MORE VATICAN SKULDUGGERY

Skulduggery at the Vatican as former auditor-general, accused of spying, says he was victim of a 'set-up'

Nick Squires, rome THE TELEGRAPH

24 SEPTEMBER 2017

The Vatican was embroiled in fresh scandal on Sunday after a former official claimed that he was forced to step down after his investigations into conflicts of interest made him enemies within the Holy See.

In the latest case of skulduggery and intrigue to hit the sovereign city state, the Vatican countered with unusually explicit accusations that Libero Milone had been caught “spying” on officials.

Mr Milone, 69, was appointed two years ago as the Holy See’s first auditor-general and tasked with overseeing the cleaning up of the Vatican’s opaque finances.

He had an impressive track record, having previously worked for Fiat, the UN and as a chairman of the global accounting firm Deloitte.

He resigned abruptly and without explanation in June, but has now broken his silence on the reasons behind his departure, claiming that he was forced out by shadowy vested interests determined to block the reforms of Pope Francis.

He revealed that on June 19 he was ordered to resign by Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, the Vatican deputy secretary of state, and told that he had been the subject of a seven-month investigation by the Vatican gendarmerie, the city state’s tiny police force.

"The facts presented to me on the morning of the 19th were fake, fabricated," he said. "I was in shock. All the reasons had no credible foundation." He said he was the victim of a “set-up” by Vatican insiders who were scared that his inquiries were beginning to dig up dirt.

The saga began in 2015, when Mr Milone suspected that his computer had been accessed without his authorisation. He called in an outside contractor, who found that his computer had indeed been tampered with, and that of his secretary infected with a spyware that automatically copied files.

The Vatican claimed that Mr Milone had used the external contractor to spy on Holy See officials, going far beyond his brief.

In a forthright statement released on Sunday, the Vatican said Mr Milone had “illegally employed an outside company to carry out investigative activities on the private lives of members of the Holy See.” That was not only a crime, it had also “irredeemably damaged” the Vatican’s faith in him. 

The Holy See had noted “with surprise and regret” the revelations made by the former auditor-general to various media outlets. Archbishop Becciu even alleged that he had been spied on by Mr Milone. "If he had not agreed to resign, we would have prosecuted him,” he said.

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

Pope Francis’s anti-sleaze auditor Libero Milone ‘forced out’ of Vatican role

Tom Kington, Rome

Pope Francis’s efforts to clean up the Vatican’s murky finances and relax rigid Church doctrine are under fire after the resignation of his top auditor and a row with four hardline cardinals over alleged rule-bending on divorce.

Libero Milone, a former Deloitte & Touche auditor appointed to great fanfare in 2015 to poke around the Vatican’s dusty balance sheets, was given the right to open any filing cabinet or computer as the pope tried to end decades of mismanagement and sleaze.

Libero Milone had been given the power to open any filing cabinet or computer as part of his mission to shine a light on the Vatican’s murky finances.

Reporting directly to Francis, Mr Milone resigned this week, fuelling speculation that he had angered secretive cardinals . Mr Milone own computer and office were broken into in late 2015.

His resignation, announced by the Vatican in a brief note, is a blow to the Australian cardinal George Pell, who was brought in by Francis as head of the Vatican’s economy secretariat to run the transparency drive.

“It looks like Pell and his group are being stonewalled,” said Robert Mickens, English language editor of the La Croix International, a Catholic news website.

Cardinal Pell’s stock may fall further if he is charged over sexual abuse allegations dating back to the 1970s in Australia where police are pouring over evidence. He has denied the claims.

On the doctrinal front, Francis’s enemies stepped up their attack over the pope’s 2016 encyclical Amoris Laetitia, in which he suggested bishops can overlook the Church’s rule on refusing communion to remarried divorcees.

Traditionally, the Church regards remarried divorcees as living in sin, instead continuing to recognise their first marriage.

However, in his bid to make the Church more welcoming and less censorious, Francis has hinted that exceptions can be made to allow them to take communion.

Some dioceses have jumped at the chance to change the rules, but four conservative cardinals fought back in September, complaining that they made public when he did not reply.

In April they sent another letter, this time demanding a meeting with Francis. When he again did not respond, they published the letter this week.

The letter complains that “access to the Holy Eucharist,” is being given to “those who objectively and publicly live in a situation of grave sin,” adding, “What is a sin in Poland is correct in Germany, what is forbidden in the archdiocese of Philadelphia is lawful in Malta, and so on.”

The letter was sent by cardinal Carlo Caffarra on behalf of fellow cardinals Walter Brandmueller, Joachim Meisner and American Raymond Burke, who has repeatedly attacked Francis and was recently sidelined by the pope from his role as Vatican liaison to the Knights of Malta.

“I don’t think the pope needs to worry,” said Mr Mickens. “If these people had distinguished themselves by their tireless work for the poor they would have more credibility. Instead they wear fancy clothes and live well off the subsidies of rich benefactors who agree with their sexual agendas.”

PAT SAYS:

I do believe that Pope Francis sincerely wants to reform that Vatican and its officials.

However, I think that his wishes are being frustrated by the Curia - the priests and bishops who are the civil servants.

Some at the Vatican have accused Mr. Milone of being a BULLY!

Sure the whole lot of them there are bullies with very few exceptions. You would have to be a superior bully to bring all those other bullies into line. 

Some of the Vatican crowd have accused Mr. Milone of spying on them. Of course, he was. That was what he was employed to do. To watch and spy on all the corruption and get rid of it.

The fact that they got rid of him is a sure sign that he was on to them and was challenging them about their behaviour and activities.

If Francis wants to do away with the Vatican corruption he needs to bring in a large team of experienced financial investigators from some country like the USA and give them total access to every nook and corner and eventually publish their report at an international venue like the UN.

Of course, if he took that route he would be found dead in bed some morning.

 I also think it would be a very good thing if Italy revoked it's 1929 concordat and took Vatican territory back under Italy's control and give the Italian police and courts - and Interpol and the European courts jurisdiction there. 

Cardinal Gasparri and Mussolini sign 1929 concordat

What a contradiction it is for a statelet like the Vatican - built on nearly 2,000 years of corruption - to claim that they are the true church and represent God and Christ on earth!

CATHOLIC ANNULMENTS

A REGULAR BLOG READER HAS ASKED ME FOR MY OPINION ON CATHOLIC MARRIAGE ANNULMENTS.

Can I start off by saying that I think that both the human and Christian IDEAL is that every marriage should last for life.

That's the ideal.

However as in many other things in life we humans often fail to reach or to live the ideal.

So what do you do when a marriage gets into trouble and breakdown. Do you take the hard line and tell someone - especially an innocent party, that they have made their bed and must lie on it - and condemn them to a lifetime of loneliness or a lifetime of being a church leper?

The whole point of Christianity is that JESUS came to be the BRIDGE between God and man and woman - and the bridge between the ideal and the real.

So on this question - as on all other questions - we need to ask ourselves WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

Many people do not understand the difference between DIVORCE and an ANNULMENT.

A divorce is when a civil court makes a ruling that a marriage that was legally valid is now being ended.

An annulment is when a church court says that there never was a valid marriage in the first place due to something lacking in a couple or their attempted marriage. In the church's eyes that can be something like a couple deciding before marriage that they will never have children; one party marrying out of fear or not giving full consent, or one party being secretly a homosexual and not declaring it to the other party.

I do not have much respect for the Roman Catholic Church's marriage annulment carry on for the following reasons:

1. It can take many years to get an annulment. I've met people who have waited 10 plus years.

2. The investigators are mainly priests and they often ask both parties very intimate questions about their life and sexual history.

3. If you are famous, wealthy or well in with especially some senior clergy you can get an annulment easier than and sexual lives.  or Mary Bloggs can.

4. If you are living in the USA it is easier to get an annulment than if you are living in Ireland.

And generally speaking, annulments are ways of controlling people at the level of their emotional and sexual lives. Why should any man or woman have to give a supposedly celibate priest a blow by blow account of what happens in the bedroom?

The RC Church did not really get involved in marriage until the 12th century. Before that time it was a civil, legal matter.

Of course, people like to think that they have God's blessing on their life and marriage. Traditionally they have done this by asking a priest to bless them or give them the Sacrament of Marriage. 

But any couple can sit on a sofa together and ask God to bless them, their marriage and their children and God WILL do just that.

And there is nothing at all wrong with a couple having a church marriage presided over by a priest. In many ways such marriages are more meaningful than a quick visit to a lady at the state registry office.

But I would like the Church to STOP controlling people through marriage, sexuality, schools etc.

The church and the priest should be there to SERVE - not to DOMINATE.

I have been looking after Catholics and others who have had broken marriages for 31 years now. In fact I have celebrated over 4,000 marriagesd and blessing at people's requests. Many of the people I look after have been turned away by judgemental priests - or priests insisting on an annulment. Believe me I have heard horror stories about how people were treated by parish priests, curates and priests in church tribunals.

I always tell people to ignore the whole annulment procedure. I tell them to sort out their affairs through civil divorces, wills and good arrangements for children.

And then I remarry them. 

Sometimes - but far less often these days - people ask me if my marriages are recognized by Catholic Canon Law.

I tell them: NO.

And I go on to tell them that when I marry them they will be married in the eyes of the law of the land and in the eyes of God.

And I ask them: "If you are married in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of God do you really care what some priest, bishop or pope thinks"?

Most people these days do not care about these men and their man-made rules which were manEVEN THE RCufactured as control mechanisms.

And I always say to them:

"IF ALL YOU ARE GUILTY OF IN LIFE IS REMARRYING AND FINDING LOVE AGAIN YOU WILL HAVE NO REASON TO FEAR MEETING JESUS AT THE END OF YOUR LIFE. YOU WILL HAVE FAR LESS TO ACCOUNT FOR THAN MANY OF THE PRIESTS, BISHOPS ETC WHO ARE QUICK TO JUDGE YOU".

If your marriage gets into trouble - do all you can - including getting counseling to save it.

If your marriage is truly over try and part friends with your ex and look after all your responsibilities to them and especially to your children.

And when you are ready - and if you want to - be open to God sending someone new your way and when they arrive see them as a gift of God - and not a sin.

Life is short.

Life is tough.

Make the most of every good thing that comes your way - while of course, always being responsible, just and moral about it.

EVEN THE RC CHURCH TEACHES THAT IT IS THE COUPLE WHO ARE THE MINISTERS OF THE SACRAMENT - AND NOT THE PRIEST.

Is God going to refuse his grace because a priest is not present?

WAS GIRL SNATCHED BY THE VATICAN?

Girl ‘snatched by Vatican and held in London’

Tom Kington, Rome

September 19 2017, 12:01am, The Times

A poster on the streets of Rome after Emanuela Orlandi, 15, the daughter of a Vatican employee, went missing in 1983

Leaked Vatican documents show that a teenage girl allegedly kidnapped from a Rome street in 1983 was secretly taken by the Vatican to London and held there for years, the girl’s brother has claimed.

Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican employee, went missing aged 15. Her disappearance led to theories that she was snatched by the mafia in an attempt to blackmail the Vatican, or by terrorists seeking the release of Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk jailed for trying to assassinate John Paul II.

Her suspected kidnapping has now been linked to the Vatican itself after the publication of an alleged Holy See document listing Vatican payments of about €250,000 relating to her case, including medical bills and accommodation in London. “This document suggests the Vatican took Emanuela to London and looked after her for a long period of time,” said Emanuela’s brother, Pietro, who has lobbied Pope Francis for help in finding the truth.

