By Phil Lawler Sep 25, 2020 Catholic Culture org
At last, decisive action to address financial corruption at the Vatican! At last, a ranking prelate has been held accountable!
After years of promising reforms and accountability—while leaving effective power in the hands of those who opposed reform—Pope Francis has finally broken the pattern.
Consider the astonishing damage that Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu had done to the cause of reform before he was finally forced to resign himself:
Becciu had stymied the reforms proposed by Cardinal George Pell, blocking an independent audit and successfully undermining the authority of the new Secretariat for the Economy.
Becciu had forced the abrupt departure of the Vatican’s auditor general, Libero Milone, threatening him with a criminal complaint when he sought to investigate Becciu’s financial dealings.
Becciu had helped to drive Ettore Gotti Tedeschi out of his post as head of the Vatican bank, to prompt Rene Bruelhart to resign as president of the Financial Information Authority, and to put Domenico Giani in an untenable position that forced his resignation as head of the Vatican Gendarmerie.
Now that Becciu has resigned, and lost his privileges as a member of the College of Cardinals, it might be wise to revisit some of those earlier personnel moves. How did he thwart so many would-be reformers? How did he gain enough influence to survive for so long, even as the questions multiplied about his financial dealings?
In many respects the Becciu case mirrors the case of Theodore McCarrick, the last prelate to be stripped of his privileges as a cardinal. Becciu’s offenses are less appalling, and his punishment is less severe. (He is not laicized, and the Vatican announcement pointedly gave him the title of cardinal, even though he is stripped of the privileges of membership in the College.) In both cases the Vatican’s disciplinary action leaves the Catholic world wondering: Who were his sponsors and protectors? And when will we know the full truth about his use and abuse of ecclesiastical power?
The Vatican’s terse announcement of Becciu’s resignation gave no clues whatsoever about the cause of his downfall. (Perhaps the immediate cause was an article that the Italian journal L’Espresso reportedly had readied for publication, detailing the Italian prelate’s questionable transactions.) But for months Becciu had been the focal point of investigation into at least two major financial scandals. Nearly a year ago, in an analysis of the Vatican’s financial troubles, I wrote: “Cardinal Angelo Becciu is in deep trouble.” The Catholic News Agency, which has done excellent work probing the details of the financial scandals, has now produced an excellent summary of the case against Becciu.
Becciu was not just another Vatican official who dabbled amateurishly in financial affairs. (There are many others in that category, sad to say.) He was the sostituto: the Vatican’s equivalent of a chief of staff, the custodian of all paperwork flowing through the Roman Curia, the powerful prelate who meets virtually every day with the Pope. He had effective control over the proceeds from the Peter’s Pence collection, and when he invested those funds, although he was not authorized to do so, his decisions went unquestioned—until those pesky reformers began to ask where all the money was going.
Even then, when Vatican investigators raided Becciu’s former office at the Secretariat of State last October, looking for answers to their questions, the net results showed Becciu’s enduring clout. Within a few weeks, Bruelhart had resigned as head of the Financial Information Authority, which had been questioning the transactions; Giani had resigned as head of the Vatican Gendarmerie, which had conducted the raid. And Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, had issued a statement of support for the embattled Cardinal Becciu.
By that time, however, Cardinal Becciu was no longer the sostituto. He had been given a cardinal’s red hat and promoted to a new post as prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. And therein lies another interesting tale.
When Cardinal Pell conducted the first rigorous analysis of Vatican finances, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints came in for special scrutiny. The Secretariat for the Economy found a near-total lack of control over the use of funds collected from the faithful to promote the causes of saints. In 2016 the Vatican issued new rules, specific to that congregation, to address the situation. And two years later, in an ironic move, the archbishop who as sostituto made a series of questionable financial transactions became the cardinal heading the congregation with a history of questionable finances.
To be fair, there is no reason to suspect that Becciu took new liberties with the finances of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The Vatican had already imposed controls on spending; the abuses were, we trust, addressed. But questions about that office, and every other office inside the Vatican, will persist until we know the truth about the curious career of Cardinal Becciu, and the Vatican culture that supported him.
Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org.
PAT SAYS
Becciu had his hands deeply in the till.
