CARDINAL RETURNS "STOLEN" HOSPITAL MONEY !!!

Cardinal Bertone Returns $200,000 to the Bambino Gesù — Baby Jesus — Children’s Hospital

by Christopher A. Ferrara

Bertone

Cardinal Bertone, the former Vatican Secretary of State, was the Vatican’s go-to man for managing the Third Secret cover-up, as I document at great length in my book on the subject

Well, it seems Bertone has been involved in another cover-up — not that I am surprised. La Stampa reports that he has just made a $200,000 “gift” (€150,000) to the Bambino Gesù — Baby Jesus — Children’s Hospital. Why? Because that sum was paid out by the hospital foundation for the renovation of the lavish penthouse apartment, a combination of two smaller apartments, in which Bertone resides.

Top apartment with view of St Peters Square

That’s right: the coffers of a children’s hospital were raided to pay for Bertone’s penthouse, which he insists is not “his,” technically, because he only lives there.

This outrageous misuse of charitable funds was revealed, says La Stampa, in the course of “Vatileaks 2 and the publication of Gialuigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi’s books ‘Merchants in the Temple’ and ‘Avarice.’” Caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Bertone has now replaced the cookies in a big hurry — or rather, will put them back a few cookies at a time, with installment payments, as BBC reports. Think of it as a kind of mortgage on Chez Bertone!

The hospital’s statement on this scandal is a classic of artful Vaticanese: “Cardinal Bertone did not receive any money directly, however, he acknowledged that all that which happened damaged our hospital and our foundation … and thus he is making amends to us with a donation.”

A picture says a thousand words!

Translation: The hospital’s money went into Bertone’s penthouse, not literally into his pocket. In other words, the money was effectively stolen from ailing children — indirectly, of course. Which is why Bertone is “making amends” for “damage to the hospital” — that is, making restitution of what was misappropriated to his benefit.

To quote the BBC story: “Cardinal Bertone said he had paid for the work on his residence himself. However, documents leaked to reporters earlier this year allege the €200,000 came from the Bambino Gesu Foundation.” The BBC story notes that, even as he returns the money, Bertone has the audacity to insist that he didn’t take it: “It’s not reimbursement, because I personally haven’t done any damage…” That’s like a child telling his parents he didn’t steal from the cookie jar, his hand did.

Back in May 2014, I reported here that Bertone was under investigation “‘for a discrepancy of around 20 million (€15 million) that somehow made it from the Vatican Bank (known as the Institute for the Works of Religion) to a private television company called Lux Vide,’ which is operated by one of Bertone’s  friends.” It would seem the penthouse affair is the tip of a very large iceberg.

Man proposes - God disposes !

But let us not forget Bertone’s co-conspirator in the Third Secret cover-up: his predecessor, Cardinal Sodano, who “interpreted” the execution of “the Bishop dressed in White” outside a devastated city filled with the dead, as seen in the visional aspect of the Secret, to signify John Paul II not being executed in 1981, so that the Secret “belongs to the past.” Right. This is the same corrupt prelate who “was instrumental in covering up for decades the immense scandal involving Father Marcial Maciel Degollado.”

How fitting it is that the two foremost promoters of a corrupted Message of Fatima in the hierarchy today are also involved in the corruption that Pope Francis vowed he would expunge from the Vatican. But, nearly three years into this “hope and change” pontificate, it appears to be business as usual, as Bertone escapes punishment by giving back what he took a little at a time — and then only after the incriminating documents appeared in a book. This too is no surprise.

PRIEST SACKED FOR REPORTING ABUSE ?

Fr John Gallagher

The diocese of Palm Beach has hit back at claims by one of its priests that he has been ostracized for helping to prosecute a suspected pedophile priest who was jailed for six months for having shown a 14-year-old parishioner up to 40 pornographic images on his phone.

The Catholic Whistleblowers network, which is dedicated to exposing abuse cover-ups, has weighed in in support of Fr. John Gallagher, claiming the diocese of Palm Beach demoted him because he wasn't "silent about alleged sexual abuse of minor children."

