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RICHARD PURCELL – SOME NOTES.

We know that Richard Purcell resigned as Abbot of Mount Mellerary on November 25th last citing “personal reasons”.

But visitors to Mount Mellerary claim he was still presiding in the choir on December 8 th – the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

On Friday last a current Irish Cistercian monk said that Richard Purcell had taken a 12 months leave from the monastery and the Cistercian order.

Meanwhile, other Mount Mellerary long term devotees have revealed that they found Richard Purcell pompous and arrogant.

Apparently, he was particularly dismissive of the Mellerary college old boys – the Mount Mellerary college that closed its doors in 1974.

Purcell hurt their feeling by suggesting that the Mellerary college had only been a mere “school” while his favoured Roscrea College was a “proper college”.

According to these devotees, Purcell had none of the grace, kindness and compassion of all the previous Mellerary abbots.

One of the devotees actually described Purcell as a “bollox”.

That’s not a word a Mellerary devotee ever uses lightly about the Lord Abbot.

So, sadly, it looks as if Purcell was not appreciative of people who have supported Mount Mellerary since the 1940s and 1950s.

I think Purcell was utterly spoiled by the Cistercian authorities who allowed him:

1. To study at Oxford in a Bohemian community.

2. Allowed him to rise up the ladder too quickly and give me massive airs and graces.

3. Turned a blind eye to his lifestyle and his regular absences from the monastery.

What’s the old saying:

“Pride comes before a fall”?

People in Cappaquin are also claiming that Richard Purcell only agreed to resign if the Abbot General Eamon Fitzgerald resigned too.

Fitzgerald

People are saying that Purcell had something on Fitzgerald?

163 replies on “RICHARD PURCELL – SOME NOTES.”

To think we’re still reading about him and it’s business as usually in Silverstream. It doesn’t seem fair. But sure, that’s life.

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“…hurt their feeling by suggesting that the Mellerary college had only been a mere “school” while his favoured Roscrea College was a “proper college”.”
My God! The cheeky pup!

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Rising too fast brings ego.
Rising in a pace that allows hurt and growth in equal measure builds character.
As the old saying goes, if you want to learn how to lead, you need to learn how to follow.

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Being let off the hook for moral hypocrisy can feed a habit of getting away with it and carrying on regardless. Some people learn a lesson and catch themselves on. Some people do not.
Being let off the hook for criminality also can feed a habit of getting away with it and carrying on regardless. Some people learn a lesson and catch themselves on. Some people do not.
There have been stories of parents who have covered up for a child’s wrongdoing. The parents probably felt they were doing the right protective thing for their child. The child has then gone on to cause a more serious situation. If the child had been properly dealth with for the first offence, the more serious situation would not have occurred.

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@ Seamus viii
I think we are in agreement on this. We just express it so differently. It’s a wonderful world.

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And PeeWee replies: My schools bigger than your school. My schools bigger than your school. Na na di da da. Na na di da da. 😂

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Pat, I can’t believe Richard Purcell dressed up and posed for that photograph. It must have been a youth or liturgy workshop weekend. Is Richard a friend of Liam Lawton?

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Don’t be silly, that’s the real Cistercian habit, the one they wear for lectio divina in the scriptorium when the public’s not looking.
You don’t get to see the scriptorium because the books are mostly Mills and Boon.

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Good morning ya all from Alabama and I wish ya all a very Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year celebrations x

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Greetings from Nigeria where it is always warm and sunny. Wishing you all in Ireland blessings and joy for Christmas. Daniel x

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Greetings Daniel in Nigeria. We could do with some warmth and sunshine.
Wishing you Christmas Blessings and a Peaceful New Year.

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These are the heart warming comments we should be reading and sending all year around and in particular on a Sunday and at Christmas. Stay safe everyone

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Yesterday the only novice at Mount Melleray left the Abbey. Dom Michael Ryan of Bolton Abbey, Father Immediate of Mount Melleray, had given Br. Stephen an ultimatum, either have the Covid Vaccine or leave, he refused and consequently was told to leave. I wonder if there was more behind this? But that is the scenario being told.

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Hopefully they offered a half way of regular antigen testing, which I would think wise for anyone in a place with vulnerable people. Whatever it was, it didn’t work.
I know you might be making a joke, but it could be a possible place for not insisting on the jab, but creepy Kirby would have to be definitely gone, not just not there, but also the creepy culture men like him create. Whenever they get a proper abbot, the hope would be he would not be a Kirby factotum, but who knows?

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He is as well off out of that place. If they can elect Dom Dick as their abbot and he behaves the way he does, it is no place for a novice.

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9:22
Are you joking?
Whatever happened to the right to bodily integrity.
Br. Stephen was right to refuse such an order.

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Maynooth lost a sem first year (20% of the intake) because he exercised bodily autonomy and his healthcare rights.

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2:31pm

Are the ‘powers that be’ fully aware of the controversial nature of the vaccine?
Take a look at ; http://www.concerned doctors.org for more info.
Advocate-Educate- Protect, is their tag line.

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2.28
Those rights are not absolute and need be integrated with the rights of those with whom he shared living space.

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@ 7:54 pm
Any notice of liability between parties in the event of vaccine adverse effects?

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I think Mt. Melleray Abbey probably has hundreds if not thousands of ‘devotees’ or people connected or attached to the Monastery at home and abroad. Those more closely connected to the Community are likely to be more aware of the commitment of vast majority of the Monks to the Rule of St. Benedict. We are also probably more aware of the dedication, fidelity, and legacy of the Monks. The Community, Dom Eamon, and Fr. Richard are in my prayers. Who knows, if it pleases The Lord, great good might emerge from this current crisis.

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Richard and Co should apply to have a float at next years pride celebrations although being a priest is a cover up from coming out as gay it seems and he and most just want to have sex in secret and not deal with their homosexuality – cow-ardsssss

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9.22: There are still many gay men who prefer their sex lives to be private and not shared all over blogs. Some are very morally principled and act responsibly. Don’t give all gay men a bad name, you homophobic brat.

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Richard Purcell is a stain on an amazing clean open and honest institution, the RCC. Correct me if I’m wrong readers

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I truly believe that the Cistercians have been rocked by the resignations of the abbot and abbot General. The rebuilding and reforming of the small number in Ireland will happen. It has to as the remaining Monks are mainly elderly. Having spent time in retreats at almost all their monasteries and benefited spiritually and prayerfully, I am saddened that life is now very disturbed for these men. I received wise advice from my visits and I am eternally grateful for that. Perhaps Purcell was an unwise choice but that’s now history. Should we not, in Christmas kindness leave these monks to have their time, space and privacy to reflect and prepare prayerfully for Christmas? I believe that Christ would ask us to do so. Surely we’ve dissected them sufficiently. Much of the above is hearsay and local gossip. He said, she saud, they said…Not provable. God bless all of us in these troubling days before Christmas. I am struck by the beautiful gospel for tiday: two women, Mary and Elizabeth encountering each other. This is a beautiful story about the value of human kindness and the power it has in our times of darkness, fears, anxieties and uncertainty. We can do nothing more noble than imitate these two icons in their gesture of human kindness. Think if its effect on them but also its effect on one another if we imitate them.

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9:28,
I agree that the monks must have their time, space and privacy to reflect and prepare prayerfully for Christmas.
At the same time, it is fair enough to talk about the mistakes that were made that
brought them to this state of having been rocked. Maybe following today’s notes, the community can have that space to reflect in peace and learn lessons from the mistakes. If someone is on 12 months leave. Let him be.
Pax.

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EP 9:28,
Like Anonymous 9:28 at the same time of your comment, I agree with the sentiment of both your comments. They say great minds think alike and you both were commenting at the same time.
The 12 months leave has to be private space for the departed abbot. Notes have been made. Advice has been offered. There is now a time for private space for both the individual and the community. May they go forward honestly and respectfully in peace.
Pax.

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Yes, Purcell does seem to have had grand ideas about himself, and to have been given airs and graces and entitlement. I would have thought that those who were responsible for his formation in his early years at the monastery would have addressed these issues, and if not then then certainly his superiors in the OCSOs should have confronted him and his attitudes, lifestyle etc over the years. Well, the blast of the cold air of reality have hit them all now. It would be wrong for all concerned if Purcell was able to disappear for a while and then suddenly be reinstated somewhere, unless he has truly had a conversion experience, which he certainly needs if he wishes to remain a monk and a priest. Without that he must move on and use what gifts he has in another walk of life. Some tough love decisions need to be made by the OCSOs, religious superiors, and by Purcell himself.

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Well Fr was in some mood today, not very festive and ran through mass like Usain Bolt in the Olympic 100m finals! Not happy

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This strange “mass” thingy needs explanation for newcomers. I read on this blog that some priests,”say” it: others “read” it, while others “offer” it or “celebrate” it. Indeed it seems that sometimes it requires a lot of priests ” doing” it simultaneously, but this one mentioned by Anon 10:01 “runs” it!
Please explain

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To use Mark’s phrase, youse are all yapping away here, but nobody bothers to explain what this mysterious “mass” thingy is all about! Don’t yez know, or is the level such that all yez can do is poke fun? Maybe that’s what your religiosity is all about. I’m not impressed.

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I went to mass today at the Shrine of St Winifred the Great and it was like the commentary to a horse-race, it was so fast. I could hardly get a word of it. My own fault for going to mass in Latin I suppose.

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Fifteen minutes maximum! I make love longer to my wife and even that’s rushed these days as the old woman hasn’t the same feel about her these days.

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3:21
Fair play Eamon. Keep up the exercise.
You know what they say- the older the fiddle…..

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Now look you are all a bunch of yaps, just be happy to be able to celebrate mass regardless of how long it is.

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We’ve all read the accounts of mediaeval mass goers shouting ‘Higher!’ at the elevation. Perhaps the modern equivalent should be shouts of ‘faster’ or ‘slower’.

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It was wrong to appoint him so young, which required a dispensation. I am glad Franky raised the age for nomination as a Monsignor to 65. Look at the Spanish bishop, Xavier Novell, appointed at 41 and leaves to marry a satanic erotic novelist. I can understand younger appointments in developing countries where life expectancy is lower – but selecting young men to senior roles in the church is generally not a good idea.

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Indeed, Joe Duffy of Clogher and Amy of Armagh are examples of bland, uninspiring priests who were made bishop much too young and then their unfortunate diocese is stuck with them for decades.

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10.33
I’m afraid I can’t see Xavier’s marriage lasting long. I wish it were not so. But the circumstances of his leaving would be a lot for any ordinary marriage to cope with. I suspect he’ll be back expecting to work as a priest before long.

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1;31. No harm but like most Glasgow clergy I hope you are stuck with Mr Keenan as your bishop for many years to come.

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You’re dead right 10:33.
Pick the ould knackered ones who’ll not rock any boats, keep their mouths shut, and ‘anything for an easy life’ culture so things just continue as it always has.

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If a community let in someone unsuited to the life (with no judgement on Richard), have a go at forming him and then elect him abbot, none of them is formed and the only way ahead is suppression.

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Frank was a Jesuit for 15 years (ie from entry) when he became the provincial. He was a late vocation by the standards of the time and joined aged 21. Even by his own account he was a disaster as provincial.

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The situation in Poland was somewhat extraordinary when JP II was appointed bishop. I guess it must have been hard to find a new bishop who wasn’t a collaborator for the Communist regime.

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Pope john paul was lovely. I named my son after him. You leave him alone or I’ll be onto ye!

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@3:32pm nymphomaniac? I don’t think there’s anyone but Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, and nympho refers to girls. Maybe himbo, but JP2 kept himself for his one and only lady.

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As regards the “Bohemian community”, by which I presume you mean St Benet’s Hall in Oxford. This particular offshoot of Ampleford has run out of money, and the University is not accepting matriculations from it in 2022. Also, there have been rumours that certain individuals have been fraudulently claiming to have Oxford degrees after simply studying there, and that this might have been “facilitated”.

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There has been a persistent issue with people attached to Mickey Mouse institutions in Oxford and Cambridge where some those who attend courses claim or let people assume they are Oxbridge graduates. My mother-in-law did a one year course in what was then called Lady Margaret House in Cambridge and is now the Lady Margaret Institute. It was owned by the Canonesses of St Augustine. My mother in law always just says “Cambridge” when people ask her where she studied and everyone thinks she means the University. When they ask which college she went to, she simply says Lady Margaret’s and leaves it at that.
I think Blackfriars in Oxford and Cambridge, and the various Protestant theological colleges also have students who are not matriculated students of the universities but who nonetheless pass themselves off, a bit like those who go to the former polytechnics in Oxford and Cambridge.

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I know of an Anglican priest who was on the staff at St Paul’s cathedral some time ago. He stated that he had studied in Durham – which was true, but at the catering college rather than the university!

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I think the whole monastic world has been generally in a poor state for years. Many years ago I was a Benedictine novice (not in Ireland) and you hear some things about these places.
As an illustration of the many reasons I left: one of the other novices had told them a lot of things about himself which weren’t true, such as having a degree he didn’t have. I don’t know if he was lying or really believed these things, either way he’s not got a good disposition.
Despite knowing this they still clothed him. It wouldn’t be right not to treat him with kindness, but you don’t just let someone who’s come under false pretenses enter the noviciate.
My experience of one monastery and hearing things about others suggests they let literally anyone in and let literally any behaviour go on in the community. Not one of my noviciate got to first profession.

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He, Purcell, used to holiday with the gay ‘liturgical’ composer Ian Callanan (left the irish Dominicans with a fellow student, with whom he had a sexual relationship with).

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Commenters of this blog should be grateful for a speedy mass, it’s takes our baldy priest 30 minutes to walk down the bloody aisle

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How on Earth is he allowed to carry on active service if he has fathered a child? My god what kind of people are you lot?

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He had and has Bishop Noel Teanors support.

He even left the woman alone as she had a miscarriage in her home while he went out for dinner with friends.

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By Post Author

@ 4:26: Rest assured that “us lot” keep a close eye on this no-good parachuted into Loughinisland. Some, a few of the sycophantic ilk, humour him. But mostly we just laugh at his ingratiating attempts to be popular.

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Pat. Pray for me please. My girlfriend died last year and it’s my first Christmas without her. And today on the glider I received homophobic abuse. Somebody shouted that i was a big dyke. For no reason. I was just sitting there. My heart’s broken Pat.

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Tricia I’m so sorry for your loss and the abuse you have had to endure. Report it to the police please, If you need support in doing so I can provide you with some, I’m part of the community also and I work in the bookies at Twinbrook, just call in and see me. Or just call in to the Rainbow project in town but always remember we are blessed by being born Lesbians.

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I got the police to tackle two hate preachers in Larne on Thursday who were abusing me and they got a warning for harassment. ALWAYS call the police.

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By Post Author

Ladies I’m sorry but you miss out on not having sex with men but you don’t deserve this abuse

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Thanks ever so much Roberta. Would you believe, that’s the bookies my grandad used to go i to, God rest him. You might remember him- wee danny everyone called him. Maybe I could get you a coffee sometime? X

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Exactly, call the police. +Pat says they got a warning for harassment. The hate preachers MUST catch themselves on or face stronger punishment next time. Their scorecard has been marked. They cannot say that they have not been warned.
Pax.

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Tricia that is tragic but you must report it as a teenage girl was punched on the glider only a few weeks back from a man in his 30s in what the PSNI have said is a hate crime and it could well be the same man

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I used to be a lesbian until I met my husband David. It was a big surprise but he’s lovely and there’s so much peace and love in our home. I’m nog joking, my ex girlfriend did bridesmaid for us. A happy Christmas to all. X

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Ladies get a room? Is there really any need for that? Thats so harsh. I’ve had a bad day with being insulted on that bus and she was being nice to me. Pat I’m gutted. I just want to cry

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Get away with going to the toilet? We should lock him up unless he is ginger, we should send him to work in the front line with Covid. Grow up with your speculation

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The bishop knew that a priest was getting women pregnant and leaving them to have miscarriages while he was out filling his belly and he supported him? They give criminals a good name, utter savages

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Fr Delia Neeson is only one of many with a camper van in various parishes. Several parish secretaries and volunteers in various diocese operate these camper vans. I’m surprised so few have picked up on this over the years.

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If anyone needs mass covered over the next few weeks, Fr Delia Neeson is available at very short notice with her camper van

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I never understood exorcism and all them mad movies, a priest performing an exorcism to rid the child of the devil? Surely that needs remastered Cus for years the Devil should have been coming to get the priests out of children

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I’m in a relationship sorry Tricia but call in to the bookies and we can start chatting and take it from there. Can not say I know of wee Danny, the one I can think off was camp and flamboyant and the gambling killed him in the end, had big winnings in the shop one day and dropped dead

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Pat this blog would turn the most faithful against Catholicism, I’m strongly considering becoming a Jew as at least Rabbi cut penis for health reasons whereas Priests are all out sucking them

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Catholicism should turn the most faithful against Catholicism. If it doesn’t, they’re just ignoring the reality.

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Hi Bishop Pat I always feel like an orphan at this lonely time of year. Have a nice Xmas and sorry to hear of the abuse you were subject to.

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Fr Les. Serious invitation. You’d be very welcome to my house for Christmas. As I mentioned earlier, my girlfriend died in April. She got killed. I’m alone too and not looking forward to it. I ordered a turkey just because that’s what you do. But I’m grieving so much I’m thinking of just leach it in the freezer. But if anyone is lonely I’d be very glad to welcome them to my home. Maybe you could bishop pat know if anyone of you want to come and he could message me? Nobody should be alone. Pray for my Sandra xxx

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That’s a nice offer but with Covid it’s not very sensible. I suffer from depression a lot and it’s going be hard this Christmas again but we just have to plough on, sometimes I even get jealous when my own phone dies

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I’m sorry to hear about your guys suffering it can be a shattering time of year, I was burgled last week and the nasty buggers even stole my own anti depressants, I hope they are happy now!

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Two octogenarian canons are going to do a supply Mass on Sundays in two of the parishes but not during the week.

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@6.21pm This question has been asked repeatably. Do you really think you are raising a matter of interest to anybody apart from those who have a fetish-like interest in eccentric clergy.. Please look beyond your very limited interest in the world. In other words, ‘Grow up’.

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8.35 pm

Well, well you are irritable aren’t you. Never mind, I’m sure you are tucked up in bed now.

And, stop referring to the two good priests as eccentric, not very polite.

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@ au contraire; it’s of enormous interest. Two ‘close’ gin-loving friends shack up under the Rule of St Ben, then strop off when their bishop and ordinary applies the rules forbidding the old rite of the mass. It’s fascinating.

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I was in a gay bar this day week. Before that it was at least three years. I’m not into gay bars but sometimes go there with friends

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A local priest in that area is never out of Union Street. A bar is for having a drink or socialising, not for any other reason.

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Very few gay men go to gay bars now. They were ruined by screeching hen parties and the office night out crowds. Grindr was a nail in the coffin and the lockdown (in all but name) will finish them off.

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Another lovely turn out again on the comments, Bp Pat, although not a lot of interest in Ella, it seems, more for the other bugger.

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9.16: Yes Seamus, what an uplifting, hope filled and inspiring carol service. Knock is a beautiful sanctuary. Was there recently for four days and loved every moment. The wildness of the winter landscape, the peace and quiet and prayerfulness of the whole sanctuary is very tangible.

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Its unbelievable that pat won’t leave RP alone.
For gawd sake, leave RP alone as he had paid his price re his resignation. Is that enough for for you or npt🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️
Silverstream saga is far worse than rp itself.

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Fr Purcell seems of these golden boys upper management repose such hopes in, so decide to ignore everything from manner to personal morality. I wonder if he wore that fab costume to the Boilerhouse.

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