He was giving money from Peter’s Pence to his two brothers.
He was involved in luxury property dealing.
We will probably never know how much he pocketed for himself and others.
He obviously does not believe in the 7 th Commandment: ‘Thou shalt not steal”.
And he is not the only one.
The recently retired Cardinal Bertone extended his Vatican apartment and spent £ 50,000 on his kitchen.
Do they think they’re going to live forever?
By this stage in history we have established that the RCC is one of the most corrupt organisations ever.
If you give them money they will take it and spend it as they like.
I would never financially support anything to do with the RCC.
I support about ten charities every month.
But I make sure none of them are connected with the RCC.
Peter’s Pence is used to supply the pope and his hench men with a luxury lifestyle.
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96 replies on “CARDINAL BECCIU DEPARTS – ONLY AFTER OUSTING WOULD BE REFORMERS.”
And yet, Pat, don’t you have a Romanist priest as your spiritual advisor😅/ confessor?
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10:18pm
Polly you never give up do you your constant use of romanist is so tiresome. And as for saying Patsy has Catholic priest as a spiritual advisor/confessor you really must be full of the gargle ya poor crater
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Roman ethics: do as thou would not be done by the police.
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I do wonder why these alleged celibate clergy men of the roman church always wants to live in big houses, redecorated, huge rooms, all for men who apparently have no wives, girlfriends, children, grandchildren etc – why the hell to the need the room, surely a small apartment would suit a celibate, unmarried clergy man?
I do remember one of my Anglican clergy, who wanted to redecorate his second bedroom in the vicarage because his wife had just given birth to their first born daughter, and they asked the Archdeacon for help, and were told that if he wanted to decorate the room for his newly born daughter, he would have to take it out of his annual stiped, and no diocesan money would be spent. That is how stingy the Diocese of London were with him.
Also, a great curate in one of our great cathedrals of the Church of England moved from his first parish in the rural countryside of Berkshire where he had a nice small terraced house to himself, and had to move into a two bedroom apartment in the heart of London, a bit of a shock, even more so when the moving expenses were capped at £1,000 maximum.
Church of England is a wealthy church, but for many of their clergy, they are by no means well off.
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They’re better paid than their Roman counterparts!
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It is only right that lay people are paid more than priests.
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Reminds me when the Anglican vicar teased the Catholic PP by saying Anglican vicars were more fortunate to have the better halves. The PP replied, “You might have the better halves but we have the better quarters”.
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There’s an old Italian proverb — “Things have to change, so that they can still stay just the same as they are”.
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St Therese: “I will be love at the heart of the church.” There is the true Roman Church, and there are many faithful people in our families, monasteries, presbyteries throughout the world – they don’t make the headlines but they are the beating heart and they will prevail. Only the pure of heart can recognise them – and see God!
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Except that if those people fail to see and deal with the ongoing criminality and corruption that is not love, it is pious wilful ignorance.
The whole point of this blog is the church’s refusal to see the problem.
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9.12
Your head is full of wishful thinking.
No one can see these people, because they don’t exist. And they don’t exist because they cannot exist, having cashed in their consciences to serve, over Christ himself, other, sinful, corrupt or corruptible human beings
The Catholic Church is infamous for this system: ensure obedience to others under the guise that doing someone else’s will was doing God’s will: that one was less likely to be misguided by his or her own self-interest if he or she followed the will of another. Marvellously compelling logic, that one. 😕 And who would believe it? 😮 It worked!😲 For literally centuries. 😨 And for literally centuries, coruptuon of all hues thrived; what else? But just thrived? No; There was a bonANZA of moral turpitude, seediness and backstabbing that gave rise to such upheavels as the Protestant Reformation, and the rapid haemorrhaging of worshippers from the Church owing to sexual abuse of children by Romanist priests.
The whole dirty set up worked, because the sheep swallowed the garbage that they were surely on the right side of God (i.e. his calmer side. God had a tendency to fly into pathological rages and dole out punishment on the disobedient, indiscriminately of course) with this pious rationale and its configuration of authority/hierarchy
Some of these sheep post on this blog, and the abject idiocy and deference they still display to priests, DESPITE hearing, day in and day out, the moral filth in which these Christ-deniers are mired, is quite literally stupendous. They know who they are.
One of these sheep was Therese of Lisieux. Read her so-called ‘autobiography’, especially the cult of authoritarianism in which she moved and approved, in her silly little head, inside that grim prison she called ‘a convent’. She, like St Paul, was derferential, unquestioningly so, to those in authority, and to a massive fault.
Someone said to me once that Therese was a saint for our time. He never understood why I laughed. 😅
Baaaaaaaaaaaaa 🐑
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I went from reading The Story of a Soul to reading the Ryan Report. It was quite a shock. Therese was very young when she died.
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Thérèse may have been a victim of a cultic church, yet through her writings shines something eternal, real, liberating, which may be called Love.
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Pat, you are an a la carte Oratorian: you are confused about its substance, so the truth is that you steal all Catholic concepts and language but twist them to suit your lifestyle. You are very well intentioned, Truth is – you are just a disaffected, renegade Roman Catholic Priest using all its idioms, liturgies, prayers and then choosing what onky suits you. Once a Roman Catholic Priest, always one!!
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2:14pm
Your head and heart are full of evil.
You are the epitome of a sinful corrupt human being. You are like all freethinkers you only believe what your own warped mind tells you. You have the audacity to insult The Little Flower by calling her a sheep, its better to be a lamb than an ould Nanny Goat like you.
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Yes, I am disaffected – which means dissatisfied with the RCC.
I am an INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC which allows me the freedom to choose.
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I don’t mean any disrespect but isn’t the term “Independent Catholic” a bit of an oxymoron?
The word “Catholic” means universal, all encompassing, inclusive. To describe oneself as “Independent” is to suggest a separateness… in other words you do not wish to be in full unity with other Catholics, and that you are somehow running a parallel universal church which is absurd.
You are either independent or Catholic.
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It can also mean people addicted to cats nowadays.
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10.13
What’s wrong with ‘separateness’ if what one is separated from is intrinsically evil?
Romanism is a vehicle for evil in the world; open your mind to its legacy.
Catholicism, in terms of being universal, does not, as you imply, mean lying in deferential obdience to Romanist gangmasters, but it does mean unrestricted availability to all in terms of love and inclusion.
The history of Romanism is significantly one of rejecting others, even of persecuting them.
Free yourself, while you can, from this vile and evil cult of the episcopate.
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9.33: But Pat, you borrow all the comforting clothes from Roman Catholic beliefs, ethics, teachings, prayer, spirituality and Eucharist. You just happen to be defected and separate but independent. I wish you well and what matters is the sense if Gospel integrity, l8ve, care, mercy, justice, truth and compassion we have – not only in imitation of Christ. And sadly, like many clerics, you too are found wanting. So we all need of God’s mercy. There are many of us at the coal face of parish ministry doing our utmost to keep going and do what is good for parishes.
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No matter what you think about + Pat’s churchmanship / affiliation / whatever, what you can rely on is that he is transparent and honest, and what you see is what you get. That has an incredible integrity to it. Which you do not find that often amongst many other clergy. We know that from what we see in our home churches, but we also see it at the politicking and manoeuvring that goes on in places like the Vatican – think Pell and Becciu for a start. I don’t always agree with + Pat, but I do believe him and trust him.
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You trust him, well more fool you. You sad fool.
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So why@10:29, do YOU read his blog?
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How do you know? What about the victims of his brawls?
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@11.57 Kieran. I read the blog for entertainment and to read what fools like yourself are posting.
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We do seek to entertain and educate.
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Anon@13.33. Little amuses the innocent, ….and the not so innocent too!
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Just to add to my last comment: I don’t think you are independent. I think you are very much a Catholic who is dependent on the Roman Catholic institution for your theological outlooks, your ethics, your liturgy and even your canon law.
You call yourself independent because there is a desire to be separate. But it isn’t possible.
You are a Catholic. Not an independent Catholic.
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I am independent because I am not part of the Roman Catholic Church.
Neither am a part of other Catholic denominations like the Anglicans and Episcopalians.
There is a long history of independent Catholicism and independent Catholic bishops.
The Tablet is currently preparing an article on independent Catholic bishops.
