Sometimes completely fluent, sometimes pidgin English.
Hits you in the face somewhat.

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12:56

So what! 😲
The lady in question may not have had the educational opportunities you had.😏

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Isn’t it amazing how the topic of today’s blog is being avoided by clerical posters? What might that tell us?

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@ 1.41
You miss the point. Lack of consistency is what arouses suspicion as to validity. Makes it look like someone faking it.

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@ 4.18
It tells us we don’t want to waste our time discussing an email which doesn’t ring true.
Now that would be a waste of time!

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1.23: I am suspicious of the African woman’s email to Pat. There is something not quite right. It will be interesting to see if she’ll follow up on Pat’s advice. Recently I received a letter from an African woman outlining her ambitions to further her education but she didn’t have the money to do so. She probably googled Irish Dioceses to find names and addresses but I was very suspicious of the letter. It’s not the first time I’ve received such letter from deepest Africa! I can’t verify the email Pat received but I’d like if he would let us know if she followed through on his advice. There are many religious missionary sisters all over Africa who are dedicated to the empowerment of women through education and provide much support, help and counselling for women who find themselves in abusive situations of any kind, particularly human trafficking. I’m sure this woman could be referred to such places.

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The instructional church once again fails to address the endemic issue of male dominance. Clearly the Padres that progress that form of abuse need…um…some..counsel 😆. Rome rule at its very best!

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Another can of worms kept under wraps by the Kooky Kollar Klub! 😆
How many Irish religious women and lay women have been used, abused, exploited and silenced? 😠
Jesus wept! 😭

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Not many for sex though, not nowadays. The Ciaran Dallat case is probably a one-off or a once in 50-years occurrence.

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9:16
How can you be so sure, it doesn’t happen nowadays? What about those women abused, raped,and traumatized, or women left literally holding the baby? A rarity?

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I once read after “saint” JPII was elected pope, Poland started churning out priests as if on a conveyor belt. The couldn’t all be gay — the fabled “twenty-cent” are probably all Polish.

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I’ve known quite a few polish priests in different pastoral situations. The ones I encountered where surprisingly straight (yes I know hard to believe) but also very homophobic. I knew of three polish seminarians who left the Seminary to get married.

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I imagine the gay ones will also be very homophobic. (I also heard there are no black people in Poland.)

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The church loves silence. I once reported abuse in Maynooth thinking I was doung the right thing. Ny bishop told me if I ever repeated my report anywhere outside of councilling I would be sued for defamation – in fact he told me this in writing through a solicitor.
The whole thing is cracked.

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@9:15am – produce the solicitor’s letter so. Send it to Pat. You’re lying aren’t you? Liar liar pants on fire.

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9:15
It might be more accurate to say the Church loves silence because it holds so many secrets.
An old saying in therapy; ‘ a person is as sick as their secrets’ . An institution like the Church….

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9.15: I think you are the cracked one! Produce a copy of said letter binding you to secrecy. Have the courage. Pat will help you – but his help carries a health warning. You’re useful as long as you further his agenda. After that, it’s goodbye! Be careful who you trust.

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It never ceases to amaze me as to the reaction of people on here. If the bishops make seminarian sign contracts to not sue on entry than they are likely to be capable of seeking silence from those who leave. I wonder just how much of the clerical education fund is spent on MHC solicitor fees?
Also to people who instantly call people liars on here without evidence… this is a clever way to alienate your parishioners. Do that in off-line interactions and you will quickly get a lesson in life.

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@9.20am In your own mind yes the gay ones are homophobic but you just convince yourself of that based on just your own narrow mind set and nothing else. Maybe you could offer us your experience of having worked with quite a few polish priests. I’d be very interested to hear it.

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Oh, come on, guys. It’s as obvious as day follows night that the sexual abuse phenomenon in the Church will extend also to the abuse of female religious by male priests. It’s more of the power / authority / influence imbalance that is at the heart of all abuse. So, my instinct is to believe that this takes place, and to expect the Church and religious order authorities to investigate it and root it out. Being overly defensive about it, or in denial about it, is just another iteration of what happened when other forms of sexual abuse were first being discovered and realised. So, let’s skip the decades of denial and coverup of this particular form of sexual abuse and spool forward to looking at how it is now dealt with.

