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DERRY PRIEST DECLARES UNILATERAL DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

A DERRY PRIEST WHO HAS BEEN FORBIDDEN TO SAY PUBLIC MASS BY THE BISHOP OF DERRY, DONAL MC KEOWN HAS STARTED HAVING PUBLIC MASS IN HIS RETIREMENT HOME.

Father John Irwin got into a bit of bother in 2014 when he was accused of stealing £2,000 from parish accounts. The diocese reported him to the police and a judge gave him a conditional discharge.

After the court case banned Father Irwin from publicly celebrating Mass or the sacraments.

Father Irwin, who in his late 70s retired to Dungiven and he has opened his house for public Mass.

20190828_1156313778779349153840636.jpg
McKeown

At first only two or three people went to the Masses but the numbers have now grown. His Masses are being attended by people between the ages of 16 to 80.

Local parishioners are supporting him against the bishop’s ban.

Of course it was wrong for Father Irwin to steal parish money.

But then again many priests help themselves to parish funds on a regular basis.

By giving him a conditional discharge the judge obviously regarded his crime as being on the lower end.

He has probably served more than 50 years as a priest and I think that McKeown should have given him a second chance.

He could even have offered him CHRISTIAN FORGIVENESS!

INDEPENDENT MINISTRY

If anyone knows anything about independent Catholic ministry it is me. I have been doing it now for 33 years.

Cackle Daly told my successor as curtate of Larne that I would only last 6 weeks!

I told Cackle that I would be still in Larne when he was pushing up the daisies.

Of course its not as easy as having the support of a big wealthy institution.

On the other hand I don’t have to ask anyone’s permission to serve people in the way they require.

I have been giving divorced and separated people a second chance in those 33 years.

I have also ministered to the gay community and provided blessings for them for their marriages. And now, that is legal in the Republic of Ireland, I am celebrating their marriages – including a Marriage Mass if they want one.

Everyday people come to me about their needs. Yesterday I was involved in getting a woman with spinal problems to see a consultant. I’m also working on getting a South African lady leave to remain in the UK. I represent people in the labour courts and at health tribunals.

As an independent priest you have to become a Jack of all trades.

I believe that God did me a very big favour in bringing me out of the RC institution.

I’d hate to think of how I might have been had I stayed.

In the meantime, the more priests give ishops the two finger salute the better

They only have control over us if we allow them to.

Let us say to them what nationalists said to the unionists – “We refuse to be governed by you”.

85 replies on “DERRY PRIEST DECLARES UNILATERAL DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.”

JFC! You’ve lost me on this one, Bishop Pat. Are you feeling ok? You defend a filthy Roman Catolic priest-Vermin for having stolen £2000????????😲

All along I’ve had respect for you, but… Are sure you’re in your right mind?😕

Personally, I’d sweep every filthy Roman Catholic priest (and they ALL are filthy) down to Hell, where they belong (including your priest-theif pal) right up Satan’s unwashed ARSE. Dirty , filthy, Roman Catholic priest scum!

(Just goin’ on, like.😆)

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M.C. at 12:04am!!!!
Polly are you sure you’re in your right mind your blasphemy and your atrocious language is worse than ever yer mammy wants to scrub that foul mouth of yours with carbolic. I’m in agreement that this suspended priest who is celebrating illicit Mass’s is a disgrace you can only imagine the types who attend them. I’m surprised that Patsy printed such a foul rant, not exactly as is always being said you at your best! it’s you at your worst! You really are a piece of dirty filthy scum and you know where your destination is don’t ya?
Evviva Maria!

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12.04: After midnight and the filthy, abusing, lecherous vermin, Mags, goes on the attack. Mags, Pat could teach you a few things about mercy, forgiveness and the gospel imperative to give people a 2nd, a 3rd and even a 7th chance of new begunnings. God is good in giving mercy. On the evidence of your hate inciting words and bigotry, you are undeserving of any mercy. Hell is your end destiny for sure, you hate monger. Even Pat, who gives you far too much publicity receives your vulgarity and poison. You are an impoverished specimen of humanity. You are the epitome of poison and ugliness.