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I’m very clued up on the history of Arnold Harris Mathew et al. But I think it’s important to note that they are all dependent on the Catholic Church, Anglicans etc for their lineage.
A true independent would have been convinced of their faith outside of existing ecclesial structures, and would have received baptism from Christ himself.
You were baptised and ordained in the Catholic Church. You’re lineage is dependent on that.
You were consecrated by an Old Catholic whose lineage is dependent on Old Catholic and Roman Catholic sources.
You can’t remove those dependencies and so therefore you can’t be truly independent. Sorry.
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10:24am
The Tablet once a very good Catholic publication, has for years now been extremely suspect after years of their Rome Correspondent the modernist ultra liberal Robert Mickens who thank God is now gone, but the rag is still suspect.
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10.15, 10.13, 9.44: transparently insincere non-argument alert. Rome, which used to speak for God, since recently rides roughshod over everybody’s consciences. The new Rome is no longer the eternal city of Revelations chapter 21. Older Rome when it was reasonable (in degrees) is ongoing public heritage. Our dependency relates to our discernment in the here and now. You might be content to not go to Christ but we go to Christ AND those who are with Him. (Each of us can make our own move in our own way: I, being devoid of any vocation, merely missed my deadlines.) In the new improved concept, being Bear hugged by an Octopus qualifies as harassment.
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I’m glad you are so well acquainted with the history of independent Catholic Bishops.
It is true that these bishops lineage in connected to the RCC lineage.
However, the RCC lineage is only more or less certain going back to Cardinal Rebiba in thec16th century.
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Although your Lineage is far more recent than the 16th Century.
You have Thuc lineage, don’t you? If my circumstances were to allow for it, I would like to make so-called “Independent” Episcopacy the subject of a Ph.D. I would like to argue that Thuc is the modern equivalent of Arnold Mathew (some call him St Mathew of South Mimms!) in that there are several independent movements that are entirely dependent on him when it comes to episcopal lineage.
Whilst the Roman Church has reluctantly described the apostolic succession bestowed from their hands to be ‘valid, but illicit’, in reality, the validity of their ordinations is far more questionable (for example – it can be argued that Thuc did not have the mental capacity required to actually carry out a valid consecration, and some dubious characters took advantage of him).
Of course, this doesn’t really matter if you reject the necessity of Apostolic Succession, and view the role of the Bishop as an overseer as per the New Testament. (which I would argue is a far more respectable position).
I think it is also worth noting that many “Independent” (or Old) Catholic movements have a top-heavy ecclesiology, with many having an internet-only presence, poorly designed websites filled with photographs of ordination rites in hotel rooms, pages of apostolic lineages, information on how one could be ordained by them, but entirely devoid of the laity… or even basic details on where they gather. The reality is that many of them don’t gather, the laity is non-existent (maybe the Archbishop’s mother and her pet poodle).
Pat. There is a very important difference between you and the so-called “independent” Catholic Bishops. You are not an “Episcopi Vagantes”. You have a physical ministry and from what you tell us, you have a number of laypeople who attend your services. So you are an overseer in the New Testament sense.
I get the feeling that you aren’t really bothered about Apostolic Succession. If Rome was to produce a statement that you are invalidly consecrated, I don’t think you’d lose any sleep over it.
So why call yourself an “Independent Catholic”, and why depend on the Rites, Liturgies, Theology, Ecclesiology, Morals, and Traditions of the Roman Catholic Church?
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You make many good points.
The Thuc lineage goes back to the Chaldeans.
My coconsecrator was Archbishop Peter Paul Brennan of New York.
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Archbishop Peter Paul Brennan! Some extremely interesting ties there!
While my natural interest would wish to focus on St John Coltraine Church in San Francisco which is a church rooted in the Black Liberation Movement and became part of the African Orthodox Church, I think the most relevant item to note about Brennan is his (re) consecration by Emmanuel Milingo, which the Catholic Church doesn’t see as at all valid as “Moonie’ Milingo had been laicized at the time that Brennan was (re) ordained.
His Old Catholic ordinations and consecration by Archbishop Richard Arthur Marchenna who has Syrian Orthodox Lineage.
Brennan’s Malankara Apostolic Succession could at best be argued to be valid in that it is an Oriental Lineage traditionally traced back to St Thomas.
