Catholic Truth is running a series on the Church in Ireland, and their January 2012 newsletter and blog have discussions of St Mochua's Parish in Dublin, which recently featured on the WOULD YOU BELIEVE? TV programme
I add the links and a sample of the comments for your information. I also attach a link to the St Mochua's parish website for information.
I do NOT endorse the following characteristic features of Catholic Truth, which are sadly in evidence in this and other threads on their blog:
Uncritical endorsement of the writings of the fraudster Malachi Martin.
Eulogies on Fr Paul Kramer, and denial that his ally Fr Nicholas Gruner is supended, which he is.
Insinuations (not by all members but by a significant number) that the SSPX is not in schism and that the "Novus Odor" as it is described in one comment, is somehow heretical.
General paranoid conspiracy theory mindset (note the recent posting on their blog attributing the current economic crisis to a Masonic plot - they describe their views as "Conspiracy - Yes: Theory: No">
The fact that their current newsletter has had to insert an apology for praising a Protestant preacher and anti-sodomy campaigner who has now been convicted of child abuse, and that their newsletter also contains an expose and recantation of previous support for the so-called pro-life campaigner Jim Dobson (formerly of UK Life League) who went off to work for the BNP (with whom he has now fallen out), thus playing into the hands of those pro-aborts who claim that all pro-lifers are fascists and should be treated accordingly, shows how much damage can be done by failure to exercise adequate discernment and how vulnerable trads can be to conmen and maniacs who exploit our fears and distrust of "official sources". The fact that they are now able to recognise and disown these frauds shows there is hope for them yet.
I repeat once more; these links are provided for information and DO NOT mean that I endorse Catholic Truth Scotland's interpretation of the stories, let alone their general perspective, which is marked by paranoia, borders on schism, and suffused by anger which repels many whom it ought to reach out to. Please exercise your critical faculties in reading this material.
www.catholictruthscotland.com/newsletter.htmlwww.catholictruthscotland.com/blog/2011/12/ireland-leading-the-way-or-lagging-behind/#commentsEXTRACTS
It seems that the priests are doing less and less and the laity are really in charge now.
Teresita on December 29, 2011 at 12:48 am
“These busy body woman love their status in the parish, don’t they?”
Petrus, I agree wholeheatedly with every word of your posts and you summed it all up perfectlky in that sentence. That’s it – they just love being front of house. Their whole attitude is the very opposite of what the gospels teach about taking the last place, being humble.
I also agree with Monica about the word “heterosexual” – I could believe it was all part of the gay agenda to make us think there are different “orientations”.
Reading the St Mochta’s website has made me want to check out the parishes in my own diocese, so I will try to do that soon and report back here. I live in Glasgow and I can’t believe it’s as bad as Dublin but you never know. It’s certainly worth checking out. Being of Irish stock, I am very sad indeed that Ireland has lost the faith like this. No wonder they’ve had the child abuse scandals. When the faith goes, so do the morals.
Petrus on December 29, 2011 at 7:27 am
Teresita,
You are absolutely right – when you lose the faith, anything goes. It is heartbreaking. To think that Ireland is littered with Mass rocks where faithful priests risked their lives to celebrate the Traditional Mass. These modern priests insult their memory.
I remember Stephen Gately’s televised funeral a few years ago. The parish priest regularly referred to Gately’s boyfriend, whom Ronan Keating referred to as his “husband” from the pulpit of the church during the funeral Mass. I wrote to the Archbishop of Dublin following this scandal and never received a reply. To think that a parish priest of the Church could promote the “gay” lifestyle during Mass and the Archbishop wasn’t interested ! Oh yes, I think Ireland is further down the line in this scandal than we are.
Petrus on December 29, 2011 at 8:47 am
What’s also becoming apparent is that in this crisis priests want to act like lay people and lay people want to act like priests. Crazy!
Petrus on December 29, 2011 at 8:58 am
I think what is becoming apparent is that the lay vocation is being distorted. Lay people are not called to take on tasks of the priest. Blurring the lines between the lay vocation and the vocation to the priesthood is very dangerous indeed.
How then do lay people, married or single, live out the lay vocation in the modern world? The answer is simple: by being faithful to their daily duties and demand of their state of life, being faithful to their daily prayers and following God’s Commandments and the Commandments of His Church. These are all instrinsically linked and cannot be separated from one another.
Monica on December 28, 2011 at 10:07 pm
Grignin, I just can’t believe that every parish is as bad as this one. I looked at the definition of a sacrament and it doesn’t mention the power of the sacraments just that they are signs.
Also, I have never known of any lay person in the UK leading a funeral. I wonder if anyone else has ever heard of this happening?
Majella on December 28, 2011 at 10:09 pm
I agree with Grignon. Excellent post!
Monica
These poor people as Petrus said are not Catholic. They are given the impression that they can take on all sorts of roles which should be reserved to the Priest eg Eucharistic Ministers, going into the Tabernacle and handling the Blessed Sacrament, female Altar servers the list is endless. If you complain to our beloved bishops you get no response.
I notice that there is no provision for the Traditional Latin Mass.
Would I take my children to this Parish? Not a chance. ,
Majella on December 28, 2011 at 10:16 pm
Monica when we start undermining the role of the Priest we leave the door opened for any abuses. The Priests themselves no longer know what their role is. The think they are Parish coordinators, facilitators, leaders so God help the poor people.
Petrus on December 28, 2011 at 10:24 pm
Grignion,
I agree and disagree with you. A lot of these abuses Do indeed happen in this country. Absolutely. However, I don’t think many parishes are quite as brazen as this one.
I’ve watched a few episodes of “Would You Believe” and the state of the Church in that country is plain awful. Not just this parish, the hapless Fr Seamus Ahearne who has 3% Mass attendance and wants the “world of Church to collapse”. Again, what is apparent is that his/theirs is a self centred religion. Their minds are so polluted with Modernism they have lost the Faith completely.
Margaret Mary on December 28, 2011 at 10:28 pm
Monica,
In Australia they allow lay people to take funerals
litcom.net.au/documents/layleaders.php#funeralsAnd I think they do also in Canada. My guess is that this happens in the UK as well because I remember reading that it was talked about in the Edinburgh archdiocese some years ago. If they were talking about it years ago, they probably allow it now. Having said that, I don’t know for a fact.
It’s a terrible situation that they are using the priest shortage (if there is one) to get lay people running the church. Women who shake their heads at the idea of standing at the kitchen sink are all for standing around the altar. This feminist run parish is really dreadful. I would love to meet some of the ordinary parishioners to see what they really think of it.
Petrus on December 28, 2011 at 10:40 pm
These busy body woman love their status in the parish, don’t they? Such pride! The queen bee with the beehive hair-do loves being the centre of attention standing behind the altar. The stupid woman does not love the Church, does not strive to be faithful to Tradition and knows nothing about the early Church, which she uses as her justification for her monstrous behaviour. No, this wifey loves herself.
Did you notice how the “pastoral” facade quickly dropped and Mrs Wannabe revealed her iron side? Margaret Thatcher eat your heart out! She warned any future priest who tried to put a stop to her blasphemy and sacrilege that she would fight to keep her made up piece of rubbish. to think that a Catholic would prefer a made up liturgy led by a wee wifey to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!
leprechaun on December 29, 2011 at 9:52 am
Mrs Leprechaun grew up in Galway. She is quite unable to grasp what has overtaken the Catholic Church in Ireland since she emigrated in the late fifties. Of the seven children of her late brother, none even go to Mass any more, and it would take too much space to describe their multitudinous transgressions.
The nearest SSPX Mass is 70 miles away in Athlone, although there is a brave Army Chaplain who puts on a Traditional Latin Mass at the barracks in Renmore each Saturday morning at 10.00am.
She says her parents would die of shame and incredulity had they still been around to see what has become of the Church these days.
If what has happened in her family is typical of what has happened in other Irish families, there will very soon not be much trace of Catholicism in Ireland without Divine intervention.
St. Mochta’s parish is definitely leading the way – along the broad highway that leads to eternal damnation. St. Mochta himself, a disciple of St. Patrick, must be so distressed at his name being associated with such a disgrace as this parish.
Let us all pray for the restoration of Tradition throughout the Catholic Church.
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gloria on December 29, 2011 at 7:35 pm
I remember that it was once said that Ireland was the land of saints and scholars. So much so, that this small country saw countless priests and nuns go to many countries on this planet. Priests offered up the Traditional Latin Mass and ensured the Sacraments were properly carried out and preached from the pulpit. Nuns from diverse Religious Orders undertook teaching children, perhaps nursed the sick and much more and do not forget those whose life was in the power houses of the Church that is the enclosed orders living lives in holiness and prayer.
But that was before Vatican II. What do they see as their duties now? It seems that Ireland needs missionaries to bring back the Catholic faith like many other countries. Perhaps it would be better to say A Miracle is needed.
Teresita you are the second person I have heard mention about courses to talk of what has been “achieved” since Vatican II. Massive of loss of faith! No understanding or possibly even belief in the Sacraments and much more.
Those are definitely not achievements, more like the road to perdition.