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11.53

Never mind the hate in my post: there’s more than enough in yours…for me.

See you in Hell.

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Fr Irwin did a bad thing, and he got his punishment. Now he has served his time, he should in his old age be allowed to celebrate the liturgy of his church. The Derry Diocese uses retired priests to plug the gaping whole in their full time clergy numbers, which is shrinking every year.
St Eugene’s Cathedral in the city is a prime example, where three ancient men who are retired priests continue to help the TWO and I say again just TWO full time parish clergy in residence for the cathedral at celebrating masses and hearing confession.
Fr Irwin should have been given a 2nd chance, and allowed to celebrate Mass publicly. How many bishops have permitted paedophile priests to continue celebrate mass etc, knowing their litany of abuse? Many it seems.
The hypocrisy in this case just stinks. Jesus was a man of 2nd chances for everyone. “He who is without sin cast the first stone”. However in McKeown’s mind, out of sight, out of mind is what is needed – e.g. Brendan Collins.

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12.31
Irwin did a bad thing? Are you given to understatement? You sound like an indulgent parent euphemising it’s child’s naughty behaviour.

And don’t be naive. This is not about second chances, but about perfidy, and consequential breach of trust.

If Irwin had worked in a bank and had stolen savers’ money, would you be happy if the bank continued to employ him?

As for bishops’ continuing to allow known paedophile priests to continue in ministry, instead of condemning this practice, you actually use it as argument for allowing Irwin to say public Mass. Unbelievable!

And what punishment did he serve? Did he pay back the money he stole? The man is a thief. Had he not been caught, would he have continued to steal? Probably.

The fact that those attending his Masses say they are not interested in his past boggles the freakin’ mind. He fleeced you all, for crying out loud! The man is a thief and, by all appearances, not a truly repentant one. He should have been booted out of the priesthood.

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10.07: Magna, you are a raving, mad, dangerous hater. You must be close to a breakdown precipice!! You are by far the grearest ABUSER of others on this blog. Your understanding of the God of whom you speak so frequently, is deficient, impoverished and utterly disconnected from the portrait of the God whom Jesus reveals. It is patently obviously that mercy, forgiveness, kindness of heart, empathy or compassion are as far from your heart as is the moon. Your perpetual state of dusgruntlement, self pity from rejection from seminary, your infantile mentality, your dysfunctionality and immaturity are destroying you. Magna, keep ranting, continue your lies and soon you’ll roll over the edge and then we will gather at the river to rejoice….In your memory what favourite hymn would you like…..?? I’ll bring the gin for fun…(also in your memory with MAGNA emblazoned on every bottle!). Now, where was I…..

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12.17

(Very loud sigh 😩) I told you all yesterday I’m a real ale, and brandy man. So party on these when seeing me orf to Avalon.

Do pay attention.😆

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6.31
Oh, Irwin served all right… himself, when he betrayed the trust of generous parishoners.
He stole first their money, then their trust, and now their common sense.

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Bishop, lift the ban. Let an elderly priest say his mass. My God, when you see how many bishops worldwide protected dangerous clergy ! A bit of compassion, balance and proportionality are in order.

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Since there is a tendency to cover-up misdeeds, there is every possibility a third, fourth, and even fifth chance was given in this sad case before, finally, reporting the matter to the authorities.

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Pat, goid luck in all your work as a freelance, independent priest. But don’t for a moment forget that those many priests who remain in the Catholic presbyterate carry out very wonderful ministries of care, mercy and compassion. Their work brings them into contact with some of the most marginalised, hurt and wounded. We shoukd give acknowledgement to their great ministry too. There’s something a little too congratulatory about telling us frequently about “how great thou art”!!!!! Not Christ like…..

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8:54 What’s the Catholic presbyterate pastoral approach to victims of clerical abuse? Any guidelines from Rome?

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Is fr irwin responding to the prompt of the Spirit Time will tell. All people are called to repentance and renewal hi. He is operating outside the club. The issue is not one of sin but jurisdiction but

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Well, I know a priest (religious Order man) who had a gambling addiction, stole money from the parish he was in, got found out, something seems to have been ‘arranged’, no prosecution, and then a few years later his Order elected him Provincial ! And, some years still later he’s been given a second bite of the cherry as Provincial. So, how does that figure ?! I guess if it has been me or you, laypeople, the Police would have been involved, there would have been public accounting, and in all likelihood serious consequences like a conviction, prison, and most certainly loss of job. What is good for the Goose is surely good for the Gander ? No ? So, it seems to me that this Fr Irwin (and he’s lucky he’s still able to call himself Father !) should count himself fortunate and let sleeping dogs lie and stop drawing attention to himself. It can only turn our worse for him, I think, having this name dragged all over the press and internet again, and forcing his Bishop to discipline him. He’s asking for trouble. Silly man. And silly people encouraging him to put his head above the parapet.

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10.36
More than most today (who seem to be doubling over to make excuses for this thief) you are on the right track with your attitude to Irwin.
His treatment, and that of the Order thief you mentioned, has a long, but not distinquished history; and it began with the human conceit that a priest, through ordination, was ontologically changed, special. This developed into the notion thst his specialness merited different treatment (and for ‘different’ read ‘more favourable’) from that accorded to ordinary Catholics; where this concerned crime, it meant that the priest was to be treated more leniently. The notion even has a name, ‘Privilege of Clergy’, and it was adopted and institutionalised by another who had inflated ideas about himself, Emperor Constantine.

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Magna at 11:13am

Would you ever give up, given out about the fact that you were not ontologically changed as you never made it, Thanks be to God. You’re so jealous about those who did even to mention St. Constantine, get over it and stop boring us with your hatred of The Sacred Priesthood. Accept that unlike them there is nothing special about you.
Evviva Maria!

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10.36: You’ve repeated this story before about this priest. Boring. You should question Pat’s motivation for printing the article. Now, could it be that he abuses such stories to make broad sweeps about clerics in general….?? Pat of course forgets all the material and financial benefits he enjoyed while in the Catholic Presbyterate…..generous mass offerings, November Altar List, stipends for sacraments, gifts from visiting the elderly, all his food supplied and all meals cooked for him, car allowance…..all laundry done by a skivy housekerper…So, let’s not be ubder any illusion about Pat’s pretend poverty of spirit!! It’s a lie. That’s why I find his disdain for clerics who fall from grace morally repugnant.

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12.05

Have you read Pat Says? He spoke favourably about this thief, and I censured him for it in the first of my comments.

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I didn’t really speak favourably about the thief or his theft.

I just wondered if an old man deserved a total ban for a crime at the lower end on criminality.

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By Post Author

I am not Irish, Bp Pat, but not that long ago I read about people in Mountjoy for not paying their television licence.

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11.05
You remind me of a deceased aunt of mine. She made excuses for everyone, no matter the evil they had committed. I once challenged her about this, by telling her that she would make excuses for Lucifer himself. She laughed. My remark had gone right over her head. I just shook mine at the utter moronity of the moment.
You would probably say the same of Roman Catholic priests who serially preyed on young boys in order to sodomise them: that they, too, had feet of clay.
Your as thick as my aunt.

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11.36: Magna, your dear good aunty probably recognised your early peculiarities, madness and crazy idiosyncrasies. She deserves a place in heaven with a nuisance, busy body know all, like you. Bet she was fearful of your visits….

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1.01

On the contrary, she loved my visits. I took her, and her elderly husband, over much of Ireland. And I was their chief decorator and handyman, since their only son was too self-centred to do much for them.

Oh! Did I mention Mass? I took her regularly to Mass around the diocese; she loved the experience of new buildings and meeting new people. And every Sunday evening, I drove her to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at Holy Trinity in Belfast. This was one of her great consolations.

And when she was in the last stage of her life and on strong pain relief (and very confused because of it), I took her verbal abuse when she couldn’t understand that the hospital she was in was not her home and that I simply couldn’t go into the kitchen and make her a cuppa.

Yes, she hated my visits.

