BISHOP PAT BUCKLEY

You asked in your Blog last night about Joe Condon.

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He was the Parish Priest in Ardfinnan near Clonmel up to about a decade ago or a little longer. It seems that an allegation was made against him and Bishop William Lee asked him to step aside from ministry which he did. Since then the Parish has not had a Parish Priest, but a Parish Administrator, first Fr. Robert (Bobby) Power, then Fr. Pat Butler. The parish was without an Priest in Charge for a period of time, but it is my understanding that a priest from Rockwell College which is nearby helped out in the Parish, Fr. Bernard Frawley I think. In the most recent moves made by Bishop Phonsie Fr. Michael Toomey a Curate at Ss Peter and Paul’s Parish in Clonmel for a number of years moved to Ardfinnan to become Administrator there. He was also put in charge of Newcastle and Fourmilewater the next door Parish after it’s Parish Priest Garrett Desmond was moved to Touraneena and The Nire.

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The fact that the Parish of Ardfinnan-Ballybacon-Grange has not had a Parish Priest with a number of years now might suggest that Joe Condon is still a priest and still the Parish Priest of Ardfinnan-Ballybacon-Grange. If he had left the priesthood surly Bishop Lee and more recently Bishop Phonsie would have appointed a Parish Priest for the area and not an Administrator. Fr. Pat Butler was a Parish Priest before he was transferred to A-B-G and resumed the title after he left to move to Aglish, Ballinameela and Mount Stuart, but has left that Parish in mysterious circumstances since then.

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For a number of years, in a printed Diocese Directory it was saying that Joe Condon and a number of other priests were contactable through the Bishop’s House. I think the Irish Catholic Directory gave the same information on him and others.

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For some reason the Website of Waterford and Lismore does not give details of Priests that are not in active ministry like what other dioceses do. I know of a number of priests who have stepped a side for different reasons who are no longer listed, but to the best of my knowledge are still priests. There is a Michael O’Connor who I think you know from your time in Saint John’s Seminary, Richard Geoghegan who appeared on an RTE Programme hosted by Hotelier Francis Brennan while dressed in drag, Charles (Charlie) Scanlon, Thomas Burns, Michael Kennedy (who was in the news in the 90’s when as Curate in Dungarvan claimed there was a woman sleeping with men from the area passing on the Aids virus to them) who are no longer listed. Neither are the elderly retired priests unless they fill the role of P.E. in a parish or those that may have retired early on health grounds, of which I might know two who are in their mid 60’s and look very active.

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You may remember back in 2015 or 2016 Bishop Phonsie brought three Indian priests (members of the Heralds of the Good News Missionary Society) to the diocese. One of them was to work in Clonmel, another in Carrick-on-Suir and the third at the Sacred Heart Parish in the City. The first two of these priests seems to have vanished as quickly as they came.

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Something tells me that Joe Condon is a former Curate at the Cathedral in Waterford City and while there he won a sum of money on a National Lottery Game Show on RTE.

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Living in the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore

PAT SAYS.

I know nothing of Fr Joe Condon or his history.

But a parishioner in Waterford remembers his help to her in her difficult times.

“The greatest part of a good mans life are his little, unremembered acts of kindness and of love”.

Why is Joe still out of ministry.

Did his big win make him financially secure forever?

Why would you bother with assholes like Willie Lee and Phonsie Cullinan if you didn’t depend on them financially?

Well done Joe!

I see Phonsie is refusing to say where he has or will receive the Covid vaccine?

Covid is a major killer and all public leaders should be promoting the vaccine.

MY JABS

I received my first shot of the Pfizer vaccine in February.

TODAY, I return to Ballymena to receive my second and final jab.

I experienced absolutely no side effects from my first jab.

And I expect no trouble with the second one either.

To denounce the vaccine or to fail to encourage people to take it is social, political and moral irresponsibility.

Only various forms of ” nut cases” oppose the vaccine.

I hope Phonsie not not joined them?

BISHOP TREANOR BELFAST ON RECENT STREET VIOLENCE.

Fr Tony Devlin removing stones from rioters – “exemplary leader”

Fr Tony is the brother of Father Paddy Devlin who singlehandedly sorted out the masturbation pandemic in his parish of Ligoneill.

On his parish website he broadcast this messsage:

“Do you have a problem with masturbation? Do not despair. A helping hand is available”.

FATHER JOE CONDON WATERFORD.

An elderly lady in Waterford is asking about Father Joe Condon of Waterford diocese.

He was a priest in St Joseph and Benildus parish in Waterford.

She is seeking information about him for happy and good news reasons.

No mention on Waterford diocesan website.

Can anyone help?

Up until about four decades ago the Irish were a very superstitious people.

Their faith was rooted in Holy Water, rosaries, statues, relics, holy wells, fairy thorns etc.

My granny believed that touching a priest’s hat would cure headaches and dinking the tea left in the bottom of a priest’s cup was prevention from colds and sore throats.

That generation believed that priests could cure illness and even raise from the dead

They also believed that a priest’s curse was the end.

A relative of mine, a lorry driver, crashed into the local PP and killed him. Three weeks later a gas tank blew up in front of him and blew off his two hands. He saw tgat as a punishment for killing the priest.

There is nothing all all wrong with a certain amount of emotional devotionionalism. But it cannot be the all.

Is Phonsie hankering for the past when the clergy were the mega wizards?

I believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

I believe in the possibility of Eucharistic miracles.

But the Eucharist is not a magic wand.

And the Eucharist is a symbol of faith and love. It inspires, especially in times of trouble.

But what does carrying the Eucharist around the streets of Waterford achieve – a city in which the majority do not attend Mass?

Maybe it FORCES THEM to see are still here.

Is that not a sign of a not knowing what to do?

The answer being: “Lets have a Eucharistic Procession”.

Is it not a time for Catholics, inspired by their faith, to open food banks, set up neighbourhood schemes for the old and infirm, obey Covid rules.

As well as to say their prayers and worship.

Jesus did seem to favour praying in your own private room?

Is Phonsie lost, I wonder, in post Catholic Ireland?

People, normally critics and opponents, often ask me what I would do about an Oratory Priest found on Grindr or involved on another scandal.

The Oratory does not require celibacy of any of its members and priests.

Nor does it have any problem with its priests being gay, being in gay partnerships or celebrating gay marriages.

In fact, I personally have been celebrating gay and lesbian blessings for 35 years now.

And nowadays, the Oratory solemnisers are listed to celebrate legally binding gay marriages North and South of the botder.

Of course, The Oratory sees itself as part of the Christian Church and the Christian Tradition.

And that tradition does have well-founded moral norms.

We also believe in sin in general and sexual sin in particular.

We oppose, like all right-thinking people the crimes of rape sexual assault the abuse of children and vulnerable adults.

Sexual relations are ideally conducted in the context of love, giving, emotion and romance.

I’m not sure recreational sex belongs in the Christian moral compendium – but can hardly either be regarded as the greatest of sins among consenting adaults.

Quite simply, priests of of The Oratory are not in any way as burdened as their Roman Catholic compatriots.

WAS OUT OF SORTS SINCE WEDNESDAY – EXPLAINING SLOW COMMENT POSTING.

I fell n Wednesday, and ended up in A&E with a head bang and arm frature.

I a dangerously well again 😖😡

Sarah Al-Arshani The Insider.

Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, died on Friday and his legacy is muddied by a decades-long history of off-the-cuff problematic and casually racist comments. 

Philip, who died at 99, was the longest-serving consort in the history of the British monarchy. While he’s remembered for his work with charity organizations like the World Wide Fund for Nature, he’s repeatedly made offensive statements.

The Duke, who married the Queen in 1947, retired from public life in May 2017 at the age of 95, but for more than 40 years prior his racist, sexist, or degrading statements were brushed off as “gaffes.”

In 1986, while on a visit to China, Philip described Beijing as “ghastly.” He also told British students: “If you stay here much longer you’ll all be slitty-eyed.”

That same year, while speaking at a World Wildlife Fund meeting, Philip made an insensitive comment on Cantonese cuisine. 

“If it has four legs and is not a chair, has wings and is not an airplane, or swims and is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it,” he said. 

In 1988, he told a student who was trekking through Papua New Guinea: “You managed not to get eaten then?”

In 1994, he asked residents of the Cayman Islands if most of them were “descended from pirates” and in 2002 he asked an aboriginal leader in Queensland: “Do you still throw spears at each other?”

Kehinde Andrews, Professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University, told CNN: “He was a throwback to old-school racism.

Painting him as a benign, cuddly uncle of the nation is simply untrue.”

Philip also made many sexist remarks. “You are a woman, aren’t you?” he asked a Kenyan woman in 1984 when she gave him a gift. 

In 1988 he said: “I don’t think a prostitute is more moral than a wife, but they are doing the same thing,” Mashable reported. 

In 2009 he met a female Sea Cadet who told him she worked at a nightclub. Phillip asked her: “Is it a strip club?”

Other comments made by the Duke were generally offensive. 

In 2002, he said “So who’s on drugs here?… HE looks as if he’s on drugs,” while pointing to a 14-year-old member of a Bangladeshi youth club. 

He told the president of Nigeria that he looked like he was “ready for bed,” because he was dressed in a traditional robe.

Philip also told a 13-year-old who wanted to become an astronaut that he should lose some weight. 

His history of offensive comments comes at a time when racial sensitivity and racism in the Royal family is being looked into after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle told Oprah Winfrey that members of the family were concerned over what skin tone her son Archie would have before he was born. Markle never specifically said who made those comments. 

In a follow-up appearance, Winfrey told host Gayle King that it was not Queen Elizabeth or Prince Philip who had “concerns” on the topic.

Prince Harry and Markle did pay tribute to Philip after his death was announced. 

“In loving memory of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh,” the couple posted on their Archewell website. “Thank you for your service…You will be greatly missed.”

PAT SAYS

The death of most people is sad.

All kinds of poeple have all kinds of things to say when someone dies.

There are always those who want to canonise.

Then there are those who want to demonise.

But no human life is so simple. There is good in the worst of us and evil in the best of us.

Philip had a very difficult childhood as a child of the overthrown Greek royal family.

He was separated from his mother who suffered severe mental health struggles.

He fell on his feet when he met Princess Elazabeth and married her.

He never wanted for anything material.

While staying married he is reported to have had a very varied love life.

He served in the Navy – not of course that royals in the forces experience the rough side of things.

He can certainly be credited with steadying the British Royal Family.

Some will applaud that and others will not be happy.

Did Philip live a GOOD life, a VIRTUOUS LIFE and a LIFE OF REAL SERVICE TO MANKIND?

I’d like readers comments on that.

This blog, its authors and its readers have not forgotten about Silverstream and its scandals.

Last we heard was that Prior Kirby was back as an ordinary monk and one of the community, Elijah, was made prior, even though he is not a priest.

Sources tell us that Kirby’s health has become more fragile.

THE GARDA:

Sources tell us that the Irish police, the Garda, have more or less finished their investigation of Silverstream’s finances.

We are led to believe that they have recommended prosecutions.

SEMINARIANS AT RISK?

Another source has revealed to us that at least one seminarian who went on retreat there in the past experienced secual hartassment.

THE WHISTLEBLOWER:

The brave whistleblower has not returned to the monastery and it is highly unlikely he will.

He has been the subject of a ludicrous and vicious whispering campaign and outlandish accusations.

However, he has been working closely with the Garda and is a highly truthful and reliable witness.

I am alerting readers to the likelihood of a major scandal at Silverstream as this year progresses.

Meanwhile, Silverstream has the full support of the incumbent of Meath – Tom “The Mack” Deenihan.

Many Irish priests, religious and monks are addicted to the very dangerous Gay app called Grindr.

One Northern Ireland priest recently told me of his horrific experience on Grindr.

He got talking to a man from the Lisburn Road in Belfast and travelled a considerable journey to meet the man. They had agreed to have anal sex with the priest being the “bottom” and the man being the “top”.

But when the priest arrived at the house the man had a BDSM room in his house.

He immediately tied up the priest and beat him to a pulp and then threw him in a rear passage beside dust bins.

The priest also lost his phone and wallet and ended up in hospital.

He was too embarrassed to go to the police and ruin his own reputation.

Afterwards, sadly, he continued to use Grindr 🥺

AND

This week I was talking to another man who suffered greatly through Grindr.

Some nasty people on Grindr stole his information and pictures and placed them on a paedophilia web site and informed the police.

After a very painful nine months his name was cleared. But he lost his job and has suffered serious physical and mental challenges and a litany of threats and abuse from neighbours.

Grindr featured hugely in the Maynooth “summer of love”.

It also featured in the downfall of number of fairly high profile priests.

Grindr is NOT men looking for love, companionship, a partner or emotional bonding.

Grindr is about men looking for wild, irresponsible, anonymous sex.

It is also about the dark side of gay sex – assault, rape, violence, humiliation etc.

No half decent man would want that, surely?

And why would a priest, monk or seminarian want to get involved in such a “meat market”.

Are people not better than that?

Are priests not better than that?

Gentlemen and Reverend Gentlemen especially should avoid Grindr.

PAT SAYS

I am very sad to hear of the death of Hans Kung.

But he lived a long and productive life and leaves an unforgettable legacy.

I was always a very big fan of his and liked reading his books – even though they were a marathon of a read.

I loved his book “Infallibility”.

I also liked his short book on death and have put it away with a book by the Dala Lama “for when the times comes”.

He has been very badly treated by the Vatican.

Theologians should be allowed to freely explore ideas without being silenced

I still wear my clerical collar most of the time.

But many if not most priests have stopped wearing it regularly.

Most members of the oriestsbtrade union, the ACP – Association of Catholic Priests have stopped wearing it.

Most of them ate pictured these days wearing horrible old charity shop types of jumpers and shirts.

They think it makes them “kool” and non clerical.

I wear my collar for two important reasons:

1. To be a witness to the Christian faith and my ministry in it.

2. To be a very visible approach for anyone who needs to talk or my help.

The nonsense the ACP & Co talk about tge collar being barrier is just that – nonsense.

Barriers are created between people through behaviour and attitudes.

For 45 years now I have ministered in various places and among a great variety of people.

I have never found my collar to be a barrier.

I particularly wear my collar on my travels around the world.

I have had the most wonderfully friendly and pastoral encounters with people who approached me precisely because I was visibly a priest.

I have happily been drawn into emergency and tragic situations as a result of being a priest.

When thumbing a lift was a very common thing in Ireland in the past I always gave lifts and had great conversations with hitch hikers and heard many a Confession in the car.

NAME CALLING IN STREET

Yes, since the abuse crisis has arisen I have been named called and verbally abused especially in Dublin.

On these occasions I stopped and engaged in conversations with my abusers.

I accepted their anger at the abuse and was quite happy to ve the conduit for that justified anger.

Abd tgen tgey allowed ne to pointbout to tgem that 90% of priests do not abuse chikdren.

I also acknowledge with them that the RCC is very corrupt.

The RCC and many priests and bishops have scandalised decent people and we have to own and process that.

Priests going around hiding in jumpers and gansies do not address the problem.

Priests running “we feel sorry for ourselves” courses and workshops for priests does not address the problem either.

Priests are not the real victims.

Men, women and children fiffled with and raped by priests are the real victims.

Reverend Gentlemen, wear your collars and take the flack involved and grow a pair !!!

SUBMITTED BY READER

Cleric criticises Bishop of Waterford over alleged Covid breach

Bishop of Waterford and Lismore Alphonsus Cullinan has been criticised after a screenshot was circulated of the bishop celebrating Mass without wearing a mask in close proximity with a number of other priests.

MON, 05 APR, Irish Examiner. Eoghan Dalton

The Bishop of Waterford and Lismore has been strongly criticised by a cleric over the fallout from an alleged breach of Covid guidelines.

Fr Tim Hazlewood, a member of the Association of Catholic Priests, said bishops in particular need to give leadership during the pandemic, especially when it comes to observing guidelines and restrictions.

Fr Hazlewood was commenting after a screenshot was circulated of Bishop Cullinan celebrating Mass without wearing a mask in close proximity with a number of other priests.

“When you’re in a position of power, you’re seen as a person of influence and every single thing we do is interpreted. There’s consequences as a leader in what you do,” said Fr Hazlewood, who is based in Killeagh in east Cork.

He said the leadership of the Catholic Church “still needs” to accept it no longer has a position of privilege. 

To me, it begs the question: does the Church still think it has privilege? Are we above the law? [In the past] privilege was used to control people and we could do what we want. That day is gone and the sooner we move on from it the better.”

It’s understood gardaí spoke with Bishop Cullinan in recent weeks after a complaint from a member of the public.

Screenshot of the Mass celebrated by Bishop of Waterford and Lismore Alphonsus Cullinan in close proximity to other priests. None were wearing masks.

Bishop Cullinan, who has repeatedly declined to address the matter, was seen in a screenshot from the Church online video of the mass flanked by priests without masks on a church altar in Tramore.

The Mass, held to mark a local seminarian’s admission to become a deacon, and which was streamed live, was led by Bishop Cullinan at the Holy Cross Church in Tramore on February 14.
Screenshot

The screenshot of the service circulated afterwards, showing Bishop Cullinan and the two priests at close quarters on the altar, along with another two nearby.

None of the five were wearing masks at that point in the Mass and it is not known how long the bishop and the two priests were on the altar at the same time.

According to guidance for religious services, published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, organisers need to “ensure social distancing of two metres is maintained . . . including by those leading or contributing to the performance of religious rites”, while “congregants should wear cloth face coverings or masks” during indoor ceremonies.

The guidance adds that the “religious leader should wear a cloth face covering or mask during the service” and can do without a mask “only if she/he is more than 2 metres from any participant”.

The Garda matter is now believed to be closed and no formal warning or charges will be issued against the bishop.

The office of the diocese did not respond to requests for comment over the past month and Bishop Cullinan said he was “too busy” to respond when contacted.

Catholics are ‘frustrated’

Bishop Cullinan spoke out against the level 5 ban on attendees at Mass last week, saying  Catholics are “frustrated” and “feel underrepresented and discriminated against”.

In the statement, issued in a general press release by the diocese, the bishop said  “priests and parish volunteers have been very diligent in ensuring that our churches are sanitised and safe” during the pandemic.

An Garda Siochána said when dealing with potential breaches of guidelines, they operate a “graduated policing response” to potential flouting of restrictions, whereby gardaí first engage and educate people on the measures ahead of stricter action.

PAT SAYS

Phonsie is always calling on others to act and live properly.

So, he needs to act and live properly too.

He did break Covid regulations.

He should acknowledge that and say he will not do it again.

But who is this Hazelwood crerp in Cloyne?

He is one of the leading “lights” in the ACP – Association of Catholic Priests.

They are a group of wanna be bishops and theologians who have gone no where in life and are going nowhere.

They are a blind priest’s trade union thinking priests can do no wrong.

Phonsie will not lose a minutes sleep over Timmy Hazelwood & Co.