The 1998 list of expenses begins in 1983, the year that Emanuela went missing while on the way to her parents’ house inside the Vatican from a music lesson, and ends in 1997. “If she died then and the document is real the Vatican needs to answer questions about kidnapping and hiding a body,” Mr Orlandi said.

The five-page document, published in a book by Emiliano Fittipaldi, an Italian journalist, was dismissed as “false and ridiculous” by a Vatican spokesman. Titled “A summary of spending” on Emanuela Orlandi, the document lists payments between 1983 and 1985 to a London address that appears to correspond to a women’s hostel run by the Scalabrini Fathers, a missionary group, on Clapham Road in south London. Numerous visits to London by Vatican officials are listed, as well as the involvement of “Commando 1”. This was possibly a Vatican secret service unit, Mr Fittipaldi suggested.

Between 1988 and 1993, the document shows fees apparently being paid to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington and to Lesley Regan, who was appointed senior lecturer in obstetrics and gynaecology there in 1990. Professor Regan did not return calls for comment.

A visit to London by Renato Buzzonetti, a doctor who served four popes including Benedict XVI and died in January, is also listed.

If the Vatican was funding Emanuela’s stay in London the document does not explain why she was there, or whether she was there against her will.

The alleged author of the document, Cardinal Lorenzo Antonetti, who was then head of the Vatican’s property office, is now dead. One of the alleged recipients, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, told Italian media yesterday that he had never received it.

Mr Fittipaldi claimed that the five pages, given to him by a source, were part of a stash of secret documents stolen from a Vatican office in 2014 and then returned anonymously.

He said that if the pages were an elaborate fake they could have been invented to hurt the reputation of Vatican officials, a throwback to the era of the Vatican “crows” — anonymous officials who allegedly leaked damaging documents to undermine their rivals during the Benedict papacy.

Laura Sgrò, a lawyer representing the Orlandi family, said: “If it’s real it’s very serious. If it’s fake we want to know what the document was doing in a safe at the Vatican all these years.”

Mr Orlandi said: “I consider the document reliable and we now need to investigate in London.”

Emanuela Orlandi 'was kidnapped for sex parties for Vatican police'

A teenage girl whose disappearance in Rome has remained a mystery for 30 years was kidnapped for sex parties by a gang involving Vatican police and foreign diplomats, the Roman Catholic Church's leading exorcist has claimed.

By Nick Squires, Rome

Father Gabriele Amorth, who was appointed by the late John Paul II as the Vatican's chief exorcist and claims to have performed thousands of exorcisms, said Emanuela Orlandi was later murdered and her body disposed of.

In the latest twist in one of the Holy See's most enduring mysteries, he said the 15-year-old schoolgirl was snatched from the streets of central Rome in the summer of 1983 and forced to take part in sex parties.

"This was a crime with a sexual motive. Parties were organised, with a Vatican gendarme acting as the 'recruiter' of the girls.

"The network involved diplomatic personnel from a foreign embassy to the Holy See. I believe Emanuela ended up a victim of this circle," Father Amorth, the honorary president of the International Association of Exorcists, told La Stampa newspaper.

The debate over who kidnapped Emanuela and what became of her has raged in Italy for three decades.

It has been suggested that she was taken by the leader of a notorious gang of criminals, who wanted to put pressure on Vatican officials to recover money that he had allegedly lent them.

Another theory is that she was abducted to be used as a bargaining chip for the release from prison of Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who tried to kill John Paul II in St Peter's Square in 1981, reportedly on the orders of the KGB.

But Father Amorth, 85, dismissed the "international dimension", saying that a Vatican archivist had also come to the conclusion that Emanuela was abducted for sexual exploitation.

A controversial and outspoken priest, Father Amorth has claimed that yoga is Satanic because it leads to a worship of Hinduism and that the Harry Potter books are dangerous because they encourage children to believe in black magic and wizardry.