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1.15: Magna, were you financially rewarded for your ‘kindness’ ?? Just wondering….cause it seems you anyway beyond the call of duty for your lovely aunt! I know of bachelors who try to enter themselves to elder aunts and uncles, bearing with their strangeness, do my to access benefits! But I’m presuming you were more benevolently inclined?

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11.05: You are right. We all have feet of clay except Pat, Magna and MMM. Mags and Pat are outright merciless towards all clerics. Their attitude to the fallen is deeply sinful.

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I can only speak about myself. I am not merciless towards priests. Over the years I have helped many priests.

I am merciless about the totally corrupt RCC system and those who support it.

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By Post Author

3.30
You are suggesting that, because by nature we all act wrongly from time to time, we are, therefore, morally on equal terms; that is not true, and you know it.
The universal propensity for wrong conduct may unite us all in a human commonality, but within this bond is moral differentiation, as people choose to indulge their weaknesses to a greater or lesser degree; this is where culpability, responsibility, and punishment are reckoned respectively rather than generally.
Stop pretending that we all are equal in respect of these three.

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3.21
I am not totally the person you see, as it were, on this blog.
You move in exploitative circles; it’s the only explanation I can think of for your cynicism about helping my aunt and uncle. I was never given money for what I did, nor did I seek money. All expenses (and they were considerable at times) were paid by me.
I have helped other elderly couples, too, sometimes to the point of embarrassing them…unintentionaly…cos I will not accept payment from them. One elderly man, after I painted outside and inside his house, shook his head and with an aggrieved look said: ‘How am I ever going to repay you?’ I took some bacon home with me to help settle his, and his wife’s feelings.

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4.37: Magna, forgive my cynicism earlier. I accept your bona fide in acting out of human kindness for your aunt and other people. It’s a pity we don’t witness this kindness of yours towards others, however much we disapprove of their misdeeds and failings. Yes, we have to differentiate between levels of crimes: some deserve the full rigour of civil law – imprisonment – or a punitive judgment of some kind because of the lesser consequence of their behaviour. If the law dictates that a person is guilty of serious, harmful crimes, then imprisonment is totally justified. While we may harbour feelings of anger and resentment towards the criminal and to those who harm or hurt us in any way, as a Christian minister representing Christ’s gospel, I can never play a harsh, merciless and incompassionate ‘god’ with anyone’s life. Ever. I have an abhorrence for the merciless onslaught shown towards those who have fallen from grace just as I have total empathy and compassion for victims or the offended. It is always difficult to live the gospel of Christ – “neither do I condemn you….but go and sin no more…” : “…be compassionate as your heavenly Father is compassionate: do not condemn…do not judge…”. Are we to disregard these ideals of Christ? Sometimes we are tempted to stamp in people and I understand that compulsion but ….

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5.14

Love is given, but compassion is drawn; and through compassion there is mercy and forgiveness.

Jesus was able to show compassion to the woman caught in adultery, because her deep sorrow and repentance drew deeply from the well of Gods infinite capacity for compassion.

But Jesus did not, could not, respond with compassion (and, therefore, with mercy and forgiveness) to those who would not draw upon it with sorrow and repentance: the hypocrites, the merciless, the cold-hearted, the unrepentant. For these there was only censure, since nothing more was available to them.

If someone is not at all contrite and repentant and you offer them compassion and mercy, it not these that is offered, but misguided sentimentality.

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5:45-

Tear your hearts and not your clothes, and come back to Yahweh your God, for he is gracious and compassionate,slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and he relents about inflicting disaster. Joel 2:13

I desire mercy, not sacriface. Matt. 9:13.

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11:05 am
Some, hold far more clay on their feet than others.
When seen to have such feet of clay, the pain of disenchantment can be profound.

