The Hazards of Belief

The diocese of Ferns has received a number of complaints from parents of first Holy Communion children after a priest said that he will be visiting homes "for rosaries and exorcisms".

The priest, Fr Michael Doyle, is parish priest of Poulfur-Templetown in Co Wexford and made his comments at mass on Sunday.

He has told parents from Scoil Mhaodhoig Poulfur that he expects them to attend Sunday mass in the run-up to first communion next May and, according to a spokesman for the diocese of Ferns, said he will be "visiting their houses for rosaries and exorcisms".

The matter has been referred to the diocese's vicar-general Fr Joe McGrath, who is effectively the "second-in-command" behind Bishop Denis Brennan in Ferns.

The diocesan spokesman told RTNews that "if we have to rectify or clarify anything, we will do so".

He added that "we live in an age of invitation" when it comes to people visiting other people's homes.

Domini Codd, the principal of the national school, which has a total enrolment of over 170 children, said they have received "no complaints" about the matter and said that preparations for first communion are continuing as normal.

However, the diocese confirmed that "there were a number of parents complaining" about the matter.

Attempts to contact Fr Michael Doyle proved unsuccessful.

wench wrote: »

Census gives 930K Catholics in Dublin, so that's 6.5 breads per person per year.

Mustn't be very hungry...

robindch wrote: »

And if Brexit happens, it'll be "Yesterday's hosts - tomorrah".

Q. 1. What is the proper way of disposing of a Consecrated Host?

A. 1. The proper way of disposing of a Consecrated Host is to:

A. In a situation where a communicant drops the Sacred Host on the floor in the Church when receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion, he should pick it up and consume it immediately.

B. In the case where a priest or extra-ordinatry Eucharistic minister served the Sacred Host to an elderly in a Senior's Home and the senior spit it out, being unable to swallow it, the Sacred Host should be collected by the priest, placed in the purificator (Altar linen) and returned to the parish for the priest to dispose of it.

C. To dispose of a Sacred Host, the priest or eucharistic minister must dissolve it in water to the point where the Host no longer has the appearance of bread. This may require that the Host be broken up in pieces prior to placing it in water.

D. The next step is to pour the liquid down the sacristies sacrarium (a special sink with a drain going directly into the ground, not the sewer). When such is not available, the liquid should be poured on the ground in a location that would not be walked over, such as behind a flower bed that is along a wall, at the foot of a statue or similar places.

Have you ever seen these numbers?

321,200,000: population in the US in 2015.

17,810,000: population age 14 and under.

303,390,000: population age 15 and over.

151,695,000: population of the female gender.

58,000,000: abortions performed in the US from 1973-2011.

Therefore 38% of females in the US have had an abortion.

That means 1 of very 3 women you know is a murderer.

Does that include your sister(s), your mother and your grandmother? Do you come from a family of murderers?

This is the alleged compassionate gender that is trying to take over the Catholic Church. How many local parishes have been taken over by females, having chased away every male volunteer? These are the same females who want women priest and more female involvement in the Vatican. Do we dare to let them advance their agenda? Surely, it will mean the destruction of the Catholic Church.

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Two CoI bishops attended a Gafcon conference the other week, generating some controversy.

Bishops’ presence at Gafcon an ‘absolute disgrace’

'Wilfully schismatic' movement supports submission of women to men

Thirty-six senior Church of Ireland clergy have put their names to an open letter objecting to the appointment of the newly elected Bishop of Down and Dromore due to his involvement with a conservative Anglican group.

In a letter to the church’s House of Bishops, the signatories say they are concerned Archdeacon David McClay may not be an appropriate choice due to his membership of the Gafcon (Global Anglican Future Conference) Ireland movement.

They believe the group’s policies are “antithetical” to the principles a Church of Ireland bishop must commit to in the rite of consecration. These include “fostering unity, care for the oppressed, and building up the people of God in all their spiritual and sexual diversity”.

Gafcon was founded in 2008, originally to oppose same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ+ people. It has proclaimed itself as a unique upholder of biblical orthodoxy and as “a global family of authentic Anglicans standing together to retain and restore the Bible to the heart of the Anglican Communion”.

The letter says a Gafcon taskforce last June recommended that “the provinces of Gafcon should retain the historic practice of the consecration only of men as bishops”. In 1990, the church voted in favour of ordaining women as deacons, priests and bishops. It has one woman bishop currently, Bishop of Meath and Kildare Pat Storey.

A Catholic parish in the centre of Dublin was paid €3.5 million in compensation for the loss of light to its church caused by adjacent building developments.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary Church is on City Quay, on the south side of the Liffey, beside the Talbot Memorial Bridge.

The quay is currently undergoing extensive development driven by the profits being made from the commercial property market.

The payment is mentioned in accounts just published by the Parishes of the Diocese of Dublin, the registered Catholic charity that deals with a number of funds and income and payments made by the capital’s Catholic parishes.

Total income for the parishes during 2018 was €35.6 million, with more than half of this coming from family offerings, donations and shrine income.

Net income for the charity was €88,000, after which it gained a further €3.2 million from the sale of buildings.

Stipends to 374 serving priests were €10.4 million, while 69 retired priest[sic] were paid €1.1 million, and €3 million was expended on nursing and homecare costs.

A linked charity, the Charities of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, received donations of €842,000 during the year, and legacies of €98,000.

A separate set of accounts for this charity confirmed that contracts with the GAA for the proposed sale of the college and its lands, at Clonliffe Road, Drumcondra, were signed in May.

The sale was approved by the Vatican and the Charities Regulator, for a purchase price of €95,157,500, and the property will be sold in four separate tranches between 2019 and 2022, according to the accounts.

“The charity and the GAA are co-operating closely on plans to ensure the lands and buildings be developed into one of the most significant community projects for the north city in many years, providing housing, jobs and sports facilities.”

They also revealed that the archdiocese will be making a €700,000 contribution to the cost of the World Meeting of Families event, which was held in Dublin in 2018.

The three-day event at the RDS co-incided with the visit of Pope Francis. “It was an historic and faith-filled occasion for our church, our city, and our country,” the trustees said in their report.

“Included in expenses is an expected contribution by the charity in relation to remaining costs for World Meeting of Families 2018, estimated at €700,000.”

During 2018 payments of €1.02 million were made out of an unrestricted, general fund, in response to clerical sex abuse claims.

A provision of €10.6 million is contained in the accounts for potential future claims arising from clerical sex abuse of children. The equivalent figure in 2017 was €12.3 million. The balance in the general fund at year’s end was €7.6 million.

The accounts show that during 2018 the charity’s investments dropped €1.6 million in value because the the poor performance of investments markets, but the trustees said the markets “rebounded strongly” in early 2019 and the losses were recouped.

They say that the estimated Catholic population of the archdiocese, which includes most of Wicklow, considerable sections of Kildare, and parts of Carlow, Wexford and Laois, as well as all of Dublin county, is one million.

There was a significant decrease, to €6.1 million, from €22.4 million, in the deficit in the diocesan pensions schemes for a number of reasons, including the removal of guaranteed pension increases. The pension schemes are non-contributory for staff.

Holy Cross College in Drumcondra, which had not functioned as a seminary since 2000, was officially “suppressed” in May of this year and its assets transferred to the archdiocese.

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Mini-protest outside high-powered legal eagles Arthur Cox this morning.

3 people with large placards

"Christian Solicitor Dismissed By Arthur Cox"

"€70,000 ex-gratia"

Anyone any idea what this is about? Searches aren't turning up anything.

Perhaps ironically, Arthur Cox was founded by a priest.

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

That's about a case from 2014 though! and the employer was Tipperary County Council.

Before events began, Judge McNulty said while the court was respectful of all faiths and to those who venerate statues, "this is no place for holy statues".

And so Sr Anne Marie was asked to store the Child of Prague elsewhere while the hearing got underway...

...Sr Irene had dispensed with her solicitor from the earlier hearing and she and Sr Anne Marie were deep in prayer before proceedings commenced...

...On visiting the site last Monday he was "met by a very abusive Nun", he said, adding "various disparaging words were said of me". ...

...She apologised for the green building, but was not backing down when it came to the other contentious aspects. "I would say that on the [remaining] sheds that are presently there, if we are to remove these we will be virtually homeless," she said. "We are living in them, believe it or not. We are very comfortable in them. We are not in third world conditions.


"We have no other accommodation at the moment, other than these two residential sheds." Another shed acts as a kitchen. "We are having to take the blessed sacraments within our bedrooms in a small hatch in the wall," she said. "We meet together in each other's cell, otherwise we are alone in silence."...

...Sr Anne Marie, a young Nun, then took the stand. To borrow a phrase, the mouse roared, the Kiwi belying her quiet and steady demeanour by taking aim at the Council in a prepared statement. She wrote her surname on a piece of paper she provided to the Judge, not wanting to provide it in open court, giving her name as "Sr Anne Marie of the Sacred Heart"....

...Judge McNulty said:

"I am a great believer in 'the Lord provides'. But he will have to hurry up. You may have to pray harder, Sister.

"Sometimes if the prayer goes unanswered, that is your answer, but it seems like you are making progress."...

...Later Sr Irene handed out some sheets of paper outlining its defence and a poem writen by a Carmelite nun and dated yesterday, before some time later emerging into the wind and rain, their faces covered by their habits and the Child of Prague in their arms.

looksee wrote: »

I like the notion of a lack of 'strong and willing men' delaying their plans, I have strong and willing men doing restoration work on my house at the moment - I find that paying them is a great encouragement.

robindch wrote: »

With Child of Prague goodness: