“Peter Andrew Kwasniewski (born 22 March 1971) is an American traditionalist Catholic writer and composer of sacred music. He is a senior fellow of the St. Paul Center in Steubenville, Ohio, and was formerly on the faculty of Wyoming Catholic College. He is also the author of four books about traditional Catholicism: Resurgent in the Midst of Crisis, Noble Beauty, Transcendent Holiness, Tradition and Sanity, and Reclaiming Our Roman Catholic Birthright. (Wiki)
In 2016, it was revealed that Kwasniewski was among the clergy and theologians who signed the “Letter of the 45”, a letter to all the Catholic cardinals which asked them to “respond to the dangers to Catholic faith and morals” which they alleged that Pope Francis’ Amoris Laetitia had posed.
Kwasniewski was also a signatory of a letter in support of the four Dubia cardinals. In April 2019, Kwasniewski was among 19 Catholic scholars and clergy who signed a 20-page open letter making a formal accusation of heresy against Pope Francis. These documents have been published in the book Defending the Faith Against Present Heresies (Arouca Press, 2020), which also includes 31 items (articles and interviews) commenting on the various initiatives, among which are found two essays by Kwasniewski.
Kwasniewski has spoken out strongly against Pope Francis’s teaching on the death penalty and particularly his changes to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He has been an outspoken critic of this pope on other topics as well—for example, on the motu proprio Spiritus Domini modifying canon law to open the ministries of lector and acolyte to women; and the pope’s apparent veneration of Pachamama at the start of the Amazon Synod as well as the agenda and conduct of that synod;
Although Kwasniewski discusses his understanding of the nature and limits of the papal office in many articles, the most comprehensive treatment to date seems to be a lecture entitled “My Journey from Ultramontanism to Catholicism”.
He has distanced himself repeatedly from and unequivocally rejects sedevacantism. To an Orthodox hieromonk who had critiqued the Catholic Church in the modern West, Kwasniewski wrote a rejoinder expressing sympathy but also questioning some of his conclusions and presenting arguments in favor of the Roman Church. In an article called “Is It Ever Okay to Take Shelter in an SSPX Mass?,” he summarized the changes over the years in the Vatican’s attitude toward the Society established by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and counseled Catholics, if their canonical right to the Extraordinary Form as per Summorum Pontificum is denied in their parish or diocese, to avail themselves of Society chapels. He exhorts Catholics not to give up on the Church in spite of what many consider to be its current corruption and waywardness”. (Wiki)
Dear Mr. Kwasniewski,.
I am Bishop Pat Buckley, an independent bishop who is well-known on the island of Ireland for my ministry to those on the fringes of the church. But, I am better known for highlighting clerical misconduct in the church on my blog.
Last year, several priests of the Diocese of Meath provided me with information about Silverstream Priory, because they were concerned (quite rightly) at the way the so-called visitation of the priory was being conducted. They were also concerned at the mishandling by Bishop Deenihan of the allegations of sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement levelled at the then Prior of Silverstream, Dom Mark Kirby, OSB, who I understand is well-known to your good self.
One of the visitators of Silverstream Priory was Dom Richard Purcell, the current Cistercian (Trappist) abbot of Mount Melleray Abbey in County Waterford in the Republic of Ireland. As I have repeatedly highlighted on my blog, and it was acknowledged to me as being true by the current Abbot General of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance, Dom Eamon Fitzgerald, that Dom Purcell has on-going issues with chastity. Dom Purcell is known to be a frequent visitor to gay saunas; he had consensual anal sex with an ex-seminarian of the Diocese of Killaloe, who recognised Purcell from a retreat. I could go on; but, I suspect you get the picture. Nonetheless, I would submit the fact that Dom Purcell was involved in the visitation of Silverstream — the said visitation had the credibility of a canard. Of course, I could also highlight issues associated with the other visitator, Abbot Brendan Coffey, OSB, of Glenstal Abbey, but that would take too long.
It is my understanding that you have a personal connection with Silverstream Priory. Your son is a member of the community at Silverstream; he (your son, Dom Isaias Maria) professed first vows on July 11, 2020. I noted that Bishop Deenihan attended the profession.
However, the catalyst for the present e-mail is your announcement on Facebook (yesterday Oct 12, 2021) that you recently attended the priestly ordination of two monks in Italy; the ordaining bishop was Cardinal George Pell. You were very circumspect about the conversation you had with Cardinal Pell, however, I suspect you were less than complimentary about the current Pontiff, Pope Francis. You must be apoplectic at the restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass rightly introduced by Pope Francis.
I am not a fan of Cardinal Pell. However, I entirely accept he was maliciously prosecuted and imprisoned; but more importantly he was cleared by Australia’s highest court. Hence, his name and reputation is unblemished.
However, Cardinal Pell did have a lot of difficulty with a priest who feigned cancer. The said priest (who I now believe has been laicised) was Fr. Richard Abourjaily. Interestingly, I understand he started his journey to priesthood in a FSSP seminary. Abourjaily was branded as being “delusional” by Cardinal Pell. However, that did not stop him coming to Silverstream Priory, where he [Abourjaily] was permitted by Dom Mark Kirby to hear confessions, to celebrate the conventual mass and present himself as a priest without any restriction. Were you aware of this reality? If you have the contact details of Cardinal Pell, would you be happy to make him aware of this sequence of facts?
