Categories
Uncategorized

AUSTRALIAN BENEDICTINES SELL LAND FOR $ 40 MILLION TO SETTLE ABORIGINAL SEX ABUSE.

bishop accountability.org

Billionaire businessman Andrew Forrest is poised to snap up prime farmland surrounding Australia’s only monastic town of New Norcia, 130 kilometres north of Perth in WA.

Key points:

The historic townsite north of Perth is not part of the sale


It’s the first time the land is being sold in 175 years


The property is touted as some of the best farming land in the state


In a deal subject to approval by the Catholic Church, Mr Forrest’s Tattarang company is set to buy the 7,975 hectares of farmland surrounding the historic townsite that was established by Benedictine monks as part of an Aboriginal mission in 1847.

It will be the first time the land, near the banks of the Moore River, has changed hands since then.

The remaining small community of monks at New Norcia made the “difficult decision” earlier this year to sell the land to pay for historical sexual abuse claims by Aboriginal people who attended the mission’s orphanages until the mid-1970s.

The sale price has not been disclosed, but the farmland is thought to be worth around $40 million.

Tattarang said it would form part of its Harvest Road agrifood business that includes the Harvey Beef brand.

The company’s chief investment officer, John Hartman, said Harvest Road was committed to protecting the iconic property.

“We pay tribute to the outstanding stewardship of the Benedictine community that has preserved the exceptional productivity of the land for almost two centuries,” Mr Hartman said in a statement.

“We know that this is an iconic place with an unbroken 175-year agricultural legacy that has helped support generations of regional farming communities.

“We are committed to investing in New Norcia’s future and we look forward to working with surrounding shires to create new value for local communities and unlock long-term jobs.”

NEW NORCIA MONKS STAY SILENT.

The Abbot of New Norcia, John Herbert, declined to comment on the prospective sale of the farmland.

CURRENT COMMUNITY

In September, he confirmed to the ABC that the community had so far made payments totalling more than $10 million to survivors of historical child sexual abuse.

It is understood there are currently 20 outstanding historical child sexual abuse cases.

The sale does not include the New Norcia townsite.

Deal divides survivors of alleged abuse

The prospective sale has so far drawn a mixed response from First Nations people connected to the mission’s orphanages.

Kevin Barron, who from the late 1950s went to St Mary’s, New Norcia’s institution for Aboriginal boys, welcomed the news as a step towards survivors of alleged abuse being compensated.

Mr Barron said he worked on the farmland as a boy, picking olives and wild radishes.

“I don’t care who buys it,” he said.

“But a lot of people will be grateful that at least they can be paid out for the abuse they suffered.”

Elvis Moody, whose father Eric also attended the boys home, said he was disappointed that the land had not been returned to the local Yued people.

He said he hoped Mr Forrest would “respect the traditional custodians of the land in any decisions that are made regarding the use of the property”.

“The best outcome in the interests of the Yued people and their descendants is for the land to be used for preservation and protection of natural species, not agriculture, and open to the public for recreation and Yued people for ceremonies,” he said.

‘The memories will never go’

Ballardong-Noongar woman Dallas Phillips attended St Joseph’s girls home at New Norcia and said she was disappointed that there was no mention of working with Aboriginal people in Tattarang’s media release about the purchase.

“They must not forget that it was blackfellas that did all the clearing of that land,” she said.

“It was our mob who did all that work.

“It was unpaid labour, they were used … to make that land prime today.

“They might sell the land but the memories will never go.”

PAT SAYS

So, it’s not in Ireland and the UK that Benedictine monasteries are in serious trouble.

Here we are troubled by gay carry on in Glenstal and Silverstream.

In Australia the need tens of millions of dollars to pay off victims of abuse at Benedictine Monastery schools there.

Somebody once said:

“SEX IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH’S 20 TH CENTURY GALILEO”.

That’s now spilled over into the 21 St century too.

And God knows how long it will go on?

The Hierarchy and clergy of the RCC weaponised sex against us all for so long.

Now that weapon has turned around on them and is destroying them.