But his (sub conditional) ‘reconsecration’ by Milingo is very likely invalid, and unfortunately, he found himself branded with excommunication and his lineage somewhat ‘spoilt’ by the Vatican.
Pat. Your lineage is extremely interesting but I am very glad you don’t focus upon it, because I think it’s all utter bollocks.
I think you should distance yourself from “Independent Catholicism” and you should look towards using terminology and theology which is truly independent from the Roman Catholic system. Even “breakaway Catholic” isn’t quite right.
Perhaps “Independent Apostolic Christian”?
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Peter Paul was a very bright and good man – a NY college principal.
I visited him in NY and he came to Larne.
I see myself as the overseeing presbyter of a Church that meets at Larne.
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As an overseeing presbyter, you are quite unlike Episcopi vagantes and you should ensure that nobody ever describes you as one. You obviously have an important pastoral ministry which has to be commended.
So when you describe yourself as an “Independent Catholic”, I feel you do a great disservice to that important ministry because of the negative connotations to Episcopi vagantes and other “Independent Catholic Bishops” with all manners of dubious hierarchically top-heavy organisations and negative dependencies on Roman Catholic Ecclesiology, Theology, Morality and Liturgy.
Do you see the points I’m trying to make? I’m not criticising your ministry, I’m criticising your Roman heritage which I’m encouraging you to abandon.
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Before you start that PhD brush up on your Latin.
Pat is not an ‘episcopus vagus.’
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Becciu is a little guy and a new guy compared with the heavies that run the show. To get as far as he did he had to agree to be set up. He deserved demotion but the heavies that haven’t been deserve it even more. The timing of these shenanigans and counter-shenanigans are telling. He would have been sheltered longer if he hadn’t disagreed with them over some other important thing. Pell is useful because a visible improvement towards (and no more than towards) financial probity will send a desirable message in the medium term. The more apparent resistance they meet with, the more effort they can pretend to put into it. Poison, and chalice, come to mind. Not dissimilar to yesterday’s topic indeed!
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It’s sad to be hearing all this politicking and financial misbehaviour in the Church, the strings being pulled by a small group of men, and layer upon layer of deceit and dishonesty. I know we are human, and the Church is populated by humans with all their weaknesses and sinfulness, but honestly I do expect more of people who tell us that they have been called by God to lead our Church. It’s all so very dispiriting and depressing. Thank God the little people keep the faith and keep praying.
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1:41
Thank you for your comment which I appreciate.
I believe I have abandoned my Roman heritage but kept my Catholic, Christian heritage.
I have no connection with the Church of Rome.
I do not include its Pope or bishops in my liturgy.
Christ His Word and Sacraments are central to me.
I hold RC canon law in total contempt.
As you say I am not vagantes as I have been stable in one community for 34 years.
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I’m glad you’re taking my challenges comments with their intended respect. Nevertheless, I still think it could be argued that you have not fully separated yourself from the Roman system. Even on a practical level, would I be correct in thinking that you are dependent on the Roman Church for your accommodation which you have claimed squatters rights over? If the diocese of Down & Connor wished to sell the property, you could be evicted, albeit through a very messy legal process.
You speak of sacraments. I would be interested in how you interpret them, how many you hold to and how you came to that conclusion.
You are probably aware that the idea of 7 sacraments is a Roman innovation and would be disputed by the eastern churches as well as our reformation influenced friends.
Your liturgy, from what I can tell is unadulterated 1973 Roman Missal. I wonder what is stopping you from composing your own liturgies or utilizing liturgies from other sources such as the Anglicans, Robert Hoey, Taizé et al?
Your vestments again are of the Roman influence. In fact, you would seem to vest more formally than most Irish-Roman clergy, opting to wear a chasuble for a weekday mass.
I have to say when I compare you to Bishop Bridgid Meehan it would seem as though you both haven’t really reflected on the operative theology of your ministries and what you’re trying to communicate.
Bridgid wishes to emphasize that she is a Roman Catholic Woman Priest and Bishop, and yet her liturgies and liturgical vesture are very different from Roman Catholic norms.