Would you now publicly condemn Dom Kirby for permitting Abourjaily to do what he liked with impunity at Silverstream Priory? Should Kirby be subjected to disciplinary action instigated by Bishop Deenihan? If not; why not?
Were you aware that when Dom Mark Kirby was teaching liturgy at Holy Apostles Seminary in Connecticut that he was a trenchant critic of the Traditional Latin Mass? He absolutely hated the liturgy of the church that you display an autistic-like obsession with. He was so disparaging of the so-called mass of the ages it became an issue. This has been independently verified and I have the names and addresses of priests that can attest to this reality. Of course, they would not wish to be associated with me, however, that is not the point.
At the time when Kirby was teaching in the seminary he was a Cistercian, he was, however, not permitted to wear the Cistercian habit at the time. Were you aware of that reality? Are you able to offer any insight into why he was not permitted to wear the monastic habit at that time?
Were you aware that Dom Mark Kirby when he was in the United States lead a life that was considerably and conspicuously at variance with his priestly and monastic vows? His “leather jacket” was well-known on a certain scene. I invite you to take whatever inference you wish from that statement. Sadly, there is a huge gay subculture in the Traditional Latin Mass movement. I am not suggesting that all priests who celebrate the TLM are gay but a lot of them are; because, wherever you have lace you have leather along with lots of pink gin.
Are you in a position to shed any light why Dom Kirby departed from The Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle Foundation in Mounds, Oklahoma?
Are you aware that Dom Kirby has been accused of sexual and financial impropriety during his tenure as founding prior of Silverstream? If these accusations are proven – do you consider that Dom Kirby should be laicised? Would you support the imposition of laicisation by Decree on Dom Kirby – if the accusations are true?
If the life of Dom Mark Kirby is shown to be one of duplicity and deception over the decades — do you consider his latest creation, Silverstream Priory to irredeemably tainted and an embarrassment to the cause that you hold, dear, the Traditional Latin Mass? In light of your considerable academic expertise, you would accept that monastic communities emanate and display certain characteristics of the founder; hence, this is a legitimate question about Silverstream.
Would you then support the suppression of Silverstream Priory and the dispersal of the community to more credible monastic houses by a Decree of the Holy See?
Do you consider that you and your son were duped by the hypocrisy of Dom Kirby?
Because of Dom Kirby’s purported love of the Traditional Latin Mass, did you fail to exercise appropriate and suitable judgement of Dom Kirby? Do you lack discretion?
I note that you provided the Nihil Obstat for Kirby’s book In Sinu Jesu. In light of the allegations made against Dom Kirby, do you now consider you that should withdraw the said Nihil Obstat?
Are you in a position to confirm if Dom Kirby personally received any royalties from, In Sinu Jesu?
Does Bishop Thomas Deenihan and/or the Diocese of Meath receive any royalties from, In Sinu Jesu?
Should the book be withdrawn from circulation and that those who were so laudatory of In Sinu Jesu should publicly disassociate themselves from the said book? These individuals are: Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, Fr. Hugh Barbour O.Praem, Fr. David Abernethy CO, Fr Joachim Schwarzmüller, Dr Kevin Vost, Prof. David W. Fagerberg, and Prof. Mark Miravalle. Bishop Joseph Strickland is also a fan I understand, along with the conspiracy theorist, anti-vaxxer and a trenchant critic of the papacy of Pope Francis, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò.
Are you in a position to shed any light into who receives the royalties from In Sinu Jesu? Are you in receipt of on-going royalties from sales of the book?
Are Ignatius Press and EWTN aware of the scandals that surround Dom Kirby?
Do you consider Silverstream Priory a suitable place for your son to pursue his vocation as a monk? Would Dom Isaias Maria be better seeking a transfer to a more mainstream/suitable Benedictine house? As he is American-born — would Clear Creek Abbey in Oklahoma be an alternative?
Do you accept the charge that you at times border on being a sedevancantist?
Do consider your obsession with the TLM to be a form of Churchanity, and that has created an ideological sequestration that borders on sectarianism that makes you blind to the ills of those who nostalgically long for a golden age of the church that never really existed where the Traditional Latin Mass was ubiquitous?
It is my custom to publish all my e-mail correspondence on my blog, because I believe transparency is good for the church. Should you reply to this e-mail, I, will publish your reply, unless you explicitly request me not to do so.
With prayerful best wishes,
+ Pat Buckley.
PAT SAYS:
I have never heard of Mr Kwasniewski before now.
He seems like all of the other right-wing TLM crowd.
A priest who knows him says: “he is a die-hard Kirby loyalist. He is also inching closer and closer to schism with his opinions about the liturgy and resistance to the Pope. He has said some very unkind things about the Silverstream whistle blower. He accused the whistl blower of being “deranged” for making accusations against Kirby.
I think I know who the deranged one is.
The priest said of his son:
“He himself is a very nice young man, but his father is very foolish to put him under Kirby’s influence. Being a homeschool child without a college degree, Julian has no experience of the world, nor of manipulating, grooming creeps like Kirby”.
Silverstream and silver streamers are a strange and dangerous lot.
BISHOP PAT BUCKLEY 