Month: Apr 2023

Bishop Pat,

The events of the PRF and whether it is safe from being raided are not yet ended, your recent blog entries about this subject have missed out several interesting mysteries.

Why have the trustees of the Portsmouth Diocese not been shown the letter from the Charity Commission addressed to them and received by the £100,000 a year COO and Bishop Egan in February, they both received the letter and have denied that they have any such letter but it has been seen by some high placed people who are in fear of revealing their knowledge. The reason why they have buried it is because it contains strong criticisms of them and the trustees, and how they have taken over the Priests Retirement Fund, in particular they are criticised for not consulting with the priests and treating the two lay people who resigned very badly. They are told to go off and get some training in conflict management amongst other guidance. It is a very strongly worded letter and they went mental when they read it. They have used their very highly paid London based solicitors to manipulate events and have only showed the trustees the solicitors’ letters. Cover ups always are the way tyrants are found out, lets hope that happens soon.

Why did the £100,00 a year COO publicly state that she had no agenda when taking over the PRF, only to order one month later 1) an immediate change in the policy for means assessments, 2) to suggest that the diocese would not pay any residential care home fees (when the priest cannot pay) and 3) to start to sell off PRF capital assets and use for the recurring annual costs of looking after retired priests so that the diocese doesnt have to foot the bill – that of course allows her to continue to spend diocesan money on the projects she and Bishop Egan want to fund rather than looking after the retired priests. But as anyone with basic knowledge of finances knows, that will only happen until the capital runs out – maybe in 4 years time, by then no properties for retired priests, no PRF assets and no way of paying for rents income grants and residential care. But by then both of them will have gone leaving someone else to start again. A real scandal that if the people in the pews who donated knew would lead to some serious questioning, but they have secrecy as their middle names and at the moment are confident they can get away with it.

Many priests in the diocese are now worried about their future retirement provision, are we returning to Fr Ted in the attic days having been the leader in the care and support of our retired priests we now look like we are winning the race to the bottom.

FATHER TONY CASHMAN RIP

Bishop Pat,

Tony Cashman, who was a priest for many years in Portsmouth Diocese. He inspired many people including those who tuned into local radio and TV in the South of England. He had an extraordinary ability to communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ as the Way the Truth and the Life.

He then met and fell in love with a woman, and they eventually married. After many years of married blissfulness, his wife died three years ago.

Tony requested Bishop Philip Egan to return to part-time ministry in his beloved parish of St. Joseph’s Basingstoke. His request received widespread support from the diocese clergy and the people who knew him. But the despotic Bishop Egan of Portsmouth refused the request and did not even meet with Tony.

He and many others were saddened by the lack of love, forgiveness, and compassion.

What a contradictory church we have. We have some wonderful married priests of the Ordinariate while people like Tony cannot minister to people who love them just because they married. It is well beyond time that this issue was seriously addressed by the Church.

We are the laughingstock of the world with the ridicule of our own members
Tony’s Funeral is on Wednesday 26 April.

PAT SAYS,

From the perspective of this blog and its readers, Hexham and Newcastle and Portsmouth are in absolutely appalling condition.

Apart from JPL and a few others, the big problems facing Portsmouth seem to be in the areas of governance and finance.

Basically, EGAN is the problem.

It’s hardly surprising that Egan treated Tony Cashman with such a lack of compassion.

“The nearer the Church, the further from God”.

Dear Bishop Pat,

As a parishioner, former diocesan officer and a retired Catholic Head, I am writing to you to thank you for collating, publishing and thereby recording events in this diocese. Let’s hope it leads to serious action at last!
 
I came to live in the diocese in 1996, when in my first headship I was involved in loyally rebuilding confidence in a school whose parish priest (and a school governor of course) had recently been arrested for child sex abuse.  We were promised when he was jailed that the diocese would give child protection the highest priority and pass all concerns straight to the police.  How foolish I was to believe this!
 
I was working for the Diocese when the CRB (now DBS) system was established, I was surprised to hear that a decision had been made to do all clergy CRB checks through a national office, rather than through the local authorities like school staff, governors, and parishioners.

At the time, I thought this decision seemed wrong but imagined it was because they did not trust Local Authority staff not to embarrass clergy over their speeding offences. In retrospect, it looks more like a Criminal Records cover-up system.
 
