Parents in shock as priest displays gay porn images [article]

HamletOrHecuba

"A PRIEST has denied knowing how gay porn images appeared on a screen during a presentation he was giving to parents of children preparing for First Communion.

Fr Martin McVeigh was setting up the PowerPoint display when the explicit sex scenes flashed up on the screen.

He was about to give a talk to the parents of First Communicants but abandoned the presentation after the pornographic images appeared.

One of those present said the pictures appeared on the screen after the priest put a USB memory stick into the computer at St Mary's School in Pomeroy, Co Tyrone."

http://www.herald.ie/news/parents-in-shock-as-priest-displays-gay-porn-images-3066704.html

A little knowledge of how those with a human response to homosexuality are bullied in seminaries will mean you are not surprised at all about this.

saintsaltynuts

Durty B@stard.

mcmoustache

*Looks at today's date*

Must be a joke, right?

Penn

mcmoustache wrote: »

*Looks at today's date*

Must be a joke, right?

No. I saw it in the newspaper on Friday.

28064212

Thread title fail, he didn't display it to the kids, he displayed it to the parents

Secondly, as far as I know, the church is ok with celibate priests, gay or straight. Sounds like he had the nightmare that worries everyone who connects their personal laptop to a projector. Don't see the need for any punishment other than a stern "don't let it happen again"

qrrgprgua

Hmmm... It was the schools computer. I very much suspect there was a virus on it. Different story if it was the priests own computer. Porn sites are riddled with Viruses.

HamletOrHecuba

28064212 wrote: »

Secondly, as far as I know, the church is ok with celibate priests, gay or straight. Sounds like he had the nightmare that worries everyone who connects their personal laptop to a projector. Don't see the need for any punishment other than a stern "don't let it happen again"

No even still the mainline Roman Catholic Church does not allow technically people with homosexual lusts in their heart to the Priesthood. Also celibacy excludes "sex" with yourself from a Christian point of view.

Benny_Cake

OP, did you even read the article? It was the parents who saw it, not the kids. The headline was sensationalist and misleading, even by the standards of a rag such as the Herald. Given that no law was broken, an apology would suffice here, and it's even a little much that the man's name appeared in print.

bensweeney

The OP heading is defamation of character. You are heading for legal action unless you change it.

HamletOrHecuba

Benny_Cake wrote: »

OP, did you even read the article? It was the parents who saw it, not the kids. The headline was sensationalist and misleading, even by the standards of a rag such as the Herald. Given that no law was broken, an apology would suffice here, and it's even a little much that the man's name appeared in print.

According to the New Testament homosexual desires arise through people not wanting to have in the Living God present to them; so yes it is a big deal. The Priest should resign- and go to an obscure monastery to do penance for the rest of his life.

Benny_Cake

HamletOrHecuba wrote: »

Benny_Cake wrote: »

OP, did you even read the article? It was the parents who saw it, not the kids. The headline was sensationalist and misleading, even by the standards of a rag such as the Herald. Given that no law was broken, an apology would suffice here, and it's even a little much that the man's name appeared in print.

My understanding is that both parents and children were present, hence the headline.

According to the New Testament homosexual desires arise through people not wanting to have in the Living God present to them; so yes it is a big deal. The Priest should resign- and go to an obscure monastery to do penance for the rest of his life.

You might share with the rest of us how you arrived at such an understanding as there is nothing in the article that would indicate that children were present. Since there is so little information about how this happened, your rush to judgement is frankly un-Christian. As is your attitude to gay people, whether celibate or not.

HamletOrHecuba

bensweeney wrote: »

The OP heading is defamation of character. You are heading for legal action unless you change it.

Take it up with the Herald not me.

He has defamed by Christ and His Church through his actions.

Im not suggesting that he is a Paedo but his excuses are hard to believe.

Homosexuality in the Priesthood is a major problem in Ireland.

bensweeney

HamletOrHecuba wrote: »

Take it up with the Herald not me.

He has defamed by Christ and His Church through his actions.

Im not suggesting that he is a Paedo but his excuses are hard to believe.

Homosexuality in the Priesthood is a major problem in Ireland.

From the article

A PRIEST has denied knowing how gay porn images appeared on a screen during a presentation he was giving to parents of children preparing for First Communion.

You wrote the heading that he said he showed it to Children

HamletOrHecuba

How do I change the Thread title?

Penn

I only skimmed over the article on Friday (Daily Mirror, not the Herald) but it said there was one child present.

bensweeney

Penn wrote: »

I only skimmed over the article on Friday (Daily Mirror, not the Herald) but it said there was one child present.

Where is the proof of that? where is a Link? this heading is saying that he was showing it to Kids. I thought boards.ie of all places wouldn't allow such a scandalous heading given that there was no proof that he showed it to kids.

Penn

bensweeney wrote: »

Penn wrote: »

I only skimmed over the article on Friday (Daily Mirror, not the Herald) but it said there was one child present.

Where is the proof of that? where is a Link? this heading is saying that he was showing it to Kids. I thought boards.ie of all places wouldn't allow such a scandalous heading given that there was no proof that he showed it to kids.

Just found this:

As first revealed in Thursday’s UlsterHerald, the presentation concerned the sacrament of First Penance in advance of the children receiving their First Holy Communion. One child witnessed the images along with nine parents and a member of the school’s teaching staff.

http://www.ulsterherald.com/2012/03/30/pomeroy-parents-hit-out-at-catholic-church-over-explicit-images-scandal/

bensweeney

Penn wrote: »

Just found this:



http://www.ulsterherald.com/2012/03/30/pomeroy-parents-hit-out-at-catholic-church-over-explicit-images-scandal/

This is a persons life here, and posts like these could ruin it.

HamletOrHecuba

bensweeney wrote: »

From the article



You wrote the heading that he said he showed it to Children

Made a mistake- sorry. That doesnt change the seriousness of this guy having such filth on his usb stick though does it?

Could a mod change the title?

CatFromHue

Penn wrote: »

http://www.ulsterherald.com/2012/03/30/pomeroy-parents-hit-out-at-catholic-church-over-explicit-images-scandal/

“The meeting continued in his absence however, the parents who viewed the pictures were horrified and distracted. Twenty minutes later he returned, he continued with the meeting and wrapped up by saying that the children get lots of money for their Holy Communion and should consider giving some of it to the Church.”

:mad:

People should be encouraged to not give large sums of money to children, not for some of the money to be given to the church!

Stercus Accidit

HamletOrHecuba wrote: »

Take it up with the Herald not me.

He has defamed by Christ and His Church through his actions.

Im not suggesting that he is a Paedo but his excuses are hard to believe.

Homosexuality in the Priesthood is a major problem in Ireland.

I'd say that priesthood is more of a problem than homosexuality.

bensweeney

HamletOrHecuba wrote: »

Made a mistake- sorry. That doesnt change the seriousness of this guy having such filth on his usb stick though does it?

Could a mod change the title?

Have you never looked at porn?


Who is to say that someone could of put that stuff on there as a practical joke?

HamletOrHecuba

CatFromHue wrote: »

People should be encouraged to not give large sums of money to children, not for some of the money to be given to the church!

People should be giving no money to the Hierarchy until it starts doing its job again.

im invisible

What kind of porn was it exactly? Something like lemonparty or meatspin that one of the older kids could have stuck on it for a laugh, or just normal gay porn that a priest would be more likely to look at?

HamletOrHecuba

bensweeney wrote: »

Have you never looked at porn?


Who is to say that someone could of put that stuff on there as a practical joke?

I have looked at porn- back in my early 20s. I regret doing so. Doing so was evil- but at least it was hetrosexual porn which makes a huge difference, a difference of kind and not just degree.

Its possible someone did- but very unlikely. And who would have done it? A house keeper? A fellow priest?

Penn

bensweeney wrote: »

Penn wrote: »

Just found this:



http://www.ulsterherald.com/2012/03/30/pomeroy-parents-hit-out-at-catholic-church-over-explicit-images-scandal/

This is a persons life here, and posts like these could ruin it.

Well he should have been more careful with his gay porn then.

bensweeney

Penn wrote: »

Well he should have been more careful with his gay porn then.

How do you know it was his gay porn? absolutely no proof. Have you a superior I could e-mail about this thread and your behaviour on it?

Oh Hell Oui!

HamletOrHecuba wrote: »

Homosexuality in the Priesthood is a major problem in Ireland.

Surely celibacy in the priesthood causes more problems?

Penn

bensweeney wrote: »

Penn wrote: »

Well he should have been more careful with his gay porn then.

How do you know it was his gay porn? absolutely no proof. Have you a superior I could e-mail about this thread and your behaviour on it?

A statement from the parents has described how the priest put a memory stick into the computer and began scrolling through folders before opened one entitled ‘new folder’.
The parents claim the folder contained “approximately 16 indecent images of men”, which they said were previews to other folders, at which point Fr McVeigh quickly removed the memory stick.
“He was visibly shaken and flustered,” said the parents. “He gave no explanation or apology to the group and bolted out of the room. The Co-ordinator and the teachers then continued with the presentation.

It was on his USB stick (not on the computer itself, which means none of the school kids would have had access to it). He didn't seem to question how those images got on it. And who in their right minds would play such a 'practical joke' as you put it, on a priest.

gimmebroadband

Penn wrote: »

It was on his USB stick (not on the computer itself, which means none of the school kids would have had access to it). He didn't seem to question how those images got on it. And who in their right minds would play such a 'practical joke' as you put it, on a priest.

How do you know it was the priest's usb stick? He may have borrowed it!

HamletOrHecuba

Oh Hell Oui! wrote: »

Surely celibacy in the priesthood causes more problems?

Im strongly in favour of getting rid of celibacy for Parish Priests for a variety of reasons (was never made mandatory for Parish Priests outside of the Latin west and was only universally enforced even through out that with the counter-reformation). However celibacy in and of itself is ontologically superior to the married state and so far from being an evil in itself as homosexuality is.

charlemont

That was hilarious, If I had been there I would have had convulsions from laughing. The priest must be mortified.

Penn

gimmebroadband wrote: »

Penn wrote: »

It was on his USB stick (not on the computer itself, which means none of the school kids would have had access to it). He didn't seem to question how those images got on it. And who in their right minds would play such a 'practical joke' as you put it, on a priest.

How do you know it was the priest's usb stick? He may have borrowed it!

Well why hasn't that information come forward yet?

Look, I don't think anything should happen to the priest. It was a simple mistake either way. And if he's proven innocent that he had no idea it was on the stick, fair enough. I don't care. There is nothing illegal here and it sounds like an honest mistake and I don't think he should be punished for it.

But all these excuses and possible scenarios are just plain unnecessary. How do I know he didn't borrow the USB? I don't. But we have no information to say it wasn't. I'm just basing my opinion (and that's all it is, my opinion) on the information we do have. And with the information we do have, I don't see a problem with what he did. Just an unfortunate event.

MagicMarker

What's the big deal? It was clearly only an accident.

bensweeney

MagicMarker wrote: »

What's the big deal? It was clearly only an accident.

Becasue the way it is being reported means it will stick and could ruin the rest of his life. What if a person named you on boards.ie and said you were showing gay porn to children? how would you feel about it? future employers doing a job search and your name been linked with this.

Run_to_da_hills

gimmebroadband wrote: »

How do you know it was the priest's usb stick? He may have borrowed it!

Borrowed it from another priest.

Manach

Putting aside the job role and speaking in general, such an incident might have a legal reaction. AFAIK a body like the HSE would have an obligation to be proactive when it comes to possible threats to children. This type of soft information would be on file and could be used if relevant in future vetting.

Doc Farrell

Congratulations HorH, you managed to thank a post that called a village priest a dirty bastard despite the Fact that there is no Evidence that he did anything illegal. How many years has this priest tried to help others, I think this is the same priest who helped the Irish in London when they ended up homeless. Why don't you stick to praising the sspx or post in the atheist forum, although intelligent atheists would tell you where you can stick your hatred of homosexuals.
It would be better to ignore your posts but your negativity is an acid in this forum that eats through the page.
If you have a problem with homosexual priests take it up with the 30%-60% of the hierarchy who deal with it in their own lives.

Sonics2k

It was an obvious mistake on his part really, and it's certainly not the end of the world.

Let's face it, so what if he's gay or looks at porn, it still seems that he's been a good person over the years.

On the other hand, this is actually quite funny :pac:

Jenroche

charlemont wrote: »

That was hilarious, If I had been there I would have had convulsions from laughing. The priest must be mortified.

Agreed. A real Father Ted moment. Remember the 'not a racist' slideshow?

HamletOrHecuba

Doc Farrell wrote: »

If you have a problem with homosexual priests take it up with the 30%-60% of the hierarchy who deal with it in their own lives.

You believe that 30 to 60 per cent of hierarchy are homosexual?

Doc Farrell

Estimates range widely, not practicing homosexuals, but orientated towards same sex attraction.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_rcc.htm

The job of being a priest can be a deeply isolating and lonely one. I knew a Fr McVeigh in Drogheda in the eighties and he was a good and kind man.

Putting priests on pedestals that occurred in Ireland until recently led to the narcissism and grandiosity that allowed for child molestors to go unpunished. But hurting a child and homosexuality are two completely different urges.
Many priests, especially those of an advanced age simply don't want to address the subject of human sexuality and especially of homosexuality. Who can blame them! The next Pope will have to face the reasons for empty seminaries. The first step of many will be to allow diocesan priests to marry.

I don't like criticizing you HorH but attacking groups within the Church instead of trying to understand the issue only freezes readers from approaching Catholicism at all, which is a grave error. I'm going now to post a rebuttal to your comment about the degeneration of the Trappist order that you mention in another thread.

ISAW

HamletOrHecuba wrote: »

Made a mistake- sorry. That doesnt change the seriousness of this guy having such filth on his usb stick though does it?

So you can make a mistake but a priest couldnt be excused for making the mistake of not checking his memory stitch to see whether someone put porn on it for a joke?

Penn

ISAW wrote: »

HamletOrHecuba wrote: »

Made a mistake- sorry. That doesnt change the seriousness of this guy having such filth on his usb stick though does it?

So you can make a mistake but a priest couldnt be excused for making the mistake of not checking his memory stitch to see whether someone put porn on it for a joke?

Again, I have to ask, who in their right minds who would be close enough to the priest that they either had access to his USB or who would lend him a USB, would put gay porn on it "as a joke"? I'm not even Catholic and I'd never do that to a priest "for a joke".

Now maybe someone did lend him a USB with gay porn on it by accident, as in it was their own gay porn and they forgot it was on it. Fair enough. But is it really that big a deal if it was the priests own gay porn? People are being quick to defend the priest (someone was playing a joke on him/it wasn't his USB/the computer might have had a virus), when there's no real need for it. The priest did nothing wrong.

Lets say the stick was his. If being homosexual is not a sin, but committing homosexual acts are, then the priest hasn't even sinned because they were just pictures on a USB stick. He did nothing wrong, so why the need to come up with excuses for what he did?

prinz

Penn wrote: »

Again, I have to ask, who in their right minds who would be close enough to the priest that they either had access to his USB or who would lend him a USB, would put gay porn on it "as a joke"? I'm not even Catholic and I'd never do that to a priest "for a joke".

I had a post here but it mustn't have saved. Anyway recap, I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who would do it 'as a joke' or for more malicious reasons (to cause embarrassment, professional problems etc). You may as well ask who would make false allegations of child abuse against a priest, but it happens and has happened. It wouldn't be the first time, there was a well known case of a bank chief here who 'resigned' from his post in 2004 after soft porn was found on his work computer. Word on the ground in financial services sector is that it was a stitch up by people who wanted the man out of his job.

Penn wrote: »

But is it really that big a deal if it was the priests own gay porn? People are being quick to defend the priest (someone was playing a joke on him/it wasn't his USB/the computer might have had a virus), when there's no real need for it. The priest did nothing wrong. Lets say the stick was his. If being homosexual is not a sin, but committing homosexual acts are, then the priest hasn't even sinned because they were just pictures on a USB stick. He did nothing wrong, so why the need to come up with excuses for what he did.

The Roman Catholic Church does not condone the use of pornography regardless of the sexual orientation involved. If it was the priests own porn then yes, he did something wrong in so far as he was going against the teachings of his Church.

If it was his then he let himself down badly, personally and professionally. Same would apply if it was 'straight porn'. Porn is the problem from my point of view, the fact that it was gay porn is irrelevant.

Keylem

Some may believe that downloading those images is harmless, but it's still a grave sin! One wonders why some priests don't comdemn such things from the pulpit, when they indulge in it themselves!

lmaopml

I don't think it's very nice to take the mans character away without first seeing the results of an investigation no? It's terrible really that a tiny amount of poison can be the undoing of a good persons name - The truth is that there are all sorts of virus that do transmit porn images, rushing to conclusions is very uncharitable, especially considering the man seems to be a pretty good Priest all told.

As an aside, very little reporting went into the Tipperary Priest who was returned to his ministry only on Saturday last, having stood aside from his duties for two years while an investigation took place about an abuse claim - the Parish priest had given over 36 years of his life to his ministry - the claim was found to be unsubstantiated. Unfortunately, the poison that such things leave behind them never really goes away....it must be a terrible thing for an innocent person to be accused of these things falsely.

Keylem

lmaopml, I was speaking in general. I'm sure there are some priests out there that indulge in such activities, who would not speak out against it.

It seems to me that this priest didn't know the contents of the usb stick, and certainly wouldn't have used it had he known!

IITYWYBMAD

Having worked in IT for the last 20 years, I've yet to see a situation where porn has been projected onto anything bar a PC via a virus. Most trojans/viruses have the ability to put malware in-place or redirect your browser, but I've never seen one that can put numerous acts of homosexual activity onto a screen through the use of a USB stick.

Secondly, as a father who has been to many a baptism/communion/confirmation meeting, I've yet to see a situation where this type of thing happens, or a priest disappears.

Thirdly, as somebody who gives presentations to audiences of 10's and sometimes 100's of people, I've been thought to review and re-review what I'm about to present as a matter of course.

I think it's fairly obvious what's happened here, and I think the priest (irrespective of his past helping the homeless (is that not his job!!!)) will take a sabbatical...etc...etc...

lmaopml

Keylem wrote: »

lmaopml, I was speaking in general. I'm sure there are some priests out there that indulge in such activities, who would not speak out against it.

It seems to me that this priest didn't know the contents of the usb stick, and certainly wouldn't have used it had he known!

Sorry, Keylem I wasn't speaking about you in particular just in general - how easy it seems for some to stereotype others and become convinced - it's something that as Christians we fight against for and on behalf of so many that stereotypes have created all sorts of injustices for in the world...... It's sad really.

Stark

"Goddamnit, those images were supposed to be subliminal"