You wish to emphasize that you are not a Roman Catholic, and yet your liturgies and liturgical vesture are indistinguishable, if not slightly more conservative in style to Roman Catholic norms.
As before, I say this with genuine respect and sincerity and I hope you take these comments as such. I appreciate this dialogue.
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I am about to celebrate a wedding. Will answer you.later.
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I do know that the Vatican was quite concerned about the +Milingo consecrations because he was directly consecrated by Paul VI. A friend who shared in +Milingo’s line told me that he was visited by a Vatican monsignore who asked him for his particulars. Very congenial experience he told me.
++Peter Paul was a very kind and knowledgeable gentleman who reminded me of what was said about the uagans prelate who lived in Oxford back in the thirties. You had to be careful about keeping your hat on or you might find yourself consecrated a bishop.
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My interest in Episcopi Vagantes was started when had the honour of meeting the late Bishop Michael Wright of the Holy Catholic Church (Western Rite)
A gentleman who had absolute conviction in what he was doing and yet was totally unaware as to how little he was actually doing! It was quite painful to see him working so hard to try and build unity among tiny communions (many of which were splinter groups of one another) which were made up of 4 archbishops, 3 bishops, a priest (to be ordained bishop the next week), an old lady and her dog named ”Crystostom”!
I then had some extremely interesting encounters with Bishop David Gillham of the Open Episcopal Church who famously had disputes with every individual he ever came into contact with, leaving the open episcopal church in very poor standing and now conducts ordinations and consecrations for cash.
Finally, I used to rent a property which was in the shadow of Good Shepherd, Clapton, built for the Agepemonites (what fun they were!) and during my time was home to the ”Ancient Catholic Church”. Again, very rich history which has greatly impacted the, let’s say ” non-mainstream church” here in the British Isles.
Peter Anson’s book ”Bishops at large” is one of my most treasured books alongside Aubrey Menen’s ”The Abode of Love” and Kate Barlow’s book of the same name.
As I said in an earlier post, I would love to write a PhD on this subject, failing that I would love to write an update to Anson’s book.
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A good Ph.D needs written on it
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2:30pm
Bridgid Meehan can kid herself all she likes she is neither a priest or a bishop and she is certainly not a Roman Catholic. She’s completely and utterly mad in a world of her own. .
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6:18 pm
I wouldn’t wish to comment on her mental state but I feel I should explain that I brought her up in my discussion with +Pat because he has hosted her at the oratory and has suggested that he considers her to be equal to him in the episcopate.
Nonetheless, they have very different ecclesiological articulations in their liturgies and vestige.
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I am glad that the Vatican have just denied Trumps pip squeak Pompeo a private audience. The arrogant American needed taken down a peg or two. Right back at you Pompeo.
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Pompeo will be devastated, I’m sure.
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2.30
I am not dependent on the RCC for my lodgings.
I do live in a house legally owned by the RCC but have a High Court agreement titalky securing my presence here. I cannot be evicted.
I choose to believe in the 7 Sacraments.
I choose to use the Cat 11 liturgy for my own personal taste and spirituality.
I have only started using the chasuble for weekday Masses as I am broadcasting them.
As Augustine said- every man has his own way to God.
Do I have contradictions?
I do.
We all have.
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I respect your position, however you haven’t answered how you came to the conclusion of seven sacraments and the use of the Roman liturgy. When you describe yourself as independent you are emphasising that your ministry is distinctive from Roman clergy… And yet your distinctive seems to be that you hold to the same beliefs and traditions as your Roman brother priests.
Granted you offer gay blessings, but there are Roman clergy who do that too, they just aren’t able to openly advertise that! Soon you will be able to do gay marriages. That will make you distinctive from Roman priests.
But I would question if it’s enough of a distinction. It does seem as if you are dependent on the Roman Church.
As for your home, you might want to read up on squatters rights. You could be easily evicted if the Church sold the property under your feet. The Church can’t evict you, but a new owner could! I know this from experience!
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I do notlive here on the basis of squatters rights.
I am a Lincensee.
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I am very comfortable with the 7 sacraments facilitating God’s grace at life’s great moments.
Of course God’s grace us not confined to or by the 7 sacraments.
I have already celebrated state recognised sane sex marriages.
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To continue from my last post.