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Your instinct is to expect Church and religious authorites to investigate this (sexual abuse of women) and to root it out? Why ever would you expect something so uncharacteristic of Roman Catholic clerics, given their record of concealing child-sexual abuse.
You should change your username to Polyanna.😕

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I am not the younger man who was mis–used by Father Anthony Wilcox, as posted end Feb. I am, however, intimately familiar with all of this. Wilcox, allegedly, allowed a young teacher to publicly suffer because of the use of a computer which was shared with Rev Tony Wilcox. This should have been disclosed to Iccsa. Birmingham Diocese. Serious. Nichols is fully aware –but allows silence; cover-up?

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Nichols socialised with Wilcox when PP at Henly on Thames, sometimes on a boat. They were joined by Fr Michael Doyle a former Paraclete from Stroud. Next thing we knew Nichols had Doyle in Westminster when Stroud folded up. He parachuted him on to the staff at the seminary at Allen Hall which was a major leap. Then next thing we know Doyle is running a parish in leafy Staffs in Birmingham archdiocese. Then he appears back in Westminster at Allen Hall. The man needs investigating because he is an important link in the Wilcox and Nichols scenario. His use of psychology in the seminary was always highly questionable.

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Doyle was also at Oscott seemed okay very camp though which makes the whole psychology thing even weirder it’s like the camp priest running St Luke’s in Manchester it’s so bizarre they couldn’t play it straight for a minute. I was once at some dreadful liturgy for adult candidates becoming Catholic the camp priest went down the line saying some rubbish like Larry Grayson’s routine, I could the final one was a massive rugby player who was becoming Catholic to get married , the priest’s comments were outrageous. Stop the asexual campery and just say the prayers Father

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I don’t think there will be much sexual exploitation of women by clergy in Ireland unless priests are making their faghags undergo IVF.

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Wishful thinking on your part. You probably have a few fag hags of your own running round after you. It’s usually the case with hypocrites like you.

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Apart from Ciaran Dallat, not much. Bp Pat will, of course, let us know otherwise.
Irish clergy love three things most: (1) Men, (2) more men, and (3) cats.

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Hold on. The 9.43 post shows a major cover–up involving the Cardinal, Vincent Nichols. It seems that Iccsa has been dishonoured, because so seriously misled. Hugely relevant matter undisclosed.
Is this because Nichols was willingly groomed by Wilcox at the Venerable English College, Rome, when he, the now “cardinal” , appeared freshly on the scene, i.e — at that place?

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Let’s have nun of that hi. What the polish Sister says needs to be listened to and evaluated. As from the lady from Africa. Treat with respect and support but

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1:33
Hello again, fly, hi;
begorra hi fly i think you’re onto sometin hi fly cos a wee bit of respect would go a long ways fly hi.
We’ve had too much of th blue nun 😭 fly hi and need no more, so we don’t. Bye hi fly.😇

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Why dont you fly away you feckin idiot hi or low or whatever you stupidly call yourself. You need swatted like all other germ carrying winged flies lo or hi or low or high

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5.02 Now now fader That’s no way to talk. Has the fly got up yr nose then hi. Tell tell what’s really bugging ya hi

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Is there something wrong with the blog today ? I’ve posted a couple of times and they have not appeared. Surely not censorship ?!! My posts are grammatically written, considerate, polite and courteous, and terribly incisive, even though I say so myself !! + Pat, is something up ?

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9::28;
Hello Hi fly; fly, I reckon what’s buggin som faders is sham and embarrassin fly cos klub secrets specially of the kooky klubs kubs are showin like an open zipper. Bye fly.

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Early in February 2019, the Vatican women’s magazine denounced the sexual abuse of nuns by priests and the resulting ‘scandal ‘ of religious sisters having abortions or giving birth to children who are then not recognized by their fathers. The February issue of ‘ Women Church World’ , a monthly magazine distributed alongside Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, was published early February and cited Pope Francis’s own analysis of abuse by saying clerical power was at the root of the problem.It said nuns had been silenced for years by fear of retaliation against them or their orders if they report priests who abused them.The publication marks a significant public acknowledgement from inside the Vatican of a problem the Holy See has long known about but has done next to nothing to address.
No wonder the clerical posters to this blog have nothing to say on the matter. Apparently it’s also occurred in Ireland. More shame.

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Reading through this blog, I am aghast at the vitriolicand despicablecomments that are directed towards Magna Carta because he dares to speak the truth. He appears to be deeply passionate in his criticisms of the evil that resides in the RC church yet some think this is worthy of their vitriol . It would be better if this vitriol was directed where it belongs. To the institutional Christ lacking RC church and the evil that permeates through its system. How can anyone in their right mind even try and defend this outrageous organisation which operates outside the teachings of Christ?

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8:39
Magna Carta is a convenient scapegoat to rant at by some of the clergy posting on this blog. It’s a
deflective diversionary avoidance tactic in order not to deal with or engage in debating issues raised. The appalling abuse from some so called priests is anything but edifying. Appalling stuff from some of them.
Splinters and logs comes to mind. Models of Christianity ; no wonder there so many scandals and such depth of corruption in the Church. Appalling abuses, and abusive, misuse of power.

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Can you at least name just one of the priests you refer to? It’s just that you seem so certain and sure about their identities. Go on, just one name will suffice.

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9.06: Kool Pat, many contributors on this blog are non clerics, like myself, surprise, surprise! Most decent, busy, caring and kind people, including many clerics couldn’t be bothered with this blog. That said, the blog is a forum for all sorts of useful opinions and a forum too for many cranks!

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8.39: Perhaps you haven’t been on this blog for long enough to know that the harsh criticisms levelled against Magna are deserved. He makes obnoxious judgments, incites hatred against priests and frequently abuses others through the ugliness of his words. He would not say in public many of the things he posts on this blog. (He hides, like most of us behind anonymity). He expresses good insights and arguments at times but depending on his drink induced mood swings, he can be a very nasty, vicious, condescending and arrogant individual. His abusive postings should never be tolerated. He invites the vitriolic opprobrium directed at him. I ask you to observe for a little longer and then you might appreciate that he is deserving of harsh criticism. He is well able to dish out the dirt – so he should not be surprised to receive it in return. Watch this space…..

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9:13
And have you anything to say about the abuse and sexual exploitation of religious sisters and women by priests?
Watch this space…..

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10:26
Might you be one? I wouldn’t know.
If you’re that curious, check with ‘the powers that be’ wherever you reside or better still contact the Vatican.
They must have plenty of names to hand.

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Irish Times Feb 6th 2019;
Pope Francis has said the RcChurch has faced a persistent problem of sexual abuse of nuns by priests and even bishops. The popes admission opens a new front in the long running scandal of sexual abuse by priests, recognizing nuns who have tried for years to call attention to their plight. Francis recalled that his predecessor, Benedict XVI, had been ‘a strong man’ who he said had sought to remove priests who committed sexual abuse and even ‘sexual slavery’.
And there’s muppets on this blog ranting about Magna! Enough said.

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9:35. I can assure you that I am not Magna. 9:13. I have been on this blog for a long long time and I have to say that I agree with Magna’s comments most of the time. It is right to detest evil and speak out about it in the strongest possible terms. In doing so, Magna expresses what a lot of others are thinking but cannot put into words in such an eloquent manner. Having a go at Magna is a poor attempt at deflecting from where the real evil and abuse lies – with an organisation which styles itself as a Christian church – namely the RC church which in turn is guilty of the most heinous of crimes totally against the word of God. Magna is well able to defend himself but it is pathetic to try and deflect from the actions of the rc church by attacking Magna. The RC church is an evil mafia and most of the priests I have come across in life are self serving egotistical individuals who think they are better than the rest of us. Indeed some of the greatest psychological, physical and emotional abusive priests have been elevated to positions of authority (bishop Patrick Walsh to name but one). These men are not of Christ but of the church . These men are not Christ like men. This blog rightly exposes these evil bastards (that is exactly what they are) and Magna, in my view is right to heap as much criticism as possible on these monsters. By attacking him for doing so you become an apologist for these bastards who have tortured us for years. It would be better if your criticisms were directed at the abusers of the rc church . If, as Kool Kat suggests, those of you who attack Magna are indeed priests then that is an affirmation that Magna is speaking g the truth. You, by your comments are cowards and enablers of the abuse that your church commits. Tomorrow you may say Mass but one day you will answer to Christ for making a mockery of his suffering and betraying the word of God . You don’t serve Christ. You serve another. The RC church is a disgrace and as time goes on it’s misdeeds will become more and more known. Ordinary people no longer fall for your pretend piety and pretend righteousness. Even trying to defend this organisation makes you culpable in its evil. Keep it going Magna. Keep showing what these Christ betrayers are really like – a pathetic bunch of no good scum.

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11:37pm
Great Post.👍
Many of the clerics posting on this blog, literally have, ‘skin in the game’.

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