SHOULD PAT BE RECONCILED WITH ROME?

30 YEARS AGO WITH FR MICHAEL KEANE AND MY MOTHER JO

EVERY WEEK I GET LETTERS AND EMAILS FROM PEOPLE SUGGESTING THAT I WOULD BE RECONCILED WITH ROME.

There are a number of things I need to say about that:

1. I never jumped ship. I was pushed overboard.

2. As a Christian, I am always open to reconciliation with those from whom I have become estranged.

3. I have tried on many occasions to seek reconciliation - and my efforts have been turned away.

Cahal Daly and I had several talks and much correspondence from 1983 to 1986.

He moved me from parish to parish twice in two years and I always obeyed him and moved.

When he finally axed me in 1986 I made every effort I could to be reconciled with him. After years of refusal, I brought my case to the Industrial Tribunal and the High Court hoping that these independent institutions might broker a reconciliation.

When Cahal Daly left for Armagh in the early 1990's I had a lot of contact with his successor in Down and Connor - Paddy Walsh.

PADDY WALSH

That contact came to a head with me having several meetings with the diocesan chancellor - Canon Raymund Fitzpatrick - and with me producing a 15-page proposal for our reconciliation. 

I based my proposal on the Parable of the Prodigal Son - with me playing the role of the repentant prodigal and inviting Paddy Walsh to play the role of the forgiving father.

Paddy Walsh thanked me for my proposal - and was particularly grateful for my use of that Parable - and said me needed some weeks to think and pray about it.

When his response came it was not an answer to my proposal - which involved me making a public apology to the Bishop of Down and Connor.

Instead, it was a letter giving me a number of days to stop celebrating marriages and the threat of suspension and excommunication!

THAT I5 PAGE PROPOSAL OF MINE IS AVAILABLE IN LARNE FOR ANYONE WHO WISHES TO VIEW OR EXAMINE IT.

It is too big to print here in full on the Blog.

But here is the kernel of the document:

IN CONCLUSION - THE PRACTICAL WAY FORWARD:

FROM ME:

1. That I acknowledge, in writing if required, that I have acted, albeit in good faith and clear conscience, contrary to official Church teaching and Canon Law with regard to marriages, Confessions, and Confirmations.

2. That I will guarantee, in writing if required, that as of a certain agreed date, I will cease to act contrary to official Church teaching and Canon Law, thereby in faith subjecting my own individual conscience to the "universal conscience" of the Church.

3. That I will guarantee, in writing if required, that my future writings will be more circumspect and will reflect official Church teaching.

4. That I will guarantee that I will work under the authority of the Bishop of Down and Connor, in an open, co-operative and positive way for the good of the church in the Diocese.

5. That I will not stand for re-election to Larne Borough Council in deference to Canon Law's prescription that a cleric not hold public office.

6. That I will guarantee to keep all contact and discussions between myself and the bishop on our pastoral solution strictly confidential.

FROM YOU:

1. That you formally incardinate me into the Diocese of Down and Connor.

2. That you appoint me to a mutually agreed and clearly defined ministry in the Diocese that affords me "rehabilitation" in the eyes of the clergy and people and that affords me full faculties and financial security.

3. That you offer me pastoral care and guidance as to how I might acceptably put forward my conscientious views on various matters internally and privately within the Church.

That letter was given to Bishop Walsh - 25 YEARS AGO - on the 29th March 1992.

Bishop Walsh's response was to threaten me with suspension and excommunication.

BISHOP TREANOR:

BISHOP TREANOR - LOOKING FOR LOST SHEEP?

When Bishop Walsh retired in 2008 Bishop Noel Treanor became the Bishop of Down and Connor.

-On the 11th August 2008 I wrote the following letter to Noel Treanor and sent it Recorded Delivery to make sure he got it.

IT READS:

Dear Noel,

I wanted to let the initial fuss die down and let you catch a breath before dropping you a note to welcome you to Down and Connor. Hopefully, you are beginning to find your feet.

I have offered Mass for you and asked God to give you the wisdom, strength, courage and good health you will need so that you can spiritually and pastorally renew the church in the diocese.

It would be nice if, at some time, you and I had the opportunity to have an informal courtesy meeting to simply say "hello". I will leave that thought with you.

Again, wishing you every blessing on the occasion of a very major change in the course of your Christian and priestly life.

Warmly yours,

+ Pat

-----------------------------------------------

That letter was never acknowledged or replied to. 

It is very difficult to be reconciled if those you seek reconciliation with will not meet you or will not acknowledge or reply to your overtures. 

Am I still open to reconciliation?

Yes.

Have things become more complicated?

Yes.

Does that make reconciliation impossible?

No - especially not for those who say that they follow the Jesus who prayed: "FATHER, MAY THEY ALL BE ONE - AS YOU AND I ARE ONE".

OF COURSE, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN ALL THIS IS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOD'S WILL.

I'M SURE HIS WILL IS REVEALED IN ALL THE THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO US - IF WE RESPOND TO THEM WITH THE EYES OF FAITH.

AND I KNOW - THAT IN SPITE OF ALL MY HUMAN WEAKNESS - I DO WANT TO DISCOVER AND DO GOD'S WILL.

DERRY DIOCESAN CHANGES

Bishop McKeown has announced the following appointments for priests, which will be effective from 8th September 2017:

Fr Peter Madden, PP Ballinascreen, to be, in addition, Vicar Forane for County Derry Deanery;

Fr Kevin J McElhennon, PP Cappagh, to be, in addition, Vicar Forane for Tyrone Deanery;

Fr Michael Doherty, PP Mourne, to be, in addition, PP Sion Mills;

Fr Charles Keaney, returning from sabbatical study leave, to be PP Granaghan;

Fr Eugene Hasson, CC Drumragh, to be PP Drumragh;

Fr Thomas Canning, CC Three Patrons, to be CC Sion Mills and CC Mourne, residing at Sion Mills;

Fr Christopher McDermott, CC Templemore (St Eugene's), to be CC Drumragh and part-time further studies;

Fr Kevin Mulhern, on loan from the Society of African Missions, to be CC Three Patrons;

Fr Malachy Gallagher, newly ordained, to be CC Glendermott and Strathfoyle;

Fr Kieran O'Doherty, PP Granaghan, to be Priest-in-Residence Maghera.

In addition, Bishop McKeown announced the following:

Mgr Joseph Donnelly, PP Drumragh, to retire;

Fr Peter McLaughlin, PP Sion Mills, to retire.

NO MENTION OF FATHER BRENDAN COLLINS WHO WENT ON SABBATICAL LAST YEAR ???

ONLY 6 MEN ENTER MAYNOOTH!

Record low for new seminarians in Maynooth

FROM: THE IRISH CATHOLIC

by Colm Fitzpatrick

August 31, 2017

St Patrick's College, Maynooth.

There will be just six first year seminarians at the national seminary when classes resume later this month, according to figures obtained by The Irish Catholic. It is thought to be the lowest number on record in Maynooth’s 222 year history.

While returns from 25 of the country’s 26 dioceses show that 15 men have begun studying for Irish dioceses this year, many of them will participate in a so-called propaedeutic or preparatory year in anticipation of starting in the seminary in 2018.

The fall-off in Maynooth numbers is also due – in part – to the presence of a number of mature students this year who will be formed at the Pontifical Beda College in Rome which specialises in priestly training for older candidates.

In all, 15 of Ireland’s 26 dioceses have no new students either entering seminary or participating in the preparatory year. A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Dublin told The Irish Catholic that it expected to have new seminarians but was unable to confirm how many until next week.

Killaloe diocese will send two new seminarians to Maynooth, while Tuam, Elphin, Kilmore and Cork & Ross diocese will send one student each.

Survey

A survey carried out by The Irish Catholic this week reveals an increasing trend to ask candidates for formation to undertake the propaedeutic year first. The year is usually completed in Spain, however, two students of the Derry diocese will complete their preparatory year in the diocese.