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Continuing yesterday’s comments about RC finances, a Down Recorder letter y/day informs us that Crossgar Community Centre and 60 place car park is now up for sale by Down & C diocese as PP claims diocese cannot afford to pay it’s rates and electricity costs. As a sale would deprive village of much needed community resource a public meeting is proposed by concerned villagers.
This mirrors the D&C sell off of redundant Newcastle school to Lidl by reneging on promise to sell to local council for much needed leisure centre.
Cash is king for Treanor’s bling!
MMM

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The story doesn’t surprise me, though I haven’t read it.
I’m just wondering why the money to finance rates, etc can’t be found when our very own Bishop of Bling, Treanor, managed to find 4 million quid to beef up his pile on Somerton Road.

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You are so right MMM

Why shouldn’t you slag off the Church, then use all their ‘community’ facilities for free, draining everything you can get from them and then smugly slagging off the ‘blind sheep’ who fund those facilities by actually putting money on they plate every week?! 🙄

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4.02
From my experience, no such facilities may be used free of charge. So even if a patron is not Catholic, or even Christian, they will pay their ‘whack’.

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4:02: Your hostile assumptions are typical of the small minded with no broad appreciation of the RC church and it’s finances. For the record, I’ve never had any involvement with any community facility owned by the RC church since my teenage years 60 yrs ago.
But to pick up your own “theme”: the RC church, a vastly wealthy enterprise, claims charitable status thereby minimising payment of taxes, rates etc. This increases the proportion levied on the rest of us. Why therefore should non believers like myself who make no use of nor benefit in any way from religious enterprises be required to pay extra taxes to compensate, for the benefit of those religious followers?
💒🕋⛪🕍🕌🚣‍♂️🚣‍♀️🛶🚤
Let them paddle their own boats I’d say
MMM

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One can only hope “support for retired cleric” does not extend to a collection plate, candle box, or little brown envelopes. It will only be putting temptation in his way.

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5.17: MMM – Get over your begrudgery and small mindedness. The parish centre in our parish is basically a community centre where people of various groups, associations, clubs, societies, of all faiths and none are welcomed and pay a nominal fee. Ministry and Parish Groups obviously don’t have to pay: they already do and very generously. The more profit making, commercial groups pay a higher fee. It’s a great centre where the elderly and lonely meet after mass every morning for tea/coffee and a chat. Recently all those who live alone, irrespective of religious background have been invited to come together on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis to find friendship and enjoy music, bingo and art hobbies. There are even some non religious among them…No divisiveness here in living the gospel and what a wonderful Parish Centre we have. I’m certain your fellow atheists wouldn’t mind supporting such great causes or is YOUR fear of being seen to “proselytize” a deterrent?? Get a grip MMM…..

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Good to see a thriving community resource. But how do you know that, in your own words, there are “even some non religious among them?”
I’m sure no RC I’D cards are required, ……But do “they ” have some distinguishing mark?
I refer you, and my other critics, back, that YOUR Chief Executive, then Pope, reminded RC charitable organisations that their chief purpose was to ‘proselytise’. (The latter word is my blunt summary of his more ‘diplomatic ‘ politicspeak) Read my earlier comments.
MMM

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MMM so you’ve never used any church facilities or parked in a church car park for free? Ever? Ever?
You are more principaled than I am!

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I’m compelled (pel) to respond to your “principAlled ” 10:47Anon comment.
Only RC “facilities” I’ve attended have been weddings&funerals, but I did once need a pi$$ in an RC toilet attached to a church. Although I looked carefully, surprisingly there was no St V de Paul collector protecting the door against non paying atheists.
I’d urge Bishop Treanor to order an immediate survey of such abuses of diocesan potential revenue producing resources.
MMM

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Just lif the ban…it’s totally wrong…Mc Keown you are not God..life the ban.
Ask him to say mass near where he resides , but don’t let him handle the collections wherever he is saying the mass.

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12.00

Ha ha 😅

There’s precious little chance of that’s happening now, since it would make McKeown look weak, as if this priest had turned the tables on him through media pressure.

Irwin’s not just a dirty little thief; he’s a fool as well. 😅

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The ban doesn’t seem to be having much effect if he is conducting Masses at home. A monastery and a life of perpetual prayer may be the only solution.

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MMM at 5.17: Are you blind? 😎😎😎😎😎 Stop being such a lion waiting to devour all clerics!🦁🦁🦁🦁 If you have such disdain for all things Catholic, just take an extra pint or a gin without the bitter lemon 🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋Go sing a different tune elsewhere 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎼🎼We’re tired of your bar stool bleating 📣📣📣📣📣📣. Oh dear, I’m probably adding to your angst and I’m not even a Catholic!!😅😅😅😅 MMM, at your age you should be preparinng for hell or nirvana!!🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🏞🏞🏞🏞🏠

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4:47
The problem is the number of clerics who were wolves in sheep’s clothing, who devoured many lambs in their care, were then protected by their bishops, and moved to different pastures, wreaking more havoc on the innocent and their unsuspecting parents.
Catholic bishops, priests and the faithful should be on their knees in repentance for the abominations committed by the institutional church.

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4:47: You obviously don’t like being presented with hard facts: uncomfortable? outraged? …..Good.
For that’s the only explanation I can put to your rant.
Oh yes, I forgot: limited capacity to understand.
MMM

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7.19: As I said in my post I’m not a Catholic but like you I dip into this blog, mainly for fun and to cheekily poke fun at rather esoteric and eccentric people like you, who seem to complain about all things Catholic, yet have rejected all its teachings. That’s your prerogative. However, your bleatings are carried away by the wind and contribute nothing constructive about how the church might be truly renewed in Christ. Of course as an atheist you’d have no such interest. MMM, I recently read your criticisms of “Christian charity workers” where you attribute sinister motivations to their selfless giving and caring (proslytisng as you refer to it) and it disgusted me because in my work in communities I have witnessed deeply committed Catholics and people of other faiths work kindly, caringly and with deep charity (out of their faith) for one reason only: they LIVE not talk about the gospel of Christ. Simple as. No proslytisng, no differentiating of those they work with and for and are “salt of the earth”. I sometimes wish I had their optimism, faith, Christian principles and sense of charity. I do my own little bit but the Christians I see, Catholics particularly, are bright, shining lights, so.much so that I am in the process of taking part in the RCIA – the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults….

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Money for Nothing
Dire Straits Featuring Sting
Written by Mark Knopfler & Sting
(Album Brothers in Arms 1985)
I want my, I want my MTV,I want my, I want my MTV
Now look at them yo-yo’s, that’s the way you do it
You play the guitar on the MTV
That ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it
Money for nothin,’ and chicks for free
Now that ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it
Lemme tell ya, them guys ain’t dumb
Maybe get a blister on your little finger
Maybe get a blister on your thumb
We got to install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We got to move these refrigerators
We got to move these color TV’s
See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup?
Yeah buddy, that’s his own hair
That little faggot got his own jet airplane
That little faggot, he’s a millionaire
We got to install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We got to move these refrigerators
We got to move these color TV’s
Mover, mover Uh
We got to install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries, we got
We got to move these refrigerators
We got to move these color TV’s
Looky here, look out
I shoulda learned to play the guitar
I shoulda learned to play them drums
Look at that mama, she got it stickin’ in the camera, man, we could have some
And he’s up there, what’s that? Hawaiian noises?
Bangin’ on the bongos like a chimpanzee
That ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it
Get your money for nothin’, get your chicks for free
We got to install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We got to move these refrigerators
We got to move these color TV’s
Listen here
Now that ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it
You play the guitar on the MTV
That ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it
Money for nothin’, and your chicks for free
Money for nothin’, chicks for free
(Money for nothin’) Money for nothin’, chicks for free
Look at that, look at that
Money for nothin’ (I want my, I want my)
Chicks for free (I want my MTV)
That ain’t workin’
Money for nothin’, chicks for free
Money for nothin’, chicks for free

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You are quite right about certain pps Our PP is well known for it. We were hoping he would be moved during the recent diocesan moves. He is colloquially known as Fr easyJet as he takes more holidays than any family in the parish. A man who would get in where the wind could . Sticks his nose into everything and tries to control our parish primary school. Also likes to speed a lot in his car. Definitely not a good example to parishoners. But there again old bishop bling doesn’t give a toss