In 2017, one of ‘our’ clergy was jailed for sex abuse at Upholland despite having denied it for years and even encouraging his former parishioners to campaign on his behalf .  In 2021, one of our clergy was acquitted of rape having convinced the jury that the act was consensual!  now we have the McCoy case and the antics of Bishop Robert!
 
It seems to me that nothing has changed since 1996. Promises have been made, repeated and  forgotten, but worse, that children and vulnerable people continue to be abused!  I almost feel that by accepting their assurances, I have been condoning or even supporting abusers!  I don’t know what to think, or do, or even believe anymore.   I am not one of the many victims, but I am ashamed to have been a useful idiot.
 
So, thank you for what you are doing!  Though I do wonder how you keep faith! I hope you will forgive my email because writing it has helped me to pull my horrid realisation together into a simple account.

Yours,

FROM ANOTHER H&N SOURCE

Dear Bishop Pat,

I’m intrigued at the latest developments on your blog today, in particular appointments by BBB. The worst one from my perspective, was removing Fr. Dermot Donnelly as Dean, with his replacement being Canon Michael Mc Coy. Sadly, both are now deceased.

Last year, shortly before Mr Byrne’s, resignation, he and his cohorts met in Rome. Quite innocently, having no idea what the purpose of the visit was, I spoke to our PP, Fr Xxxx, after he’d returned home,  asking how the trip had gone. To my knowledge, none of the parishioners knew the clergy were meeting with Byrne. Uncharacteristically, he responded in a very aggressive manner, saying “That meeting was supposed to be confidential”.  Since then his attitude towards me has been distinctly off hand, hence I don’t attend Mass because I too sniff a great big rat. I know the acolytes also included Fr. Christopher Warren, whom Byrne apparently appointed as vice rector and formation tutor to the English College in Rome.

Previously, FCW had been vocations director in H & N and a frequent visitor to Oscott, where Fr. Luke Wilkinson was in formation for the priesthood. He, of course, was ordained by Byrne in Newcastle before being appointed as assistant priest at St Mary’s Hexham. All nice and cosy, perhaps too much so.

There have been several visits to Rome (by groups and individuals from the parish) to see Warren, who has openly expressed his wish/intention to be a bishop. He was very vocally supportive of Archbishop George Pell. You may care to take a look at his Facebook page. He certainly bought into the brilliantly described by one of your bloggers, “swivel eyed traditional nutters” regime, instigated by BB Byrne. It was ‘satin, Latin and lace’ everywhere-to a large extent it still is-at St Mary’s Hexham, with Warren being one of Byrne’s primary prodigies, despite criticism of this from many parishioners who disapprove of the TLM practice, and the lack of female altar servers. RCC traditionalism indeed.

Best wishes,

A MESSAGE FROM SOMEONE I TRUST

Hi Pat. I know Chris Warren. He really is a good guy. Disliked the Bishop and ended up where he is because the Bishop saw to it to remove him from the Diocese. I do know priests who have visited him in Rome, and they are strong supporters of transparency and reform in H&N. Whoever has provided this to you is guessing and putting two and two together as they say. Chris was very happy in Hexham, and as he left, Luke Wilkinson arrived. They never ministered together.

 

Dear Fr. Basil,

An individual with legitimate and ongoing concerns about Silverstream Priory forwarded the most recent communication from the Priory. In light of the negative comments made about yours truly in the Silverstream accounts; you must be delighted that the fundraising went so well. I really am going to have to up my game!

Nevertheless, I am concerned about the lack of transparency underpinning the emergency appeal. I am not saying it has caused me to lose any sleep but it has animated my thoughts from time-to-time.

What was the “temporal crisis” referenced within your begging e-mail? You wrote “we are currently facing a serious monetary shortfall and must humbly ask your assistance”. It must have been pretty urgent. Because your shameless begging smacks of desperation.

What were the “several large expenditures coming up in April”? Could it be the case that Silverstream Priory has been sued for the known misconduct of its founding superior, Fr. Mark Daniel Kirby? Is the Priory now using the precious alms of the people of God to pay lawyer’s fees and to reach a financial settlement with the claimant(s)? Of course, I have no proof that Silverstream is paying lawyers; however, I have a nose for these things, and I bet the emergency fundraising appeal was predicated upon the need to cover some form of significant legal expenditure.

May I ask — was the community in danger of insolvency? Were the finances of the committee so precarious it needed emergency financial support from my brother bishop, Thomas Deenihan? Bishop Tom has a heart of gold coming from Cork so I am sure he would have been more than generous to the plight of the community.

Also, I am curious did the community alert the Dublin-based Charities Regulatory Authority about its perilous finances? So many questions and so few answers!

I am told that Elijah Carroll was responsible for the finances of the monastery. Is this true? If so, did his addiction to gay pornography lead him to make unwise and imprudent financial decisions? It is, of course, of interest that there is no sign of Elijah Carroll in the photograph taken on the Hill of Slane. Has he taken a leave of absence from monastic life, or is it the case he is the individual behind the camera?

Conspicuous also by their absence are the two founding monks of Silverstream Priory; the mythical and mystical Mark Kirby, and the liturgically-minded Benedict Andersen. Has Jesus spoke from the tabernacle and told Mark Kirby to remain with the nuns in Tegelen? Is Mark Kirby the Scarlet Pimpernel of Silverstream? Can you share with the readers of my blog the location of Fr. Andersen? I am told he is staying in London. Is this true?

A little bird, a priest of the Diocese of Meath, tells me that you, Fr. Basil were only appointed as superior for one year. Is this true? Are you going to remain the superior of Silverstream Priory for another year? If not — are you going to return to your monastery in France?

Who will be the next superior of Silverstream Priory? Will it be Fr. Hildebrand Houser, the protégé of Cardinal Burke? Is it now his turn to have a go at “playing” superior? Will he celebrate the Novus Ordo in English in obedience to the supreme Pontiff, Pope Francis?

Can you enlighten my readers and confirm if Fr. Houser is a priest of the Diocese of Meath? Or is it the case that Fr. Houser remains a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis? Is Fr. Kirby still a priest of the Diocese of Meath? If so, Bishop Tom could be in difficulty because Mark Kirby has been a very naughty boy and vicarious liability for the actions of recidivist clerics is very expensive.

Easter blessings.

+ Pat

Cc: Bishop Thomas Deenihan.

“A good journalist runs towards the burning building, not away from it.”

(Helen Joyce)

My sources in the English RCC inform me that Malcolm McMahon has submitted his report to the Dicastery of Bishops in Rome.

This report will NOT be made public, and unless someone in Rome leaks it to us, we will not see it – which is another cover-up and a grave injustice to the people and priests of H&N.

Malcolm Mc Mahon has said he will publish what he calls an EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of that report ???

The CSSA also say that they will issue an EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of that report, too.

But the CSSA is paid for and answerable to the English Catholic Bishops!

Can we trust them to be open and transparent?

Personally, I wouldn’t trust them.

“He who pays the piper calls the tune” 😞

SOLUTION:

1. Don’t attend their church services.

2. Don’t give them or any Catholic charities any money.

3. Expose everything negative and scandalous you know about them.

4. Don’t send your children or grandchildren to any of their schools.

5. Encourage everyone you know to avoid them in every way.

6. Verbally challenge every bishop, priest, and nun you see out in public.

GERMAINE GREER

PAT SAYS

I am a very, very open-minded man.

I have practically supported adults who were transitioning from one another on a number of occasions by accompanying them to hospital appointments, etc.

Trans adults have often attended Mass at The Oratory in the dress of their choice before and after surgery.

So I CANNOT be accused of being TRABSPHOBIC by anyone – except perhaps by Trans extremists.

Like Dr. Vann Meter, I have very serious problems with allowing children to identify as trans and demand treatment and surgery – even and especially by threat of suicide and self-harm.

Is society at the mercy of Trans extremists, and are we so PC we are pandering to their agenda?

Joe Biden is the president of a country and the leader of a political party that presides over ONE MILLION abortions a year.

The ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH has made abortion and assisting abortion, one of the biggest, if not the biggest sin a Catholic can commit.

And, yet, this week, the RCC in Ireland closed down its biggest shrine and cancelled all Masses to give Joe an escorted tour of Knock – with the escort being none other than the parish priest!

Was this not a golden opportunity for the RCC to send a massive message to the world- especially with the international media present.

The message being – that the president of a party and a country that kills ONE MILLION babies in the womb every year is NOT WELCOME at the Irish National Catholic Shrine to the Virgin Mary – the symbol of purity, chastity and the woman who had God in her womb?

But of course, that is not how the RCC thinks.

Biden was useful to put Knock on the international map.

His visit will bring more American tourists to Knock and, more importantly, their US DOLLARS.

Biden brings attention and human prestige to Knock, the Irish RCC and its clerics.

And Biden”s visit might even get Fr Bennett Gibbons the mitre he seeks.

Oh, and by the way, did Bennett Gibbons suggest to Biden that he might visit the Tuam Baby sight and have a moment of silence there and whisper a prayer there for the 800 dead babies placed in a septic tank there by the saintly nuns?

I bet not.

The RCC is interested in

Prestige.

Power.

Control.

Self-protection at any cost.

They are a vital part of the international corrupt establishment.

They have hijacked Christ and Christianity for their own evil purposes.

They say they are the champion of babies on the womb.

They took a break from that championing this week to roll out the red carpet for Joe.

And when babies are out of the womb:

Priests can rape them.

Nuns can bury them like Coke bottles.

And it’s all covered up.

In the RCC, it seems the only safe for babies is in the womb.

Important YouTube video in understanding the making of the clerical predator.

THE DALI LAMA CONTROVERSY

PRESIDENT WELCOMED TO KNOCK BY THE SHRINES FIRST FAMILY.

“Dear Bishop Buckley,

I’m afraid we clergy in Portsmouth have suffered yet another blow to our trust in the bishop following the revelation that he has been raiding another fund, set up put of goodwill abd in good faith to help those in need in our diocese.

Having been told to back away from the PRIEST RETIREMENT FUND, a fund which exists to help, support, house and to take care of sick and elderly priests, Egan has now raided the SCHOOLS BUILDING FUND.

We are still unsure if it was Rome who told Egan to leave the PRF alone or the Charity Commussionrts itself. Either way, Egan has backed down.

I enclose a letter from a former VICAR GENERAL of the diocese, who was establishing the SCHOOLS BUILDING FUND, in the first place, who explains what Egan and hus cunning advisors are up to.

It it wasn’t for the whistle-blowers in exposing both disgraceful attempts to hack the PRF and also this Monsignor who exposed the underhanded ways of taking money donated to the SBF (donated by some of the poorest areas of the diocese and by parishes struggling financially as ot is by the way) we would be none the wiser, which begs the question: “what else is going on that we don’t.know about YET”.

PAT SAYS

There is obviously great concern among the priests of Portsmouth over the financial affairs of their diocese.

And many of them will have scrimped and scraped over the years.

Remember, English priests have never been as well paid as Irish priests.

When I started in Cardiff in 1976, my pay was £ 5 a week and my lodgings.

And, these are men who have given up to 50 and 60 years of their lives to the diocese.

Now, they see all their sacrifices being mocked by a spendthrift bishop and his £100,000 a year COO.

Not nice! Not nice at all!

RECEIVED WITH A DUBLIN POSTMARK

Who is the “Eamon”?

Eamon Martin?

The communication is very cryptic.

Obviously, from a cleric.

I think Gallagher, Ledwith, and Lavery were all Maynooth profs.

What are they supposed to have done to our Amy?

Yesterday, I forwarded a formal complaint against Hill Dickinson and the solicitor who wrote to me with the English Solicitors Regulation Authority and provided them with the relevant evidence, etc.

FROM SRA GUIDRLINES

Conduct in disputes

Published: 4 March 2022

Status

This guidance is to help you understand your obligations and how to comply with them. We will have regard to it when exercising our regulatory functions.

Who is this guidance for?

All firms and individuals we regulate who conduct litigation and who give dispute resolution and pre-action advice.

Purpose of this guidance

To help you understand the application of our Principles and Codes of Conduct to these activities. As well as to highlight the different duties that you may owe to the court, to clients and to third parties (such as witnesses and opponents) in litigation. We describe situations in which these duties are not properly balanced to help illustrate how these can arise in practice and the serious consequences that can follow.

There will be situations where maintaining the correct balance between these different duties is not a simple exercise. This guidance is designed to help you identify the right course of action in such situations.

Features of these cases may include:

We are aware of concerns surrounding Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation (SLAPP). This is a term commonly used to describe the misuse of the legal system, and the bringing or threatening of proceedings, in order to discourage public criticism or action. For example, cases in which the underlying intention is to stifle the reporting or the investigation of serious concerns of corruption or money laundering by using improper and abusive litigation tactics.

Features of these cases may include

• making excessive or meritless claims, aggressive and intimidating threats
• otherwise acting in a way which fails to meet the wider public interest principles
• duties to which solicitors must have regard, and which are highlighted in this guidance.  

To help ensure compliance, you should always be vigilant in scrutinising your own and others’ conduct in disputes you are involved in. The behaviours described this guidance can be evidence of misconduct capable of amounting to a serious breach of our regulatory arrangements, and can inform your duty to report. This will help us to consider whether a serious breach of our regulatory arrangements has occurred. Read see our guidance on reporting and notification obligations.

Our Principles

Our Principles state that solicitors should always act:

Principle 1: in a way that upholds the constitutional principle of the rule of law and the proper administration of justice

Principle 2: in a way that upholds public trust and confidence in the solicitors’ profession and in legal services provided by authorised persons

Principle 3: with independence

Principle 4: with honesty

Principle 5: with integrity

Principle 7: in the best interests of each client

Should the Principles come into conflict, those which safeguard the wider public interest take precedence over an individual client’s interests. These include the rule of law and public confidence in a trustworthy solicitors’ profession and a safe and effective market for regulated legal services.

You should, where relevant, inform your client of the circumstances in which your duty to the court and other professional obligations will outweigh your duty to them. For example, you must not allow a client to knowingly mislead the court in order to further their case.

Independence (Principle 3) clearly includes independence from the client. This has also been explained by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT):

A Solicitor is independent of his client and having regard to his wider responsibilities and the need to maintain the profession’s reputation, [they] must and should on occasion be prepared to say to [their] client ‘What you seek to do may be legbut I am not prepared to help you to do it” (In the matter of Paul Francis Simms, SDT, 2002).

PAT SAYS

Not so long ago, many “professionals” felt they were answerable to no one.

This very much included medics and lawyers – and even the clergy.

But as time has gone on, modern democratic processes and the increased emphasis on human rights means we can now challenge our former unchallengable masters.

I’m pleased there is a Solicitors Regulation Authority.

I’m also pleased they are investigating SLAPP – that strategy used by unscrupulous lawyers, not to get justice for their clients, but to scare people away from making wrongdoing and corruption public.

SLAPP is the use of legal procedures – letters, summons, etc to scare people away from telling the truth about your client or putting the truth in the public domain.

It is an unprincipled and disgraceful strategy condemned by the SRA and all good lawyers.

SHAMELESS HOLY WEEK IN MOUNT MELLERARY.

Why, after all this time and coverage, has JPL sent me a solicitors letter?

And why did that letter not challenge the truths I have published about him – but instead seek to scare me with the ICO and data matters?

What enterprise is  JPL about to embark on that he felt the need to have all the information about him removed from the Internet and the public forum?

Is Egan seeking to appoint him to a new position?

Is JPL about to apply for an advertised position like a well-paid prison or hospital chaplaincy funded by the state?

Is he seeking a position in a state or private school or in a university?

Is he thinking of applying for a job as a chaplain to a male young offenders centre or a prison?

Is he seeking work in some corner of the care industry – children, vulnerable adults, or those with mental health challenges?

Is Egan going to let him go to a beautiful diocese in sunny California or to some other foreign spot?

Or is JPL thinking of entering a laid-back, amoral, and  Liberal religious order?

The author of this blog smells a rat – a great big rat.

And, if he pulls off such a stunt, and I learn of it, I will, with haste, inform those in that “new place” of his past.

ON THE OTHER HAND?

It is possible, but in my view, unlikely, that JPL wants to change his ways and live differently in the future.

As a Christian, priest, and bishop, I must allow for this scenario and not be too cynical about this possibility.

At the same time, I must be intelligent and realistic about it – especially after other priests and seminarians have pulled the wool over my eyes and pretended to change but did not.

Currently, I do not believe that JPL is suitable to the priesthood – as he clearly and continually crosses very serious boundaries.

He has never acknowledged and apologised for his behaviour – a very bad sign.

I know people who found JPL very likeable and are sad about where he is.

All in all, it’s a sad case – and very badly managed by Egan of Portsmouth.

MARK MORIARITY KERRY

https://www.actsxxix.org/

PAT SAYS

What a crazy connection and internship for a Kerry clerk!

What is Ray the Vexed at ???