In all, five students will participate in the propaedeutic year, one will attend the Pontifical Irish College in Rome, two will attend the Beda and one Down & Connor student will begin his formation at St Malachy’s College in Belfast.

New seminarians in 2017

Achonry 0

Ardagh & Clonmacnoise 0

Armagh 0

Cashel and Emly 0

Clogher 0

Clonfert 0

Cloyne 0

Cork & Ross 1 (Maynooth)

Derry 2*

Down & Connor 2 (1* and 1 to St Malachy’s) 

Dromore 0 

Dublin Number unavailable

Elphin 1 (Maynooth)

Ferns 0

Galway 0

Kerry 1*

Kildare & Leighlin 1*

Killala 0

Killaloe 2 (Maynooth)

Kilmore 1 (Maynooth)

Limerick 0

Meath 1 (Pontifical Beda College, Rome)

Ossory 0

Raphoe 0

Tuam 3 (Maynooth, Pontifical Irish College, and Pontifical Beda College, Rome) 

Waterford & Lismore 0

PAT SAYS:

Maynooth has received the lowest ever number of entrants in its 222-year history!

Only 6 new seminarians entered Maynooth last Sunday to begin their first year's training.

15 of 26 Irish Catholic dioceses had no one at all to send this year to Maynooth.

Obviously, there are many reasons for this fall away - but one has to say that it is directly related to the MAYNOOTH GAY SCANDAL that has been world news now for quite a while.

Why would any young man want to enter a place where he could so easily be targetted by others for gay sex?

Why would Catholic parents, grandparents, and families want something like that for their beloved family member?

These young men and their families have witnessed these happenings and have witnessed the Irish Catholic Bishops doing NOTHING to really address the situation.

Furthermore, they have been exposed to the Gorgeous, King Puck, Chris Derwin, Eamon McCamley and Rory Coyle cases.

And like the rest of us, they are waiting to see Diarmuid Martin (Dublin) and Ray Browne (Kerry)  ordain Gorgeous and King Puck in November.

The inaction of the Irish Bishops has made Maynooth - and indeed the priesthood - a laughing stock and a scandal.

Any young man entering the Catholic priesthood is swimming against the prevailing cultural and social tides.

Such a young man would have to have a strong faith and a lot of integrity in any event.

But then his bishop asks him to enter a seminary with a reputation for promiscuous sex and an institution where those who want to be celibate - and those who might be heterosexual - are sexually bullied and harassed and eventually given the heave ho by people with dangerous agendas.  

Sending aspiring priests to a place like Maynooth is akin to sending aspiring police officers to an institution run by the Mafia.

SIX went in last Sunday. How many of those SIX will be there by June? How many of the SIX will be ordained in 6/7 years time?

And what indignities and ordeals will those SIX have to endure in FANNY MULLANEY LAND?

One shudders to think!

PRIEST SACKED FOR TELLING TRUTH!

Priest who claimed 'gay mafia' controls Catholic church seeks parish return

Father Matthew Despard was rapped by the church over explosive claims in his book Priesthood in Crisis.

BYJOHN FERGUSON DAILY RECORD

Bottom of Form

A Catholic priest at the centre of gay mafia accusations is set to return to a Scottish parish.

Father Matthew Despard, 52, was forced to quit after being rapped by the church over explosive claims in his book Priesthood in Crisis.

He wrote that a “powerful gay mafia” was operating at the top of the Catholic hierarchy and was responsible for sexual ­bullying

Despard was forced to stand down from his post at St John Ogilvie’s Parish in Blantyre, Lanarkshire.

The priest also spoke out about the gay mafia in Catholic seminaries.

But he could now return after a Vatican court “partly reversed” the decision of a Scottish church tribunal.

Bishop of Motherwell Joseph Toal said: “Fr Despard has requested he be allowed to return to public priestly ministry by being given a new pastoral assignment.”

BISHOP TOAL

Fr Despard Banned From Conducting Funeral of Former Parishioner & Friend

October 14, 2016By editorin UncategorizedTags: diocese of motherwell, fr matthew despard, funeral

Last night, I had a telephone call from a gentleman in the Diocese of Motherwell, who expressed concern about the fact that the family of a deceased lady, Teresa Howie RIP, had asked if their former (now suspended) Parish Priest, Fr Matthew Despard, who is a personal friend of the deceased and family could officiate at her funeral on Monday next. The permission was refused. The PP is going off on holiday, so presumably another priest, with no connection to the family, will be sent in to conduct the funeral.

The caller asked if we could help, so I emailed the diocese last night as follows:

“For the attention of Bishop Toal

I have been contacted by friends of a deceased lady – Teresa Howie of St John Ogilvie parish – whose funeral is scheduled to take place in that parish on Monday morning.

I’m told that the family asked for Father Matthew Despard to officiate at the funeral because he is a friend of the deceased and family but that this request was refused.

I am aware of Fr Despard’s situation within the diocese. Nevertheless, this seems a very harsh and unnecessary decision.

Since we always seek to avoid undue publicity if at all possible, I await your response before taking any further action.

Will Fr Despard be permitted to conduct Teresa Howie’s funeral?

Kind regards (Editor, Catholic Truth]

This morning, I received the following reply:

I reply on behalf of Bishop Toal

It will not be possible for Fr. Despard to celebrate the Funeral Mass for Teresa Howie, R.I.P.

Fr. James Grant
Chancellor

I replied to his reply to simply thank him for his prompt reply.

Consider this: there are priests out there guilty of many shocking scandals, which range from publicly preaching against the Faith to hitting the tabloid headlines due to being caught in sexual scandals. In the latter case, there is one such Glasgow priest who does the rounds within the archdiocese, giving talks to the intelligentsia. There was no “punishment” of any kind for him. Yet Fr Despard has paid a very  heavy price, for what, at worst, could be described as a lack of good judgment – and I’m not even sure about that, since I hear fairly regularly from people who know the Diocese of Motherwell very well and argue that his expose was necessary; I don’t know enough about that but certainly he has paid a heavy price and continues to pay a heavy price for writing his book, in good (if misguided) faith. 

So, I’m doing what I promised the caller – giving some publicity to the refusal of the Bishop of Motherwell to permit Fr Despard, family friend and friend of the deceased lady herself, who has been one of his staunchest supporters throughout this difficult period of his suspension, to conduct her funeral. Seems vindictive to me. In any case, please pray for the repose of the soul of Teresa Howie, and for consolation for her family at this sad time.

PAT SAYS:

Father Despard was dismissed from his parish and suspended SIMPLY FOR TELLING THE TRUTH!

What was that truth:

1. That the Catholic Hierarchy is manned by promiscuous and bullying homosexuals - all the way to the top.

2. That as an army chaplain other priests had tried to seduce him.

3. That seminaries were being taken over by promiscuous homosexuals.

4. That other priests had tried to seduce him.


Instead of listening to Father Despard's claims - and investigating them - Father Despard was removed from his parish and suspended.

He then appealed his sacking to a Scottish Church Tribunal and they upheld his sacking.

Father Despard then appealed to Rome and his punishment has been "partly lifted" and he has requested to return to pastoral work.


What kind of an organisation sacks its whistle blowers?

ANSWER: A CORRUPT ONE.


By all accounts, Father Despard is a good priest. He obviously loves his Church and priesthood - and wishes it to be purified. 

When I was sacked by Cahal Daly - in a similar way - and for similar reasons - 31 years ago I decided not to appeal to a Church court.

I felt that it would be like indicting the Devil and holding the court in Hell. 

The Tribunal Cahal Daly offered me had the following conditions:

1. The Tribunal would consist of 10 priests - 9 appointed by Daly and 1 appointed by me FROM A LIST HE WOULD GIVE ME!

2. Daly could meet the panel - but I could not!

3. The panel could read my personnel file - but I could not!

4. I could not hear the charges or evidence that Daly would bring against me!

5. There would be no further appeal!


There is very little justice in canon law for those at the lower levels.