Is there Divine Justice at work here?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

87 replies on “AUSTRALIAN BENEDICTINES SELL LAND FOR $ 40 MILLION TO SETTLE ABORIGINAL SEX ABUSE.”

What is it about Catholicism that attracts these monsters? Oh I know, the cover ups and brushing under the Afghan rugs that are still rife with protecting criminals.

Like

The failure of state should not be swept under the carpet either.
The Stolen Generations were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments. ☹️

Like

This is a very complex reality facing the church. Yes, Benedictine life is in a very dire state. But, the history of monasticism shows times of great fervour followed by periods of precipitous decline. Sadly, we are in the midst of serious and significant decline at the moment.

In Ireland, we have the scandal of Richard Purcell at Mount Melleray Abbey and the indifference to his known misconduct by the Abbot General is nothing short of scandalous. We have the complicity of Brendan Coffey in Glenstal are seeking to assist the cover-up of Purcell’s misconduct. Of course, Glenstal has its own skeletons that have not yet come into the public domain. We have the scandal of Mark Kirby in Silverstream and the indifference of the local Ordinary.

In England, you have the English Benedictine Congregation in an equally dire state; it is squalid and riven with rampant homosexuality. This has been exacerbated by paedophile monks e.g. Downside Abbey.

Let us be blunt there has always been gay monks, however, they led chaste and celibate lives; today, we have the reality where it is considered to be perfectly acceptable to be monks and to be actively gay.

I do, however, have concerns about monasteries selling land to settle claims of historical abuse. Some of these claims are speculative and opportunistic. I am aware of a couple of situations where people have made false claims of misconduct for their own engorgement. But, what appears to have occurred at New Norcia seems to have been horrendous. So it is right and proper that the land is being sold in order to assist those who suffered at the hands of these predators receive justice

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7903117/New-Norcia-dark-history-one-Australias-oldest-tourist-attractions.html

Like

Very nice comment, but permit me to draw on one aspect, and that is ‘indifference’. I do not think it exclusive to monastic life – nor do I think you mean to intend your comment to be read as indicating such. However it is important, I believe, that we clearly point out that at the crux of the issue is indifference. By this I mean indifference by all people in ecclesial authority, be that monastic or otherwise.
*
After the child abuse scandals emerged some bishops were able to hide away saying that they did not fully appreciate the ramifications or were shocked that such a thing might happen at the hands of the clergy. The laity bought these excuses, to a degree.
*
Then there were the children of clergy revelations. The laity turned a blind eye to this because – well culturally we used to just place all single mothers into laundries and as a nation we needed to accept some blame for that too – so it was easier to be numb to this issue.
*
The the Seminary president was accused of sleeping with the seminarians, and more recently there were ‘strange goings on’. But why should the laity be concerned if the Archbishop of Dublin’s response was to openly walk away from Maynooth having acknowledged the issues – Where was his responsibility to respond to the failings, except on the scrap heap where he abandoned it.
*
Now the monks are at it. Voices cry out, “well they were always at it”…. Do we realise what this voice is saying? It normalises sexual conduct behind monastic walls. Yes it lifts the veil, but only insofar as to open our eyes to reality. It may be scandalous, but the specific allegations against Purcell is not in and of itself a scandal once it is normalised.
*
So the go to response is as follows;
Revelation -> accusations of scandal -> normalising the behaviour that caused the accusations -> no longer a scandal -> indifference is justified to the person in authority (Don’t touch that can of worms) -> silent response by the institution until the voices either quieten, get fed up, or die.
*
… The person who is indifferent will wait it out with everything to lose. The person who cries in the wilderness will either go away or stay so long that the institution can accuse them of being mentally ill or vindictive. Sometimes the person will actually become either of these due to the nonfeasance that they encounter from ecclesial authorities. It turns out that the voice in the wilderness has something to lose, and that is their health, specifically but not exclusively, their mental health.
*
Our response. Pray for +Pat. He is strong but faces dark forces on behalf of us all. He does not always get it right, but he gets most of it right. God bless you.

Liked by 1 person

Very pertinent point, Holy Goat. Important to point out that the indifference extends to the religion they represent and claim to believe.

Like

Wow superb comment THG. Having evaded invasive questioning in confessionals I didn’t attend as a young person, I did observe it occurring outside of that some years later.

Like

‘I do, however, have concerns about monasteries selling land to settle claims of historical abuse. Some of these claims are speculative and opportunistic. I am aware of a couple of situations where people have made false claims of misconduct for their own engorgement.’

Listening to you anyone would think the church just paid up without dragging the victims through court and retraumatizing them. Fool.

Like

@11.01 – I am unsure who you are calling a fool. However if your point cannot be made with logical argument, purged of personal attack than perhaps you lack ability to comment in line with public etiquette.
*
Permit me to make an observation on the sale of land in the listed article. Reading between the lines it becomes clear that the monastery is selling land that has been used by the native people of the region before the Benedictines were there, and since they were there. It appears to me that all the Benedictines are really loosing is the deeds of ownership, while the risks associated with the future use of the land appear to impact the natives of the region. Thus and in essence, those who take compensation as individuals are risking the future of their own nation’s heritage, while the Benedictines suffer not the consequences. I do not respect this fact, but I can see behind the subterfuge of what is really going on.

Like

Exactly, 11:33. It’s the same injury just repeated in a different way.
TBH it’s a bit difficult to see what else they can do in the face of multiple claims, though.

Like

@12.10
They could wind up the Abbey, hand everything over to the locals (including victims) and go back to the their mother Abbey – or another one if they do not speak Spanish.
*
They could sell only as much as the land as needed for compensation.
*
They could divide the farm into a co-operative owned and controlled by the locals who made it into what it is today.
*
They could be transparent about how the sale price will be divided between compensation for abuse claims and their abbey’s bank account.
*
They could sell the abbey and live a more simple life on the farm – thereafter building their own new monastery – why do Monks not build today?

Like

Yes they could do all of those things, Holy Goat, although my comment was assuming they wouldn’t do any of them. I would actually think the things you suggest would be better for their monastic life than staying there, showing they have repented, leaving the associations with previous behaviour and not rattling round in a huge place.
Monasteries do build nowadays, actually. Rostrevor in NI and Stanbrook in England would both be examples of twenty first century ones. The tridentinist branch of the Solesmes congregation not only has built new places but also recolonised a dying monastery of the congregation. If only I could remember its name…

Like

@12.27 (HG). Good points. Monks, nuns and seminaries cling to their old, costly buildings out of habit or because they don’t want upheaval, or because closure is embarrassing and an apparent defeat and sign that the promised fruits of renewal never came. It means that they turn into Potemkin villages that cost a fortune to maintain. Think of Maynooth, for example, where a giant campus is kept on by the church even though there are only twenty or so seminarians, or the monks in Ireland maintaining several monasteries when they could all fit comfortably into one.

Like

They have to clean the debts somehow… Unfortunately money do not grow at the apple trees… By the way they paid to protect those peadophiles monks/priests not because they worried for the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, simply because they are dead if they end up in prison…

Like

Pat the Scottish inquiry report on Fort Augustus said there was a connection and traffic of monks between there and New Norcia, so it’s not strange that both monasteries were wildly abusive.
The abuse thing is the current Galileo, yes, but the ‘life’ thing is the current attempt to divert from the church’s horrendous history of abuse. You are not pro-life if you treat a monastery’s estate better than the kids picking olives there.

Like

@11:01
“Listening to you anyone would think the church just paid up without dragging the victims through court and retraumatizing them. Fool.”
How many cases have the Archdiocese of Boston defended before the courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts? How many times has Attorney Mitchell Garabedian got into court and litigated and subjected witnesses to cross-examination? The church in America always pays up to put it more appropriately depending on the jurisdiction – the insurance companies pay up. How many cases in Ireland have gone into court?
Answers on a postcard…

Like

You can find all of those things on the internet, 11:34. You see the courts are transparent, unlike the church. Fool.

Like

I thought you said Vatican 2 was responsible for every evil in the world. Strange since this all went on in the good old traddy cappa magna days. Fool.