Irish-born Gallagher has served in Palm Beach since 2000 and claims he was stood down from his role in the parish of the Holy Name of Jesus Christ in West Palm Beach for reporting abuse-related activities concerning Franciscan​ Fr Jose Palimattom, a visiting priest from India, who had been at the parish of the Holy Name of Jesus Christ for just four weeks in December 2014 when a complaint was made.

Fr Pallimatom

Speaking to the Pat Kenny Radio Show Jan. 27 in Ireland, the 48-year-old priest also claimed that when he contacted the diocese to report the incident the morning after it had been reported to him, the diocesan official told him, "We've dealt with this before, we normally put them on a plane and send them back."

When he told the diocesan official that he was cooperating with the sheriff he was told, "Well you don't have to give them all the information."

According to Gallagher, when he related the fact to the official that the incident between Palimattom and the boy had been captured by a security camera, "they asked me not to reveal that information to the sheriff's office."

In his radio interview, Gallagher alleged that the diocese removed his possessions from his parochial house and changed the locks on his home and his office.

He said shortly after April 1, 2015, "things came to a head between the diocese and myself. They told me you don't think and operate with the same mindset as we operate with."

Police believe Palimattom was grooming the teen. Palimattom served a six-month sentence and was given a year's probation and deported from the U.S.

 On Thursday, Jan. 28, the diocese of Palm Beach issued a news statement in which it revealed that Palimattom had been invited to serve in the parish of the Holy Name of Jesus Christ by Gallagher. It said that during its screening process, no prior misconduct was revealed.

The statement, which was issued by Dianne Laubert, communications director for the Florida diocese, said it was "deeply disheartened and troubled" by the allegations of Gallagher and stated that it could no longer stand by in "relative silence when we know the allegations are a complete inaccurate representation of the facts."

Elsewhere it stated Gallagher "was not named as pastor of Holy Name of Jesus Church for a number of reasons not related to the incident involving Father Palimattom," and that "access to [Gallagher's] residence was never denied him, nor was he refused sacraments."

"At his request, he was placed on leave and continues to receive salary, health insurance and benefits," the statement continued.

According to the diocese, the County Tyrone-born priest was assigned to a different parish as parochial vicar and was due to begin there July 1, 2015, but he never took up the assignment because he asked to be put on medical leave, which was granted by Bishop Gerald Barbarito.

But Gallagher told media that he was "threatened by the diocese, offered a denotation, and I was asked to resign from priesthood."

In his interview with the Pat Kenny Radio Show he said the diocese told him "We are not happy with your performance or what you have done."

According to Gallagher, he had been operating as a one-man parish with nine Mases. "My collection went up 12% and I took $147,000 off the debt in the time that I was there. The people voted with their feet and their support and our Mass attendance went up."

He also highlighted that when he came out of the hospital after his suspected heart attack, the interim pastor in the parish, in addition to changing the locks, had "asked for my keys from Sr. Ann Monahan, a Dominican of over 67 years, and because she had been in my room getting stuff for me he fired her instantly on the spot and he escorted her off the premises like a criminal."

Gallagher said that he contacted both the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith and the Vatican Commission for the Protection of Minors about this matter, but he received no reply or acknowledgement.

He also revealed that Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, who heads up the Vatican safeguarding commission, telephoned him from Rome on Oct. 8, and told him to take a vacation.

O'Malley

NCR sought a response from the archdiocese of Boston on this but received no reply.

According to Gallagher, he decided to go public about the row because after 24 years as a priest, his "legal counsel said to me you have nowhere else to go but into the public domain -- you've given the church every opportunity."

The Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee demanded in their statement that the officials of the Catholic Church, including Pope Francis, "intervene justly in this matter."

"It is outrageous that Fr. John Gallagher, who has been complimented and lauded by law enforcement officials for contacting them about alleged sexual abuse of a minor child by a priest, is not being treated as a hero by Catholic Church officials, including his bishop," they said.

The Catholic Whistleblowers group demanded that Gallagher "be restored immediately to priestly ministry with all related faculties, benefits, and apologies."

In addition, they said Barbarito should be fired immediately by Pope Francis for his mishandling of the matter.

POPE FRANCIS AND HIS PROTESTANT "BROTHER BISHOP"

In a recent message recorded on an Iphone Pope Francis called Bishop Tony Palmer his BROTHER BISHOP and sent greetings to a USA conference of evangelical church delegates.

Tony Palmer's whole talk is good - but you can skip to Francis' recording if you wish.

Sadly Tony Palmer was killed in a motor bike accident shortly after this. 

Bishop Palmer was buried at St Johns RC Church, Bath in the UK. Canon David told us that because Tony was not a Roman Catholic he had to ask his bishops permission to celebrate the requiem and though Tony’ s wife and children are Roman Catholics, permission still had to be given for the requiem. The bishop agreed but said that Tony could not be buried as a bishop as he was not a Roman Catholic bishop. However, Pope Francis said he should and could be buried as a bishop…and so that put an end to that little bit of ecclesiastical nonsense!

Canon Ryan

TONY AND FRANCIS:

“Pope” Francis advised Tony Palmer NOT to Convert, ordered him buried as a Catholic Bishop!

[The church communion Palmer was “ordained” in sees itself] as part of a “convergence” movement, seeking to combine evangelical Christianity with the liturgy and sacraments typical of Catholicism.

That convergence, Palmer told me, “is a precursor to full unity between the Protestant and Catholic Churches.”

…

Palmer and [his “Catholic” wife Emiliana] Calisi began doing joint missions around the world — which is what took him to Buenos Aires in 2006. Its archbishop, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, had overcome his reservations about the charismatic renewal and enthusiastically backed a 6,000-strong joint Catholic-evangelical gathering that year in Buenos Aires’ Luna Park stadium. 

At one point, when Palmer was tired of living on the frontier and wanted to become Catholic, [then-Cardinal] Bergoglio advised him against conversion for the sake of the mission.

“We need to have bridge-builders”, the cardinal told him. 

…

On June 24 [2014], Palmer took a group of evangelical leaders who jointly reach more than 700 million people to meet and lunch with Francis, which he reported to me a few days later, as he left for two weeks in South Africa. The delegates included Copeland, the televangelist James Robison, as well as Geoff Tunnicliffe, head of the Worldwide Evangelical Alliance. They told Francis they wanted to accept his invitation to seek visible unity with the Bishop of Rome.

Palmer handed the pope a proposed Declaration of Faith in Unity for Mission the evangelicals had drawn up, which they proposed would be signed by both the Vatican and leaders of the major Protestant churches in Rome in 2017, on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and the 50th anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

Palmer told me the draft Declaration has three elements: the Nicean-Constantinople Creed, which Catholics and evangelicals share; the core of the Catholic-Lutheran declaration of 1999 making clear there is no disagreement over justification by faith; as well as a final section asserting that Catholics and evangelicals are now “united in mission because we are declaring the same Gospel.”

The closing section speaks of the importance of freedom of conscience and the need for Catholics and evangelicals to respect each other’s mission fields and treat the other with respect, not as rivals. Francis had taken the draft and said he would think about it. Palmer and I agreed to speak again when Francis got back to him, but that was not to be.

Last Wednesday, in Bath, Palmer’s funeral was a Catholic Requiem Mass at which most of the congregation were evangelicals. He was buried in a Catholic cemetery, united at last with the Church he felt at home in. 

(Austen Ivereigh, “Pope’s Protestant friend dies, but push for unity lives”, The Boston Globe, Aug. 7, 2014)

WOULD LOVE TO HEAR PEOPLE'S VIEWS ON THIS WHOLE THING

MONKS TAKE OVER AT QUB

BREAKING NEWS !!!!

St Bernard of Clairveaux Monastery, Malone Road, Belfast

In his inscrutable wisdom His Lordship the Bishop of Downensis and Conorensis Most Reverend Noelensis Treanorensis has sent in the monks to take over the Queen's University of Belfast!

Noelensis Treanorensis

The founding abbot of the new foundation is the former Down and Connor priest and former monk of Portglenone Monastery and former monk of Roscrea Monastery, Father Gerard Magee OCSO (AKA: Father Aelred) . His appointment is with the approval of his abbot (Portgelnone ? Roscrea ? ) and the setting aside, "ad interim" of his Cistercian Vow of Stability.

Father Aelred

Father Magee replaces Father Gary Theology of the Body Toman who has been sent to establish a new foundation at Glenarm in County Antrim. 

Fr Gary TOTB Toman

The staff and students at QUB are awaiting the introduction of new by laws.

Will they have to give up sex and replace it with sext?

Will lectures start at 4 am each morning?

Will QUB students be required to wear a black and white habit?

Will the Students Union Building be required to have SILENT DISCOS at weekends?

Will all QUB dining facilities be replaced by vegetarian facilities?

Will the pubs around QUB and Shaftesbury Square only be able to sell alcohol on Feast Days?

Latest picture from QUB students union bar

Will QUB open a monastery farm on the Malone Road and will we see cows grazing in front of the iconic QUB building?

New QUB "Scones"

Will the staff and students have to go out and pick up the cow dung before lectures to run the new QUB energy efficient heating system?  

DR TREANOR'S REVOLUTION:

When Noelensis Treanorensis was appointed bishop of Downensis et Conorensis in 2008 we were told of his marvellous vision for the future of Our Holy Mother the Church which he developed during his long sojourn in the lands of St Columbanus and St Gall.

We had great expectations for his episcopate but as time goes by it is becoming quite clear that our expectations will be greatly exceeded.

I never thought I would live to see QUB being taken over by the Cistercians.

What next? The Sisters of Mercy installed at Stormont?

The Little Sisters of the Poor running Hillsborough Castle?

The Little Sisters of Brother Charles on Cyprus Avenue?

I just hope his ambitious plans for QUB will not be undermined by the residents of the Malone Road objecting to the smell of silage and cows s***   

DOWN AND CONNOR - CELIBACY CRISIS ???

Noel Treanor

IS THE PRACTICE OF PRIESTLY CELIBACY IN CRISIS IN THE DIOCESE OF DOWN AND CONNOR?

IF IT IS HOW MUCH DOES THE BISHOP, NOEL TREANOR, KNOW ABOUT THAT CRISIS?

IF HE KNOWS THE FULL EXTENT OF THE CRISIS WHY IS HE NOT DOING MORE ABOUT IT?

IF HE IS NOT AWARE OF THE EXTENT OF THE CRISIS WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT HIS ROLE AS BISHOP - THE "OVERSEER"?

I have been ministering the the area covered by Down and Connor for 38 years now - since the summer of 1978.

In that time I have become aware that many of the D&C priests have not been observing celibacy.

I have become aware of these issues because a small number of D&C priests communicate their worries about the crisis to me.

I have also become aware of the crisis because, being an independent priest and bishop in the area victims of priests and some others have come to speak to me about their problems - often after getting an unhelpful reception from the diocesan authorities about their issues.

Father Ciaran Dallat is a good example. 

Father Dallat's lady friend, whom he made pregnant, came to see me. I talked to her about what she wanted to do. SHE decided that she wanted to give going to Bishop Treanor a try. I did not think she would get anywhere - but it was her decision.

She went to Bishop Treanor and he gave her tea and listened but she felt that she was getting nowhere and that Father Dallat was still working in St Peter's Cathedral and even giving mid week lectures about FAMILY and MARRIAGE VALUES.

She broke her story in the SUNDAY LIFE and Father Dallat was removed and that meant that she did not have to look at him everyday living life as a priest.

Today I went through the list of clergy of Down and Connon on the diocesan web site.

I discovered - just by reading the list that I knew about:

FIFTEEN (15) PRIESTS who are of have been sexually involved with women parishioners - and a small few have been involved with more than 1 woman.  Some of them have had the same woman in their life for years.

SEVENTEEN (17) PRIESTS who have been or are sexually active with men. 

ONE (1) PRIEST who has been sexually active as a bisexual man. 

That is THIRTY THREE (33) PRIESTS. 

Of course there are others that I do not know about.

I know of several priests who have fathered children.

If you only take the ones I know about that is some 20% of priests.

The Church has various options:

1. To turn a blind eye and to simply move from breaking scandal to breaking scandal and handle each one as it breaks.

2. To make celibacy optional for priests.

3. To challenge and remove sexually active priests - which will of course lead to more priestless parishes. 

Maybe they think that an "unfaithful" priest is better than no priest?

Maybe they think that the most important commandment is the 11th Commandment - "THOU SHALT NOT BE CAUGHT"?

Maybe they do not want to open the diocesan, national and international CAN OF WORMS?

However in the meantime "faithful" priests feel cheated, "unfaithful" priests lead a double life and a whole lot of people are unhappy and getting hurt.

And how does all this fit in with the words of Jesus - "THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE"? - JOHN 8: 32.

PAUL SYMONDS - A DEFENCE

Paul Symonds

ANONYMOUS COMMENT TO BLOG

Anonymous 26th January 2016 9.09 am

"I am going to say something that I think will not be popular! And will, no doubt, bring down much anger.

There is a huge amount of inflation and hype going on with this Paul Symond's business.

It seems to me that whatever he did was at the very "vanilla" end of what can be described as abuse. 

It may ore accurately described as "inappropriate behaviour". I think.

I feel sure that if there had been anything truly sinister in what he is supposed to have done, then police action would have taken place. 

He may have been a bit "fresh" with people. he may have been "inappropriate" for his position as a teacher and a priest, but there is evidently nothing truly criminal that has taken place.

I don't doubt that some of his actions have caused some distress to those students he is supposed to have engaged with, although I think there will have been a number of issues going on with these people which will have caused them upset in later years other than what Paul Symonds is supposed to have done. 

So my view is that, that he may not be suitable for public priestly ministry, we are not at liberty to demonise him and convict him in the court of public opinion of something that the criminal and police authorities do not see as actionable.

The Church authorities are entitled to decide who ministers under their banner, and have made the decision that Paul Symonds will not continue to minister in public. 

Bishop Treanor

There is nothing that he has done that warrants his removal from the priestly state, otherwise I am sure that they would have done that. 

So, lets let Paul Symonds get on with his new life and stop double guessing what he has or has not done 

It evidently was not something so terrible that it was criminal.

It may have ben inadvisable, inappropriate or whatever else you might want to call it.

Just because a "victim" decides that they have been wronged grieviously does not mean that they have been so. 

The age and culture of victimhood that we now live in appears to entitle anybody to say that they have been wronged and harmed, and that is taken as gospel truth and nobody is allowed to gainsay it. Thats not truth or justice or right.

HEARING FROM ONE OF FATHER PAUL SYMONDS VICTIMS

BLOG FROM 13TH MARCH 2014

REPRINTED AT REQUEST OF VICTIM CAMPBELL PORTER WHO IS SAD THAT STILL PEOPLE ARE DOUBTING HIM

FATHER PAUL SYMONDS - BELFAST

This past week I have been hearing from one of Father Paul Symonds "victims". We will call him "Victim A". Paul Symonds is the former Jesuit (English Province) who has been working in Down & Connor Diocese (Belfast). He served as the spiritual director at he Belfast seminary at Saint Malachy's College and was then moved to Ballymena parish. His name is still in the diocesan director as curate in Ballymena.

Father Symonds worked at Stonyhurst, the premier Jesuit boarding school in England where he is accused of having sexually abused. There was a police investigation. One victim - my correspondent - gave a full account of his abuse - first to the Jesuits and then to the police. There was at least one more victim who now lives abroad and he too gave evidence to the police. The prosecution service decided not to proceed with a trial as the other abuse was committed outside England so that evidence could not be used at all. (Fortunately, this is not the case today. The fear was that it would be the victim's word against Father Symonds' word. And by this time Father Symonds had managed to have an OBE.

STONYHURST COLLEGE

According to reports Father Symonds' mother left him very well off in her will and as a Jesuit, with a vow of poverty, Paul Symonds would have had to hand that fortune over to his religious order. Instead Father Symonds left the Order and became a diocesan priest in Down & Connor. Diocesan priests do not have a vow of poverty are are permitted to have as much personal and family wealth as they wish. Father Symonds apparently invested part of his inheritance in a house in Belfast.

SAINT MALACHY'S COLLEGE, BELFAST

However the police investigation was not the end of the matter. As in all these cases the civil investigations are immediately followed by the church's own investigation - a so called Canonical Investigation.

In the meantime Father Symonds is suspended from duty. It is reported that he currently worships in a Presbyterian church at Glengormley, Belfast?

Father Symonds is accused of being a paedophile and a "podophile"(sexual arousal and sexual fantasies surrounding feet).

PAEDOPHILIA

Both "conditions" come under the heading of the medical/psychiatric definition of PARAPHILIA. The Diagnostic And Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - DSM 5 - published by the American Psychiatric Association says that parafilias are: .."recurrant, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviours generally involving 1) nonhuman objects, 2) the suffering of humiliation of oneself or partner, or 3) children or other non consenting persons that occur over a period of at least 6 months.....Not uncommonly, individuals have more than one Paraphilia".

PODOPHILIA

In his statement to the police Victim A fully described his abuse by Father Symonds beginning when he was 14. The abuse involved Father Symonds isolating the boy from his peers in the school and arranging for him to spend an inordinate amount of time in the priests company. Father Symonds also plied the boy with expensive gifts and alcohol. Eventually the abuse progressed to Father Symonds removing the boys shoes and socks, examining his feet in great detail, washing his feet meticulously and eventually rubbing the boys feet against his genitals and Father Symonds sexually ejaculating in his trousers with visible stains. This happened almost daily over a three year period that Victim A was at the school. Of course the statement goes on to mention endless unwanted advances, groping and touching.

Victim A did not lose all contact with Father Symonds after he left school. The isolation from peers, and with no normal adolescent development, as well as the intense grooming, maintained a strong influence over him. It is not uncommon for victims to have ambivilant feelings about their abusers. As a result of Father Symonds' abuse the victim went on to have years of struggles with alcohol and abuse addictions.

It affected all areas of his life.

There were civil proceedings issued and the victim received a settlement from the Jesuits insurance company. . But facing the Church's lawyers was another episode of abuse. In these matters such lawyers are often without mercy for the victims.

Meanwhile the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (UK) assessed his claim independently, and knowing the amount of the settlement, awarded him a higher amount in compensation, paid by the UK government (and not the Church or their insurance company). But no true recompense.

It is also very sad when the Church responds to victims by setting lawyers on them - instead of treating them with a Gospel based and Christ compassion.

Until I had heard from this victim I felt a bit sorry for Father Symonds. Now my sympathy and compassion is with the victim.

Of course all of this brings us back to the question of how we should treat the abuser priests. Obviously there must be an element of punishment. There must certainly be generous compensation and counselling for victims.

But what if Father Symonds suffers from a psychological illness and dysfunction?

Then, if he wants help he should get it (after all he seems to have the money to pay for it himself). But he must begin by being completely honest with himself and others about the abuse. He must take full responsibility for it. He must not try and portray himself as a victim. And he must engage in LIFETIME MANAGEMENT of his condition. He cannot allow himself EVER to be alone with children or minors.

It also means that he cannot expect to be active in any pastoral situation where he might have access - direct or indirect - to minors.

STATEMENT - FATHER PAUL SYMONDS

Statement by the Diocese of Down and Connor regarding Fr Paul Symonds

 22 January 2016

In October 2009 the Diocese of Down and Connor was notified by the civil authorities of concerns of a safeguarding nature raised against Fr Paul Symonds. In accordance with the Policy and Procedures of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI) and the Diocesan Safeguarding Office, Father Symonds stepped aside to facilitate a full investigation by the civil authorities.

In 2011, after statutory investigation, with which the Diocese and Fr Symonds co-operated fully, and during which Fr Symonds was never charged with a criminal offence, the determination of the Prosecution Service was not to prosecute. Thereafter the Church’s own internal canonical inquiry resumed.

The canonical investigation has reached the decision that Fr Paul Symonds will live as a retired priest without any public ministry.

As you are aware, the Diocesan Policy and Procedures advise anyone who may have a concern of a safeguarding nature to contact the PSNI, Social Services, or the Diocesan Designated Safeguarding Officer (Telephone: 028 90492783).

MY DAILY ROUTINE WHEN CC IN BELFAST

I was a curate in St Peter's cathedral Belfast from 1978 until 1883 - a period of five years.

The administrator in my time was Father Vincent McKinely an ignorant Ballycastle man and addicted gambler. One day he told me lost £2,000 on the horses. That was in 1979 !

Father McKinley seriously assaulted me on one occasion and threatened me on others.

ANYONE GOT A PIC OF FATHER Mc KINLEY. WOULD APPRECIATE ONE MAILED OR E MAILED.

The Senior Curate was Father Joe McGurnaghan who spent all day and all night listening to classical music.

Joe McGurnaghan

This was my daily routine during that time:

Celebrate Mass at either 10 am or 7.30 pm.

Slate Street - now demolished.

Alternate visits to primary Schools - St Joseph's Slate Street, or St Comgalls or St Louise's College - 11 am to 12.30 pm.

St Comgalls Divis Street

or St Comgalls or St Louise's College - 11 am to 12.30 pm.

The old St Louises

Visits to St Peter's Secondary School - 2pm to 3.30 pm.

The old St Peters

Visit parishioner's homes - 4 pm to 5 pm.

Have some prayer time in the cathedral - 5 pm to 6 pm.

See callers in interview rooms at presbytery - 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm.

Attend youth club - 7.30 pm to 9 pm.

One night a week go for a beer with youth leaders to The Star social club in Ardoyne - 10 pm to 11.30 pm.

Old Star Social Club Ardoyne

One night a week go for a beer with the parish youth leader Gerry Reynolds to the Rossa Club on the Falls Road.

Rossa ob Falls Road

On Saturdays I had Mass, the occasional wedding or funeral, heard confessions from 12 noon to 1 pm and from 5 pm until 7 pm. I also prepared my Sunday sermon and gave a copy to Father McKinley from which he would preach on Sunday and went for dinner to a family in Belfast I was friends with.

On Sundays I had several Masses and if I was on call I stayed in the presbytery all day.

On the Sundays not on duty I took the youth club bus and brought Divis Flats kids for trips to Newcastle in County Down.

This routine was broken every fortnight by an overnight trip to Dublin to visit my parents and family.

I took few holidays in the five year period with the exception of the Lourdes Pilgrimage with parishioners Paddy and Billy Mallon.

Every night at midnight I took a walk around the parish boundaries to see everyone was Ok. My route was Divis Street, Falls Road, Grosvenor Road, Durham Street, Albert Street.

After midnight I would have patrolled the area and Divis Flats trying to stop the so called "Joy Riding".

I also ran a WEEKLY PRAYER MEETING, a WEEKLY SELF HELP GROUP and managed to clean up Divis Flats.

These 5 years were among the HAPPIEST and BUSIEST years of my life :-)

GAYS NEED JUSTICE NOT MERCY FROM FRANCIS

LGBTQ people need justice, not mercy, from Pope Francis

Jamie Manson  

It's been nearly two and a half years since Pope Francis uttered his now-legendary "Who am I to judge?" statement while aboard the papal plane.

Since that fateful in-flight press conference, I have been told countless times (often by well-meaning, heterosexual Catholics) that I should find hope and comfort in the pope because he has opened up the doors to mercy for me and my LGBTQ friends.

But mercy, it seems to me, is not the door that LGBTQ people need opened to them. Mercy is an act of love, compassion or service given to those who sin or are afflicted in some way. LGBTQ people, same-sex relationships, and transgender persons are not sins or afflictions.

Some Catholics have tried to convince me that the doors of mercy have a connecting corridor to the doors of justice. "A change in tone can eventually effect a change in teaching," I've heard more than once (usually from folks with a much more privileged place in the church than my out LGBTQ friends and I have).

But Pope Francis' refusal to speak out against draconian anti-homosexuality laws during his recent trip to three African nations, his continued condemnations of same-sex marriage laws, his ongoing glorification of heterosexual marriage ("God's masterwork," as he calls it), and the ceaseless firings of LGBTQ employees of Catholic institutions leave me unconvinced that doors of mercy and justice are somehow adjoined.

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The pope's latest statement on "homosexual people" came last week in his new, book-length interview with Andrea Tornielli, published under the titleThe Name of God is Mercy.

When Tornielli asks him about his "Who am I to judge?" statement, the pope reasserts that he "was paraphrasing by heart the Cate­chism of the Catholic Church where it says that these people should be treated with delicacy and not be marginalized."

"I am glad that we are talking about 'ho­mosexual people' because before all else comes the individual person, in his wholeness and dignity," the pope continues. "And people should not be defined only by their sexual ten­dencies."

Francis then expresses his hope that "homosexual people" will "come to confession, that they stay close to the Lord, and that we pray all together. You can advise them to pray, show goodwill, show them the way, and accompany them along it."

Though the words sound pastoral, the pope remains vague about what ought to be confessed, what it means to stay close to the Lord, and what precisely "the way" should be for LGBTQ people.

Given the fact that the pope reasserts the teaching of the catechism, given his previous criticisms of marriage equality and same-sex parenting, and given his ongoing insistence that same-sex relationships are not sacramental, one is left to deduce that he still hopes that LGBTQ people will try to honor traditional church teachings: That is, to refrain from sexual relationships and to not equate our families with the traditional heterosexual model of family.

Ultimately, the pope leaves us to assume that LGBTQ people are in need of some type of mercy and forgiveness that heterosexuals, by their very natures, do not need.

As long as that is the disposition of the pope and the church, we LGBTQ Catholics will always be left to believe that, regardless of our gifts or the quality of love in our lives, in the eyes of the church we will never be equal to our fellow straight Catholics. And as long as that is the case, we will continue to be marginalized by our church.

I do not mean to suggest that the pope's call to increased delicacy and decreased marginalization does not have the potential to ease the burden on some LGBTQ persons, particularly those who are ostracized by their family members or faith communities.

I am suggesting that "showing greater mercy" towards LGBTQ Catholics will not get at the root of what ails our relationship with the church. Why? Because treating us with mercy presupposes that we, by our very natures, are in a state of sin or affliction and are in need of forgiveness.

The truth is, gays and lesbians do not need mercy for falling in love with someone of the same sex. My transgender friends do not need the church's mercy for striving to become the persons they believe God made them to be. LGBTQ couples do not need forgiveness for being in loving relationships. These are not sins. There is nothing to forgive.

If LGBTQ persons need mercy and forgiveness, it is for reasons that are no different from the reasons heterosexuals need mercy, like when we fail to be generous, patient, supportive, respectful, kind, compassionate, or faithful.

The irony here is that if anyone should be asking for mercy, it is the Catholic hierarchy. The institutional church should seek forgiveness from the LGBTQ community for failing to speak out when we are killed, beaten or imprisoned, for taking our jobs and our livelihoods, for denying us access to Jesus' Eucharistic table, for attempting to thwart our movements for equal protection under the law, and for promoting teachings that have estranged us from our faith, our communities, our families and, in some cases, even our own beloved partners.

LGBTQ persons do not need mercy from the church. We need justice. We need an institutional church that has the courage to admit that all people, regardless of sexual orientation, relationship status, or gender identity, have the same potential for goodness, wholeness and a sacramental life. Until that day comes, we will not achieve true dignity and full equality in our church.