Zita on December 29, 2011 at 7:56 pm
St Mochta’s parish is way beyond the pale. I visited a few pages, including the kid’s page and went through the process of seeing what prayers they are teaching. Their morning and evening prayer are banal in the extreme. Why not just use the traditional Morning Offering and prayer to the Guardian Angel? There’s no mention of the soul – both “prayers” talk about the “morning light” – so there is an assumption that the child will wake up. That’s not terribly honest, is it? Teaching them the prayer to their Angel at night used to be a good way of gently teaching about death and the need to be prepared.
If the priest photographed is the parish priest, then he’s obviously wet behind the ears. He’s far too young to know the Faith and he’s letting the females run rings round him. When I see priests like that I can’t help wondering how long they’ll last. They are not getting the spiritual sustenance they need from the new Mass and they are surrounded with folk who want to be in charge and could do with reflecting on Our Lord’s words about taking the lowest place.
It is really sad that this is happening in Ireland – but with Archbishop Martin at the top, we can’t be too surprised. I viewed the two videos from the Would you believe series that were posted on the Catholic Truth website and in both of them he was weaker than water.
We really should pray for him and for the priests who are either being led astray by the feminist propagandists or leading THEM astray. I’m not sure which it is.
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Margaret Mary on December 30, 2011 at 2:49 pm
Buddy, I couldn’t agree more. Every word you say is correct. I understand what Petrus is saying about these women have to be blameworthy as well, but not as much as the clergy who permit them to take over. After all, if some people can say “no” to being a communion minister, why not the rest of them? Priests are not infallible.
The way those two women in the Dublin church spoke about “fighting” to keep their roles (I saw the RTE video on the Catholic Truth website a week or so ago) if a new priest didn’t want them doing that, spoke volumes about their lack of humility. In other words, if they get a GOOD priest next time, to replace the hireling they’ve got right now, they are going to bully him into submission. They are shameless, but the buck stops with the priest. It is the clergy who will be held to be more responsible – them and their bishops – for the destruction of the faith that’s going on right now, and very sadly, in Ireland of all places. But, given the age of those two elderly women in the film, they will also have a rough time when they meet their Maker. They must know, deep down, that what they are doing is scandalous.
Petrus on December 30, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Buddy and Margaret Mary,
Two fantastic posts. I couldn’t agree more. I had forgotten about Queen Bee’s not-so-veiled threat to” fight” for her communion service. Such pride! To think that a Catholic would prefer that over Holy Mass! You really have to wonder why these people don’t just go and become card carrying Protestants. They have a Protestant mentality already and are putting their souls in peril. But I couldn’t agree more about the clergy. What a terrible judgement awaits them!
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Patricia on December 31, 2011 at 4:05 pm
What an end to the year! A priest who stands back and allows the laity to do just about everything; I voted “worse” in the poll on the Catholic Truth website because if there is a parish in the UK that allows women to run things like the priest at St Mochta’s I haven’t heard of it, although I’ve seen some that are very bad.
One of the many worrying things about the St Mochta’s website is the fact that there is a section “Liturgical Notes” that is not available for public viewing. It is a secure section requiring a username and password. So, obviously, there is something going on liturgically that Fr Daly doesn’t want the world to know about.
It is very encouraging to read this blog, though, and to see it is free from the usual “liberal” harassment. I’ve found it very informative – thanks for your detailed post, Petrus, giving scriptural and Church sources that show the St Mochta’s experiment is way out of line with Catholic Tradition. Not that they care; I really think they are happy to start their own Church but keep the “kudos” of the Catholic name.
I think it might be an idea to remember a special prayer for the parish of St Mochta’s as we approach the new year.
Petrus on December 31, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Patricia,
That is a very good point. What is Fr Daly hiding? I have emailed to inform him that his parish is the subject of our blog discussion, so if he is reading he might want to clarify what exactly he doesn’t want us to know…
gloria on December 31, 2011 at 10:50 pm
Patricia,
I’ve also noticed the same thing about the St Mochta’s website, very secretive indeed in regards to these “Liturgical Notes”.
Petrus,
I’d love to have seen Fr Daly’s reaction to your email, ad wonder if he will bother to clarify what he doesn’t want us to know. Do the Bishops in Ireland know what the story is about these “Liturgical Notes”.
Yes I agree that with the new year approaching fast, we should pray to St Mochta and Our Lady of Fatima for this priest and parish.
Patricia on December 31, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Petrus,
I really do think that priest is hiding something and having heard the women on the video talking about “doing more” (than just hold a Communion service if they ever have no priests) I am highly suspicious.
He’ll never come on here to explain himself. These Modernists, clergy and laity, are arrogant enough to think they don’t need to explain themselves to anyone.
What I wish, though, is that some Irish Catholics (real ones) would go along to see that priest and tell him what a dreadful thing he is doing permitting these feminists to distort the Faith and the liturgy like this...
EXTRACTS
stmochtasparish.ie/