Thank you, Pat. I have enjoyed our discussion today.
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No probs. Such discussions, I think, are best face to face. Its very hard to have a wide-ranging discussion by typing – I find?
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Pat. Whilst part of me would love to meet you face to face, I’m afraid that would never be possible. Neither would a phone call. I’m sorry.
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Thats ok. Fortunately I am in a position where I can meet anyone I want. I do understand that not everyone is a free as I am.
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Par, is your interviewer Damian Thompson? He has similar interests and views to the person who has been quizzing you.
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Ha! I haven’t laughed so much for a long time. I’m not Damien Thompson, I promise you.
I’m just a washed-up theologian on universal credit with no future. If I’m not planning my suicide, I enjoy researching Victorian religious sects.
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@6:30pm
I bet you’ve never heard of the Conneyites. I lived next door to one in Enniskillen. They believe that the elect must be baptised in the Erne or one of its tributaries.
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We have Cooneyites in Larne.
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The two by twos. They were Unitarian anabaptists! Harmless enough but not as exciting as the Irvingites!
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I am a proud benefactor of the Catholic Church, I am not the most generous I give around 30k per year directly to the Diocese. I trust that the money is well spent!
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A fool and his money……
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1.10: Pat, one thing we know about you: You ain’t no fool when it comes to money!! Most assuredly not!
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I am actually. As those who know me.
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1:06 pm. More money than sense.
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2 26: Don’t believe you…..no.
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This is literally the funniest comment ever here. You trust that the money is well spent!
Yes it’s spent, on wining and dining, wallpaper, grindr subscriptions and entry fees to saunas.
You fully deserve to be parted from your cash by these fraudsters, as you are way too trusting.
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I am sure the benefactors of Silverstream thought likewise.
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Does idiocy beget trust, or vice versa? Or, @1:06, is there some kind of “holier than thou” sense of satisfaction in your “proudness?”
The RCC is one of the wealthiest organisations on earth taking into account its property assets, yet continues to cry poor mouth while squandering vast sums.
I think that anyone who contributes to its coffers without researching the facts is an idiot.
The only positive element of your comment, ……is that I don’t believe you for a moment. You’re probably just another shit stirrer.
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Hope you read Pat’s next blog about papal finance shennanigans. I’m referring to you, the idiot at 1:06pm
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All this talk about bishops and their lineage ! I don’t think it really matters. What I want of a bishop is someone who is prayerful, holy, kind, good to people, an inspiration, and someone rooted in the faith rather than worrying about who laid hands on him In a diocese next door to me two bishops are due to be consecrated in the next month. They – certainly one – were probably third or fourth choice on the list, others having politely declined. That happens more often than we think. Priests are not necessarily keen to be bishops. Those that do should be well avoided. There will be a lot of huffing and puffing about them, and they will feel that they have arrived in the episcopal club. They will be guaranteed a pleasant life until death, and will be feted by some. It really is a nonsense. During this Covid time, rather than jumping through hoops to make a big show and show off the episcopacy, perhaps they should all have had the humility to do it on a Saturday morning in a small chapel with no fuss. After all, if the lineage stuff is so important, as long as another bishop lays hands on you, that’s it. We don’t need all the other fuss, or all the other adoring attention to these two prospective bishops. Then they should just get on with the job, simply, humbly and without fuss.
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Who would get your vote Pat, Sleepy Joe or The Donald?
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Biden was far from sleepy at the debate if you watched it properly that is. You obviously like using Trump rhetoric and you probably endorse Cardinal Dolan too the useless oaf who supports Trump.
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3.00: Trump of course.
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Biden
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3:09pm
No surprise there.
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Who will the +Aul Doll support, Bp Pat? I wonder.
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Regarding Beccui – and his kind – Marcinkus, Trujillo, Sodano, Pell, Murphy OConnor, OBrien, Hume, Brady, Daly, Spellman, Cody etc as Lucretius said so many years ago: Tantum religio pituit suadere malorum – ‘To such heights of evil has religion been able to drive men.’
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How dare you. Spellman did many works of charity, feeding chorus boys.
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Bp Pat, look at these Silverstream poofters. They have the cheek to say “there’s a waiting list to get in” at the end. They can’t get out quick enough now!
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You would expect them to have an increase in applications after recent revelations. Their only challenge will be in sifting out the ones who think daily monastic life is an orgy, those into bears and those who will expect any slips to be greeted with a flash of the prior’s willy. Those sifted out can apply to Farnborough where they’ll be welcomed with open arms.
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“… a flash of the prior’s willy.”
Please avert your gaze.
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The Great Dream to Grand Delusion.
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How very dare I indeed – Spellman was allegedly voracious in his appetites Chorus Boys, Rent Boys and Choir Boys were on the menu!! Gore Vidal said that Spellman had told him that if he was ever exposed for his double life that no one would believe it – Trullijo the same (President of the Pontifical Council for the Family under PJPII FFS!!). Trujillo would whip the rent boys mercilessly after having sex with them – what a tortured charmer. Givers, Receivers, Tops, Bottoms, Feeders, Breeders, the worlds your moisture if your a moralistic prelate by day you can be any of the aforementioned by night!! The Beccui scandal has more to it than just money – follow the money and it’s leads to sex, follow the sex and it leads to money. Simples!!
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Gore Vidal never told a lie or an exaggeration…
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Cardinal Becciu lawyer (Ivano Iai) has resigned “…. after posting on social media photos of himself posing on a beach in a pair of skimpy swimming trunks……”
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Amy’s clerical changes for Dromore:
Retirements
Very Rev Canon Frank Kearney PP Annaclone to retire
Very Rev Canon John Kearney Adm Clonallon (St Peter’s Warrenpoint) and PP Kilbroney (Rostrevor) to retire
Appointments
Very Rev Canon Francis Brown, Administrator Newry to also be Administrator Saval.
Very Rev Desmond Loughran Newry Parish to be PP Clonallon (St Patrick’s Mayobridge) and Assistant Priest in the wider St Bronagh’s B Pastoral Area.
Very Rev Brian Fitzpatrick CC Shankill (St Peter’s and St Paul’s Lurgan) to be PP of Moyraverty (Craigavon) and PP Seagoe (Derrymacash)
Very Rev Brendan Kearns PP Kilbroney (Rostrevor) to be PP Clonallon (St Peter’s Warrenpoint) and PP Clonallon (St Mary’s Burren).
Rev Feidhlimidh Magennis, Administrator Dromore to be PP Dromore.
Very Rev Michael Maginn outgoing chaplain Craigavon Area Hospital to be Assistant Priest in St. Ronan’s Pastoral Area.
Very Rev Andrew McMahon PP Seapatrick (Banbridge) also to be PP Annaclone.
Very Rev Desmond Mooney PP Clonallon (St Patrick’s Mayobridge) and PP Clonallon (St Mary’s Burren) to be Parish Priest Kilbroney (Rostrevor).
Rev Krzysztof Kosciolek CC Newry to be CC Clonallon (St Peter’s Warrenpoint) and CC Clonallon (St Mary’s Burren), continuing his mission to the Polish Community.
Rev Alphonsus Chukwunenye, MSP, to be CC Newry and CC Saval.
Rev Michael Rooney, Permanent Deacon Seapatrick (Banbridge) also to be Permanent Deacon Annaclone.
Rev Callum Young, transitional deacon, to serve part-‐time in the Parishes of Newry and Saval.
Rev Juan Jesus Gonzales Borrallo, transitional deacon, to serve in the Parishes of Moyraverty (Craigavon) and Seagoe (Derrymacash)
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I see Amy is imposing another Nigerian and this time in Newry. Lots of opportunities around that border area for money laundering.
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Is there no replacement priest chaplain at Craigavon hospital?
All the PPs seem to have two or three parishes each.
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Amy can’t look after Armagh properly let alone Dromore as well. I see Magennis has finally been made to take a parish after all his time spent at St Mary’s. Time for parish dodgers to be given parishes.
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That sounds a bit racist. A bit like saying thick micks.
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6.45pm Gore Vidal lie and exaggerate, never on this earth – Cardinal Spellman a voracious and ferocious active homosexual, an outrageous slur and Pope Emeritus Raztzinger a penchant for pretty red shoes. Armani sunglasses and Teutonic hunks called George, how very very dare you!
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