I am pleased that Father Despard that he is being allowed back to ministry.

But HIS CARDS HAVE BEEN MARKED and he will have to lie very low to please Bishop Toal and senior clergy.


If priests want justice and rights they need to form a CLERGY TRADE UNION capable of bringing the Hierarchy to a halt.

Of course, any priest joining that union will not get promotion and will always be a PERSONA NON-GRATIA.

NEOCATS TAKING OVER IN ARMAGH

AMY MARTIN OPENS DANGEROUS SEMINARY IN DUNDALK

I used to think that AMY MARTIN was a silly and immature man - BUT - recently I am beginning to think he might be DANGEROUS!

He has invited a ROMAN CATHOLIC CULT into Armagh Diocese, given them a building, and allowed them to start training right wing priests for Armagh!

The cult is called THE NEOCATECHUMENATE WAY.

Are We Dealing With a Cult?

As many Catholics on Guam know, the Church on Guam is currently in a state of profound crisis.  After much reflection, I have to ask, “Does the Neocatechumenal Way on Guam practice or exhibit any of the classic signs of cults and sects, and if so, which ones?”

ReGAIN, an organization whose mission is to reach out to, unite and support those touched or adversely affected by two other problematic Catholic movements, has published the following list of thirteen characteristics of cult-like organizations.  Look through the list, and based on your personal experience or those of your loved ones, count those that apply to the Neocatechumenal Way on Guam.  I count at least ten.  How about you?

1. The group is focused on a living leader to whom members seem to display excessively zealous, unquestioning commitment. There is an unhealthy cult of personality around the founder of the NCW, Kiko Arguello.
2. The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.  Is anybody really disputing this?
3. The group is preoccupied with making money.  Kiko’s “New Aesthetic” is quite a cash cow, as many are now beginning to see.
4. Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.   Catechumen’s are to listen. Questions are not are either not typically entertained at catechetical sessions.
5. The leadership dictates -sometimes in great detail- how members should think, act and feel [for example: members must get permission from leaders to date, change jobs, get married; leaders may prescribe what type of clothes to wear, where to live, how to discipline children, and so forth].  There are many anecdotes regarding the excessive control the catechists have. One mother on Guam was told to have her 13-year old son circumcised. Members must ask permission to take off-island vacations. Young men are encouraged to marry “a daughter of Israel” (i.e. a member).
6. The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leaders and members [for example: the leader is considered the Messiah, or an avatar; the group and/or the leader has a special mission to save humanity].
7. The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which causes conflict with the wider society. Some examples: Kiko’s followers do not worship with the rest of the faithful on Guam, and their youth do not travel with Guam’s faithful to World Youth Day.
8. The group’s leader is not accountable to any authorities [as are, for example, military commanders and ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream denominations].
9. The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify means that members would have considered unethical before joining the group [for example: collecting money for bogus charities].
10. The leadership induces feeling of guilt in members in order to control them. Many anecdotes exist in our local community to assert this. Catechists exert incredible pressure on those who wish to leave, suggesting that their salvation is at risk.
11. Members’ subservience to the group causes them to cut ties with family, friends, and personal group goals and activities that were of interest before joining the group.  Guam’s families have a tight-knit structure, and countless report have come in describing how NCW membership erodes this structure and its obligations.
12. Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group. Absolutely true. Once active, members no longer have much, if any, time to participate in the events of the wider community.
13. Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members. There seems to be an attempt to replace Guam’s tight-knit family structure with the NCW community.

THE DUNDALK SEMINARY

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

THE NCW: AN INSIDER'S VIEW (From Bosnia and Croatia)

The cheap cowards over at The Diana title their blog "An Insider's View." However, there is a lot that they don't want you to see. We receive quite a few accounts like the one you are about to read. Most of what we are sent, we are asked not to publish, even anonymously, for fear that the account will be recognized by the sender's former community. It's hard for us on the outside to imagine what they could be so afraid of, but, nevertheless, their fears are real and some have suffered severe personal tragedy from the psychological harm endured while in the NCW and the fears they take with them when the try to leave. The sender of the following account agreed to have his account published, albeit anonymously.

FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?

I am in contact with a man who needed counseling by the church following his exposure to the Neocatechumenal Way and a Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Bosnia and at another in Croatia. He was told by this church counsellor  that he had experienced verbal, emotional and spiritual abuse at their hands and having read his sworn statement I would add physical abuse to these.

All of his experiences were denied by the NCW national responsible team in the UK and, probably by the European coordinating rector at their London house of formation.

Many of the experiences were witnessed by his fellow seminarians at RMS Bosnia and at a RMS in Croatia and some have subsequently emailed him to establish  what exactly happened and to report that an itinerant catechist  from another country working in the seminary in Bosnia had been made the scapegoat for the events and had suffered some form of breakdown. His fellow seminarians at RMS Bosnia were concerned about the “bad mouthing” that was taking place after the man left the seminary and wanted to establish the truth for themselves.

It appears that many of the RMS rectors around the world originate from the mother house in Rome and adopt the same modus operandi. 

In this man’s case the basic method employed was as follows;

ISOLATION. No mobile phones or internet contact was allowed. Personal phone calls to the seminary phone were discouraged and monitored.

PHYSICAL DURESS. 12 hours hard physical labour every day in cold dangerous conditions.

SLEEP DEPRIVATION.  Billeted in crowded dormitories and cramped cold conditions.

STARVATION RATIONS. This man lost 1/6 of his body weight over a 9 week period.

DESTRUCTION OF SELF ESTEEM. Constant denigration, humiliation and ridicule from the rector and dean.

REINFORCEMENT OF NCW. Banging on about being better formed than diocesan seminarians. Claiming to be the only ones in the church who know about  catechesis, evangelisation, family life etc.

NO PRAYER. This man was alarmed when told not to pray the Rosary or the Divine Office as he hadn’t reached the NCW stage of Initiation to Prayer.

RESTRICTED FREEDOM. Having become convinced that something was not as it should be and not of the Holy Spirit he asked to leave the seminary. His departure was frustrated by personnel in RMS in two countries and he was detained against his will. He was constantly verbally abused during this time. He had to make good his escape against the will of the seminaries.

DEMONIZED.  Upon his return to the UK his catechists made up all sorts of untrue stories to tell his old community why he had left.

These are not the fruits of the NCW that they would want publicized but they are what the Church and the public need to see so that appropriate action can be taken.

VIDEO 1 OF 3

VIDEO 2 OF 3

video 3 of 3

PAT SAYS:

I believe that the Neocat is a cult.

I believe it more so after meeting and talking to some of them.

Why is Amy Martin bring them to Ireland and Armagh.

Is a reaction to GAYNOOTH?

The Neocats are certainly very homophobic.

But can we really replace the promiscuity of Maynooth with a cult?

Brainwashing, splitting up families, making a lot of money out of people's vulnerabilities to me is far worse than being on Grindr or having gay sex.

If Amy succeeds parishes in Armagh and beyond will be filled with these "crazies". 

Ushering in Catholic robots is not the answer to the Church's crises.

We need to have optional celibacy and women priests.

These Neocats will make the Irish Catholic Church a big cult.

I am worried about all the men and women that will be sucked in by their claims and ideas.

I thought that Amy was just a laugh.

Now he is turning out to be a danger!

CATHOLIC CLERICALISM

Clericalism: Let’s Talk … Prepared for the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests, Assembly

Clericalism is an overriding set of beliefs and behaviors in which the clergy view themselves as different, separate, and exempt from the norms, rules and consequences that apply to everyone else in society, and the laity defer to that belief.

Clericalism: Clericalism has fueled not just the cover-ups in the clergy sex-abuse scandals but also the other ills we confront today in the Church: from dwindling membership to financial scandals.

“Clericalism, far from giving impetus to various contributions and proposals, gradually extinguishes the prophetic flame to which the entire Church is called to bear witness in the heart of her peoples.

Clericalism forgets that the visibility and sacramentality of the Church belong to all the People of God not only to the few chosen and enlightened.” 

Pope Francis “Clericalism should not have anything to do with Christianity.” – Pope Francis

“Understanding clericalism and transforming that mentality is the single most urgent priority for the coming Catholic Church … the better our understanding of the meaning of the priesthood and the ways that it is changing, the better the chances of emerging from the dark night of the soul with a renewed church.” – David Gibson.

The Coming Catholic Church [Clericalism is] “fundamentally an attitude found in clergy who have made their status as priests and bishops more important than their status as baptized disciples of Jesus Christ … [It] is the almost inevitable outgrowth of clerical culture … a culture deeply imbedded in the individual and collective unconscious of the clergy, and, by extension, in the unconscious of the laity who unwittingly support the cultures in which they live … One sad, even tragic, effect of this … is the curtailing of honest dialogue and conversation between laity and church authorities.” – Donald Cozzens, Faith That Dares to Speak

We covered some of the subtle ways language and pastoral relationships can feed clericalism. But how do YOU experience such barriers? 

And what can you do about it—how do you guard against clericalism in your own behaviors while removing the barriers others may use to hold you on “your side” of the lay/clergy divide? 

Use the following questions, and your own, to open up that discussion. 

1. Do you agree that as a priest/pastor you are the “point person” to begin to effect change in clergy/lay relations? What is your greatest challenge in moving people from deferential agreement to honest conversation? 

2. Have you ever thought of your lay sisters and brothers as “priestly”? What might be the impact of treating them that way? 

3. How have you gotten to know the people in your care? Do you provide opportunities for listening and honest feedback? Do they ever share in homily preparation or lead faith-sharing activities? 

4. What do lay people need to STOP doing to help narrow the gulf between the relationship of priests and laity? 

5. What is the most important thing you would like lay people in your care to know about you? Do they? If not, why not … and what can you do about it? Something to Consider Choose one small thing you can do differently in the way you relate to lay people after reflecting on the “take aways” from this gathering. 


PAT SAYS: 

                                                          

First of all, let us make the point that there is a difference between a CLERIC and a PRIEST.

A PRIEST is an ordained person who is called to serve God and God's People.

A CLERIC is a man who according to canon law has a certain office in the institutional church.

For instance, no one can ever stop being a priest. Ordination is permanent. When the Church dismisses a priest from office it is called: DISMISSAL FROM THE CLERICAL STATE.

The word DEFROCK is only meaningful when it means that a cleric is forbidden by canon law to wear clerical dress.

Every paedophile priest who has been dismissed has been dismissed from the clerical state. But he is still a priest and were he to celebrate Mass his celebration would be VALID (but UNLAWFUL).

CLERICALISM is about being a card carrying member of THE CLERICAL CLUB.

It is about thinking that as a priest you are SUPERIOR to the lay man or woman.

It is about being on a pedestal - and enjoying being on a pedestal.

It about having POWER and CONTROL over the laity.

It is about a priest talking about MY PARISH instead of OUR PARISH.

It is like the CASTE STSTEM of India.

It is about regarding lay people as THE LOWEST FORM OF CHURCH LIFE.

Clericalism developed from a number of strands:

1. The medieval development of regarding clerics as "PROFESSIONALS" - members of a "PROFESSION" and bishops as feudal lords, cardinals as PRINCE'S OF THE CHURCH and the pope as A MONARCH.

3. It came about also as a result of celibacy. The priest was better because he gave up something the poor ignorant populace could not give up - sex.(In reality, priests have had better sex than most).

4. It came about because of Church teaching that sex was bad and dirty and the "good priests" abstained from it.

5. It came about because virginity was seen as superior to marriage. That's why Mary SIMPLY HAD TO BE A VIRGIN ALL HER LIFE.

6. It came about because celibacy was seen as superior to marriage.


THE RENEWAL OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WILL INVOLVE THE DISMANTLING OF CLERICALISM.

http://www.votf.org/Clericalism.pdf 

INFORMING CLIPS ABOUT CLERICALISM

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX