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Give Up Yer Aul Sins…

May 31, 2010 in Bible, Uncategorized, catholic schools, ireland, second vatican council by webmaster | 22 comments

Take a look at these videos, which will make you smile – small Irish children in school talking about various bible stories.  Hilarious.  But notice, they have a good knowledge base (if the chronology is sometimes confused!) These pupils were being taught on the cusp of the crisis, so there are interesting issues of Catholic education to be considered and you might, justifiably, wonder how contemporary pupils would fare when invited to “tell the men from the television” about the Faith.

But, really, this is one of those “miscellaneous” threads – partly for fun, to give us a bit of light-hearted relief in the midst of a terrible Church crisis.

Enjoy! 

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GROOME-GATE: THE SCANDAL SPREADS…

May 16, 2010 in Dissent, Uncategorized, bishops, ireland by webmaster | 34 comments

The following information was submitted by a reader (Mike) who is rightly concerned at the growing influence of laicised priest/public dissenter, Professor Thomas Groome. Mike is keen for us to run another thread on the topic as soon as possible, so consider this “as soon as possible” – well, his email only arrived yesterday!

Click here to read our previous thread on the topic, then read Mike’s message: as you will see, he is keen for me to write to the church authorities on the subject but I’m thinking it would be better if all of YOU wrote as well. The addresses of the Irish Bishops are available on our website, links section, or you can email your letters to me, and I’ll send a package, special delivery – with pleasure.

Dear Editor,

After the public outcry over the Thomas Groome Affair a few weeks ago, I think you should read and even publish the article contained here

Also, the official website for Eucharistic Congress in Dublin has launched programme for preparatory catechesis: it is based on Groome’s Shared Christian Praxis methodology: see here

Groome – and now his disciples in Ireland – seems to have commandeered the preparatory catechesis for the Eucharistic Congress. Not surprising this has happened given that the Archdiocese of Armagh itself ran a course on his dreadful book What Makes US Catholic. Read about it here

I think maybe Groome will be recruited to facilitate a training day for catechists. On seeing the material in his 1991 book Sharing Faith, a distinguished theologian, who, for safety sake will remain anonymous, said: “it is garbage.”

I would say it is subversive in the extreme. Groome has his disciples well entrenched in the Catholic education system throughout the English speaking world.

You would do well to raise this issue, as in Ireland it seems everyone is ducking for cover. You could ask Church authorities in Ireland to issue a warning about this book. Perhaps the warning could read: “Deadly For Your Faith”. Seriously, it would be a good question to raise. In conjunction with this, it would be worthwhile noting how sad it is that adult catechesis in Armagh could be reduced to such mediocrity as sponsoring online courses by Groome. Plenty of quotes in the article referenced above on What Makes Us Catholic to give you ammunition. Mike

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HAPPY ST PATRICK’S DAY…

March 17, 2010 in Devotions, Feast Day, Uncategorized, bishops, ireland, miracles, tradition by webmaster | 26 comments

Blogger Naomi emailed an entertaining (if slightly troubling) clip of someone, somewhere in Ireland, having a spot of car trouble by the harbour.  Since it’s St Patrick’s Day – my patron saint – I thought it would be nice to have a break from debating and allow you all to (a) enjoy Naomi’s clip and (b) wish those of us who bear St Patrick’s name, a very happy feast day!   And special Feast Day wishes have to go to blogger Petrus’s new baby son, Patrick, since this is his very first St Patrick’s Day on the planet earth.  An adorable little boy, we wish Patrick a very VERY happy first St Patrick’s Day!

Click here to enjoy the film clip – you need to keep clicking on the forward button.  The whole thing only takes seconds, so keep focused or you’ll miss the fun.

If you have any happy memories of a visit to Ireland or any stories – pious, interesting, or just plain fun – share them with us today.

A very happy St Patrick’s Day to one and all!

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‘Spinning’ the Irish Child Abuse Scandals…

November 29, 2009 in Morality, Politics, Uncategorized, bishops, ireland by webmaster | 98 comments

The Obama principle that a crisis is too good to waste is clearly being applied in the case of the clerical child abuse scandal in Ireland. A spin is being put on the shocking revelations in the report on abuse in the archdiocese of Dublin to implicate the “pre-Conciliar” Catholic Church in the wrongdoings of post-Vatican II pederasts. In the process, the name of a good man has been dragged into the cesspit, for political purposes.

The Most Reverend John Charles McQuaid, Archbishop of Dublin (1940-1972) was a great Catholic prelate. Under his pastoral leadership, the numbers of clergy and religious increased by more than 50 per cent, he created over 60 new parishes and built over 80 new churches and 350 schools. But he was a Vatican II sceptic who implemented reform conservatively, in accordance with what would now be called the “hermeneutic of continuity”. So he is a bogey figure to radicals.
Click here to read the entire article

As always, Gerald Warner, a  journalist who can think “outside the box”, hits proverbial nails on proverbial heads.  Big time.  At last, an article on the subject, written by someone of sufficient independence of mind to actually read the report, reflect on the data and come to a logical conclusion based on all the facts – not a politically motivated select few facts, that is, facts that fit the anti-Catholic agenda of the enemies of the Church.  As our lead blogger, Athanasius, has already said elsewhere on this topic, to treat “the Church” as a “partner in crime” in all of this, is downright dishonest and  insulting in the extreme.  Those priests and bishops who have “apologised” for these crimes lend credence to the lie that it is “the Church” to blame.  They should be completely ashamed of themselves. They are, effectively, useful idiots fighting the cause of the enemies of the Faith.  My advice to them is to apologise for the wrongs of which they are actually guilty (starting with the destruction of our sacred liturgy) and keep their mouths shut on the crimes of others, at least until they’ve learned to distinguish between individual sinfulness and the holiness of the Church.  For the Church IS holy. The Church is holy because Christ is holy and Christ and His Church are one.  That they’ve forgotten such a basic truth of the Faith is testimony itself to their lamentable religious ignorance.  Time they stopped trying to please the media and public opinion and started to think about pleasing God.  Now, there’s a thought.

Gerald  Warner  is getting a lot of predictable stick over on the Telegraph site, so we urge all of our bloggers to post comments there as well as here.  We must not allow the enemies of the Church to get away with using these terrible scandals as yet another stick with which to beat the Church.

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Catholic Ireland – or Schismatic Ireland?

November 14, 2009 in International, Uncategorized, bishops, ireland, priesthood, tradition by webmaster | 76 comments

The Papal ban on discussing the ordination of women has been challenged by Bishop Willie Walsh of Killaloe.

Bishop Walsh called for the debate on women priests in an interview with RTÉ News following an address to the Association of European Journalists in Dublin.

He said he would love to see another Pope John XXIII opening up discussion, particularly of exclusion. 
click here to read the entire article

So, “Catholic Ireland, or schismatic Ireland”?  Click on ‘comments’ to tell us what you think.

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November Newsletter – have your say…

November 3, 2009 in Dissent, International, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, bishops, church funds, ireland, sspx, tradition by webmaster | 67 comments

The November edition is online today. 
Click here to read the current newsletter

Comments welcome…

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Knock ‘Miracle of the Sun’ of Diabolic Origin?

October 26, 2009 in Our Lady, Uncategorized, ireland, miracles, rosary by webmaster | 78 comments

A friend in England, emailed me the following very interesting information about an alleged “visionary” –  Joe Coleman:  when you’ve read the information below, click on ‘comments’ to tell us what you think – is this another hoax like the Medjugorje phenomenon?   I received this message from my friend, Kevin, yesterday afternoon.  Later that night I received another email from a friend in the USA asking if I had heard of this amazing event.  Clearly word is spreading like wild fire.   Should the  Irish bishops quell this, before it gets out of hand like Medjugorje?

Miracle of the Sun – at Knock, Ireland… 

You may hear talk circulating about ‘miracles’ occurring at Knock centreing around a “Joe Coleman” – supposed ’seer’ but is in fact a spiritualist and medium.  Apparently, 30,000 turned up there to see an ‘apparition’ on account of this man’s ramblings, and it has been announced there will be two more ‘apparitions’ before Christmas, and crowds of over 50,000 are expected – this is superstition and fanaticism on a grand scale.  Needless to say, Coleman has connections with Medjugorje (he’s seen ‘Our Lady’ there) . .  . 

Click here to read more about Joe Coleman  

 Joe Coleman…

Joe has lived all his life in Balllyfermot. Since he was a child, he has been able to see spirits. He did not pay much attention to them for years. He had an accident at work. On the 1st of January 1986, while in hospital he had a near death experience, when his heart stopped momentarily. When he came to, he was able to communicate with the spirits. He was able to sense things in the present, past and future, that he had no way of knowing anything about. His family were surprised and amazed, and none more so than Joe himself. His friends encouraged him to use gift to help people with problems. While he was a bit reluctant at first, but soon accepted that he should go public with his work. Early on, he began to help find missing people. Although his information in these cases has not always been acted upon. it has never been proved to be in any way inaccerate. In order to develop his “gift” he studied spiritual healing, clairvoyance and animal communications. He learned to work through the Holy Spirit.In 2004, he set up a clinic in Ballyfermot, near the old Gala cinema, where people can come for spiritual healing, or readings. People from all religions, (and none) are welcome at Joe’s clinic. Few fail to be impressed with how acturately he can tell them about their lives. He also teaches classes, in spiritual awareness, and meditation. Joe feels people need to become more openminded in order to accept and benefit from the help of the Holy Spirit, the Angels and the Saints. Unbelievable! 

Click here to read the second report, (scroll down) published in The Mayo News which  shows that something did seemingly happen with the sun at Knock – even the skeptical observer acknowledged this – so this could well be something diabolic. 

 

There follows an article, by an eyewitness, in the Mayo News dated Monday, 19 October, 2009

 
“Joe Coleman is a self-proclaimed clairvoyant / medium. Why would the Blessed Virgin Mary overlook this mortal sin to convey a secret message to him? The Catechism of the Catholic Church unequivocally states that ‘all forms of divination are to be rejected’.”Dear Sir,Before hysteria sweeps the country about the Knock ‘miracle’ last Sunday, I feel I have to share with you a few issues surrounding the incident.  I was one of the many witnesses there, and observed what appeared to be the sun spinning, shaking and taking on a blueish colour at the same time as everyone else. However, after the incident I was left feeling unsettled and somewhat disturbed, something just didn’t ring true with my faith. I do not believe that what I witnessed was a divine miracle: an optical illusion – yes, of divine origin – no. I have a strong Catholic faith, visit Knock regularly and for this reason feel impelled to ask believers if they believe that any kind of clairvoyancy is forbidden by the Church – it breaks the first Commandment given by God to Moses.Joe Coleman is a self-proclaimed clairvoyant / medium. Why would the Blessed Virgin Mary overlook this mortal sin to convey a secret message to him? The Catechism of the Catholic Church unequivocally states that “all forms of divination are to be rejected… the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums… contradict the honour, respect and loving fear that we owe to God alone.” (CCC, #2116).Claiming to be able to provide secret messages is typical of false private revelations – Joe Coleman stated before the Sunday ‘apparition’ that Our Lady told him she would make her biggest statement yet to be heard on Earth.How strange it was that Our Lady ‘requested’ people to gather at 3pm in the grounds of Knock Shrine, the very time of the daily Mass celebrated there, and on that day, the Dominican pilgrimage to Knock. Why would she not have invited people to attend Mass first and then receive a message?What effectively happened was that at 3pm there were two groups of people: one was celebrating Mass in the Basilica in Knock with the Dominican pilgrimage, the other was outside looking into the sky for a sign.   And while it was wonderful to see the crowds making their way to Knock, the other thing you have to ask is, was it for the right reason and will it bear good fruit?  Will this event inspire them to pray the Rosary and read Scripture daily, attend Mass prayerfully and reverently, or will it cause them to become distracted with news of the next ‘sign’ or secret message from Joe Coleman?Our faith is not a secretive one – the message is there for all. But the problem is that this kind of revelation is addictive, for all the wrong reasons. What will the next message be? Where will she appear next? In contrast, the simple message of the Gospels, which is to conform your lives to Christ every day in thought, word and deed, has a danger of appearing ‘boring’ – the society demanding instant gratification will instead be tempted to clamour for the adrenaline rush of signs and secret messages.And ultimately, when the Church has to step in regarding such false revelations, what happens is that the unity of the Mystical Body of Christ is threatened – think Christina Gallagher and the House of Prayer in Achill.While her messages began by appearing harmless and of possible divine origin, they soon became heretical (she promised eternal life to anyone who visited the House of Prayer and also undermined the doctrine of the Holy Trinity). When the Archdiocese of Tuam stepped in to clarify the Achill House of Prayer was not authorised by the Church, what we saw was an effective amputation of a section of the Body of Christ – previously faithful believers were lost to the Church along with Christina.  In Jesus’ own words: “False Christs and false prophets will arise and show signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.” (Mk. 13:22).The above article was submitted by a South Mayo resident, whose name and address have been supplied to the Editor.

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The Scandal Of The Stephen Gately Funeral…

October 18, 2009 in Dissent, Liturgy, Sacraments, Uncategorized, bishops, homosexuality, ireland by webmaster | 124 comments

The funeral of Stephen Gately was a scandal of such monumental proportions as to make Ted Kennedy’s floor show look like a prayer meeting in a convent. 
Click here to read about the Stephen Gately funeral   

Although the newspaper reports are very short on details about what was said by Father Declan Blake,  the priest who officiated at the Mass, they do report his rendering of the final prayer:   ”May angels lead you to Abraham’s side. Let perpetual light shine upon you.”  and  “May the angels lead you into Paradise.”

Click here to read the response of Damien Thompson,  big shot at the Catholic Herald, who seems more interested in joining in the anti-Jan Moir-at-the-Daily-Mail campaign than in condemning the scandal of this “gay” funeral where a priest – like the blind, leading the blind – reinforces the entirely false notion that anyone who dies in objective mortal sin can possibly hope for Heaven.  What this priest is doing is encouraging a totally baseless optimism – not authentic Christian hope.

Nobody seems to be expressing any surprise at all that Father Declan Blake condoned the homosexual lifestyle during a Mass and effectively canonised Mr Gately, publicly acknowledging his civil partnership, with approval.   This is a very grave matter.   For by our silence, we are complicit in the sin of another.   A Church packed with celebrities, many of them living the same “gay” lifestyle, were betrayed:  instead of hearing Catholic teaching expounded, they heard a priest reinforcing their erroneous beliefs about life, God and the nature of The Judgement which we will all have to face one  day.   Given that Stephen Gately had excommunicated himself by rejecting  Catholic teaching on God’s moral law, there should not have been a Catholic funeral anyway.   Now, shockingly, we are faced with the public scandal of an excommunicate receiving a funeral-cum-canonisation in a Catholic Church by a priest who has displayed a schismatic mentality.  He has failed to uphold Catholic teaching on homosexuality and more, he has publicly approved this sin in the very presence of the Blessed Sacrament.   How can he justify his position?     I doubt if I’ll ever find out because there is no email address listed for him and I don’t trust myself to be too polite in a telephone call.  

Christ came for Stephen Gately, as He warned,  ”like a thief in the night”:  ”at a day and an hour that we do not expect” (Matthew 24:36-51) but instead of evangelising the congregation by reminding them of this salutary warning, so that they may amend their lives accordingly, Father Declan Blake – astonishingly – said this: “Stephen had a personal relationship with Jesus. When the Lord called Stephen last week they would have embraced as friends”.   

Compare Father Declan Blake’s optimistic sentimentality with paragraph 1867 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which reminds us that “the sin of the Sodomites”  is one of the four sins that cry to Heaven for vengeance.    This is a very grave scandal indeed.

Please email Archbishop Martin of Dublin to express your concerns (you might send your message to either  one of the two email addresses available on the link or, better still, send your message to both email addresses).    Ask Archbishop Martin what sanctions he intends to impose on Father Blake for his public dissent from Catholic teaching on the sinfulness of homosexual acts in this most scandalous situation.

Then pray for Ireland.

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Lisbon Treaty: Should Irish Catholics Vote “Yes”?

September 25, 2009 in Politics, Uncategorized, abortion, bishops, conscience, family, freemasons, ireland, marriage by editor | 40 comments

Irish pro-life groups campaigning against the Lisbon Treaty have accused a senior bishop of interfering in the upcoming referendum.

Bishop Noel Treanor of Down and Connor said last week that he could “state unequivocally that a Catholic can, without reserve and in good conscience, vote ‘Yes’ for the Lisbon Treaty.

“There are no grounds to justify a No vote in the Lisbon Treaty on the basis of specifically religious or ethical concerns,” he said.

Read the  Catholic Herald article here

Well, that’s not what Irish Catholic Truth readers tell me.   They are so disturbed at what is happening in the Church in Ireland, that they’ve asked that the newsletter carry reports on their Bishops.   There’s one lined up for the November edition.

To help deliberations, click here for a  reminder of why the Irish voted “no” to the Lisbon Treaty last time round…

So, tell us what you think.   Are the Irish Bishops correct to say that a Catholic may, in good conscience, vote for this Treaty and all the “human rights” legislation that will follow in its wake?  We, in the UK, know that “human rights” is a euphemism to cover the promotion of every imaginable perversion.  If you were born a man and want to become a woman, you have a “human right” so to do.  Remember, Peter Tatchell, formerly ardent “gay” rights campaigner, is now mixing with the “great and the not-so-good” using the umbrella designation  ”a human rights campaigner”.  So, all things considered (and the danger to the unborn child at the top of the list) Should Irish Catholics vote “yes” …as their bishops effectively recommend?

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Catholics & Alcohol – St Jude, Pray For Us!

September 18, 2009 in International, Morality, Scotland, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, ireland, priesthood by editor | 67 comments

Drinking to excess a problem in Scotland?  Not if you think Elvis is still alive and well.  Click on the link below to check some facts…

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/
videos-pics/news/news-videos
/2009/08/06/scots-drinking-
dangerously-86908-21578736/

And here, it seems, is the secret of a successful barbecue in Australia…

http://www.catholicherald
.co.uk
/articles/a0000640.shtml

The fact is, even (some might say “especially”) Catholics behave no differently from others when it comes to excessive alcohol consumption.   Worse, some – perhaps many – clergymen drink too much.  For some reason, Catholics do not consider excessive drinking to be a matter of morality.  At worst, it’s regarded as a kind of character fault and at best, just a wee indulgence, nothing to worry about.  Only the Wee Frees bother about these things – Catholics enjoy life!   

Alcohol excess  is a problem, I have a problem with.  Or rather, “with which I have a problem”…  I’m really not ”an alcohol person” - the smell of it is unpleasant (to put it mildly) and I’m not crazy being around folk with glazed eyes who talk rubbish all the time.   Bloggers excepted, of course.

Confession Summary: I have a serious problem pulling out the empathy for Catholics who cannot resist the stuff.   It’s that “good example” thing.  Or lack of it.

Am I lacking compassion (again?)   Am I uncaring?  Lacking the milk (irony) of human kindness?  You might think so.  I’m saying nothing.

You see, I just don’t get it.  If – as I keep being told – people need a drink to relax or to make them chatty, or to otherwise make them enjoy themselves, then there’s something wrong with them.  That’s what I think.  What do you think?   Is it immoral to drink too much?  Even if the drunk isn’t affecting anyone else?  Does the  ”your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit” theology  not apply here?   Should I go off and join the Wee Frees?   Am I wrong to expect more from Catholics?

Click on ‘comments’ to tell me what is so attractive about alcohol that so many people just cannot resist it.  And skip the “everything in moderation”  argument because the statistics show that “moderation” is NOT the password to the website of the Scottish Drinking Community.com      

Indeed, I’ve come to the conclusion, that THE saint to pray to for our drinking brothers, sisters and hairdressers, is the patron saint of hopeless cases – St Jude.   Now, I  jest, of course, because every Catholic knows that nobody is really a “hopeless case”.  God’s grace is freely available to each one of us and there is no sin, no weakness that cannot be overcome by grace.  We are blessed to have a rich treasury of grace in the Sacrament of Penance.   

But, am I right in my central thesis?  Should Catholics be setting an example of moderation and restraint, in the midst of the terrible statistics thrown at us in recent news bulletins?    And if so, why?  What is the best argument to offer a hardened (or en route to being a hardened) Catholic drinker?

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