Earlier this month investigators opened the tomb of Enrico "Renatino" De Pedis, the gang leader, in order to check long-standing claims that the remains of the teenager were buried alongside him.

They found his remains inside the tomb in the Sant' Apollinare basilica in Rome and also, intriguingly, other bones in a crypt nearby.

Investigators said the unidentified bones probably dated from the early 19th century, but they are being analysed by forensic experts to see if any of them might belong to Emanuela.

In 2005, an anonymous caller to a crime programme on Italian TV claimed that the key to the schoolgirl's kidnap lay in the tomb of the mobster, who was gunned down by rival gangsters in 1990.


PAT SAYS:

I was sent this story the other day by one of the Westminster priests who keeps in touch with me.

He himself said:

"Pat, I thought you may be interested in this. I had heard of this first during one of my visits to Rome. 

I think the most rational explanation was that the girl was pregnant and shifted to London to have her baby, and was cared for into adulthood.

Where she is now, no one knows. Was her identity changed to protect the father of the child? 


Who was the father of the child (if indeed she were pregnant) that the Popes own doctor would visit London for no ostensible reason"?

In any event it a very sad story.

Anyone who knows the truth is morally obliged to reveal it.

I hope the girl is alive and not dead.

I think her family deserve the truth.

Is this one of the VATICAN DISAPPEARED?

A VERY INSPIRING ELDERLY PRIEST

FATHER  ED THOMPSON

1924 - 2016

PRIEST - ALCOHOLIC - FRIEND OF ARCHBISHOP FULTON SHEEN

I was deeply moved and inspired watching this video yesterday

I beg you to watch it in its entirety of 22 minutes

It will one of the best 22 minutes you ever spend.

Critical readers are always complaining that I do not publish "inspiring" blogs - especially on Sundays.

WELL! HERE YOU ARE TODAY

Pat

WESTMINSTER / VINNEY'S PASCALINAS

VINNEY IN A RED HAT

WHAT HAS CARDINAL NICHOLS AND POPE PIUS X11 GOT IN COMMON?

THEY BOTH HAVE THEIR OWN BELOVED MOTHER PASCALINAS.

MADRE PASCALINA:

MADRE PASCALINA

Madre (Mother) Pascalina Lehnert (25 August 1894, Ebersberg, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire – 13 November 1983, Vienna, Austria), born Josefina Lehnert, was a German Roman Catholic nun who served as Pope Pius XII's housekeeper and secretary from his period as Apostolic Nuncio to Bavaria in 1917 until his death as pope in 1958. She managed the papal charity office for Pius XII from 1944 until the pontiff's death in 1958. She was a Sister of the Holy Cross, Menzingen order.

In Rome during the reign of Pope Pius XII Madre Pascalina was known as THE POPESS!

She was the power behind the throne. Pius consulted her on EVERYTHING and you betide any cleric, senior or junior, who fell foul of Madre Pascalina.

After our recent blog about the Westminster "Gin Queen's" - which delighted many Westminster clergy - a few priests invited us to consider the small few "Pascalinas" that live and work in Westminster Archbishop's House.

WESTMINSTER PASCALINA NUMBER 1:

The first "Pascalina" is Sister Carmel Ragg who began working for Vinny as his diary secretary when he was Archbishop of Birmingham.

When Vinny moved to Westminster Sr Ragg moved with him and now looks after, with another nun, Vinny's domestic arrangements.

When Vinny was made a cardinal she accompanied him to Rome and was actually photographed attempting to don the cardinal's biretta:

WHOI WEARS THE HAT IN THIS HOUSE

Apparently, Vinny warned Westminister priests that he would not be very happy if any of them published the particular pic. However, one daring Westminster PP sent it to this Blog :-)

It was not the first time that Vinny and Carmel made the press. In 2014 the DAILY MAIL carried a report of them spending time together in a holiday caravan in Oxford: 

DAILY MAIL - 17TH FEBRUARY 2014

"Newly-elected RC Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who describes Coalition welfare cuts as a ‘disgrace’, wrote to wealthy Roman Catholics asking them to contribute to a £400,000 fund to upgrade his palatial Archbishop’s House in Westminster.

He promised: ‘My prayers for you and your family.’ But Nichols isn’t considered especially extravagant by Vatican standards. He enjoys caravan holidays at a holiday park near Oxford.

It was reported that he was joined there once by his then diary secretary, Sister Carmel Ragg. There was no suggestion of impropriety".

According to Westminster priests, Sr Ragg takes nothing to do with clergy matters in Westminster.

She does of course occasionally play hostess at archdiocesan social and drinks receptions.

One West London PP told me that he finds Sister Carmel a most friendly and companionable lady.

WESTMINSTER PASCALINS NUMBER: 2

The second of Vinny's "Pascalinas" is Sister Clement Doran. She describes herself and her mission in the following terms:

PODCAST

CATHOLICNEWS.ORG.UK: 24.07.2013

Care For Sick And Retired Priests:

Day for Life is the day in the Catholic Church’s calendar when we celebrate the dignity of the human person – from conception to natural end.

For today's podcast we catch up with Sister Clement Doran - a religious sister who's been looking after the Diocese of Westminster's sick and retired priests for over a decade.

“I’m an Augustinian Sister. That’s been my life - a life I chose at 21. I love people and want to help them life to the full.”

“My community is the Augustinian Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus. Cardinal Wiseman was looking for a community that would care for the sick. He was very concerned about the care of the mentally ill and no care at that time. He knew priest a who was working in Belgium – Fr Peter Maize. He's our founder.”

“Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor invited us, when he was made Archbishop of Westminster, to come and work in the diocese. He wanted me to care for our retired priests and I've been on the team full-time for eight years - the first woman on the team.”

“Every day is different. I visit our priests in various nursing homes throughout the diocese... My main concern is placing our priests properly, at various stages of care, making sure they have the choice of where they want to live or what they want to do."

And - rightly or wrongly - Westminister priests think that Sr Clement has some authority when it comes to clergy matters in the diocese and that Vinny SOMETIMES takes her advice. Although her advice was not taken when - against Sr Clements advice - Vinny sent a Father Terry McGuckin - formerly of the Beda in Rome - to Kingsland Parish in Westminster - which resulted in a "disturbance" of some kind.

FATHER TERENCE MC GUCKIN

As a result, Father Terence was exiled and both he and Vinny sent contradictory emails to all the Westminster priests about the "happenings". Of course Sister Clement was far too gracious and ladylike to say to Vinny: "I told you so". Father McGuckin is now c/o Archbishops House, Westminster.

Some Westminister do attribute some other powers to Sister Clemente. One East End PP said: "She is the only person in England in Wales. not in episcopal orders, who can have a PP moved"?

I don't know if there is any truth to this or if some Westminster priests are being paranoid?

In any event, the main point we meant to make today is that Madre Pascalinas are not merely a thing of the past in papal and episcopal palaces. 

FLAGS AT CATHOLIC FUNERALS

IRSP vow to ‘force’ flags into the Catholic Church

BELFAST NEWSLETTER

Coffin draped in INLA-linked starry plough flag in Dungiven, despite church rules The Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) has said it will continue to “force” flags into the Catholic Church after the coffin of one of its members was brought inside a church draped in the starry plough. The grouping issued a statement following the funeral of their “comrade”, David Ward, in Dungiven parish church on Saturday.

 Mr Ward’s coffin was brought inside the church while draped in both the Irish tricolour and the starry plough, a symbol associated with the paramilitary group the INLA.

The Catholic Church, who in the 1980s imposed an ongoing ban on the use of flags and any paramilitary trappings at funerals, said the coffin was covered with a “white pall” for the funeral liturgy.

The IRSP, however, said in a statement on Monday night: “The flags of the republic will drape our members coffins when and where we see fit.” The IRSP said it forced the flags into the church on Saturday.

Their statement read: “The Catholic hierarchy refused to engage with the family in its time of need. Facing up to this arrogance, activist Ward’s family and comrades made sure his final wishes were adhered to.

His coffin was draped with the flags of the republic within the church.” The statement added: “Never again will the Irish Republican Socialist Movement be told what to do by a corrupt Catholic institution responsible for so much suffering on this Island.

 “The flags of the republic will drape our member's coffins when and where we see fit.”

East Londonderry SDLP MLA John Dallat described the statement as “abhorrent” He said: “The sanctity of the Catholic Church should be respected. The language from the IRSP says it all. “The language is so abhorrent that there is a temptation to ignore it because it is so out of touch but I do think that the priests and the congregation of Dungiven don’t need that kind of aggro. It is unfortunate that at this man’s passing they didn’t have more grace with the language that they used.” He continued: “When people are members of the church through choice, they should respect the rules of the church, which were made for very good reasons. It’s unfortunate that at this time that not only has that not been respected, the language that’s been used has been very hurtful to members of the church”.

DUP MP Gregory Campbell said it was up to the Catholic Church to ensure its rules on flags and paramilitary emblems are followed. “That statement is putting a marker down,” he said. “It would appear that they are putting it up to the Catholic Church, that in their words they have forcibly ensured that one of their members gets a funeral that they decide they want to have, irrespective of the wishes of the church and the institution into which he’s being buried.”

He added: “Whether it is the Catholic Church or any other institution, they shouldn’t allow themselves to be forced into doing something which is contrary to what they stand for.”

Dungiven Parish Priest Fr Seamus Kelly declined to give any comment when the News Letter contacted the parish office yesterday morning.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Church said: “By prior agreement with the family of the deceased, a large white pall (which is a large white cloth symbolising baptism) was placed over to completely cover the coffin. The two flags, which had been placed on it by the family, were completely covered by the pall throughout the funeral liturgy.”


PAT SAYS:

I think that the question of allowing flags on coffins should be decided - NOT by bishops and priests - but by the parishioners of a [parish or a diocese.

I think this because the Catholic Hierarchy and clergy have been two-faced on this issue.

For instance, Bishop Dickie McKeown of Derry allowed an Irish Tricolour on the coffin during the funeral of Sinn Fein man Martin Mc Guinness while other bishops and clergy have refused Tricolours on the coffins of other Irish Republicans.

TRICOLOUR ON FUNERAL OF MARTIN MAGUINNESS IN LONG TOWER CHURCH, DERRY

If Martin McGuinness was allowed a Tricolour then EVERYBODY who wants the flag of their country on their coffin should be allowed one.

But of course, the Catholic Church is famous for having one rule for the rich, the famous and the powerful and another rule for the poor, unknown and the powerless.

In the USA most Catholic church sport the American flag and the Papal flag in the sanctuary.

However, I do think that the parishioners of a parish should decide these things. 

And there is a very good case to be made for the total separation of church and state.

And there would be another case to be made if the family of a deceased person wanted to put the flag of some illegal organisation on a coffin - or a flag that contradicts Catholic teaching.

For instance of a Catholic from Dungiven went and joined ISIS and got killed in combat for them would we not all be very uncomfortable for an ISIS flag on a coffin?

I imagine CONSISTENCY is important?

You cannot have one rule for one person or one family and another rule for another person or family.

FATHER SEAMUS KELLY:

I had cause some time ago to write to Bishop McKeown on behalf of a Derry lady parishioner who had a complaint to make about Father Kelly.

I received a meaningless reply from McKeown.

But then Father Kelly was moved from Draperstown to Dungiven.

The only other thing I know about Father Kelly is that he has, on at least one occasion, rebaptised Catholics, including himself, in the Jordan River in Israel.

In fact, I have a DVD of this event.

KNOCK BAN ON SSPX

Knock and it Shall NOT be Opened to You

 SSPX Pilgrimage Group Refused Entry to Knock Shrine

Posted by Catholicism Pure & Simple

From: God does not die! For a Truly Catholic Ireland.

Published September 17, 2017

The Society of Saint Pius X annual pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady at Knock in Co. Mayo was disrupted yesterday, Saturday 16th September, when Shrine officials refused entry to priests and laity.

Members of Knock Shrine Security approached the SSPX priests, informing them that they were not permitted to celebrate Mass or carry out any devotions as a group. They confirmed that these were the orders which they had been instructed to convey.

For the first time in over ten years, therefore, the Society was forced to celebrate Mass outside of the Shrine grounds (heretofore, for a number of years, SSPX priests had been granted permission to celebrate Mass in various chapels on the grounds of the Shrine). And, for the first time in the entire history of the SSPX’s presence in Ireland, the pilgrimage group was not even permitted to recite the Rosary or pray the Stations of the Cross within the Shrine precincts!

As a result, Mass was celebrated in the car-park of an obliging local café, and the Rosary was prayed on the Main Street which runs adjacent to the Shrine. Security was posted at the gates during the rosary procession, ensuring that the group did not enter the Shrine grounds at any time.

Just like there was no place in the inn for Christ in Bethlehem, so there was no place for those faithful to the Tradition of the Church at Knock this past Saturday. The Knock Shrine authorities should be ashamed of themselves! Rector, Fr. Richard Gibbons, had no problem allowing an “ecumenical service” last January in the Saint John’s Rest and Care Centre at the Shrine. Neither did he have any problem with the assistance of “Reverend Canon” Derek Swann of the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian “Reverend” Molly Deatherage and a Muslim representative, Manar Cherbatji, at a 2014 Peace Mass at Knock. He even had his photograph taken with them on the occasion:

Knock Rector, Father Richard Gibbons, centre of the photograph, sandwiched between his Bishop and the “Reverend” Molly after the “Peace” Mass, 2014.

Third from Left: Rev Molly; Father Gibbons and Archbishop Neary

Also in 2014, Father Gibbons was content to conduct a joint ecumenical service in the Knock Shrine Basilica with the Church of Ireland “Bishop” of Tuam, Killala and Achonry, “Dr.” Patrick Cooke in August of that year to celebrate the 190 years of the Royal National Lifeboat Association. On this occasion, as the Irish Catholic reported, Father Gibbons went the extra mile … “Dr.” Cooke led the celebration, while Father Gibbons was his assistant!

Conclusion? Father Gibbons cordially invites Anglicans, Presbyterians and Muslims, who do not accept the Church’s infallible teachings on the Blessed Virgin Mary, to participate in, and even lead services on the site where Our Lady appeared. But, he does not allow the Society of Saint Pius X and those faithful who assist at their Masses to even say the Rosary as a group on the same site, despite their obvious love for the Mother of God.

PAT SAYS:

I was rather shocked to learn that the authorities at KNOCK SHRINE in Co. Mayo refused to allow a very Catholic group to celebrate Mass there and conduct their devotions.

The pilgrimage from SSPX - Society of St Pius X were refused permission to have their Mass and devotions there - even though they are absolutely Catholic and 100% devout.

The PP of Knock would not have refused them entrance without running it past his archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam. Father Gibbons is too careful and too ambitious to fail to do that.

The SSPX were set up byArchbishopp Lebfevre who disagreed with the Second Vatican Council and the translation of the Mass from Latin into the vernacular.

After setting up his own community and consecrating 4 bishops they were all excommunicated.

But in recent times their excommunication was lifted by Pope Benedict.

They are on their way back into full communion.

I cannot understand their rejection by Knock.

If they wanted to use The Oratory in LARNE I would have absolutely no problem.