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PARISH CLOSED FOR “A FEW WEEKS” FOR “PERSONAL REASONS”.

A parishioner of St Agnes sent me the above notice from the parish website.

St Agnes is closed for “a few weeks”. How many is a few?

The parish is closed “for personal reasons”.

Whose personal reasons?

We know the PP has had a bereavement.

If he is indisposed for whatever reasons why does that have to mean the total closure of the parish?

Is there no other priest in Down and Connor who has half an hour to spare daily to say a Mass there?

What about the parishless priests up in the bishop’s palace – Fathers Glover, O Hagan and Fox?

Can Noel not send one of them the few miles to Andytown?

Why cant Noel do it himself?

I have been here for 42 years. Right through The Troubles, with Andytown being bombed and saturated with bullets was St Agnes ever closed down like this.

In the old days a priest would have got out of his death bed to celebrate Mass.

The whole situation is a bold pronouncement of clericalism – which screams:

THE PARISH AND THE PARISHIONERS ARE THERE TO SERVE THE PRIEST!

THE PIC THAT ELSIE HATES

Elsie Nichols was very angry when this pic of Sister Carmel wearing his new cardinal’s biretta was leaked to the priests of Westminster.

Elsie made it clear that any priest found showing or distributing the pic would be in very serious trouble.

A Westminster priest shared it with me.

If Carmel wears the biretta does she wear the trousers too?

115 replies on “PARISH CLOSED FOR “A FEW WEEKS” FOR “PERSONAL REASONS”.”

I thought St Mary’s University College had two or three priests on the staff, and there are other parishless D&C priests such as Fr Fox and Fr Grant. Surely they can step in?
As per usual the people of West Belfast are taken for granted. They wouldn’t close down the Malone Road or Ballyhackamore parishes, for example.

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You are right it is a disgrace that this parish seems to be closed down for whatever the reason. The Ordinary of this diocese should have sent a priest to cover during the absence of the PP.
He is not doing his duty which is to look after The Faithful and is causing scandal by failing to do so.

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9.36, the ‘Ordinary’ of this diocese’? If you meant ‘bishop of…’, you should have said so.
Don’t be pretentious.

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Pat, how come Timothy Bartlett has two priests, two retired priests and a deacon to assist him and there is no one to help in St Agnes?
In the past, parishes like St Agnes, St Michael’s, Holy Trinity, St John’s, Corpus Christi and other such parishes would have had two or three priests resident. Nowadays they are all one priest parishes. What’s the story?
Can none of Tim’s helps say a daily Mass in the once thriving parish of St Agnes’? It’s all very strange indeed.
Fr McGlynn is a faithful and dedicated priest. Why can Noelle find no one to help him out, as he struggles to cope, with the loss of his only brother?

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It must have been extremely light duties for the boul Timbo and his cast of thousands of priestly assistants, with a tiny resident population and central Belfast in lockdown.

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Pat, it is rather strange to place such a notice on a church door or bulletin. There is obviously some management/personnel dilemma about which we know little. I don’t think it’s fair to draw your negative conclusions. The matter raises questions but we should not engage in speculations. I am very conscious, almost fearful, of getting sick as I am literally alone in a huge parish. However, I have sought the help of a religious order priest to assist me for the next month. There is so much going on at the moment in light of reopening of churches that we need to be reprogrammed almost. The glaring shortcomings in personnel is even more glaring and the lack of any achievable programmes of renewal or mission is very worrying. We are constantly being told to be vibrant in evangelising and service but our Bishops do not see reality as experienced in parishes. Perhaps we are unable to dream or reenvision new life or ways of simply being “Christ”. On a serious note – I believe many priests are very demoralised in a way that’s not conducive to good ministry or priesthood. I hope and pray that the P. P. of St. Agnes is recovering well from his recent loss and grief.

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@ 1150 – you are right, so many priests are in a bad way, with bad morale, bad self-imagine, bad lifestyle, bad health…….the list goes on. And why ? Well, one huge reason for this is the ridiculously unhealthy and odd way of life that they are shoehorned in to – living by and large alone, lack of emotional and affectionate intimacy, cocooned in an unrealistic bubble of clerical exceptionalism and entitlement, subject to a feudal relationship with bishop and church, dependent continually on being the receiver of other people’s goodness and charity…..the list goes on. It’s not healthy, it’s dysfunctional. No matter how strong their ‘faith’ is, it will work away at their wellbeing and bring them down.

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9.56, and of course as usual they are too lazy or cowardly to do sweet Fanny Adams about their situation except moan to one a other.

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There are a few priests from Nigeria at a loose end in London. They could help. They could be given references by the Nuncio.

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+ Nichols won’t employ them. Bad track records. Other bishops do. They could get their fingers burned.

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That picture says it all. The nun / wife joking with her husband / cardinal. Maybe I should just let my sons marry. Bishop Pat, can you write me up a Papal Bull?

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Lol this will set the clergy off again Pat 👍
Another difference with the world of work is that if a business did that they would have no income while they did it.
The answer to your question is obviously that nobody can be arsed, they’re all too busy er, administering. Such important work!

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It’s all very strange, Bp Pat, a note like that just encourages all kinds of speculation on the blog. They should realise that by now.

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Just back from my ocean swim….I shall blog but once today;
Father Paul Taylor purchased an apartment in The Canary Islands from Tricks….the Dublin priest…who sold a house in a lovely county years ago for a modest sum…it was offloaded at Drumcondras direction because it had a Sauna….in the days when most Irish thought that that sort of stuff hung in the garage.
I telephoned Donal Roche( a very good man ) and Joe Mullan ( Jesus wept) many weeks ago to attend to a matter that has been the subject of this Blog.
Clergy….many moral vacuums ……Fr Christy in the West and Fr Tadhg down there in the south….your property portfolios were huge….you made great losses….Taylor was more circumspect…..but there is a lot more of what Taylor was at in the dynamic of my small collection of canvas and print.
Caveat…….
To Dermot Martin: you called them ‘almost my nephews’ in a newspaper article in your early days in Dublin. You would not do it now. They must be well in their twenties now…maybe more….Your brother who observes me at The Bailey never married although he has a lot of clout yet for your protection.

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Good Morning Billy
Dermott Martin and Fr. Paul Taylor are saints who merely travelled and partied together. Did they sample the local treats? Yes. They both have a good understanding now – ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’. We don’t want all of DM’s dirty laundry aired on this blog, do we? Did you get your paintings back?

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Apologies; Two today.
A lot of parishes and not a couple of dioceses should close for personal reasons.

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Betcha any money Willeen won’t be able to resist a third, fourth, maybe even fifth ….. you see where this is going?

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https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/former-seminarian-gets-apology-and-damages-over-irish-sun-article-1.4300395%3fmode=amp
Congratulations to Conor Gannon. Shame on Ciaran O’Carroll and Diarmuid Martin for their silence and unchristian behaviour. You failed the seminarians that were entrusted to YOUR care. You allowed false accusations to be levelled at YOUR seminarians and stood back and done nothing; all to protect yourselves and your own interests.

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And where is Connor Gannon now ? Is he in London ? Was working in a bar ? Perhaps is again following lifting of lockdown ? London is the place to be…. !

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I would like Archbishop Martin to answer two simple questions:
1. Why did you not clarify Gannon’s situation knowing full well that the information provided to the media was false?
2. Why did you not clarify Byrne’s situation knowing full well that the information provided to the media was false?
I am starting to see a pattern of silence that is only comparable to the cover up of sexual abuse. These men were not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but they did not deserve to be thrown to the wolves to fend for themselves without the support of their bishop! Here is the truth, 90% of your priests are in relationships with each other and/or sleeping around with others. You are aware of many priests in compromising situations, yet you do nothing (unless of course if Pat highlights it). The priests who are caught are put back into ministry within the year (brough and o’donoghue for example). That’s true hypocrisy Diarmuid Martin.

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Let’s not forget the skeletons that Dermott has in the closet – a memoir by Rev. Paul Taylor.

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You need deep pockets to launch a libel action. No legal aid and there is a high risk of losing and having to pay the other side’s costs, as well as your own, plus the reporting of the case allows allegations to be reported again. Not everybody wants that.

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Dear +Buckley
Do you think these men were dealt an injustice? If so, how would you go about rectifying it if you were +Martin.

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It appears that some seminarians were sacrificed (Gannon, Byrne, McElroy etc) in order to protect the inner circle from the threat of exposure (Martin, O’Carroll, Mullaney etc).

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I believe that journalists were given a story by some church person / people and were convinced of the truth of the story by the standing of the person who gave them the story. This is particularly true of the Irish Times who observe great caution and discretion about what they publish.

Newspapers dont always settle because they got something wrong. Sometimes they settle to protect the person who informed them especially in the informant is “important”.

I do believe that Diarmuid Martin and Ciaran O Carroll have a moral duty to clarify what happened.

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Yes, it does seem strange that a notice like this is placed on the church door. I’m wondering if it had been discussed with + Noel or the VG ? If so, I would have expected them to have put in some interim measures to cover the absence of the priest and to see that the church was opened in accordance with the permitted current regulations. It doesn’t look good to be absent from the battlefield when there are casualties that need tending. In any other walk of life of which I have experience, contingency plans are put in place rather than just abrogating responsibility. The blame lies at the door of the bishops, who should be overseeing these matters and making sure the core work of the parish carries on. Mind you, if there are flights from Belfast in to Brussels, I’m pretty sure I know where + Noel’s attention will be
I see in Oxford in England some traditionalist ex-Anglican, now a married Catholic priest, has opened his church but is refusing communion to those who attend; something to do with waiting until a more reverent reception of communion is possible, which is shorthand for saying that he doesn’t want the people to receive in the hand, and probably wants them to kneel and receive on the tongue, which isn’t permitted at present. So, he inflicts his own interpretation on the people. Apparently, his bishop (+Longley) is having ‘fraternal discussions’ with the priest. I hope + Longley is able to tell this twit to tow the fucking line and stop being such a dong. https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/13136/some-catholics-denied-communion-even-after-churches-reopen
+ Vinnie’s nun problem ? I wonder will she return to her mother convent – I think she’s a Selly Park Birmingham sister – when Vin retires, hopefully sometime at the end of this year when he reaches 75 ? Or will she move in to the Chiswick pad with him, no doubt chaperoned by a spare priest body. He was furious decades ago when the newspapers reported his time away in a caravan in the countryside with Sister. He felt very hurt. Mind you, he should have known better, surely, for such a worldly wise operator ? So, whatever he does, I’m sure he will make sure it is managed so that the optics don’t count against him. He doesn’t like things like that picture of the nun with the red hat resurfacing, because it shows that some things are outside his control, and he definitely does not like that.
Enough ! My boiled egg and cheesy toast await !

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Honest to God! The way these geese are cackling you’d actually believe a priest was essential in life.
Get a grip folks. Who cares?

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Does anyone have a clue what the Mulvihill fella is on about?
Judging by the lack of response to his comments, I’m guessing readers are as in the dark … as I am.
Awaits attack …. from Billy…. oh! All these ellipses are fun!!!…

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Tis sad. As the good blogger says the picture says it all. Luscious lifestyles Where’s the money coming from. Poor auld Jesus. He’s not even a figurehead any more. The older parishioner in time will be no more and the younger ones will fek off (disperse) Finding Jesus without the flutes in suites could be an exciting and challenging journey hi

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It would be interesting to see a list of all those priests in D&C who are not in parishes.
I understand there is more than one way to be doing the Lords work but quite a few of these guys have never set foot in a pariah, ever.

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Keep posting, Bill.
It’s obvious some of your former colleagues are frightened of their ‘caca’, threatened in case you ‘spill the beans’. And, there’s plenty of beans to spill.

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If the Church is to have Canon Law – I think it should, because law protects the weak and curtails the overmighty – then we have to apply it in all its parts, however inconvenient. Canons 212.2 – 213 apply in this case.

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Anonymous .–b 11:50 am — Those Canons build on and flows from Lumen Gentium, 37.
——————————
” … The laity should, as all Christians, promptly accept in Christian obedience decisions of their spiritual shepherds, … ” Lumen Gentium 37.
You have to relaise that Karl Rahner was one of the six or seven theologians who drafted Lumen Gentium. Enough said.
So switch off your brain. You have to believe whatever Joseph Meigh tells you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3Ux49i9Dpc

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I don’t interpret this as a pop at the PP, but at the bishop for failing to make provision. Closing a parish because a PP is unavailable certainly gives the impression that the parish is the PP, and the PP is the parish, with the laity some class of house guest who can be closed out at will.

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Bishop Doyle of Northampton used to supply in parishes in his diocese if a priest was unwell, or to make sure that a priest got a break.

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Oh, I bet The Priests are offering up their inability to be absent from their parishes. They will be seeing it as a cross to be borne and offered up, and they will tell us that they have rediscovered the joys of being alongside their people during this time of trial…….FFS they are full of old shite !

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11.57: Their (clerics) shite isn’t as stenchy or foul smelling as yours is, dearie! Your words are just spewing from your a**e…yes indeed!

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Here’s a cunning plan. Hold all celebrity and high-profile funerals in the church. If they do, Frs Darcy and Donegan will compete to get there first.

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What are you talking about? How can a priest’s grief be worse than anyone else’s?

You’re posting as much crap as you did yesterday.

Away and wipe…!

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To the poster at 1249 HOLY PRIESTS are CHRISTS so they suffer like CHRIST CHRIST is GOD and GOD is in finite so the suffering in GOD is infinite snd therefore in the HOLY PRIEST. GOD will PUNISH you for your badmouthing of HOLY PRIESTS, his SERVANTS.

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Lol the main thing wrong with your comment is there aren’t any holy priests, they’ve all got bits on the side and tricks going on.

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To the person at 512 you dont know coals your heaping on your hesd it will bebterrible that dsy the dsy of JUDGEMENT when the HOLY GOD will punish you for the badness to HOLY PRIESTS and then the HOLY PRIESTS will thank the HOLY GOD you need yo say sorry but maybe tooblate now the HOLY GOD does nit forget you wait

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5.44, satirists? Don’t flatter the halfwit. You’ll only encourage him/her to post his s**t more often.

I’ve never read such clerical sycophantic drivel. Even Bellarmine was restrained by comparison.

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Canon 220 of the Code of Canon Law states: “No one is permitted to harm illegitimately the good reputation which a person possesses nor to injure the right of any person to protect his or her own privacy“.
It is a bishops moral duty to protect the good name his Priests, Deacons and Seminarians. Someone should inform Diarmuid Martin of this obligation and Cc. Ciaran O’Carroll too.

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12:13, what about lay people? are we not entitled to a good name too? or is your church about the clergy and men with pointy hats. pftttt

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How ridiculous, Bp Pat, fancy suggesting one of the singing priests should step into the breach; a man of his talent. Have a word with yourself.

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1.45: Trailer trash comment….from an uneducated fool. Trying to be smart….keep trying or go back to school…

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Copper Face Jacks was named after the Dublin Aul w’an – a combination of the fake tan and being a hard faced auld bitch.

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Excluding the retired and the c/o Lisbreen priests, here are the priests of working age in D&C with desk jobs. Some have never served in a parish. Tim Bartlett was their doyen, before he got his sinecure in the town.

Andrew Black. Postgraduate studies, Canadian College, Rome

Paul Fleming. Lecturer, St Mary’s University College, Belfast

Gerard Fox. Diocesan secretary and press officer

Feidhlmidh Magennis. Dromore diocese but permanently based in St Mary’s University College, Belfast, as was Niall Coll, who may be MIA

Joe Glover. Perpetual deskman

Colin Grant. Teacher, Acquinas Grammar School, Belfast

Martin Henry. Maynooth

Michael McConville. Undefined duties

Edward McGee. Formerly on staff of defunct diocesan seminary. Awaiting appointment more than a year later

Eugene O’Hagan. Artiste and Chancellor.

Oliver Treanor. Maynooth.

Patrick Whyte. OAP youth worker

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I think Edward McGee has joined the staff of St Mary’s College, replacing Niall Coll, who is missing in action.

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Bartlett is in a parish so that that box can be ticked when his name is being considered for bishop. Currently parochial service is de rigeur.

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Are there no eucharistic ministers in St Agnes’? Why can’t they preside at a service in the church, and then distribute communion to those attending. This has been done in England.

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Yeah, the priesties don’t want word getting out that they really aren’t THAT important, after all…except to themselves.

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Receiving communion isn’t really central to the Catholic faith. What is actually central is sucking up to the clergy.

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13.04
I can deduce from your attempt at intelligent comment that you have never read Joyce, he was writing for the contradiction of your comment.

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The comment might not have been the most intelligent but at least it was intelligible. Can the same be said for your comments? I doubt they even make sense to you.

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2.21: You murder the English language. Mullie, do please stop embarrassing yourself. Please – you are an idiot with this pretentious muck!!

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The Church in the US got at least $1.4 billion in covid-related federal aid.

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@ 3.06, ‘ows about offering to clean up after yourself and others, do the dishes, and clean all the rooms for the next month? Don’t make it any longer cos the shock would probably kill her.

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What a TickTok twat. Littletwat could do one with quick change maniple shots ? By the way, does Littledick has a special colour pompom for his biretta ? Lots do !

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3.31 pm. That you tube video fills me with negative emotions!! Who do these people think they are? A wet behind the ears 20 something pontificating and patronising his audience, most of which will know much better than he does!! Catch yourself on lad. Who ever his PP is he needs to have a quiet word in his ear. What on earth is that seminary teaching over there?

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The comments of the psychotic poster at 12:11 and 2:23 are revealing of the whole point of the Catholic Church. Almost as good as when Louis CK went into the curia of his diocese and discovered the faith was really about f*cking boys and everything else was to that end.

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Whoever the posters may be who keep using queenie, effeminate, juvenile and silly words about one another – you are supremely boring and useless. Nithing worthwhile to say or do but behave like pre pubescent, stunted f**kheads. The utter banality of your comments is beyond fathoming. Grow up boys!! Be real men.

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Pat the Elsie pic again. John O Leary made the mistake of taking that silly pic. It’s come back to haunt.

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