Like

Like many Benedictine houses, New Norcia is ripe for dissolution. A handful of monks and no novices, they rattle round in a huge campus, and to sustain that lifestyle they’ve turned it in a theme park/tourist attraction, which cannot be conducive to the quiet and recollection that should characterise monasteries.
You can even stay as a paying guest in the notorious former orphanages and convent. How insensitive is that?
https://www.newnorcia.wa.edu.au/

Like

It would be good if the church used the time it wastes on the preposterous theology of the body, to come up with a sensible theology of why they leave a trail of destruction everywhere they go.

Like

@11:47 am
“You see the courts are transparent, unlike the church. Fool.”
With your great expertise the judicial system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, please list the cases where “The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston” a Corporation Sole, has gone into court and defended claims?
https://www.mass.gov/orgs/massachusetts-court-system
In the US, in order to protect the identity of the victim, the case will be listed under the pseudonym of a “John/Jane Doe”. After all, “the courts are transparent”.
You may also wish to point to other cases in the United States where the Church has defended similar lawsuits. Also, highlight how many cases that have been defended by the Church in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and other jurisdictions within the European Union?
Otherwise, accept that you write about matters of which you have no knowledge from a position of ignorance and prejudice. Fool.
You might profit greatly from reading the judgment of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to learn about how the courts approach the complex and controversial expansion of vicarious lability in these kind of cases.
https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2012/56.html

Like

‘Western Australia’s Benedictine Community of New Norcia rated among the worst for historical child sex offenders according to figures released by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
The commission found the number of alleged priests who were perpetrators in the Catholic church in WA was higher than the national average.
The report found 7 per cent of priests from all Catholic Church authorities who ministered from 1950 to 2010 across Australia were accused of child sexual abuse, but for the Benedictine Community of New Norcia, the amount was more than triple that at 21.5 per cent.
In the 1950’s, 17.6 per cent of the Benedictine Community of New Norcia was subject to an allegation, compared to a 2.7 per cent of priests of all Catholic Church authorities with priest members in a ministry that was subject to a claim.’
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-06/new-norcia-child-abuse-stats-revealed/8244106

Like

1.22
What does that work out at in raw numbers. If 1 of 10 monks abused that would return a % of 10 – already higher than the national average of 7%. There are lies, damn lies and statistics.

Like

Watch this space too for an update on the Abuse at Caldey Abbey. The police are re-opening investigations as of this month, thanks to a lot of hard work and persistence by abuse survivors

Like

https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2021-12-02/police-to-re-examine-island-abuse-claims-after-man-reports-being-raped-by-monks

This suggests a deep sickness in this onetime Anglican foundation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldey_Abbey

Sheltering one Paul Ashton who d/led cp on Abbey computers was also astounding (well not astounding). What Kevin O’Connell says suggests sheltering that deviant fitted in with life there. His claims appear to confirm that monastic abusers used trafficked victims to other members of the Benedictine Confederation. Wicked stuff.

Pray for them.

Like

Why are you calling Caldey a one-time Anglican foundation? The buildings were built as an Anglican Benedictine monastery and Caldey chosen as supposed being extra-diocesan to avoid conflict with bishops. As you know full well the majority of the community converted to Rome and departed, and the current monastery was founded by (no surprise here) the OCSO.
The foundation is completely Catholic, the island belongs to the Catholic church and you are merely bringing in the former Anglican history to have a bitch at the Anglicans. For no reason other than that you’re having a bitch.
Or possibly trying to involve someone else in the completely Catholic shambles on Caldey.

Like

And you’ve even tried to bring in the Benedictine confederation. Why don’t you try raking in the salvation army, they’re not in the Benedictine confederation, Anglicans or Catholics, but you probably wouldn’t be able to see that.
Where you thinking you’d just drag anyone you could into this? Or were you trying to muddy the waters deliberately?

Like

@4:07 @4:05 you are cranky over a mistyping. Trafficking of victims between houses seems to have happened widely whether Benedictine or Cistercian. I don’t think it is unwitting calumny.