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Down and Connor are minted. How many millions are they getting for the land that St Pats boys home was on? Treanor s chief executive (an accountant) has been instructed to sell sell sell. Treanor can smell the money. He’s a complete gobshite living off the backs of the faithful. Mind you he probably needs a few quid for his expensive wine collection. People need to wise up and stop putting money on the plates. Treanor gets a per cent age of everything to run his empire and keep him living in splendour. Give them nothing

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Anon@ 6:55: I endorse your “give them nothing” advice, and I agree wholeheartedly.
But I don’t think that as yet, there’s sufficient groundswell for positive scrutiny and consequential intolerance among the laity relating to RC financial shenanigans. For too long it’s been very much “doff your cap” and agree with what the reverend father says.
I’d like now to comment on the reality of such obeisance to clergy.
In 1967/8, had I set aside my then deeply felt misgivings about the RC church and its role, and rather than leaving the seminary, had I followed the customary prescribed path of acquiescent subservience to the RC church’s requirements, at this stage of my 75 years I could have been a retired PP. or even a more senior canon or ecclesial “manager” as in my subsequent lay profession. Some former seminary colleagues are bishops! [ In reality that potential route for me was probably inconceivable: I’m probably too single mindedly questioning and ‘uncomfortable’ for banal ecclesial managers to cope with.]
But in truth, I now recognise just how poorly trained, equipped, informed and unable I would have been after ordination, and correspondingly, both how limited my subsequent development through ‘in service training’ would probably have been been. Yet, at the same time, my ‘ontologically changed” status and laity perceptions of it would have engendered parishioners’ obeisance further endorsing my righteous perceptions and prescriptions. The limitations of my clerical training would never enter my mind. This seems to be a reality for many clerics and commentators who grace these pages.
MMM

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I have listened to Treanor preach on a few occasions. He preaches way above the heads of folk in th pews. It is as if he is addressing his remarks to an intellectual audience. I’ve sat in the cathedral and watched the faces of the old women and men from the parish trying to make sense and comprehend what he is on about. I know this opinion is shared by some priests.
I’ve tried to like the man but find it difficult. He comes across as someone who is from a superior caste and
certainly couldn’t be accused of having the ‘smell of the sheep about him.

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Greeting all from the man with his Black Bush at hand and sat in my big chair.
And so we have another Catholic Church anomaly.
If the Mass is the greatest prayer anyone can offer and a bishop is charged with the salvation of souls why oh why would a bishop prevent any priest saying mass?
Think of the church’s favourite line that it’s a church of the wounded and broken but a forgiving church nevertheless. This is the spin used when some naughty priest has been caught at some sexual shenanigans or other as they are reinstated to full ministry. Case in point is local stud Dallat.
It seems however poor old Fr Irwin won’t be shown this mercy or charity for his little pocketing of a few quid. Double standards!
Further evidence on a localised basis, if any more is needed, that the whole thing is a man made sham and rotten.
Anyway must settle down now and watch Sky News.

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7:32
And if Jesus Christ is present, body blood soul and divinity, in the Eucharist,
as believed by the Rcc, why hasn’t the Church formally gone before the Lord in repentance?

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Enjoy DD, and good to see you back.
I see that there’s an immediate charitable christian response from Anon @ 7:38, no doubt another pious RC disciple. (That’s a follower by the way…..of the blinkered variety)
And I’m off to pub now for my usual Fri night tipple.
(Just mentioned that so the usual crowd can howl their outrage. Am I bovvered? Howl: wolves in sheep’s clothing!)
MMM

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8.07: MMM: Worse than a wolf in sheep’s clothing is a viperous snake slithering around her swinging bar stool mocking everyone in pseudo psychology babble and condescending nastiness dressed up as a class act. Your faux indignation is palpable…..stay steady on yer feet, old man!

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I see Bella is on again carrying on her obsession with Magna. Mind u, Bella is still talking the same old bull

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4:47
The gap between what many profess to believe and how they actually behave is staggering.
Feet of clay, hearts of stone and ongoing quenching of the Holy Spirit!

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