Mount Melleray seems positively benevolent with its Boilerhouse stuff, except that Purcell was on hand to give a digout to Dom Kirby with the visitation. It possibly hints that sexual shenanigans are following that dictum that ‘love knows no borders,’ if ungoverned sexual urges fuelling abuse of authority is applied to the word ‘love.’ Love can become so twisted. Ireland might have a better sort of Trappist, but likely some dark things which are not quite known. The movement of younger monks is surely a form of trafficking, which is not wholly understood. Yet the Mount Melleray situation is almost traditional as the onetime UK and Irish laws against homosexuality (1533-1993 roughly) took active form through bluff king Hal’s belief that the monasteries were hotbeds of homosexuality. Yet the men of northern England, led by Robert Aske still marched for the monasteries of England and over the repression of their Faith in the Pilgrimage of Grace. If Robert Aske did not allow himself to be fooled by lying promises from Henry, the monasteries of Ireland might also have been left in peace (although a lot even most survived Henry VIII with the Dominicans of Holy Cross, Sligo having a nearly continual presence since medieval times).

Like

Mistyping? Pull the other one, it’s got a copy of Christ the Ideal of the Monk on it.

Like

And don’t forget A&B.
Both Rottingdean, and Leyland (Lancs.) have had association with a Father Charles Jeffries; Leyland being Ampleforth linked.
The Jesuits had a Father Charles Jeffries Burton in both Charleston and Paterson NJ.

Like

12.04
I read this blog assiduously and contribute in a lesser manner. Your comment, though I think you quipped it, is the most insightful comment ever posted. It deals with the polarities of the deep disfunction within an organisation which uses the life of Jesus the Christ for its own ends. In the hearts of good men, women and children, there is no disparity in what you allude to… only in the hearts of clerics who perpetuate the origins of their mis placed energy. As a wise man, Fr Gerard Condon said as a student in Maynooth; the initial mistake. May I compliment you on the universal application of your comment within Western Christianity; it has failed.

Like

Two of the users of the fool word today are, Magna Cappa, several times and Bela Lugosi once. Bela is the more hypocritical of the two because he claims he’s devoted to TLM. Yesterday, he called a quote from Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost gibberish.
Je reste ma valise, if you’ll pardon the barbaric French.

Like

3.22: If I recall, you posted similar french before. JE REPOSE MON CAS is what you should have said. Valise is French for suitcase!! Je repose mon cas!!

Like

4.39
That’s why I referred to it as a barbarism. Don’t think I don’t know. And rester is to remain. 😂

Like

5.32: “RESTER” in French is to rest or to remain. The verb is the wrong one to use in your comment at 3.22!!! A good education is wonderful….

Like

Papa Wojtyla’s theology of the body is at the root of a lot of psycho-sexual madness.Is it still being presented in Rome?

Like

I wonder if the Cistercians will end up selling the buildings and land in Mount st Joseph to cover the cost of the legal settlements? Their financial reserves are being depleted at an astonishing rate.

Like

Anyone who attended Cistercian college in late 80s and 90s know what went on. Guaranteed there has been settlements and non disclosure agreements. All swept under the carpet.

Like

Thank you 4:55. This blogs readership of course isn’t limited to those who went to Cistercian college in the nineties!

Like

There are so many depressing aspects to this litany of wrongdoing over the years and most recently by, in the latest cases, monastic communities. That such criminal and abusive wrong doing has been going on, particularly against the young, innocent and vulnerable, by men who had pledged themselves to a holy and prayerful life, is so disappointing and hurtful. It is right that compensation should be paid. The money might seem to be a recompense, but so many of these children will have been scarred and disadvantaged for their whole lives, so no matter what compensation they receive it will still be inadequate. What I’m depressingly aware of as well is that so many of these monastic communities and the monks therein live such comfortable and privileged lives, free from the normal constraints and responsibilities of ordinary folk, sitting on huge reserves of capital and assets, and generally able to enjoy great comfort and security, while at the same time engaging in such horrendous behaviour rather than using their comfort and security as a spring board to a holy life. It’s all wrong. So, I have no problem with these monastic communities being called to account, being made to pay, and being stripped down to a simplicity which should have been there all along. Seems like justice and the right thing to me, and I will not countenance any squealing by them or on their account. If they resist eating humble pie and divesting themselves of their inordinate comfort and security, then they should be suppressed.

Like

The comment above about history raises something I’ve been wondering. I haven’t read the book frequently recommended here called something like Corrupter of Boys but I do wonder whether priesthood and religious life has always been like this and it’s just come out. I don’t buy the narrative that it’s become corrupted in the past fifty years or century, and since human nature hasn’t changed I wonder whether monasteries have always been hotbeds of sexual misconduct.
Actually I’ve just remembered that St Benedict’s monks tried to kill him so perhaps it’s always been violent as well!

Like

Sixtus V hanged a fair few priests, monks and nuns who lived notoriously sinful lives, at least how the age saw it. St Peter Damian wrote his well known words on the matter. Human nature never changes.

Returning to the blog post, local aborigines surely have some call on land cleared and worked by them for nearly nothing.

Like

Paul IV punished clerics and religious who erred against celibacy and chastity with the death penalty. And similarly lay people involved in adultery and promiscuity.

Like

The Bishop of Cork and Ross is sending Deacon Ronan Sheehan to Canada on an internship to Saint Benedict Parish, Halifax, Nova Scotia, from January to June next year. This is the pioneering Divine Renovation Ministry parish (happy-clappy), where Fr James Mackay (former priest of Brentwood Diocese) did a one-month secondment a few years ago. Divine Renovation, shares its UK office with Holy Trinity Brompton in London, whose vicar Nicky Gumbel is standing down next July.

Like

How could you possibly know that, Jim S? Delusional. But still preferable to Bela Lugosi.

Like

Leo Cushley is going to be moved there. His experience in Vatican Secretariat of State office is an important facet.

Like

Mr Keenan of Paisley was given the nod in Rome on St Andrew’s Day. He’s going to Glasgow.

Like

You want no ties with the Church deaf bloke so why are you so interested in it? You are just a nosey gossip because you can’t let go of it.

Like

There are some very thought provoking comments today from commenters who argue their case very cogently and rationally without the awful nastiness and judgment which some are very prone to making. The more cogent and constructive comments are conducive to respectful and intelligent debate. I have always loved monasteries and the concept of monasticism. I have stayed in almost all in Ireland and have visited monasteries in Austria, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Hungary. All were amazing places, architecturally, liturgically, musically, artistically and the landscapes were magnificent. I often wished i had a monastic vocation. The idealism of monasticism is very attractive. However, I discovered that I did not have such a vocation. It seems to me that monasteries that incorporated schools in their apostolates and who relaxed some of the requirements for enclosure, contemplation and prayer have faced juge accusations of sexual abuse. I have watched video of paedophile vigilante groups in Ireland, UK and USA and the spectrum of professions which feature is quite shocking: policemen, ex military, teachers, professors, clergy, administrators, principals, financiers – married, non-married, gay…The machinations and manouverings of all of them who were caught in sting set ups were scary and the text nessages shared were most obscene, explicit and vile – all aimed at 13/14/15 year olds. I am shocked that any cleric could commit sexual abuse on a minor or vulnerable person. I cannot fathom the reasons for the extent of the abuse by clerics. I began ministry over 40 years ago with great idealism, inspired by very committed priests and religious in my parish over many years and with the very faithful Christian witness of parents, relatives and neighbours. Now, that idealism is shattered. So many revelations, so much corruption, so much cover up and an irresponsible neglect of true care for victims. It is good if any community of religious contribute to the welfare of victims but the scars remain. We need a new refedication for religious, clerics and monks at every level so that we endeavour to refind a new way of dedicating oyr lives to Christ without the shadows of abuse. How might this be possible? I’m not sure. I don’t think even Pope Francis knows. One thing we must do is name and own all our wrong doing, deceit, scandals and corruption and ensure, justly, that victims/survivors receive care and support in ways that enable some healing for them. For only then can we find some hope and light. Only then will we, as clerics and as a Church, regain some trust and moral credibility. In the meantime those of us who remain must be even truer to Christ’s way than ever before and give our energies to that vision alone. There is too much politicizing and Machiavellianism that I avoid mostly all Diocesan gatherings. The gospel is where we should find our model of rightful, moral behaviour. My parents in the 50’s and 60’s recognised that there were “bad people” lurking in the village streets and warned us never to go near them. We didn’t know why but we quickly discovered. What a great, great shame our bishops didn’t have the moral antennae of lesser learned people!! We are reaping the harvest of their reckless self serving and self protective behaviour. It is almost impossible to chart a way forward.

Liked by 1 person

Saw a poster saying careerist Bishop Galvin will be saying Christmas Mass for deaf community next week. I never attended it for years except for Galway/Renmore.
*

For the sake of analogy, Vatican Inc is like a business corporation with a charity status, their products are the 7 sacraments to boot in the hope that cash would come in. Parishes with a charity status contributed a percentage of their weekly cash collection to their Bishop or diocese then in turn contribute to the vatican.
*

Precovid era, it was mostly cash, now in present Covid era, its electronic cash via Church website.
*

Not many people familiar with dealing in electronic monetary transfers especially OAP’s. In 20 years time, lot of churches will close due to dwindling numbers of OAP’s as young don’t bother.

Like

A little bit of the infamous Lily Savage to brighten up these latter–grey, gloomy and rainy days… “Que será será” – sung by the Liverpool outspoken blond sex kitten herself!
.
The infamous Lily Savages is well-known for her sharp outspoken tongue — and she has a nose which can sniff out hypocrisy over a mile away! Lily’s notoriety began shortly after her 1959 “Miss Pears triumph” — then, her numerous shop-lifting convictions made her a notorious, but lovable, popular face among the Liverpool Magistrate and Justice judiciary circuits.
Lily quickly became part of the “furnishings” around judicial soirées and quickly became known as “Screw driver Lil’” (because of her impeccable ability to either turn back, or halt, the clock of any consumer meter: including the new so-called “anti-tamper” GSM meters!).
As Lily would arrive at these judicial soirées, the host (often a Magistrate or District / Circuit Judge) would play Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time” (a nod to Lily’s vast knowledge of consumer electric meters), this would often bring about laughter among all who were present.
.
https://youtu.be/QkaLny1oEJc

Like

New Norcia Abbery has the rather nasty habit of exporting its issues concerning its personnel to other parts of Australia and Britain;
I refer you to 3 articles;
1- Australia’s Ordinary to the Forces- Bishop Max Davis
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-15/adf-catholic-bishop-max-davis-not-guilty-abusing-boys-new-norcia/7170184
2- Denis Alexander, a former monk of New Norcia trasnferred to the infamous Fort Augustus Abbey in Scotland
https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/priest-who-taught-at-fort-augustus-school-jailed-for-sex-abu-246222/
3- Aidan Duggan another former New Norcia monk transferred to Fort Augustus Abbery
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/jul/29/pupils-allege-rape-catholic-schools-scotland
Perhaps those victims engaged in legal action with Fort Augustus may need to look at New Norcia’s role in transferring Alexander and Duggan to Scotland.
One of the particular problems with prosecuting such cases is that the victims are aboriginal and have not held up well in a courtroom facing the legal might of the Roman Church- it might explain Bishop Davis’ acquittal.
John Herbert the present Abbot of New Norcia is a former Melbourne restaurant owner, gay and at odds with a number of the surviving members of the community.
Herberts predecessor is an Australian monk who was at Ampleforth Abbery in England- Placid Spearitt who too found his tenure marred by inter community tensions and infighting.He dropped dead in Ampleforth’s calefactory while on a visit there
Bernard Rooney- Spearitts predecessor was compelled to resign as Abbot Nullius given the concerns over his relationship with a woman
Gomez his predecessor died in a car crash…
A disturbing tale….Perhaps readers would like to research the life of another New Norcia monastic- William Ximenez, originally from Spain or a Fr Augustine…. the list goes on and on

Like

Leave a reply to Anonymous Cancel reply