- The Magdalene Laundries in Ireland
- 2,000 Irish babies were sold illegally to New York
- The women washed society’s dirty laundry and received no pay. When they refused to work the nuns cut their hair as punishment…
- An estimated 30,000 single mothers and other women were put to work in detention, over a period of more than seven decades, in the laundries operated by nuns, in four religious orders.
Today we are seeing news out of Ireland, about nuns who also abused the name of Mary as they maltreated thousands of women as slaves and at the same time stole their babies and sold them to wealthy New York families….Holy Nuns committing baby-trafficking!
There were four orders of nuns who run 10 laundries in Ireland
Sisters of Our Lady of Charity
- St. Mary’s Refuge, High Park Grace Park Road Dublin
- Monastery of Our Lady of Charity, Seán MacDermott Street Gloucester Street Dublin
Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy
- Magdalen Asylum / Home, 47 Forster Street Galway .
- St Patrick’s Refuge, Crofton Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin
Religious Sisters of Charity
- St Mary Magdalen’s, Floraville Road Dublin
- St Vincent ’s, St Mary’s Road, Peacock Lane , Cork
Sisters of the Good Shepherd
- St Mary’s, Cork Road , Waterford
- St Mary’s, New Ross, Wexford.
- St Mary’s, Pennywell Road Limerick .
- St Mary’s, Sunday’s Well, Cork.
Notice all those laundries named after St. Mary and Our Lady, even Ireland New York
The kingdom of the Vatican Catholic Church reaches far and wide across the globe. Vatican Catholic missionaries were numerous in Ireland with its famous Irish Saint Patrick and his famous Prayer of the Breastplate of Christ: Christ be before me, Christ be behind me, Christ be above me…but this prayer was in vain and useless for thousands of children and women in Ireland and everywhere Irish missionaries went. But even more numerous today, we see not only Irish pedophile priests, but also ‘Vatican Nuns of Terror’ in the seven decades of 30,000 Irish women who were treated like slaves by holy Catholic nuns in Ireland, and their babies were sold to wealthy New York families, read news updates below under ‘Vatican Terror on Women and Children’ about the Magdalene Laundries.
After the revelation of the JP2 Army- John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army, now it is the turn for the revelation of holy nuns who were evil slave drivers -- those “Sisters of Mercy” who were in reality “sisters of slavery” and “sisters of thievery” who stole babies from poor women – Whoa, these holy nuns were an arm of the Vatican Mammon Beast which likewise pilfer from poor countries through the diplomatic immunity of their Cardinals.
The bestial achievement of holy priests as sexual predators were possible only with the support and cover-up by the Catholic hierarchy like the fastest tracking saint John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzigner and Cardinal Mahony and Cardinal Bernard Law.
May The Hague Los Angeles
Today, in the 21st century, children are better off praying the JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests army Prayer: JP2 Army before me, JP2 Army behind me… With the JP2 Army prayer, children will be alert to all sexual predators around them no matter how holy they appear to be and no matter how godly they claim to be.
Anti-Vatican Evils
We are not anti-Catholic. We are simply anti-Vatican Deceits and anti-Vatican Evils and anti-Pope Crimes who have ruled the world with Vatican Terror since time immemorial through the Vatican Billions.
We are anti-Vatican abuse of Mary’s and Christ’s Name, using God’s Name for profit like the Oratory of St. Joseph uses Saint Brother Andre as their cash-cow, read here BOYCOTT Oratory of st. Joseph http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2013/01/boycott-oratory-of-saint-joseph-candles.html
We are anti-Eucharist cloning of Christ, priests cannot clone Christ because they cannot clone Dolly the sheep, read here whyhttp://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2011/11/oc-diocese-buys-crystal-cathedral-as.html
Here are our updates for stories unfolding in the Vatican Catholic Kingdom
See compilation of news updates below for February 6, 2013
Updated January 26, 2013
Vatican Terror on Women and Children – Colorado Catholic Bishops' lawyers say that "Fetuses are not human beings"
Catholic Health Initiatives, the parent company of Catholic hospital, Thomas More Hospital in Cañon City, Colorado, is the defendant in a wrongful death suit (filed by the husband) of a pregnant woman who died with the twins in her womb in the ER because she was not directed for an emergency C-section on New Year’s Day in 2006. An expert testified that while she could not in all likelihood have been saved, the babies could have been saved if a caesarean had been performed right away. Catholic Health Initiatives lawyers allegedly argued in the wrongful-death lawsuit that “fetuses are not persons” and “fetuses are not human beings” (because it is going to cost them money!)
Catholic Health Initiatives, the parent company of Catholic hospital, Thomas More Hospital in Cañon City, Colorado, is the defendant in a wrongful death suit (filed by the husband) of a pregnant woman who died with the twins in her womb in the ER because she was not directed for an emergency C-section on New Year’s Day in 2006. An expert testified that while she could not in all likelihood have been saved, the babies could have been saved if a caesarean had been performed right away. Catholic Health Initiatives lawyers allegedly argued in the wrongful-death lawsuit that “fetuses are not persons” and “fetuses are not human beings” (because it is going to cost them money!)
The Catholic Bishops, who own Catholic Health Initiatives, sure know - how to make their lawyers rich and their victims poor - whether those victims are in the arena of child abuse by pedophile priests or children’s rights in a woman’s womb, or women’s rights over their body. In a parallel universe in
This Catholic hospital litigation in Colorado USA Italy alone, the Vatican
Vatican Terror on priests and the poor – commentary on news updates of January 26, 2013
People protested at the Apostolic Nunciature in Ireland. Additional news about the continuing saga of Irish priest Tony Flannery are also posted in news update for January 26, 2013.
Read our latest article - Bishop Finn attacks National Catholic Reporter as he desperately cling to power as a tyrannical ruler http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2013/01/criminal-bishop-finn-attacks-national.html about the recent news and statement of criminal Bishop Finn that National Catholic Reporter is "not a Catholic publication "– despite the fact that the Vatican
To Opus Dei Bishop Finn, pedophile priests are good Catholics as long as they do not question any doctrine but they can commit crimes against children and perform the Wizardry of the Eucharist for as long as they want as long as police and SNAP do not catch them.
To Opus Dei Bishop Finn, pedophile priests are good Catholics as long as they do not question any doctrine but they can commit crimes against children and perform the Wizardry of the Eucharist for as long as they want as long as police and SNAP do not catch them.
Updated January 23, 2013
8 SUGGESTIONS on how to publicly defy and stop Benedict XVI excommunication of Fr. Flannery
Italian Galileo & Irish Tony Flannery: parallel victims of Vatican Last Tsar Benedict XVI Tyranny
In the 17th Century, Galileo offered the Pope and the Vatican Inquisition to look at the telescope “a thousand times” but they refused. By using merely their naked eyes to look at the planets, they doggedly insisted that ‘the Earth is the center of the universe and that the Sun revolved around the Earth’ - based on the Bible alone, and they shamed and condemned Galileo for his scientific beliefs. The rest is history.
Today, Fr. Tony Flannery has raised the same issues, consistently, “for decades” but as he said: “The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is orchestrating all this while refusing to communicate with me. I have had no direct communication with them. I have never been given an opportunity to meet my accusers, or to understand why this action is being taken against me…”
The Vatileaks is a sham to divert attention away from Benedict XVI’s crimes against humanity pending at The Hague. Instead of spending so much time in entertainment Hollywood style about “forgiving” his puppet butler who acted according to Vatican script, or meeting royalty like the Prince of Monaco and his new bride who was converted to Catholicism, or allowing criminal Cardinal Bernard Law and appointing a successor for criminal Cardinal Brady to continue on as ‘Princes of the Church’ until their retirements (after their crimes of aiding and abetting pedophile priests), Benedict XVI, as the “Holy Father” should be meeting with fellow “Father” Tony Flannery and other Irish and Jesuit priests – who have been good priests for more than 30 or 40 years or even 50 years – before he excommunicate or dismiss them permanently from the priesthood, see news below.
But of course, billionaire Benedict XVI has only time for fellow billionaires and fellow European Royalty because after all, as Forbes said, he is the 5th Most Powerful Person in the world, read here http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/12/forbes-delusion-of-vatican-last-tsar.html. . Benedict XVI is too busy tracking Vatican Billions which are managed by European royalty, read London’s Vatican assets here http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2011/03/vatican-billions-holy-mass-tourism-for.html and pleasing the Vatican Mammon Beast that he doesn’t care about hard-working priests – simply because they are not members of Opus Dei elite worthy of his time. Benedict XVI is an old tyrant, like the Beatles sing - he is the “fool on the Vatican hill”. And like old dogs that cannot learn new tricks, he and (CDF) Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith are now terrorising and punishing these good priests – just like his medieval predecessors, the ancient Vatican Inquisition, did with Galileo.
Here are our suggestions to publicly defy and stop Benedict XVI and the (CDF) Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in their unjust tactics, irrational judgment and Vatican Terror against Fr. Tony Flannery:
1) All Irish priests must boycott saying the Mass and force a shutdown on all Catholic churches in Ireland
2) All media, especially television, internet, newspapers, public television news screens and newspapers in the subways and all public places, must keep exposing this Vatican Injustice against Fr. Flannery and all other victims priests and nuns so that the whole world can see the bad conduct of the Last Tsar of the Vatican.
3) All Catholics must withhold donations to their churches until Benedict XVI stop all Vatican Terror on Flannery and other priests and nuns. (The Vatican Billions annual profits from Italy alone – 600 Million to 2.2 Billion Euros in taxes - can support all churches in the world, read Vatican Billions and staggering properties in Italy alone http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2011/03/vatican-billions-holy-mass-tourism-for.html
You won’t miss a thing for not eating the Eucharist, it’s pure sorcery and magic, those priests cannot reincarnate dead cats, neither can they reincarnate God’s flesh.)
4) All Catholics must stop making “pilgrimages” to the Vatican
5) All tourists must stop going to the Vatican
6) Hold vigils before the Apostolic Nunciature and hold placards for all to see and be educated about Vatican Terrors
7) Ask President Obama and all country leaders to ask the United Nations to remove the status of the Vatican as a “country” and to ask Congress to start taxing Vatican properties in the USA just like Italy’s parliament is now doing, read here http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2011/03/vatican-billions-holy-mass-tourism-for.html
8) All Catholics must stop praying to “Blessed” John Paul II and protest his canonization because he and Benedict covered-up the heinous JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army – and not one of those pedophile priests is excommunicated or silenced like Fr. Flannery and other good Irish and Jesuit priests. Boston’s criminal Cardinal Bernard Law aided and abetted 80 pedophile priests criminals; he should be excommunicated first - before Fr. Tony Flannery and other priests who are for open discussion on women’s ordination, gay marriage, see news updates below
How Sapienza University
In the last decade of the 20th century, on 15 February 1990, in a speech delivered at the Sapienza University in Rome, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later to become Pope Benedict XVI), cited some current views on the Galileo affair as forming what he called "a symptomatic case that permits us to see how deep the self-doubt of the modern age, of science and technology goes today". Some of the views he cited were : "The Church at the time of Galileo kept much more closely to reason than did Galileo himself, and she took into consideration the ethical and social consequences of Galileo's teaching too. Her verdict against Galileo was rational and just and the revision of this verdict can be justified only on the grounds of what is politically opportune.” Read more Galileo history below and read our related article wherein Benedict XVI still continues to condemn the laity of the modern age: “Popenesia in Christmas Message: Vatican Last Tsar Benedict XVI does not 'practise what he preach' and he's suffering from Vaticanesia (papal amnesia) http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2013/01/popenesia-in-christmas-message-vatican.html...
16 years later, in the first decade of the 21st century, on January 15, 2008, http://pope-ratz.blogspot.ca/2008/01/benedict-xvi-rejected-by-romes-sapienza.html
Pope Benedict XVI as the new pope, wanted to go back again at Sapienza University, Italy’s largest university with 150,000 students, to deliver the convocation speech, but this time students and faculty were different in the 21st century -- they rejected and protested his papal visit – they were not willing to “forgive and forget the past” of what Cardinal Ratzinger said in 1990. To them, Galileo was right and the Church was wrong, period. To them, the Church persecuted Galileo… and Ratzinger was wrong in justifying the Church’s bad judgment and tyranny as “rational and just”.
Pope Benedict XVI as the new pope, wanted to go back again at Sapienza University, Italy’s largest university with 150,000 students, to deliver the convocation speech, but this time students and faculty were different in the 21st century -- they rejected and protested his papal visit – they were not willing to “forgive and forget the past” of what Cardinal Ratzinger said in 1990. To them, Galileo was right and the Church was wrong, period. To them, the Church persecuted Galileo… and Ratzinger was wrong in justifying the Church’s bad judgment and tyranny as “rational and just”.
No papal Sacrament of Confession could forgive Cardinal Ratzinger for his words. Read our article Sacrament of Confession protects criminals and persecutes their victims. To these young Italian students and their professors, Cardinal Ratzinger re-visited and re-persecuted Galileo in 1990 by what he said as the Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in 1990 – that “The Church at the time of Galileo kept much more closely to reason than did Galileo himself… Her verdict against Galileo was rational and just”.
Italian students and professors totally disagreed with Cardinal Ratzinger in 1990 and his promotion to Pope meant absolutely nothing to them. They defied him as Pope in 2008 Students protested and wore masks and wrote all over the campus – “NO POPE”. For several days, they literally “occupied” the Rector’s office -- before Occupy Wall Street happened , read our related article here http://popecrimes.blogspot.com/2011/10/ows-otv-occupy-wall-street-occupy.html
Note that theLa Sapienza is among the Vatican Billions property in Rome and was originally founded by the Popes and was a Pontifical University
Note that the
Benedict XVI “cancelled” his visit to Sapienza – to save face – because even Italian Police refused to protect him.
Today we too must emulate those Italian students and protest – publicly – until Benedict XVI withdraws… because now, the way Benedict XVI is conducting his tyranny – is irrational and unjust – towards Fr. Tony Flannery. The (CDF) Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is definitely NOT rational and NOT just for refusing to dialogue with Fr. Tony Flannery before condemning him – just like the Vatican Inquisition refused to look at the telescope before condemning Galileo.
Despite the apology of John Paul II on 31 October 1992 and his papal declaration acknowledging the errors committed by the Catholic Church tribunal that judged the scientific positions of Galileo, the students were not willing to “forgive and forget” Cardinal Ratzinger’s past declarations. John Paul II’s papal words and apology carried no merits and couldn’t save Ratzinger.
Galileo’s no- telescope and Flannery’s no-dialogue
Galileo defined the Pope and his Vatican Inquisition as“the remarkable stupidity of the common herd… who do not want to look at either the planets, the moon or the telescope…”
In a letter to a friend: “My dear Kepler, I wish that we might laugh at the remarkable stupidity of the common herd. What do you have to say about the principal philosophers of this academy who are filled with the stubbornness of an asp and do not want to look at either the planets, the moon or the telescope, even though I have freely and deliberately offered them the opportunity a thousand times? Truly, just as the asp stops its ears, so do these philosophers shut their eyes to the light of truth."
When the Pope and the Vatican Inquisition were investigating and discussing on how to condemn the scientist Galileo in the 17th century, they refused to look at the telescope, or didn’t even know how to look at the stars in sky – so how could they see that the Sun wasn’t revolving around the Earth? They simply condemned Galileo based only what the Bible said, read Galileo’s analysis of the bible below.
On 22 June 1633 Galileo, when he was found guilty at his trial, he was forced to make a 'confession' to the Cardinals of the Holy Office of the Church, read it below. That Confession is parallel to the forced “silence” imposed on Fr. Tony Flannery, and his threat of excommunication.
Cardinal Ratzinger said that the Catholic Church’s “verdict against Galileo was rational and just” and today he is repeating history as he has already silenced and is now preparing to excommunicate Tony Flannery which couldn’t be more irrational and unjust.
Galileo was 69 years old when he was silenced. Today, Irish priest Tony Flannery is 66 years old and he is being treated even worse than Galileo. If the Vatican Inquisition refused to look at the telescope before judging Galileo, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF new sweeter Vatican Deceit name for Vatican Inquisition) refuses to dialogue with Fr. Flannery:
“I could not possibly put my name to such an article without impugning my own integrity and conscience,” he said today. “The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is orchestrating all this while refusing to communicate with me. I have had no direct communication with them. I have never been given an opportunity to meet my accusers, or to understand why this action is being taken against me when I’ve raised the same issues, consistently, for decades.” See news updates below
Galileo offered the Pope and the Vatican Inquisition to look at the telescope “a thousand times” and Fr. Tony Flannery has raised the same issues, consistently, “for decades.”
Vatican's demand for silence is too high a price
Three days after my 66th birthday I find myself forbidden to minister as a priest, with a threat of excommunication and dismissal from my congregation hanging over me. How did I find myself in this situation?I joined the Redemptorist congregation in 1964 and was ordained 10 years later. That was the era of great openness in the Catholic Church. We believed in freedom of thought and of conscience, and that church teaching was not something to be imposed rigidly on the people we served – they were intelligent and educated, and could take responsibility for their lives.
As preachers we must try to present the message of Christ in a way and a language that spoke to the reality of people’s lives. This necessitated a willingness to listen to the people, to understand their hopes and joys, their struggles and fears.
Helping people to deal with the teaching on contraception during the 1970s was a great training ground. Just repeating the official line of Humanae Vitae was no help. During those years priests and people alike learned a lot about how to form their consciences and make mature decisions about all areas of their lives. As priests we learned more from people than they learned from us.
The ACP supports Tony Flannery
Association of Catholic Priests
The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) affirms in the strongest possible terms our confidence in and solidarity with Fr Tony Flannery as he strives to clear his name and we wish to protest against unjust treatment he has received from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The ACP supports Fr. Flannery in his efforts to resist the undermining of his integrity as an individual, a priest and a member of the Redemptorist Order.
The effort to depict him as ‘disloyal’ and ‘dissident’ is unwarranted and unfair, but also extremely ill-advised in the present pastoral context in
The ACP is disturbed by the procedures evident in this case: the unwillingness to deal directly with the accused person; the injunction to secrecy; the presumption of guilt; the lack of due process. They suggest a callousness and even brutality that is in sharp contrast to the compassion of Jesus Christ.
The CDF argues that its’ instruction to secrecy protects the priest’s reputation. We believe that the priest himself should be the person to decide whether and with whom he should speak or whether he might decide to remain silent. Read more news updates below.
Opus Dei Reign of Terror in the Vatican Empire
Opus Dei is incapable of any creative thinking like the Jesuits. They have their own exclusive printing press and have published the Conversation with God series for daily spiritual reading and they have placed their Josemaria Escriva as authority in the caliber of St. Thomas Aquinas in the Navarre Bible commentary. While the Opus Dei may have built up some universities like the University of Navarre
Remember that Ignatius did not want his Jesuits to be parroting the Divine Office or be praying the Rosary all day; he wanted them to be active helping and educating the poor and the elite. Ignatius found chanting the Divine Office a total waste of time and the Pope imprisoned him for that for awhile. His Ignatian Spiritual Exercises was treated as heretical for awhile because they were unheard of. But he insisted that they were a lot more productive than chanting the Divine Office like the monks. If the Jesuits simply parroted out the Divine Office, we would have missed out hundreds, if not thousands of Jesuit books that are innovative and contributed to the growth of spirituality and progress.
Remember that Opus Dei was founded by Josemaria Escriva who was very jealous of the soldier and royal duke Ignatius of Loyola. And he studied civil law only to change his name ten times until he was able to get the title Marquis de Peralta, to compete with Loyola, read here http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2011/04/why-john-paul-ii-is-opus-deis-patron.html His obsession to be a “Marquis” can only match the obsession of John Paul II to be “the Great”.
Opus Dei only wants to wear those feminine laces priestly robes during their daily Eucharist in the Sorcery of Christ’s flesh and pray the Rosary and the Angelus on time because that is their formula for salvation. No one could surpass the law-abiding Pharisees better than the Opus Dei who abides by Papal laws – therefore, they control the Pope - and it is them who write those papal laws to begin with, read here=============== (Thank Heaven, Opus Dei couldn’t recruit Judge Elias of Los Angeles to be a member, because Archbishop Gomez of Los Angeles is an Opus Dei priest, see ODAN articles below. Thank Heaven, Opus Dei could not recruit Melinda Gates to pray the Angelus at 12 noon, pray the Rosary every day, and go to receive the Sorcery of Christ’s flesh in the Eucharist every day. If you meet any Catholic who do these 3 things daily, 99% of the time, it’s guaranteed he or she are members of the Opus Dei. .
Opus Dei does not care about social justice or rights of women and the poor. It was the Opus Dei Bishop of El Salvador
As a mask, Opus Dei will holler about the rights of the unborn because those unborn cannot speak for themselves and therefore Opus Dei has full control over them. Opus Dei also is comfortable in the Vatican factory of canonization of saints, because the dead cannot speak and Opus Dei can concoct whatever they want about them. Read our related article on how Benedict XVI canonized a dead woman of 332 years to heal victims of the JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/07/why-vatican-must-end-as-country-vatican.html
That was the main thing that John Paul II did, canonizing dead people and fighting abortion. Or he fought the communism of Poland while he sat in luxury at the Vatican Palace while people of Poland marched in the street risking their lives, and then the Opus Dei concocted that the toppling down of communism in Poland
Opus Dei only wants blind obedience so that they can have all the time to manage the Vatican Billions without any detection or distraction. And that the Pope is the final authority, they call the Pope “Holy Father” and their founder Josemaria Escriva also “Holy Father”. And therefore they control the Pope and all obedient Cardinals who are yes-men (gays) only. Every Cardinal and Bishop today is a member or Cooperator of Opus Dei. No one is chosen by the Pope unless they kowtow 100% to Opus Dei and attend their weekly meeting with Opus Dei priests and representatives worldwide.
Opus Dei are like the medieval Vatican Inquisition during Galileo’s time with the “stupidity of the common herd… with the stubbornness of an asp … just as the asp stops its ears, so do these philosophers shut their eyes to the light of truth." Just like the medieval Vatican Inquisition refused to look at the telescope even if Galileo offered to them a thousand times, today in the 21st century, Opus Dei refuses to dialogue with Fr. Tony Flannery and all other Irish and Jesuit priests that they are “silencing and excommunicating”. The sooner the United Nations removes the Vatican ’s status as a “country”, the weaker the Opus Dei Octopus Beast will become and collapse in its helm of the Vatican Titanic sinking in moral bankruptcy.
The biggest evidence that the Opus Dei is cruel and heatless towards people especially children is the 27 years papacy of John Paul II whom they controlled, and they nonchalantly defended his JP2 Army- John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army as only a few percentage of pedophile priests, http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2011/09/911-decade-and-jp2-millstones-9th.html
Opus Dei wants to run the Catholic church like a militant church, every Catholic simply say Amen and shut-up, so that they can go on and count the Vatican Billions which are so overwhelming they can hardly keep track of Vatican properties in Rome and Italy alone, read the Vatican properties in Italy here http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2011/03/vatican-billions-holy-mass-tourism-for.html
Opus Dei will brand any priest and critic of the Pope as disloyal’ and ‘dissident’, note how John L. Allen Jr. uses these words often. Opus Dei use the word “anti-Catholic” for any laity or secular media exposure of the Pope or the Vatican, note that Goliath-bully Bill Donohue at Catholic League and TheMediaReport use this word constantly, see our related articles below.
As long as we tolerate Vatican Deceits - we can never influence other religions to become more peaceful. Evil begets evil. Lies beget lies. Deceits beget deceits. Greed begets greed. Vatican Evils beget evil. Vatican lies beget lies. Vatican deceits beget deceits. Vatican greed begets greed. Vatican Deceptions cannot convert others to become Christians, because after all, the Vatican Billions are an intrinsic part in the machinery of wars, read here about the history and assets of the Vatican Billions http://popecrimes.blogspot.com/2011/03/vatican-billions-holy-mass-tourism-for.html
Sorry guys, but the enemy is Opus Dei…Octopus Dei
You can focus and write on Benedict XVI till you turn blue, but he is only their puppet, and today, the root of all Vatican Evils is Opus Dei…
With all the Opus Dei noon time Angelus prayer they make every day and the Pharisaical Rosary they recite; Our Lady really cannot stand their sight. Just like the Totus Tuus Marie of John Paul II was all self-serving for his narcissistic John Paul II the Great legacy which the Opus Dei was obsessed in building in every papal travel and papal book he wrote. read here our related article Rosary could not defeat JP2 Army http://jp2m.blogspot.ca/
We write with the authority of Our Lady of Guadalupe who commissions us to expose the evils of Opus Dei as the root of Vatican Evils. And we write under the dictation of Saint Michael the Archangel who tied the giant millstone to John Paul II in his last World Youth Day in 2002, and he dragged him on the ground as his white papal robe became covered with his own blood, as his body was pierced by the rocky ground, as he vehemently refused to repent for his JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army – and his papal neck broke and St. Michael threw him into a raging sea of fire as a million youth chanted, “JP2 we love you”! Read Paris Arrow vision here http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/07/may-1-september-11-anniversaries-for.html Bring on the fastest canonization of John Paul II and you will also bring in sooner the total demise of the Vatican Temple wherein not one rubble will be left standing just like the Temple of Solomon!
The Lord hears the cry of the poor of El Salvador
Spiritual healing, the Eucharist and the Rosary bring NEITHER JUSTICE NOR SAFETY FOR CHILDREN, the preys of the John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2010/05/spiritual-healing-eucharist-and-rosary.html
January 17, 2013
The same medieval Reign of Vatican Terror that forced Galileo to sign a “Confession” against his scientific beliefs (read below) is today terrorizing Irish priest Tony Flannery, 66, who is now being forced to write, sign and publish - against his beliefs - a statement agreeing that women should never be ordained as priests and that he would adhere to church orthodoxy on matters like contraception and homosexuality (if he wants to return to ministry). Read more about the Irish priests being terrorized by the Vatican in our related article: Hypocrite Benedict silenced Fr. Tony Flannery, Brian D'Arcy – A compilation… but he does not silence Cardinal Bernard Law and JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/04/hypocrite-benedict-silenced-outspoken.html
But there is a difference between medieval Italian Galileo and 21st century Irish priest Tony Flannery. Galileo signed the “Confession” the Vatican forced on him while Flannery is defying Vatican edict to keep silent and he dared say in an interview on Wednesday: “How can I put my name to such a document when it goes against everything I believe in. “If I signed this, it would be a betrayal not only of myself but of my fellow priests and lay Catholics who want change. I refuse to be terrified into submission.”
Fr. Flannery says that he has been a good priest for 30 years but he now fears the “excommunication” evil powers of the Vatican Terror and the Vatican Last Tsar Benedict XVI last despotic acts. "I have served the church, the Redemptorists and the people of God for two thirds of my life," said Fr Flannery. "Throughout that time, I have in good conscience raised issues I believed important for the future of the church in books and essays largely read by practising Catholics, rather than raising them in mainstream media”, see news articles below.
Galileo could see far beyond millions of stars in the firmament and he had no fear for his soul and neither did he fear Hell where the Pope was sending him -- as Forbes advertised "According to the doctrine of Papal Supremacy, the Pope enjoys “supreme, full, immediate, and universal power” over the souls of 1.2 billion Catholics around the world", read our related article Forbes delusion of Vatican Last Tsar Benedict XVI powers http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/12/forbes-delusion-of-vatican-last-tsar.html.
What Galileo said about the Vatican then is even truer today about the Vatican Titanic sinking in moral bankruptcy. Galileo dared to call the Pope and his papal Vatican self-proclaimed infallible Inquisition team of experts as “a stupid herd” … “filled with the stubbornness of an asp”… who “do not want to look at a telescope into the sky” before they judged and condemned him for heresy.
“My dear Kepler, I wish that we might laugh at the remarkable stupidity of the common herd. What do you have to say about the principal philosophers of this academy who are filled with the stubbornness of an asp and do not want to look at either the planets, the moon or the telescope, even though I have freely and deliberately offered them the opportunity a thousand times? Truly, just as the asp stops its ears, so do these philosophers shut their eyes to the light of truth." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_affair
Galileo was forced to sign against his scientific belief that the earth is not the center of the universe as the Vatican believed. ..."I touch with my own hands, swear that I have always believed, and, with the help of God, will in future believe, every article which the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Rome holds, teaches, and preaches. But because I have been enjoined, by this Holy Office, altogether to abandon the false opinion which maintains that the Sun is the centre and immovable, and forbidden to hold, defend, or teach, the said false doctrine in any manner ... I am willing to remove from the minds of your Eminences, and of every Catholic Christian, this vehement suspicion rightly entertained towards me, therefore, with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith, I abjure, curse, and detest the said errors and heresies..."
The Vatican Inquisition that condemned Galileo is still the same medieval inquisition today but is now renamed as CDF Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This CDF is as cruel as it during Galileo's time but it is more subtle as it condemns good priests, nuns and the laity through "excommunication, silence and notification" ...with "a supreme decision, not open to any appeal, without right to any recourse". The Vatican Catholic Church is a petrified oligarchy, a dictatorship like the medieval monarchies it once existed alongside, and it's run by a small circle of conservative, rigidly ideological old men who make all the decisions and choose their own successors. This means that, whatever individual Catholics may do, the resources of the church as an institution are bent toward opposing social progress and positive change all over the world. Every dollar you put into the church collection plate, every Sunday service you attend, every hour of time and effort you put into volunteering or working for church organizations, is inevitably a show of support for the institutional church and its abhorrent mission. When you have no voice, there's only one thing left to do: boycott. Stop supporting the church with your money and your time. For lifelong Catholics, it's a drastic step, but it's more than justified by the wealth of reasons showing that the church as an institution is beyond reform, and the only meaningful response is to part ways with it. (From 50 Reasons to Boycott the Catholic Church especially its examples of Vatican Terrorism on women's rights over their bodies and their abortion rights, see articles below).
Galileo also questioned the infallibility of Holy Scripture and said that God would not contradict the nature that he has created, read his "Confession" below.
When Galileo publicly contradicted the Pope’s infallible faith that “the Earth is the Center of the Universe and that all planets including the Sun revolve around the Earth”, the Vatican Catholic Church imprisoned him and condemned him as a heretic and forbade him to speak in public. (Note: it’s no longer ‘Roman Catholic Church’ because - Rome is the secular economic city of Italy - but the Vatican is the Holy See that controls all Catholics). What Galileo said about the Pope and the Vatican Catholic Church in 1610 is truer today because the Vatican Titanic and Benedict XVI are totally out-of-touch-with-reality as they sit in the lap-of-luxury in the Vatican Museum where they judge people by using medieval doctrines and medieval dogmas. To prove their superiority complex, the Pope and the Vatican always mock the world especially during the most televised papal speech on Christmas, read our related article “Popenesia in Christmas Message: Vatican Last Tsar Benedict XVI does not 'practise what he preach' and he's suffering from Vaticanesia (papal amnesia) http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2013/01/popenesia-in-christmas-message-vatican.html...
400 years later after the Vatican proved its capabilities for terrorism on Galileo, Cardinal Ratzinger reiterated that the Vatican Catholic Church was right on its position on Galileo, and because of his Ratzinger declarations, at the beginning of his pontificate, Italian students of La Sapienza University protested and rejected Benedict’s upcoming visit and speech to their convocation. La Sapienza was originally a pontifical university. Benedict XVI cancelled to save face. He cancelled his trip to La Sapienza University which was only a few kilometers from the Vatican, imagine that, not even Italian Police could protect him from a few truth-seeking university students, read more here http://pope-ratz.blogspot.ca/2008/01/benedict-xvi-rejected-by-romes-sapienza.html
To these young university students in Rome, it was the secular truth of the secular universe of Galileo that mattered and not the religious doctrine of “Papal Supremacy” as advertised by Forbes, read here Forbes Delusion http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/12/forbes-delusion-of-vatican-last-tsar.html
Benedict XVI did not dare use his papal powers to “excommunicate” those Italian young students the way he sacked or “dismissed” this December 31, 2012, Fr. Roy Bourgeois because he raised questions and doubts about Mary’s Virginity, see news below. The CDF Vatican letter removed all his rights from the priesthood and restricted him from all priestly ministries, see news below. Galileo’s planetary theory is now easy to prove because of the progress of science, but the Virginity of Mary is pure speculation that was concocted by St. Augustine and a few misogynist theologians. And the Pope is using his power to "silence" a pioneering priest to prove his “supreme power” to backup Forbes claims, read more here http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/04/hypocrite-benedict-silenced-outspoken.html and articles below.
Today, the Vatican Catholic Church continue to imprison critics like Galileo not in a physical prison but by “Silencing, Notification and excommunication” and the consequences can be as hash or even worse than a physical prison. Last December 31, Pope Benedict XVI condemned another Galileo of the 21st Century - a good Jesuit priest of 30 years because the Jesuit criticised the Pope’s book on Jesus of Nazareth, supported women’s ordination and raised questions on Mary’s Virginity. Read more here Benedict XVI the Vatican Last Tsar: Final despotic acts. Vatican jails worldwide locations http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/12/benedict-xvi-vatican-last-tsar-final.html
Unfortunately the Vatican does not learn from its past mistakes and therefore it keeps repeating history. They who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The Vatican refuses to change its unjust medieval ways. The most unjust Vatican system of course is the Sacrament of Confession. Read our related article: Sacrament of Confession protects criminals and persecutes their victims http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/11/sacrament-of-confession-protects.html
Forbes exalts Benedict XVI and disparage Julian Assange
Julian Assange will be delivering a video-taped speech to Oxford Union soon. Note the major difference on how Forbes disparage Julian Assange and therefore proves that Forbes is not for the Freedom of Speech as it praises Benedict XVI as the 5th Most Powerful Person in the World, Forbes said that "the Pope enjoys “supreme, full, immediate, and universal power” over the souls of 1.2 billion Catholics around the world" but Forbes disparage Julain Assange which proves Forbes is an arm of the oligarch despotic Vatican Mammon Beast.
Then Forbes wrote a feature on Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, Forbes said: “How the mighty have fallen.
Then Forbes wrote a feature on Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, Forbes said: “How the mighty have fallen.
How the mighty have fallen. There was a time when Julian Assange was the most interesting man in the world – a debonair, international with no master, caught somewhere between a Bond villain and Bond himself, flying in the face of governmental authority with grace and style.
After some attempts to correct the popup and attempts at reconciliation, the relationship between the two organizations continued to decay. In a posting on Anonpaste.com, representatives of Anonymous criticize Wikileaks for “prostituting” the Stratfor data that Anonymous supplied it with, going on to say that 14 members of Anonymous have been indicted for pro-Wikileaks protests. The posting reads:
The Vatican letter to Fr. Bourgeois last December 31, 2012, which comes from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is signed by the congregation's prefect on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI and states that the pope's decision in the matter is "a supreme decision, not open to any appeal, without right to any recourse." see letter below
The Vatican fears a few good pioneering priests
The biggest problem in the Vatican is that it is ruled by Opus Dei who are neophytes compared to the Jesuits who have been around for more than 4 centuries, read about them below. Opus Dei controlled and orchestrated the 27 years papacy of John Paul II and what legacy they left behind – the JP2 Army John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army http://jp2m.blogspot.com/2011/05/heil-satanas-jp2-patron-saint-of.html
So to clean up the mess of the most famous Opus Dei celibate member Dr. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, they hired Jesuit puppet Lombardi to be their public spokesperson because Opus Dei does not face the public but always hide behind masks because their hypocrisy is too burdensome for them to camouflage in public. All Opus Dei religious houses are called in secular names of trees, river, fruits, etc, see list here http://www.odan.org/foundations.htm
So to clean up the mess of the most famous Opus Dei celibate member Dr. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, they hired Jesuit puppet Lombardi to be their public spokesperson because Opus Dei does not face the public but always hide behind masks because their hypocrisy is too burdensome for them to camouflage in public. All Opus Dei religious houses are called in secular names of trees, river, fruits, etc, see list here http://www.odan.org/foundations.htm
The Vatican fears the few priests or Gandhi’s in the Vatican Catholic Church because they have the power of the pen that is mightier than the Vatican sword.
For Pope Crimes andVatican Evil to triumph is for enough good men – and women – to do and say - nothing; and therefore the Pope has to attack American nuns and lay women’s rights to their bodies whether it is by abortion or contraceptive. Read our related article Melinda Gates http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/12/benedict-xvi-vatican-last-tsar-final.html
Here are the outlines for the news articles below and we will be adding to this list so check this post often.
Vatican Terrorism on Galileo
Vatican Terror on women -- especially agianst their bodies and women's rights of abortion
Vatican Terror on women -- especially agianst their bodies and women's rights of abortion
Vatican Terror on children -- especially the cover-up of sexual abuse by thousands of pedophile priests named aptly as JP2 Army - John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army
Vatican Terror on pioneering and good priests -- who are suddenly silenced never allowed to speak or say Mass again
http://pope-ratz.blogspot.ca/2009_03_01_archive.html
We will be adding articles to this list soon so check often this post
Vatican Terror on pioneering and good priests -- who are suddenly silenced never allowed to speak or say Mass again
http://pope-ratz.blogspot.ca/2009_03_01_archive.html
We will be adding articles to this list soon so check often this post
Read our related articles:
Hypocrite Benedict silenced Fr. Tony Flannery, Brian D'Arcy – A compilation… but he does not silence Cardinal Bernard Law and JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/04/hypocrite-benedict-silenced-outspoken.html
Vatican demands priest's retraction
IRELANDHerald
By Caroline Crawford
Thursday October 11 2012
AN IRISH priest says he has received a demand from the Vatican to retract his views on women's ordination and contraception.
Fr Tony Flannery (pictured) has previously been gagged by the Vatican over his liberal views and told by the Vatican not to discuss his investigation by the Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Fr Flannery, who is based in Esker, Co Galway, said: "My negotiations with the Congregation are ongoing and I have agreed I will not speak about it for the present."
News articles for January 11, 2013-01-11
Vatican Terror on women and children
50 Reasons to Boycott the Catholic Church (Note his example of women dying because they are deprived of abortion)
AlterNet
By Adam Lee
November 26, 2012
Last month in Ireland, Savita Halappanavar died, and she shouldn't have. Savita was a 31-year-old married woman, four months pregnant, who went to the hospital with a miscarriage in progress that developed into a blood infection. She could easily have been saved if the already doomed fetus was aborted. Instead, her doctors did nothing, explaining that "this is a Catholic country," and left her to suffer in agony for days, only intervening once it was too late.
Savita's death is just the latest in a long line of tragedies directly attributable to the doctrines and beliefs of the Roman Catholic church. I acknowledge that there are many good, progressive Catholics, but the problem is that the church isn't a democracy, and those progressives have no voice or vote in its governance. The church is a petrified oligarchy, a dictatorship like the medieval monarchies it once existed alongside, and it's run by a small circle of conservative, rigidly ideological old men who make all the decisions and choose their own successors.
This means that, whatever individual Catholics may do, the resources of the church as an institution are bent toward opposing social progress and positive change all over the world. Every dollar you put into the church collection plate, every Sunday service you attend, every hour of time and effort you put into volunteering or working for church organizations, is inevitably a show of support for the institutional church and its abhorrent mission. When you have no voice, there's only one thing left to do: boycott. Stop supporting the church with your money and your time. For lifelong Catholics, it's a drastic step, but it's more than justified by the wealth of reasons showing that the church as an institution is beyond reform, and the only meaningful response is to part ways with it. Here are just a few of those reasons:
1. Throughout the world, Catholic bishops have engaged in a systematic, organized effort going back decades to cover up for priests who molest children, pressuring the victims to sign confidentiality agreements and quietly assigning the predators to new parishes where they could go on molesting. Tens of thousands of children have been raped and tortured as a result of this conspiracy of silence.
2. Strike one: " What did the pope know and when did he know it? " The current pope, when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was personally implicated in a case from the 1970s in which at least three sets of parents reported that a priest in his diocese had sexually abused their children. In response, Ratzinger assigned the priest to therapy, without notifying law enforcement, and washed his hands of the matter. That priest was back on duty in just a few short days and went on to molest more children.
3. Strike two: In 1981, again when the current pope was Cardinal Ratzinger, he got a letter from the diocese of Oakland asking him to defrock a priest who had acknowledged molesting two children. Ratzinger ignored this letter, and several followup letters, for four years. Finally, in 1985, he wrote back saying that more time was needed, and that they had to proceed very slowly to safeguard " the good of the Universal Church " in light of "the young age of the petitioner" -- by which he meant not the victimized children, but the pedophile priest. (By contrast, when a rogue archbishop ordained married men as priests, he was laicized six days later. )
4. Strike three: In 2001, Cardinal Ratzinger wrote a letter, De Delictis Gravioribus , to all Catholic bishops advising them how to handle accusations of sex crimes by priests. There was no recommendation to contact the police, but rather an instruction for them to report such cases only to theVatican
4. Strike three: In 2001, Cardinal Ratzinger wrote a letter, De Delictis Gravioribus , to all Catholic bishops advising them how to handle accusations of sex crimes by priests. There was no recommendation to contact the police, but rather an instruction for them to report such cases only to the
Read our related article:
Vatican attacks American nuns http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/04/vatican-attacks-american-nuns.html
John Paul II brought back the Inquisition http://jp2m.blogspot.ca/2006/11/john-paul-ii-guilty-of-murder-sodomy.html
The Catholic Church’s many problems with pregnancy
UNITED STATESFreethought Blogs
The Catholic Church continues its war on women in ever-more bizarre ways, tying itself into all kinds of knots as it tries to enforce its policies on the people over whom it has some authority. For example, the church seems to hate the thought that women might be getting pregnant in ways that it does not approve of based on its medieval ways of thinking. As a result, it finds itself embroiled in legal cases that do not show it in a good light.
A former first-grade teacher at Kettering’s Ascension Catholic School is suing the school, Ascension Church and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati in federal court, saying officials discriminated against her a year ago when they fired the unmarried woman after she told the principal about her pregnancy.
Kathleen Quinlan of Kettering, who has since delivered twin girls, said in the Dec. 14 lawsuit that her firing for moral reasons was discriminatory because male employees who engage in premarital sex don’t face the same consequences “insomuch as they do not show outward signs of engaging in sexual intercourse (i.e., pregnancy).
But the church is not only opposed to women getting pregnant outside of marriage, it is also opposed to women getting pregnant while married if the pregnancy did not occur through ‘normal’ sexual activity.
In Indiana, Emily Herx made national headlines in April when she sued the Diocese of Ft. Wayne-South Bend in federal court, saying the diocese discriminated against the married teacher when officials fired her for having in vitro fertilization treatments. Diocesan officials say the procedure is “gravely immoral.” She said other employees violate Catholic teachings without consequence.
And it is not only in vitro fertilization that is verboten, so is artificial insemination.
The Cincinnati archdiocese is facing a pending federal lawsuit similar to Quinlan’s, filed by former parochial teacher Christa Dias of Clermont County. The 2011 lawsuit claims the single woman was fired after she became pregnant through artificial insemination.
And who was this person who was entrusted by the church to uphold its high moral values and thus had to fire Dias because she did not meet those standards? It was the principal Rev. James Kiffmeyer, “who was suspended from 2002-2006 on allegations of sexual misconduct against two male students in separate incidents while he was a teacher at Middletown’s Fenwick High School.”
Church Sympathy For Rape Victims Not Credible - Labour
IRELANDBuild
Labour TD for Dublin Bay North, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, has stated that the Catholic Church cannot credibly say that it has sympathy and compassion for those pregnant as a result of rape, while it still has not paid the state the €380 million it owes to help compensate victims of child rape, sexual assault and physical abuse.
He said: "At the Oireachtas Health Committee hearings into the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in the ABC case, Bishop Christopher Jones and Fr Tim Barlett both stated that in the case of a pregnancy caused through rape, agents of the Church would first and foremost show the utmost compassion for those who find themselves in that tragic situation. Bishop Jones also stated that rapists should be brought to justice.
A New Inquisition: The Vatican targets US nuns
VATICAN CITYGlobalPost
The
Jason Berry
December 18, 2012
VATICAN CITY — Sister Pat Farrell and three other nuns crossed St. Peter’s Square through the fabled white columns, paused for a security check and entered the rust-colored Palace of the Holy Office.
It was April 18, 2012, and on entering the palazzo, they were aware of its history, that in this same building nearly 400 years earlier Galileo had been condemned as a heretic by the Roman Inquisition for arguing that the earth orbits around the sun.
Today, the palazzo houses the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the Vatican office that enforces adherence to church teaching. As president of Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), Sister Farrell and her executive colleagues had an appointment with the prefect, Cardinal William Levada, about a CDF investigation of their group by the forces that control the Vatican, who viewed the nuns as somehow going ‘off the reservation.’
They were walking into what Hans Küng, the internationally renowned theologian who had his own battles in the palazzo, calls “a new Inquisition.”
On the 50th anniversary of the reform-driven Second Vatican Council, the nuns were accused of undermining church moral teaching by promoting “radical, feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.” To many nuns, the CDF action is a turn toward the past, causing a climate of fear and a chill wind reaching into the lives of missionary leaders.
The Vatican wants control of the LCWR, an association of 1,500 superiors, representing 80 percent of American nuns. Most of the sisters, long active in the front lines of social justice, dispensed with their black habits and traditional jobs, like teaching school, after Vatican II.
Theologian Hans Küng condemns pope's modern 'Inquisition'
GERMANYGlobalPost
Küng sees the Vatican's attempt to rein in the Leadership Conference of Women Religious as "medieval."
Jason Berry
December 18, 2012
TÜBINGEN, Germany — Fifty years ago in this medieval city with its steep hills and the sprawling campus of one of Germany’s great universities, Hans Küng and Joseph Ratzinger were priests and theology department colleagues.
Emerging out of the University of Tübingen, Küng and Ratzinger were the youngest and most influential progressives to advise bishops in Rome at The Second Ecumenical Council, or Vatican II, which began in the fall of 1962.
When Vatican II concluded in 1965 it unleashed an historic movement in the church toward greater engagement in the daily lives of People of God, as the council documents called rank and file believers. A new sensibility for justice and individual rights arose in the church that would grow to 1 billion Catholics worldwide, with missions of activism in many of the poorest countries on earth.
Back in Tübingen, Küng, a native of
Now on the 50th anniversary of Vatican II, Küng, an internationally renowned scholar, and Ratzinger, known as Benedict XVI since his election as pope seven years ago, are even more at odds. Of the many issues that divide them, Küng sees the attempt to rein in the Leadership Conference of Women Religious as a sign of myopia, a failure of vision.
“You cannot deny that Joseph Ratzinger has faith,” says Küng, in a coat and tie, seated in his office, speaking in calm tones in the blue twilight. “But he is absolutely against freedom. He wants obedience.”
“He is against the paradigm of Vatican II.” Küng pauses. “He has a medieval idea of the papacy.” ...
Küng sees the clergy abuse crisis and the crackdown on the leadership council of American nuns as symptoms of a pathological power structure. By his lights, the impact on church moral authority, and finances, is a crisis rivaling the Protestant Reformation.
Clergy investigating US nuns have poor records on sex abuse cases
VATICAN CITYGlobalPost
Vatican selections include bishops and cardinals who protected pedophile priests.
Jason Berry
December 18, 2012
These issues have little bearing on most of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. Faith, for them, rests in parish life and the quality of their pastors. In the 1980s, for example, when the CDF punished theologians who dissented from the papal ban on birth control devices, the 85 percent of Catholics who support contraception did not change their opinion.
But as the CDF accelerates a disciplinary action against the main leadership group of American nuns, many sisters and priests are reacting to a climate of fear fostered by bishops and cardinals who have never been investigated by the church for their role in the greatest moral crisis of modern Catholicism: the clergy sex abuse crisis.
As the Vatican lowers a curtain of scrutiny across communities of religious women in America, a small but resonant chorus of critics is raising an issue of a hypocrisy that has grown too blatant to ignore. The same hierarchy that brought shame upon the Vatican for recycling clergy child molesters, a scandal that rocked the church in many countries, has assumed a moral high ground in punishing the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a group whose members have put their lives on the line in taking the social justice agenda of the Second Vatican Council to some of the poorest areas in the world.
Many nuns from foreign countries wonder if the investigation is an exercise “in displaced anger,” as one sister puts it, for the hierarchy’s failure in child abuse scandals across the map of the global church.
Women Priests Movement Endorsed By National Catholic Reporter
Huffington Post
Jaweed Kaleem
Huffington Post
In an editorial published Monday morning, a prominent Catholic newspaper endorsed the controversial movement to ordain women priests.
Calling the priesthood a "gift from God ... rooted in baptism," the National Catholic Reporter says that "barring women from ordination to the priesthood is an injustice that cannot be allowed to stand."
The Kansas City, Mo.-based newspaper's editorial pits it directly against the Vatican, where church leadership has strongly rejected any possibility of women being ordained, even as a small pro-ordination movement has grown and independently ordained several women in recent years.
The editorial comes weeks after the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's laicization and excommunication of Roy Bourgeois, a former American priest and peace activist who was a member of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers and an outspoken supporter of the women's ordination movement in the U.S., was made public. In a high-profile Mass in 2008 in Lexington, Ky., Bourgeois claimed to ordain a woman into the Roman Catholic priesthood. His religious order later said that he was part of an "invalid ordination of a woman and a simulated Mass."
Editorial: Ordination of women would correct an injustice
by NCR Editorial Staff | Dec. 3, 2012Editorial
The call to the priesthood is a gift from God. It is rooted in baptism and is called forth and affirmed by the community because it is authentic and evident in the person as a charism. Catholic women who have discerned a call to the priesthood and have had that call affirmed by the community should be ordained in the Roman Catholic church. Barring women from ordination to the priesthood is an injustice that cannot be allowed to stand.
The most egregious statement in the Nov. 19 press release announcing Roy Bourgeois' "excommunication, dismissal and laicization" is the assertion that Bourgeois' "disobedience" and "campaign against the teachings of the Catholic church" was "ignoring the sensitivities of the faithful." Nothing could be further from the truth. Bourgeois, attuned by a lifetime of listening to the marginalized, has heard the voice of the faithful and he has responded to that voice.
Bourgeois brings this issue to the real heart of the matter. He has said that no one can say who God can and cannot call to the priesthood, and to say that anatomy is somehow a barrier to God's ability to call one of God's own children forward places absurd limits on God's power. The majority of the faithful believe this.
Vatican runs risk of tilting at windmills
VATICAN CITYIrish Times
PADDY AGNEW
ANALYSIS: Rome wants to turn back the clock in Ireland but the church may have the wrong take on the abortion issue
The Holy See has not given up on Ireland. Despite two tempestuous decades of clerical sex abuse scandals, marked by the Irish Catholic Church’s unprecedented loss of credibility and moral authority, there are those in the Vatican who would still like to believe that Ireland can resume its once “proud” role of last bastion of traditional, conservative Catholicism in an increasingly atheist western Europe.
When Pope Benedict XVI last Monday spoke of his dismay that “in various countries, even those of Christian tradition, efforts are being made to introduce or expand legislation which decriminalises abortion”, it was hard not to see this as a specific reference to Ireland.
Crimes and Convents
UNITED STATESHuffington Post
Christopher Brauchlie
Get thee to a nunnery. -- Shakespeare's Hamlet
The Lord works in mysterious ways. So does the Catholic Church and it is probably as confusing for the nuns as it is for the casual observer. On the one hand, nuns are in bad odor in the Vatican and are being investigated by a bunch of men. On the other hand, the Vatican seems to view them as correctional institutions when such institutions are needed. Although the events described occurred some time ago, the conviction of Bishop Robert W. Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph on one misdemeanor count and the resulting schism in the diocese brings it to mind again.
In April the Vatican began cracking down on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), an organization representing about 80 percent of the nuns in the United States. The Vatican's "Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, an organization comprising only men, said that LCWR has focused its efforts on serving the poor and disenfranchised, while remaining virtually silent on issues the church considers great societal evils: abortion and same-sex marriage." One of the leaders of the move to investigate the LCWR was Cardinal Bernard Law who had actually spent some time with one group of nuns known as the Sisters of Mercy of Alma following his resignation in disgrace as Archbishop of Boston.
Cardinal Law was Archbishop of Boston from 1984 to 2002 during which time many priests engaged in inappropriate conduct with children. The archbishop was aware of many instances of the conduct and said that when a priest was accused of a sexual offense it was his practice to consult with psychiatrists, clinicians and therapists in residential treatment centers to determine whether the priests accused of sexually abusing children should return to the pulpit. Reporting the criminal conduct of priests to the civil authorities was not something that occurred to Archbishop Law. In reporting on the sex abuse scandal the Massachusetts attorney general said that "the Archdiocese has shown an institutional reluctance to adequately address the problem and, in fact, made choices that allowed the abuse to continue." The Attorney General observed that since priests were not required to report sexual abuse until 2002 (when the law that required reporting was enacted), Cardinal Law had broken no laws.
Vatican Terror on priests and the poor
Read our related articles for more list of priests who are being silenced in:
Hypocrite Benedict silenced Fr. Tony Flannery, Brian D'Arcy – A compilation… but he does not silence Cardinal Bernard Law and JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/04/hypocrite-benedict-silenced-outspoken.html
Benedict XVI the Vatican Last Tsar: Final despotic acts. Vatican jails worldwide locations http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/12/benedict-xvi-vatican-last-tsar-final.html
Vatican Terror on priests and the poorhttp://pope-ratz.blogspot.ca/2007/08/benedict-xvi-vicar-of-christ-and-jon.html
http://pope-ratz.blogspot.ca/2008/09/benedict-xvi-opus-dei-are-piranhas.html
Benedict XVI and his condom illusion
http://pope-ratz.blogspot.ca/2009_03_01_archive.html
Vatican Terror on American nuns (hundreds) http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/04/vatican-attacks-american-nuns.html
Vatian Terror on priests today in Ireland, South America and USA
Bourgeois receives official Vatican letter dismissing him from priesthood
National Catholic Reporter
by Joshua J. McElwee | Jan. 10, 2013
Roy Bourgeois, the longtime peace activist and Catholic priest dismissed by the Vatican because of his support for women's ordination, has received the official letter notifying him of the move three months after it was made.
The letter, which comes from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is signed by the congregation's prefect on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI and states that the pope's decision in the matter is "a supreme decision, not open to any appeal, without right to any recourse."
Written in Latin, the letter dismisses Bourgeois from the priesthood and restricts him from all priestly ministries. It asks Bourgeois to return a signed copy "as a proof of reception and at the same time of acceptance of the same dismissal and dispensation."
UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
National Catholic Reporter
by Joshua J. McElwee | Nov. 30, 2012
The leaders of one of the largest groups of Catholic sisters in the western hemisphere have expressed support for a U.S. priest dismissed by the Vatican for his backing of women's ordination.
The leadership team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas is "saddened and disturbed" by the Vatican move, made by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith against Roy Bourgeois, they wrote in a statement Wednesday.
Bourgeois, widely known for his work calling attention to injustices in Latin America, had been a member of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, a U.S. missionary society, for 45 years. The Vatican congregation dismissed him from the society on Oct. 4, the order announced in a press release Nov. 19.
The dismissal drew criticism from a former head of the U.S. missionary order, who said in an interview it represented interference "with the integrity of the society."
The leadership team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas is "saddened and disturbed" by the Vatican move, made by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith against Roy Bourgeois, they wrote in a statement Wednesday.
Bourgeois, widely known for his work calling attention to injustices in Latin America, had been a member of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, a U.S. missionary society, for 45 years. The Vatican congregation dismissed him from the society on Oct. 4, the order announced in a press release Nov. 19.
The dismissal drew criticism from a former head of the U.S. missionary order, who said in an interview it represented interference "with the integrity of the society."
Colombian Jesuit silenced over critical review of Pope’s book
The Association of Catholic Priests (
Fr. Alfonso Llano Escobar, S.J. had learned the hard way that it doesn’t pay to critique your boss’s writings. Fr. Llano, whose weekly column Un alto en el camino (“A stop along the road”) had appeared in the major Colombian newspaper El Tiempo for 30 years, has been told that his writing career has come to an end.
In a message to the editorial board of the newspaper, Fr. Llano wrote that “Father Adolfo Nicolás, the superior general of the Jesuits, has ordered Father Alfonso Llano to consider his apostolic vocation as a writer to be over, has deprived him of his freedom of speech, and is demanding that he not even say goodbye and that he keep absolute silence.”
The priest columnist earned his silencing for a November 24th column in which he offered his views on Pope Benedict XVI’s new book, Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, and specifically on the doctrine of the virginity of Mary. The column focuses on internal debate about the subject within the theological community and is worth translating in its entirety:
The Infancy of Jesus. That’s the title of the third volume of the trilogy on Jesus of Nazareth by theologian Joseph Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI. It has been published in nine languages, including Spanish, and will be published in a first global edition of one million copies. With a series of articles in the press and interviews on radio and television, I would like to guide readers of this book by the Pope, which offers a special difficulty — the virginity of Mary — which will give theologians and the media a lot to talk about.
The ACP supports Fr. Roy Bourgeois
The Association of Catholic Priests
Statement of Support for Fr. Roy Bourgeois
The Association of Catholic Priests (Ireland) is saddened and disappointed by the dismissal of Maryknoll priest Fr. Roy Bourgeois from the priesthood and from his religious congregation, and his excommunication from the Church that he has served for almost half a century. We believe that this type of action, ordered by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and implemented by the Maryknoll Order, is unjust, and ultimately counter-productive. Dismissing people because they have sincerely held views that are contrary to those of the Vatican, but which are widely shared by the Catholic faithful, will not end discussion and debate on these topics. In fact it will only serve to highlight the urgent need to face the problems around ministry in the Church. Participants in a year long ‘listening process’ in the diocese of Killaloe, a mainly rural diocese in Ireland, expressed the opinion that the ordination of women should be openly discussed, particularly in view of the projected shortage of priests in the next few years. Surely this is yet another of many examples of the sensus fidelium calling for change so that, in future, the Eucharist can be available to the Church community.
Irish priest association supports Bourgeois
IRELAND/UNITED STATESNational Catholic Reporter
by Dennis Coday | Dec. 7, 2012
The church reform group that represents about a quarter of Ireland’s Catholic priests issued a statement of support Friday for Roy Bourgeois, the U.S. Maryknoll priest that the Vatican laicization and dismissed from his order because of his support of women’s ordination.
The Association of Catholic Priests (Ireland) called on the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith “to cease this type of abuse, to restore Fr. Bourgeois to the full exercise of his ministry and to allow for open and honest discussion on issues that are of crucial importance for the future of the Church.”
“We believe that this type of action, ordered by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and implemented by the Maryknoll Order, is unjust, and ultimately counter-productive,” reads the statement from the association.
Jesuit, 92, penalized after eucharistic liturgy with woman priest
National Catholic Reporter
by Joshua J. McElwee | Dec. 3, 2012
A Catholic priest who participated in a eucharistic liturgy with a woman priest last month has been ordered to no longer celebrate the Mass or perform any other priestly duties.
Jesuit Fr. Bill Brennan, a 92-year-old Milwaukee-area priest, said the superior of his religious community told him of the restrictions Nov. 29, saying they came at the request of Archbishop Jerome Listecki.
Brennan, a retired parish priest and former missionary to Belize, participated in a liturgy Nov. 17 with Janice Sevre-Duszynska, a woman ordained in the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement.
ACP leaders bring priests’ concerns to Ian Elliot
The Association of Catholic Priests
Sean McDonagh, Brendan Hoban and Tony Flannery had a meeting with Ian Elliot of the NBSCCC on Friday, November 30th. This was in the context of a review of the Interim Guidelines, which is currently taking place. First we clarified that we are totally in favour of best practice for the protection of children in all Church activities. This is a report of the issues we raised with Mr. Elliot.
1. The first issue we raised concerned the way in which news of an allegation is conveyed to a priest. A few basic points should be observed.
• When the bishop or religious superior invites a priest/religious to come to meet him he should inform that person of the nature of the meeting, and advise him that he has the right to bring a support person with him.
• The priest/religious is entitled to know the name of the accuser, and to have the accusation in writing.
2. The problems related to the stepping down of a priest. This is more likely to concern diocesan priests than religious. The points we made on this were:
• The parish Eucharistic celebration should never be used as the occasion for making an announcement of the stepping down of the priest.
• A public announcement to the whole parish is not necessary. It almost inevitably leads to the priest being considered guilty.
The Cardinal Newman Society (is the Opus Dei’s secret Vatican Terror arsenal in universities)
Catholics for Choice
“ The most unhappily and inappropriately named society on the planet”
INTRODUCTION
The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS) claims that its mission is “to help renew and strengthen Catholic identity in Catholic higher education,” but there are many clergy, staff at Catholic universities, students and laypeople who don’t recognize themselves in the organization’s vision of Catholic identity. Some, like the National Catholic Reporter, have pointed out the striking contrast between Cardinal Newman the man and the society that bears his name: “the most unhappily and inappropriately named society on the planet.”
The Cardinal Newman Society devotes its energy to pointing out supposed breaches of dogma within Catholic universities, engineering negative publicity primarily by instigating letter-writing campaigns and posting online petitions. America magazine criticized the society’s “watchdog tactics” for employing a negative rather than positive definition of Catholicism — that is, it aims to prune away perceived deviations from orthodoxy, rather than cultivating a Catholicism that is something more than mere conformism. ...
KEY FINDINGS
The Cardinal Newman Society:
• Incorrectly portrays itself as a voice for all Catholics, when its views are substantially to the right of all but the most conservative members of the hierarchy;
• Uses the threat of negative publicity to target schools, calling on them to cancel speakers or dismiss faculty;
• Depicts a Catholic higher educational system that is threatened by heretics in order to justify its narrow worldview and strong-arm tactics;
• Fosters a contentious environment in which instructors and administrators fear they must choose between policing or being policed; and
• Makes judgments on the basis of a short checklist of issues, such as reproductive rights and LGBT rights, rather than encompassing the wealth and depth of Catholic teaching.
Vatican Terror on children - the JP2 Army - John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army
Deceased priest added to abuse list 15 years after rape allegations
By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
A deceased Catholic priest accused of raping a young girl in the 1970s has been added to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's list of clergy restricted because of substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of children - 15 years after the victim first made the allegations against him.
The late Father Donald Musinski, who served parishes in and around Milwaukee for nearly 40 years, is only the second priest added to the list since it was first published in 2004.
The archdiocese had known about Musinski since at least 1997 when the victim, Karen Konter, reported him to Project Benjamin, the church's now-defunct program for sex abuse victims.
It declined to list him when then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan first published the names of 43 offender priests on the archdiocese website in 2004 because it could not substantiate the allegations, according to a letter sent to Konter the following year.
After Newtown Child Massacre, President Obama’s Chief of Staff Also Strongly Condemns Organizational Sexual Violence against Children
UNITED STATESChristian Catholicism
Read the story
(by Jerry Slevin, retired Wall Street lawyer)
As the world still mourns deeply for the innocent victims of the Newtown, Connecticut grade school massacre, and as President Obama tried sadly on Sunday to console those directly affected, promising to act decisively to protect children better, President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Jack Lew, later on Sunday reportedly strongly condemned as well, as President Obama did in August, sexual violence against children in organizational settings.
As countless people thankfully are now urging President Obama to act to curtail gun violence especially involving children, please help to urge President Obama also to act decisively now as well to curtail the widespread sexual violence against children in organizational settings.
Please take a moment and click on and sign the White House petition to curtail organizational sexual violence against children accessible at:
Time for hiding is over for Catholic Church -- Read more in JP2 Army
AUSTRALIAHerald Sun
Editorial
From:Herald Sun
January 12, 2013
The Catholic Church has copped the brunt of the accusations of child sexual abuse among its ranks. For 20 years it has faced a rightfully growing cacophony of blame.
For 20 years it has faced a rightfully growing cacophony of blame.
Mostly, its handling of abuse allegations is a lesson in how not to do things.
But the problem has run much deeper than the Catholic Church.
Individuals in organisations - church, state and welfare - have stolen the innocence of countless children and teens for decades. They've lived and sometimes died with their secrets.
Now, for all these organisations the time for hiding is over. Documents must not be kept in dusty filing cabinets. Secrets held tight over the generations should be told.
Americans United Says Taxpayers Have Right To Challenge Church
UNITED STATESAmericans United for Separation of Church and State
[Click here to read the story]
Oct 24, 2012
When the federal government lets a church group impose religious doctrine on a publicly funded program, taxpayers have the right to take the matter to court.
That’s the viewpoint put forward by Americans United for Separation of Church and State in a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today.
The appeals court is considering a case in which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2006 gave the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops control over a program that helps sex-trafficking victims. The bishops’ conference then denied funding to other social service agencies unless they promised not to use the public dollars for abortion or contraceptive services.
The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the arrangement, saying it violated church-state separation and denied essential services to trafficking victims.
A federal district court ruled in the ACLU’s favor, but now the bishops’ conference and HHS are claiming that the case should be thrown out because taxpayers have no “standing” to bring matters like this into court.
Said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, “It is an outrage that the federal government allowed a church group to deny essential public services to hurting people on religious grounds. It would compound that outrage if concerned citizens were not allowed to bring this violation into court.”
Oratory of St. Joseph copy Vatican Titanic.
UNITED STATESPope Crimes & Vatican Evils...
Montreal Police announce arrest of 2 Holy Cross CSC pedophile priests for 14 years sodomy at College Notre Dame
Paris Arrow
When Laszlo Csatary, the 97-year old former Nazi criminal, was caught and arrested in Hungary last year, he had lived a quiet life as an art dealer in Montreal until 1997, see news below and read here http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/04/trial-of-willaim-lynn-compilation.html In Israel, Efraim Zuroff, director of the Wiesenthal Center’s Jerusalem office, applauded his arrest and said:
“When you look at a person like this, you shouldn’t see an old frail person, but think of a man who at the height of his physical powers devoted all his energy to murdering or persecuting and murdering innocent men, women and children,” Zuroff told the AP.
Montreal Police announced before the New Year that they have caught two CSC pedophile priests, Olivain Leblanc, 70, and Georges Sarrazin, 91, who are Holy Cross brothers of Saint Brother Andre - for their sodomy crimes of 14 years at CollegeNotre Dame right across the Oratory of St. Joseph. Montreal Police, Montreal Justice Courts and Montreal judges should treat Olivain Leblanc, 70, and Georges Sarrazin, 91, (just like the The Hague treats Nazi criminal 97 year old Laszlo Csatary), and shouldn’t see two old frail religious persons, but think of two men who at the height of their physical powers devoted all their energy to sexually abusing and sodomizing innocent students at the College Notre Dame...
Catholic bishops yank a sex-abuse investigation
GERMANYSalon
By Mary Elizabeth Williams
Today in irony: Catholic church leaders are having trust issues.
A sweeping independent investigation into sex abuse charges dating back nearly 70 years has screeched to a halt in Germany, because the German Bishops Conference there says “The trust was shattered” between the conference and the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony. The bishops have now canceled their contract with the institute.
The head of the institute, Christian Pfeiffer, lashed back at the bishops Thursday, citing old-fashioned butt-covering as the cause of the falling out. “The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising clearly demanded that all texts must be submitted to them for approval,” he said, “and they made it clear to us that they also had the right to prohibit the publication of texts.” He added, chillingly, “They have a requirement that you have to destroy the papers ten years after the conviction of a priest. They kept us in the dark about this, because we agreed in the contract to an analysis of records going back to 1945.”
German Bishops’ Conference spokesman Matthias Kopp has denied Pfeiffer’s charges, saying, “Because the Catholic church is ready to undertake a research project of this kind, it shows how much freedom of research means to it … There has been, to our knowledge, no destruction of documents. A major problem was data protection regulations. It was important to us to clarify how we would be able to anonymize data and keep it safe.”
German minister raps Catholic bishops over abuse study
The Star
By Alexandra Hudson
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's justice minister said on Thursday the country's Roman Catholic Church appeared to be shrinking from independent scrutiny after bishops sacked a top criminologist they had hired to investigate clerical sexual abuse.
Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said the German bishops had initially committed to an outside study after devastating abuse revelations in 2010 which saw 600 people file claims against priests, but said they now seemed to want to control which findings would be published.
Victims' groups and sympathisers were outraged by the Catholic bishops' decision on Wednesday to sack Christian Pfeiffer, a man described by Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger as one of Germany's foremost criminal experts.
"It appears that conducting an independent, serious study into the abuse cases, as originally intended, is impossible for the Church," she told Deutschlandfunk radio. "This is a shame, as it gives the impression that ultimately they (the Catholic Church) did not want everything to be independently studied."
Blame Traded after Failed Church Abuse Probe
GERMANYSpiegel
The German Catholic Church called off an independent review of allegations of sexual abuse in its ranks this week. The head of the investigation accused the Church of censorship. On Thursday, the two sides traded blame as German commentators largely mourned the end of the examination.
Representatives of the German Catholic Church and independent investigators traded blame Thursday after an agreement to have an independent examination of sexual abuse in the Church broke down earlier this week.
The Church's Bishops' Conference called off the investigation -- agreed to in 2011 after a nationwide abuse scandal the year before -- citing a lack of trust with the investigators. The Lower Saxony Criminological Research Institute (KFN) had been tasked with investigating personnel files from churches in all of the country's 27 dioceses, to look for and examine cases of abuse.
But the Bishops' Conference was allegedly unable to agree on a way to cooperate with the KFN, with some citing the issues of privacy and data protection. Some dioceses refused to make documents available, reportedly out of fear that private information on those involved could possibly be made public.
Christian Pfeiffer, who as the director of the KFN had led the investigation, told SPIEGEL ONLINE this week that the Church had refused to cooperate with the investigation, and that he had had to remind the Church of its promise of transparency.
German minister raps Catholic bishops over cancelled sexual abuse study
Reuters
By Alexandra Hudson
January 10, 2013
Germany’s justice minister said on Thursday the country’s Roman Catholic Church appeared to be shrinking from independent scrutiny after bishops sacked a top criminologist they had hired to investigate clerical sexual abuse.
Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said the German bishops had initially committed to an outside study after devastating abuse revelations in 2010 which saw 600 people file claims against priests, but said they now seemed to want to control which findings would be published.
Victims’ groups and sympathisers were outraged by the Catholic bishops’ decision on Wednesday to sack Christian Pfeiffer, a man described by Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger as one of Germany’s foremost criminal experts.
“It appears that conducting an independent, serious study into the abuse cases, as originally intended, is impossible for the Church,” she told Deutschlandfunk radio. “This is a shame, as it gives the impression that ultimately they (the Catholic Church) did not want everything to be independently studied.”
Moving in the wrong direction
UNITED STATESSurvivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Posted by Barbara Dorris on January 10, 2013
Backpedaling. Backsliding. Moving in the wrong direction. Whatever you call it, bishops all across the
Remember that pledge to be “open and transparent?” It’s increasingly being honored only in the breach.
A clear and recent example is Springfield IL Bishop Thomas Paprocki. (Yes, the same guy who once said that the devil was behind lawsuits against child molesting clerics and complicit church officials.)
Times reporter Bruce Ruston lays out at least three low-key backward moves by Paprocki:
--A report on clergy sexual misconduct (and financial misdeeds) in the diocese by ex-U.S. attorney J. William Roberts has quietly been removed from the diocesan website.
-- The biography of retired Bishop Daniel Ryan, on the same diocesan website, was edited in May, removing any hint that Ryan “engaged in illicit sex or otherwise did anything improper” (which Roberts’ report had found).
--The diocesan panel “that once screened candidates for the seminary is no longer active, according to one panel member.”
“Lessons of History: What Can the Church of the Middle Ages Teach Us about the Modern Sex-Abuse Scandal?” [Wed 1/23/2013] (This talk is A WAY TO SEGUE AND DIVERT ATTENTION AWAY from THE LESSONS OF the 20th Century THE JP2 ARMY++++++)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of
From: Archdiocese of Los Angeles Priority: Normal
The Center for Religion and Spirituality at Loyola Marymount University is sponsoring a lecture by Dr. Colt Anderson, Dean of the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Studies at Fordham University. He will speak on resources from medieval reforms for the modern clerical abuse crisis. He will deliver his lecture, “Lessons of History: What Can the Church of the Middle Ages Teach Us about the Modern Sex-Abuse Scandal?,” on Wednesday, January 23, at 7:00 p.m., in the Ahmanson Auditorium (University Hall, Room 1000) on campus.
===================
Galileo's "Confession"
| On 15 January 1633, Galileo wrote to his friend Ella Diodati setting out his views on why the Bible should not be treated as literally true. At this time he was in deep trouble over his claims that the earth moved and was facing a trial which took place a few months later. We give a translation: |
When I ask: whose work is the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, the Stars, their motions and dispositions, I shall probably be told that they are God's work. When I continue to ask whose work is Holy Scripture, I shall certainly be told that it is the work of the Holy Ghost, i.e., God's work also. If now I ask if the Holy Ghost uses words which are manifest contradictions of the truth so as to satisfy the understanding of the - generally uneducated - masses, I am convinced that I shall be told, with many citations from all the sanctified writers, that this is indeed the custom of Holy Scripture, containing as it does hundreds of passages that taken literally would be nothing but heresy and blasphemy, for in them God appears as a Being full of hatred, guilt and forgetfulness. If now I ask whether God, so as to be understood by the masses, had ever altered His works, or else if Nature, unchangeable and inaccessible as it is to human desires, has always retained the same kinds of motion, forms and divisions of the Universe, I am certain to be told that the Moon has always been round, even though it was long considered to be flat. To condense all this into one phrase: Nobody will maintain that Nature has ever changed in order to make its works palatable to men. If this be the case, then I ask why it is that, in order to arrive at an understanding of the different parts of the world, we must begin with the investigation of the Words of God, rather than of His Works. Is then the Work less venerable than the Word? If someone had held it to be heresy to say that the Earth moves, and if later verification and experiments were to show us that it does indeed do so, what difficulties would the church not encounter! If, on the contrary, whenever the works and the Word cannot be made to agree, we consider Holy Scripture as secondary, no harm will befall it, for it has often been modified to suit the masses and has frequently attributed false qualities to God. Therefore I must ask why it is that we insist that whenever it speaks of the Sun or of the Earth, Holy Scripture be considered as quite infallible?
| On 22 June 1633 Galileo, having been found guilty at his trial, was forced to make a 'confession' to the Cardinals of the Holy Office of the Church. He read from the text of which a translation is given below: |
I, Galileo Galilei, son of the late Vincenzio Galilei of Florence, aged seventy years, being brought personally to judgment, and kneeling before you, Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lords Cardinals, General Inquisitors of the Universal Christian Commonwealth against heretical depravity, having before my eyes the Holy Gospels which I touch with my own hands, swear that I have always believed, and, with the help of God, will in future believe, every article which the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Rome holds, teaches, and preaches. But because I have been enjoined, by this Holy Office, altogether to abandon the false opinion which maintains that the Sun is the centre and immovable, and forbidden to hold, defend, or teach, the said false doctrine in any manner ... I am willing to remove from the minds of your Eminences, and of every Catholic Christian, this vehement suspicion rightly entertained towards me, therefore, with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith, I abjure, curse, and detest the said errors and heresies, and generally every other error and sect contrary to the said Holy Church; and I swear that I will never more in future say, or assert anything, verbally or in writing, which may give rise to a similar suspicion of me; but that if I shall know any heretic, or any one suspected of heresy, I will denounce him to this Holy Office, or to the Inquisitor and Ordinary of the place in which I may be. I swear, moreover, and promise that I will fulfil and observe fully all the penances which have been or shall be laid on me by this Holy Office. But if it shall happen that I violate any of my said promises, oaths, and protestations (which God avert!), I subject myself to all the pains and punishments which have been decreed and promulgated by the sacred canons and other general and particular constitutions against delinquents of this description. So, may God help me, and His Holy Gospels, which I touch with my own hands, I, the above named Galileo Galilei, have abjured, sworn, promised, and bound myself as above; and, in witness thereof, with my own hand have subscribed this present writing of my abjuration, which I have recited word for word.
| Note: Rather strangely, the very first sentence contains a factual error since in fact Galileo was aged sixty-nine years at the time. He was, of course, in his seventieth year and this may indeed be the meaning. Another possibility is that he deliberately introduced a factual error feeling that would invalidate the 'confession'. |
On 15 February
On 31 October 1992, Pope John Paul II expressed regret for how the Galileo affair was handled, and issued a declaration acknowledging the errors committed by the Catholic Church tribunal that judged the scientific positions of Galileo Galilei, as the result of a study conducted by the Pontifical Council for Culture.[146][147] In March 2008 the head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Nicola Cabibbo, announced a plan to honour Galileo by erecting a statue of him inside the Vatican walls.[148] In December of the same year, during events to mark the 400th anniversary of Galileo's earliest telescopic observations, Pope Benedict XVI praised his contributions to astronomy.[149] A month later, however, the head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Gianfranco Ravasi, revealed that the plan to erect a statue of Galileo in the grounds of the
Impact on modern science
According to Stephen Hawking, Galileo probably bears more of the responsibility for the birth of modern science than anybody else,[151] and Albert Einstein called him the father of modern science.[152][153]Galileo's astronomical discoveries and investigations into the Copernican theory have led to a lasting legacy which includes the categorisation of the four large moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) as the Galilean moons. Other scientific endeavours and principles are named after Galileo including the Galileo spacecraft,[154] the first spacecraft to enter orbit around Jupiter, the proposed Galileo global satellite navigation system, the transformation between inertial systems in classical mechanics denoted Galilean transformation and the Gal (unit), sometimes known as the Galileo which is a non-SI unit of acceleration.
Partly because 2009 was the fourth centenary of Galileo's first recorded astronomical observations with the telescope, the United Nations scheduled it to be the International Year of Astronomy.[155] A global scheme was laid out by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), also endorsed by UNESCO—the UN body responsible for Educational, Scientific and Cultural matters. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 was intended to be a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture, stimulating worldwide interest not only in astronomy but science in general, with a particular slant towards young people.
Asteroid 697 Galilea is named in his honour.
January 20, 2013
Irish priest Tony flannery
Priest Is Planning to Defy Vatican’s Orders to Stay Quiet
IRELANDThe New York Times
By DOUGLAS DALBY
Published: January 19, 2013
DUBLIN — A well-known Irish Catholic priest plans to defy Vatican authorities on Sunday by breaking his silence about what he says is a campaign against him by the church over his advocacy of more open discussion on church teachings.
The Rev. Tony Flannery, 66, who was suspended by the Vatican last year, said he was told by the Vatican that he would be allowed to return to ministry only if he agreed to write, sign and publish a statement agreeing, among other things, that women should never be ordained as priests and that he would adhere to church orthodoxy on matters like contraception and homosexuality.
“How can I put my name to such a document when it goes against everything I believe in,” he said in an interview on Wednesday. “If I signed this, it would be a betrayal not only of myself but of my fellow priests and lay Catholics who want change. I refuse to be terrified into submission.”
Father Flannery, a regular contributor to religious publications, said he planned to make his case public at a news conference here on Sunday.
Press Release on behalf of Tony Flannery
IRELAND
The Association of Catholic Priests
REDEMPTORIST SUBJECTED TO “FRIGHTENING PROCEDURES REMINISCENT OF THE INQUISITION”
Redemptorist Fr. Tony Flannery is threatened with excommunication from the Catholic Church for suggesting that, in the future, women might become priests and calling for this and other matters to be open for discussion. Fr. Flannery, (66) who joined the Redemptorists in 1964 at seventeen and was ordained ten years later, has been told that if he is to remain in the Church and in his Congregation, he must also guarantee not to attend meetings of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) until he has publicly agreed to the conditions laid down.
Fr. Flannery was forbidden to minister as a priest for most of the past year, and this will continue until he meets the requirements of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
“I have been ordered not to engage with the media or publish any books or articles,” he told a press briefing in Dublin today. “I have also been ordered not to have any involvement, public or private, with the ACP. I was put under a formal precept of obedience not to attend the AGM of the ACP last November by Michael Brehl, Superior General of the Redemptorists. But he made it clear he’d been instructed by the CDF to issue it.”
Fr Flannery will be allowed back into ministry only if he writes, signs and publishes an article (pre-approved by the CDF) accepting the Catholic Church can never ordain women to the priesthood and accepting all Church stances on contraception, homosexuality, and the refusal of the sacraments to people in second relationships.
“I could not possibly put my name to such an article without impugning my own integrity and conscience,” he said today. “The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is orchestrating all this while refusing to communicate with me. I have had no direct communication with them. I have never been given an opportunity to meet my accusers, or to understand why this action is being taken against me when I’ve raised the same issues, consistently, for decades.”
The Association of Catholic Priests
REDEMPTORIST SUBJECTED TO “FRIGHTENING PROCEDURES REMINISCENT OF THE INQUISITION”
Redemptorist Fr. Tony Flannery is threatened with excommunication from the Catholic Church for suggesting that, in the future, women might become priests and calling for this and other matters to be open for discussion. Fr. Flannery, (66) who joined the Redemptorists in 1964 at seventeen and was ordained ten years later, has been told that if he is to remain in the Church and in his Congregation, he must also guarantee not to attend meetings of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) until he has publicly agreed to the conditions laid down.
Fr. Flannery was forbidden to minister as a priest for most of the past year, and this will continue until he meets the requirements of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
“I have been ordered not to engage with the media or publish any books or articles,” he told a press briefing in Dublin today. “I have also been ordered not to have any involvement, public or private, with the ACP. I was put under a formal precept of obedience not to attend the AGM of the ACP last November by Michael Brehl, Superior General of the Redemptorists. But he made it clear he’d been instructed by the CDF to issue it.”
Fr Flannery will be allowed back into ministry only if he writes, signs and publishes an article (pre-approved by the CDF) accepting the Catholic Church can never ordain women to the priesthood and accepting all Church stances on contraception, homosexuality, and the refusal of the sacraments to people in second relationships.
“I could not possibly put my name to such an article without impugning my own integrity and conscience,” he said today. “The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is orchestrating all this while refusing to communicate with me. I have had no direct communication with them. I have never been given an opportunity to meet my accusers, or to understand why this action is being taken against me when I’ve raised the same issues, consistently, for decades.”
Irish priest plans to defy Vatican
IRELANDIrish Times
A well-known Irish Catholic priest plans to defy Vatican authorities today by breaking his silence about what he says is a campaign against him by the church over his advocacy of more open discussion on church teachings.
Fr Tony Flannery (66) who was suspended by the Vatican last year, said he was told by the Vatican that he would be allowed to return to ministry only if he agreed to write, sign and publish a statement agreeing, among other things, that women should never be ordained as priests and that he would adhere to church orthodoxy on matters like contraception and homosexuality.
"How can I put my name to such a document when it goes against everything I believe in," he said in an interview Wednesday. "If I signed this, it would be a betrayal not only of myself but of my fellow priests and lay Catholics who want change. I refuse to be terrified into submission."
Fr Flannery, a regular contributor to religious publications, said he planned to make his case public at a news conference today.
Irish priest to break silence order from the Vatican at Dublin press conference
IRELANDIrish Central
By
PATRICK COUNIHAN,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Sunday, January 20
Controversial Irish cleric Father Tony Flannery is to defy the Vatican and break his silence on the campaign against him by Catholic Church authorities.
Father Flannery was silenced by the church last year over his advocacy of more open discussion on church teachings.
The New York Times reports that the 66-year-old was suspended by the Vatican after a series of public interviews.
He was told that he would only be allowed to return to ministry only if he agreed to write, sign and publish a statement agreeing, among other things, that women should never be ordained as priests and that he would adhere to church orthodoxy on matters like contraception and homosexuality.
Cleric fears excommunication threat
IRELANDCorkman
Sunday January 20 2013
An outspoken cleric has claimed he has been threatened with excommunication from the Catholic Church for suggesting that women might become priests in the future.
Fr Tony Flannery said he is being forced to chose between Rome and his conscience and revealed he is taking legal advice under canon and civil law to help defend his rights as a member of the church and as an Irish citizen.
The 66-year-old, who joined the Redemptorists in 1964, said he has been told by the Vatican that if he wants to remain in the church and in his congregation he must stop any involvement with the liberal Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), which he founded.
The author, who was stopped ministering as a priest for most of the past year, said he has also been ordered not to engage with the media or publish any books or articles.
"I have served the church, the Redemptorists and the people of God for two thirds of my life," said Fr Flannery.
"Throughout that time, I have in good conscience raised issues I believed important for the future of the church in books and essays largely read by practising Catholics, rather than raising them in mainstream media.
Blarney meeting of lay people considered very successful
IRELANDAssociation of Catholic Priests
Following on from meetings of Catholic lay people in Dublin, Cork and Galway promoted by the ACP, a very successful gathering of up to 60 people took place in Blarney on 9 January 2013 .
The meeting was facilitated by Daithi ó hAoidh, a member of Ballineaspaig Parish Faith in Action group. The aim of the meeting was to allow the Catholic faithful from the Blarney/Inniscarra area the opportunity to dialogue over their particular cares and concerns with regard to faith matters.
As it was an occasion for dialogue the attendees were formed into smaller groups and Daithi the question to them as to why they were here. There was a huge diversity of answers:
◦People being curious
◦A feeling of being disconnected and alienation from the Church
◦Fears that the faith could be lost and concern about our young people.
◦A sense of helplessness that lay people are not being listened to
◦Upset that the teachings of Vatican 11 were not being implemented.
◦Concern that no plans were being made for the future.
◦A feeling of lack of leadership.
◦Some women expressed feelings of being disconnected from the Church.
◦Concern over lack of accountability at every level in the Church.
◦Concern over the treatment of priests and the silencing of priests.
Best place to read about Opus Dei
"Bringing light to Opus Dei's Questionable Practices"
Web: www.odan.org, e-mail: odan@odan.org
December 2012
Dear Friends of ODAN,
Recently Opus Dei, Spain, sued a Danish game maker Demi Games, over the card game ‘Opus Dei: Existence After Religion.’ Dema Games copyrighted the game under Danish copyright laws in 2009. “The game has no right to use the name,” according to the Opus Dei’s spokesperson Joanna Engstedt. The group has demanded that Danish officials remove the disputed game from copyright records, and is seeking some 300,000kr (€40,000) in damages (approximately $52,000.) However, Dema Games has stated via its Facebook page, ‘No one entity can claim sole rights to religious concepts of any kind.’ The company’s lawyer, James Glaese, told the Associated Press, ‘These are far-reaching demands. In our view, you cannot get the right to a common concept like Opus Dei, which can be equated with…other religious concepts like hallelujah.’” [1]
In 1997 ODAN pursued trademarking Opus Dei Awareness Network, Inc. and contacted several professionals in the field. Each one of them was amazed that the name Opus Dei (Work of God in Latin) could be trademarked. How did Opus Dei manage to trademark God for itself? Does God only belong to Opus Dei?
ODAN was also advised that if we tried to trademark any name with Opus Dei in it, we should be prepared for an expensive legal fight with Opus Dei. After much prayer and contemplation, ODAN decided to trademark the name ODAN, a much safer domain name. Our organization would be protected under the name ODAN.
It is a name recognized as questioning Opus Dei’s practices. ODAN is often quoted by print and internet media as well as in books about Opus Dei. ODAN’s scholarly pieces describing our serious concerns about Opus Dei are well regarded. Our organization is as well known as ODAN as Opus Dei Awareness Network, Inc. Protecting the name ODAN prevents an Opus Dei takeover of our organization and allows us to use our funding source, you, in the best way possible. We did not want ODAN to be taken over by Opus Dei the way our sister organization, Opus Livre was taken over.
It is a name recognized as questioning Opus Dei’s practices. ODAN is often quoted by print and internet media as well as in books about Opus Dei. ODAN’s scholarly pieces describing our serious concerns about Opus Dei are well regarded. Our organization is as well known as ODAN as Opus Dei Awareness Network, Inc. Protecting the name ODAN prevents an Opus Dei takeover of our organization and allows us to use our funding source, you, in the best way possible. We did not want ODAN to be taken over by Opus Dei the way our sister organization, Opus Livre was taken over.
When ODAN learned of Opus Livre, our sister organization located in Brazil, we were thankful another organization told the same stories about Opus Dei that we were telling.
This website was written in Portuguese and had testimonies from former members and books written about the negative aspects of Opus Dei. ODAN had been in touch with the founders and was both saddened and dismayed when due to their failure to continue to purchase their domain name, Opus Dei was able to buy the domain name Opus Livre and shut them down. It reminded us when Scientology shut down Cult Awareness Network in 1997. Scientology managed to accomplish shutting down this important cult awareness organization with lots of money to sue CAN numerous times until they succeeded. CAN went bankrupt and Scientology took over their phone lines and office in Chicago.
Why am I talking about Scientology/CAN in the ODAN funding letter? Because when Opus Dei bought the domain name to one of their critics’ websites and shut them down, they were doing the same thing that Scientology did to CAN. Instead of shutting Opus Livre down, why didn’t Opus Dei take the time to review their practices and change which ones were questionable?
Opus Dei’s actions speak volumes about its true motives – why would a group that states it is only interested in the “spiritual welfare” of its members attempt to limit the flow of information by purchasing the domain name of Opus Livre? Such actions have been the hallmark of oppressive and totalistic regimes and groups throughout history, and raises important questions: What does Opus Dei have to hide? Why does it fear the free flow of information?
Our outreach to inform the world about Opus Dei’s questionable practices relies on your generosity. Please consider praying for ODAN and sending a tax deductible donation to help us continue our work.
Sincerely,
Dianne R. DiNicola
Executive Director
Executive Director
[1] “Danish game maker amid legal battle with Catholic Group” Ice News, December 3,2012, http:/www.icenews
Opus Libros in Spain Ordered to Remove Opus Dei Documents from Website
Opus Libros, ODAN's sister organization in Spain, has been ordered by a Spanish judge to remove internal documents of Opus Dei from its website, www.opuslibros.org. In one of the few articles about this news item written in English, in "Opus Dei Wins Web Battle," the Olive Press reports on November 6 that the website was charged with "violating the intellectual property rights" of Opus Dei by making available to the public the unseen writings of Opus Dei's founder.
Which begs the question: what is Opus Dei afraid of? Why would they not want all of the writings of their founder available for the public to read? That they would go to such great lengths to restrict access to information adds fuel to charges of secrecy and manipulation. One wonders also, with the presence of Opus Dei so prevalent in Spain, whether anyone has looked into the impartiality of the judicial process.
A lengthier article in Spanish appears in El Pais at the following link. ODAN is currently working on an English translation of the article and will post it on the website at a future date.
Opus Dei Bishop Indicted for Failure to Report Suspected Abuse
Bishop Robert Finn, Opus Dei member and bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, was indicted in October for failing to report suspected child abuse by a priest under his jurisdiction and diocese (Father Shawn Ratigan). The accused priest was charged for taking pornographic pictures of underage girls.
Bishop Finn was informed of the pictures discovered on Ratigan's computer in December 2010, yet failed to alert police until May 11, 2011. This, despite the fact that Finn had agreed in a $10 million settlement with 47 plaintiffs three years ago to immediately report suspicions of child abuse to law enforcement officials.
According to a report by the Religion News Service, Finn has agreed to a deal with law enforcement in Clay County to allow monthly oversight by prosecutors over the next five years. Charges still stand against Finn in neighboring Jackson County.
Not only has Bishop Finn breached the promises he made in the settlement three years ago, he has also ignored demands for his resignation from parishioners and abuse victims, who feel hurt and betrayed. In an article appearing in huffingtonpost.com, former spokesman for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and well-known Opus Dei member Russell Shaw fails to identify himself as an Opus Dei member while speaking in Finn's defense. Shaw called repeated demands for Finn's resignation "terribly distasteful" and implied that because Finn apologized, all should be forgiven and forgotten.
Finn is now the highest-ranking church official to be criminally charged with sheltering a priest suspected of sex abuse. For more information:
HuffingtonPost.com, "Bishop Robert Finn Accepts Deal to Avoid Second Indictment", by Daniel Burke, Religion News Service, November 15, 2011
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/15/bishop-robert-finn-second-indictment_n_1096035.html
HuffingtonPost.com, "Robert Finn, Bishop Indicted For Porn Cover-Up, Plans to Continue Leading Diocese," by Heather Hollingsworth and Rachel Zoll, October 19, 2011http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/19/robert-finn-indicted-bishop-continues-leading_n_1020640.html
ABC News, "Bishop of Kansas City Indicted for Failure to Report Suspected Abuse", by Father Edward Beck, October 14, 2011
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/10/bishop-of-kansas-city-indicted-for-failure-to-report-suspected-abuse/
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/10/bishop-of-kansas-city-indicted-for-failure-to-report-suspected-abuse/
Opus Dei Tries to Influence Public Opinion with Film
There Be Dragons, a movie produced by Roland Joffe, Guy J. Louthan and Opus Dei members Ignacio G. Sancha and Ignacio Núñez, opened in U.S. theaters May 6, 2011 and is now available for purchase. The story portrays Opus Dei founder Josemaria Escriva during the early years of Opus Dei's founding, which took place in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.
Despite downplaying its role in the production of the film, Opus Dei has again employed its usual tactic of manipulating circumstances in the background while presenting a picture that seems entirely spontaneous and without guile. Keen observers of Opus Dei recognize that the film project has indeed been Opus Dei driven and financed, despite allegations to the contrary.
In a New York times article published last June, the author writes of the movie:
"The financing of about $30 million came from about 100 investors, and raising it was a struggle, said Ignacio G. Sancha, the lead producer, a Spanish financier and lawyer who is also a member of Opus Dei." (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/22/movies/22opus.html?_r=1) The early Times article stated that "the project was initiated by a member of Opus Dei, is partly produced and financed by the group’s members and has enlisted an Opus Dei priest to consult on the set."
Contrast this information with a recent quote from an Opus Dei website saying that "at the request of the film’s producers, the communications office of the Prelature of Opus Dei provided historical information and other audiovisual materials regarding Saint Josemaria, as it does in response to similar requests for news stories, books and documentaries," as if Opus Dei had nothing at all to do with the planning and production of the film.
In addition, the Opus Dei site states "while news of a film dealing with Saint Josemaria by a director of Mr. Joffe’s caliber generates considerable interest and expectations, this movie is not a project of the Prelature of Opus Dei, and the few members of Opus Dei involved in it are acting in an entirely personal capacity." (http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/roland-joffe-film-there-be-dragons ) Those who have experienced Opus Dei's manipulation and deception firsthand know better.
For further information on "There Be Dragons":
Contrast this information with a recent quote from an Opus Dei website saying that "at the request of the film’s producers, the communications office of the Prelature of Opus Dei provided historical information and other audiovisual materials regarding Saint Josemaria, as it does in response to similar requests for news stories, books and documentaries," as if Opus Dei had nothing at all to do with the planning and production of the film.
In addition, the Opus Dei site states "while news of a film dealing with Saint Josemaria by a director of Mr. Joffe’s caliber generates considerable interest and expectations, this movie is not a project of the Prelature of Opus Dei, and the few members of Opus Dei involved in it are acting in an entirely personal capacity." (http://www.josemariaescriva.info/article/roland-joffe-film-there-be-dragons ) Those who have experienced Opus Dei's manipulation and deception firsthand know better.
For further information on "There Be Dragons":
New Book about Opus Dei Available on Kindle
THE FALSE WORK OF GOD
ALL OVER THE WORLD
http://www.amazon.com/Opus-Dei-false-Families-ebook/dp/B004RZIC68
This book was born from the effort of a common person to be acquainted with an organism which has in the secrecy one of its most outstanding characteristics: the Opus Dei, or The Work. This work presents itself as a valuable instrument for the understanding of this phenomenon embedded in the Catholic Church.
Knowledge is certainly the most efficient instrument in the combat of indoctrination. And, as the title announces, the goal of this book is to alert families about the insidious way Opus Dei filters through them, in order to take their children away afterwards.
The reading of this book is extremely useful not only for Catholic families, because this organization can attack anyone, Catholic or not. Once it gets close to people who they want to co-opt, the members do not even explain their true objectives or their actual practices. Therefore, the publication of Opus Dei addresses, companies, schools and entities linked to it, is something of very high value, since parents have now the possibility to know that the place their children are attending is not only a “kids’ club”, or a simple catechism class, or free tutoring classes, but, mostly, a recruitment center for young persons from an extremely reactionary Catholic entity.
BETTY SILBERSTEIN
Betty is a former teacher. Nowadays she is a writer, translator and reviser. She took part in several Anthologies, in Brazil and abroad (France and the US). She has received many awards for her work, among them the Médaille d´Argent, from the Académie de Arts Sciences et Lettres de Paris.
She is a Member and Counselor for REBRA (Brazilian Women Writers Net), where her homepage may be accessed.
Her e-mail is: bettyescritora@silber.com.br
Opus Dei Bishop Appointed Head of Los Angeles Diocese
Archbishop Jose H. Gomez was announced coadjutor and future archbishop of the Los Angeles diocese on April 6, 2010. Ordained as an Opus Dei priest in 1978, Gomez is the first Latino archbishop in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles diocese is the largest diocese in the United States and one of the largest in the world. Gomez will succeed Cardinal Roger M. Mahony in February 2011 when Manony turns 75, the age when bishops must submit their resignation to the Pope.
Born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1951, Gomez joined Opus Dei when in college. He has degrees in business and philosophy from the National University of New Mexico (1975) and a doctorate in theology from the Opus Dei-run University of Navarre. Previous to his appointment in Los Angeles, Gomez was archbishop in San Antonio, Texas since 2005. Gomez became a US citizen in 1995.
News reports predict that it is likely Gomez will be appointed a cardinal in the years ahead. In an article written by John Allen Jr., Gomez is quoted as saying that "he is not a "member" of Opus Dei, but rather that he was ordained a priest in Opus Dei and that his spirituality reflects that background. If he's a "member" of anything now, he says, it's the diocese he leads."
For more information:
"Four Points to Make about Gomez and LA" by John Allen Jr., April 9, 2010
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/four-points-make-about-gomez-and-la Catholic News Service, http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/100142`.htm Apr-9-2010
"Four Points to Make about Gomez and LA" by John Allen Jr., April 9, 2010
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/four-points-make-about-gomez-and-la Catholic News Service, http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/100142`.htm Apr-9-2010
Testimonies about Opus Dei:
"Opus Dei Recruits Minors and Deceives Church Officials" "Opus Dei Superiors Lied to Church Officials"
"Government, Direction and Control in Opus Dei"
"Fathers, don't let your sons grow up to be Opus Dei recruits"
===========================
News updates for January 21, 2013
Vatican's demand for silence is too high a price
Irish Times
Fr Tony Flannery
Three days after my 66th birthday I find myself forbidden to minister as a priest, with a threat of excommunication and dismissal from my congregation hanging over me. How did I find myself in this situation?
I joined the Redemptorist congregation in 1964 and was ordained 10 years later. That was the era of great openness in the Catholic Church. We believed in freedom of thought and of conscience, and that church teaching was not something to be imposed rigidly on the people we served – they were intelligent and educated, and could take responsibility for their lives.
As preachers we must try to present the message of Christ in a way and a language that spoke to the reality of people’s lives. This necessitated a willingness to listen to the people, to understand their hopes and joys, their struggles and fears.
Helping people to deal with the teaching on contraception during the 1970s was a great training ground. Just repeating the official line of Humanae Vitae was no help. During those years priests and people alike learned a lot about how to form their consciences and make mature decisions about all areas of their lives. As priests we learned more from people than they learned from us.
The ACP supports Tony Flannery full article
Association of Catholic Priests
The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) affirms in the strongest possible terms our confidence in and solidarity with Fr Tony Flannery as he strives to clear his name and we wish to protest against unjust treatment he has received from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The ACP supports Fr. Flannery in his efforts to resist the undermining of his integrity as an individual, a priest and a member of the Redemptorist Order.
The effort to depict him as ‘disloyal’ and ‘dissident’ is unwarranted and unfair, but also extremely ill-advised in the present pastoral context in
The ACP is disturbed by the procedures evident in this case: the unwillingness to deal directly with the accused person; the injunction to secrecy; the presumption of guilt; the lack of due process. They suggest a callousness and even brutality that is in sharp contrast to the compassion of Jesus Christ.
The CDF argues that its’ instruction to secrecy protects the priest’s reputation. We believe that the priest himself should be the person to decide whether and with whom he should speak or whether he might decide to remain silent.
Media Statement from the Provincial Leadership Team of the Irish Redemptorists
Association of Catholic Priests
Sunday 20th January 2013
The Irish Redemptorist Community is deeply saddened by the breakdown in communication between Fr. Tony Flannery C.Ss.R. and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).
Fr. Tony Flannery is highly regarded and respected by many in
As Irish Redemptorists we appreciate the difficulties this situation has created for others, especially for our Superior General in
Vatican: Study day on reform of Code of Canon Law
The schedule for a Study Day titled “The Code: A Reform Desired and Requested by the Council” was unveiled Tuesday to journalists in the Vatican Press Office. It will take place on 25 January, in the Pius X Hall,
The study day has been organized by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts and the International Institute of Canon Law and Comparative Studies of Religion in
Cardinal Coccopalmerio began his address with the recollection that Blessed John XXIII, in his speech convening Vatican Council II in 1959, explained that the Council’s legal scope was to bring about the awaited revision of the 1917 Code. “In his broad perspective, the Pope saw clearly that the revision of the Code had to be guided by the new ecclesiology that emerged from an ecumenical and a global summit such as the Council.” Blessed John Paul II, under whose pontificate the Code was promulgated, also repeated that “the council’s ecclesiological structure clearly required a renewed formulation of its laws”.
Liberal Irish priest says threatened with excommunication
GlobalPost
* Third cleric to face action for challenging teaching
* Called for reconsideration on contraception, celibacy
* Irish relations with Vatican strained over sex abuse
By Stephen Mangan
DUBLIN, Jan 21 (Reuters) - An Irish Roman Catholic priest said he is being threatened with excommunication by the Vatican because of his advocacy of liberal views on some of the Church's teachings.
Father Tony Flannery is the third cleric in the past three months to face disciplinary action for challenging Roman Catholic teachings, following the expulsion of a priest in the
Flannery, 66, was suspended last year by the
"One of the threats that the Vatican have used against me is the threat of excommunication ... my order has told me that I may also be facing dismissal if they are ordered by the Vatican to do so," Flannery told Reuters on Monday.
Irish priest in the Vatican dock: Is speaking your mind impossible in the church?
By
Another priest bites the dust, or may soon: Father Tony Flannery, an Irish Redemptorist priest and founder of the Irish reform group the Association of Catholic Priests, has broken the silence demanded of him by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith by publishing an op-ed in the Irish Times. In it, Flannery chroncles his interactions with the
Flannery doesn't say specifically which church teaching he must sign his assent to, but the work of the ACP has largely centered on issues of church governance and the new English translation of the Roman Missal. Flannery notes that a woman reading the gospel at Mass drew sanction against the priest who permitted it, and the role of women in the church's ministry remains a neuralgic point for the
The Church Is Wrong! Fr. Flannery, Like MLK, Is Right to Follow His Conscience
IRELAND
Huffington Post
Steve McSwain
I was reading recently of the bravery of the Irish Catholic priest, Fr. Tony Flannery, who, at 66, is being threatened by the Vatican.
No! I thought. The Vatican never threatens anyone!
LOL!
The history of Christianity, and not just in Catholicism but in all Christian denominations, is similar. The Church has found that it thrives best not in a world it sacrifices itself to redeem -- not in a world it lays down its life in order to give life to others -- but, instead, it survives best by demanding coercion, by making itself into a "god" and insisting this God can only be known "our" way; by making its beliefs into an idol that the faithful must bow the knee. The church has found that, by drawing lines in theological and doctrinal sands, battle lines between "us," the theologically "correct" and "them," the doctrinally "wrong," that, by doing so, the church wins.
But does it really?
Of course, it does not, as history has repeatedly demonstrated. Unfortunately, however, history, at least as far as the church is concerned, has never been a very good teacher for church leaders.
Priest facing ‘excommunication’ over liberal views
Huffington Post
Steve McSwain
I was reading recently of the bravery of the Irish Catholic priest, Fr. Tony Flannery, who, at 66, is being threatened by the Vatican.
No! I thought. The Vatican never threatens anyone!
LOL!
The history of Christianity, and not just in Catholicism but in all Christian denominations, is similar. The Church has found that it thrives best not in a world it sacrifices itself to redeem -- not in a world it lays down its life in order to give life to others -- but, instead, it survives best by demanding coercion, by making itself into a "god" and insisting this God can only be known "our" way; by making its beliefs into an idol that the faithful must bow the knee. The church has found that, by drawing lines in theological and doctrinal sands, battle lines between "us," the theologically "correct" and "them," the doctrinally "wrong," that, by doing so, the church wins.
But does it really?
Of course, it does not, as history has repeatedly demonstrated. Unfortunately, however, history, at least as far as the church is concerned, has never been a very good teacher for church leaders.
Priest facing ‘excommunication’ over liberal views
THE REDEMPTORISTS have come out in support of the former head of the order in
Fr Tony Flannery, who is a former rector of the Redemptorists on Mount St Alphonsus, has been barred from ministry since last year and says he now faces being dismissed from his order outright.
As an author, Fr Flannery has long questioned official church teaching on women priests, clerical celibacy, homosexuality and other issues. But he has written this week of his belief that it was his role in setting up the Association of Catholic Priests, an independent grouping of clerics, in 2010 that brought him to the attention of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the powerful Vatican office formerly headed up by Pope Benedict XVI.
Priests support Flannery over challenging views
Irish Times
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Fr Flannery was removed from public ministry last February by the CDF pending the outcome of its inquiries into views he expressed in the Redemptorists’ Reality magazine.
In a strong statement last night, the Redemptorists said “we do understand and support his efforts to listen carefully to and at times to articulate the views of people he encounters in the course of his ministry”.
They felt “immense regret that some structures or processes of dialogue have not yet been found in the church which have a greater capacity to engage with challenging voices from among God’s people, while respecting the key responsibility and central role of the CDF”.
Priest 'threatened' by Catholic Church over ordination stance
RTE News
An Irish priest has claimed he is being threatened with excommunication from the Catholic Church for supporting an open discussion on issues like women's ordination.
Father Tony Flannery has called on the Irish bishops to state publicly what they think about the disciplining of priests like himself.
He blamed the breakdown of his year-long exchanges with the Church authorities on the intervention of Archbishop Gerhard Muller.
Archbishop Muller who took over as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in July last year.
Fr Flannery told a news conference in
Dissident Irish priest fears excommunication over views on women priests
Irish Central
By
PATRICK COUNIHAN,
IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Monday, January 21, 2013
Outspoken Irish cleric Father Tony Flannery has admitted he faces excommunication from the church for backing the rights of women to become priests.
The 66-year-old priest has told a
Catholic Church leaders disciplined Father Flannery over his outspoken views last year.
He was also told that he will only be allowed to return to ministry if he ends his leadership of the Association of Catholic Priests in
Vatican Terror on Galileo, priests and the poor, women and children
UNITED STATESPope Crimes &
The same medieval Reign of Vatican Terror that forced Galileo to sign a “Confession” against his scientific beliefs (read below) is today terrorizing Irish priest Tony Flannery, 66, who is now being forced to write, sign and publish - against his beliefs - a statement agreeing that women should never be ordained as priests and that he would adhere to church orthodoxy on matters like contraception and homosexuality (if he wants to return to ministry). Read more about the Irish priests being terrorized by the
Ireland's Catholic leader to be replaced by 2014
DUBLIN (AP) — The Roman Catholic Church in
Brady told a news conference Friday he welcomes the
The 73-year-old Brady has been the Catholic primate of
In 2010 Brady refused calls to resign after he admitted that, in 1975, he took testimony from two boys who had been abused by a pedophile priest, then swore both to secrecy. Brady apologized, but said he was following orders from superiors.
Redemptorist priest: Vatican threatened excommunication for my teachings
National Catholic Reporter
by John Cooney | Jan. 23, 2013
Irish Redemptorist Fr. Tony Flannery broke a year of silence Sunday to reveal that the
The
Flannery also said he has had no direct contact in person or writing from the congregation. All communication has come through the Redemptorist superior general in
Flannery described the actions against him as "frightening, disproportionate and reminiscent of the Inquisition."
He said he initially tried to find a compromise with the
Ireland: Rebel priest defies silence imposed on him by the Vatican
Tony Flannery, the head of
Alessandro Speciale
An Irish priest has decided to defy the silence imposed on him by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith because he considers that giving up “on freedom of thought, freedom of speech and most especially freedom of conscience is too high a price” for him “to pay to be allowed minister in today’s church.”
The 66 year old priest, Tony Flannery, a Redemptorist, is a founder of the Association of Catholic Priests in
In a long open letter published in The Irish Times, Flannery explained he risked excommunication and dismissal from his congregation if he did not agree to sign a document that reaffirms the Catholic Church’s doctrine on women priests and homosexuality, amongst other things.
Vigil to support Fr Tony to be held at Papal Nunciature
Association of Catholic Priests
‘We are Church Ireland’ expresses its unconditional support for Fr. Tony Flannery in his assertion of his right of conscience not to be forced by an abuse of his vow of obedience to submit to the secretive demands of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
We welcome the statement of support of his Irish Redemptorist Order and the Association of Catholic priests of
It is now up to the rest of the people of God, both non-ordained and ordained, to express their support for Tony Flannery and to that end ‘We are Church Ireland’ is organising a peaceful vigil outside the Papal Nunciature , Navan Road, Dublin 7 next Sunday 27th January 2013 at 3 p.m. and encourages all concerned for the future of the Irish Church to attend.
Further information, from Brendan Butler (Spokesperson, We are Church Ireland 086 4054984)
Far more at stake than the future of just one priest
Association of Catholic Priests
“Truth can impose itself on the mind of man only in virtue of its own truth, which wins over the mind with both gentleness and power.” (Article 1, Declaration on Religious Liberty, Vatican II 1965)
Way back in 1965 this official statement reconciled me to the Catholic Church, after years of agonising as a student of history over its long record of religious persecution. That was all behind us now, I told myself. The church at its summit had at long last realised that truth cannot be conveyed or strengthened by coercion. The truth of the Creeds is centrally also love, so in future it would only be communicated lovingly, in freedom.
This conclusion was supported by the strong criticism directed by some eminent bishops during the council toward the formerly unjust practices of the church’s central theological monitor, the Holy Office (once the Roman Inquisition). This body became the ‘Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’ on the same day the Declaration on Religious Liberty was formally ratified. Most of us then expected that the CDF would now develop procedures and structures that would bear comparison with the highest principles of jurisprudence in the secular world.
The CDF has instead reverted to the intellectual brutalities of the Holy Office, reneged on this key Vatican II declaration on religious freedom, and very seriously weakened the authority of the church.
Vatican’s demands ‘too high a price’
A Galway priest has said the
Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery from Attymon in Athenry spoke out on Sunday amid threats from the
The local priest said he had received a letter from
Fr Flannery, who has been prevented from ministering as a priest for the last year, was also instructed to write, sign and publish a article accepting that the Catholic Church can never ordain women to the priesthood, accepting all Church stances on contraception and homosexuality, and the refusal of the sacraments to people in second relationships.
Redemptorists change their tune: Flannery must obey CDF
IRELAND
Vatican Insider
Redemptorist Superior General, Michael Brehl has asked the Irish priest to obey the instructions of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Gianni Valente
Rome
The case of rebel Redemptorist priest Tony Flannery has reached a significant turning point. In recent days Fr. Flannery announced his intention - to newspapers and in a public conference – to ignore the disciplinary measures presented against him by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Today, Michael Brehl, the Canadian Superior General of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, issued a declaration in which he expressed his deep regret for the actions recently undertaken by Flannery, also a member of the Congregation.
In his brief statement, the current Superior of the religious order founded by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, gives a brief summary of the whole affair: “In January, 2012, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith raised concerns about some of the writings of Fr. Flannery which were ambiguous regarding fundamental areas of Catholic doctrine, including the priesthood, the nature of the Church, and the Eucharist,” Brehl writes. The priest “was instructed to undertake a period of prayer and theological reflection to clarify his positions on these matters. During this sabbatical period, he was instructed not to grant interviews or make public statements, and to withdraw from active involvement in the leadership of the ACP (an independent body of Catholic priests which had been called to address the paedophilia scandal in the Irish Catholic Church, Ed.), especially since the priesthood was one of the matters on which he was asked to clarify his position. He was also instructed to withdraw from active priestly ministry during this period of prayer and reflection.”
In his statement, Fr. Brehl “earnestly” urged his confrere “to renew the efforts to find an agreed solution to the concerns raised by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith.” Finally, he invited his “Redemptorist confreres of the Irish Province to join with [him] in praying and working together in the spirit of St Alphonsus to maintain and strengthen our communion with the Universal Church.”
Redemptorists change their tune: Flannery must obey CDF
IRELAND
Vatican Insider
Redemptorist Superior General, Michael Brehl has asked the Irish priest to obey the instructions of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Gianni Valente
Rome
The case of rebel Redemptorist priest Tony Flannery has reached a significant turning point. In recent days Fr. Flannery announced his intention - to newspapers and in a public conference – to ignore the disciplinary measures presented against him by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Today, Michael Brehl, the Canadian Superior General of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, issued a declaration in which he expressed his deep regret for the actions recently undertaken by Flannery, also a member of the Congregation.
In his brief statement, the current Superior of the religious order founded by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, gives a brief summary of the whole affair: “In January, 2012, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith raised concerns about some of the writings of Fr. Flannery which were ambiguous regarding fundamental areas of Catholic doctrine, including the priesthood, the nature of the Church, and the Eucharist,” Brehl writes. The priest “was instructed to undertake a period of prayer and theological reflection to clarify his positions on these matters. During this sabbatical period, he was instructed not to grant interviews or make public statements, and to withdraw from active involvement in the leadership of the ACP (an independent body of Catholic priests which had been called to address the paedophilia scandal in the Irish Catholic Church, Ed.), especially since the priesthood was one of the matters on which he was asked to clarify his position. He was also instructed to withdraw from active priestly ministry during this period of prayer and reflection.”
In his statement, Fr. Brehl “earnestly” urged his confrere “to renew the efforts to find an agreed solution to the concerns raised by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith.” Finally, he invited his “Redemptorist confreres of the Irish Province to join with [him] in praying and working together in the spirit of St Alphonsus to maintain and strengthen our communion with the Universal Church.”
Vatican Insider
Redemptorist Superior General, Michael Brehl has asked the Irish priest to obey the instructions of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Gianni Valente
Rome
The case of rebel Redemptorist priest Tony Flannery has reached a significant turning point. In recent days Fr. Flannery announced his intention - to newspapers and in a public conference – to ignore the disciplinary measures presented against him by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Today, Michael Brehl, the Canadian Superior General of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, issued a declaration in which he expressed his deep regret for the actions recently undertaken by Flannery, also a member of the Congregation.
In his brief statement, the current Superior of the religious order founded by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, gives a brief summary of the whole affair: “In January, 2012, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith raised concerns about some of the writings of Fr. Flannery which were ambiguous regarding fundamental areas of Catholic doctrine, including the priesthood, the nature of the Church, and the Eucharist,” Brehl writes. The priest “was instructed to undertake a period of prayer and theological reflection to clarify his positions on these matters. During this sabbatical period, he was instructed not to grant interviews or make public statements, and to withdraw from active involvement in the leadership of the ACP (an independent body of Catholic priests which had been called to address the paedophilia scandal in the Irish Catholic Church, Ed.), especially since the priesthood was one of the matters on which he was asked to clarify his position. He was also instructed to withdraw from active priestly ministry during this period of prayer and reflection.”
In his statement, Fr. Brehl “earnestly” urged his confrere “to renew the efforts to find an agreed solution to the concerns raised by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith.” Finally, he invited his “Redemptorist confreres of the Irish Province to join with [him] in praying and working together in the spirit of St Alphonsus to maintain and strengthen our communion with the Universal Church.”
Nechemya Weberman Gets 103 Years for Sex Abuse, and Satmars Say 'Whoa'
The Jewish Daily Forward
By Paul Berger
Published January 22, 2013.
The stunning 103-year prison term imposed on Brooklyn ‘therapist’ Nechemya Weberman for sexually abusing a girl has unleashed fierce debate, with many members of his ultra-Orthodox community saying the harsh sentence is unfair especially compared with punishment meted out to other notorious criminals.
Critics claim the long sentence will deter future abuse victims from coming forward — but victims’ advocates and prosecutors insist seeing justice done will only encourage others to report crimes to secular authorities.
Weberman, an unlicensed therapist, rabbi, and prominent member of the Satmar ultra-Orthodox community, was hit with the lengthy sentence on January 22. He was found guilty in December of 59 counts related to the abuse of the Orthodox girl over a period of three years from the age of 12.
“The community looks at a 100-year-sentence and says, ‘Whoa, murderers don’t get anywhere near 100 years,’” said Ezra Friedlander, CEO of The Friedlander Group, a public relations firm that caters to many ultra-Orthodox clients.
News for January 26, 2013
Vatican Terror on women and the poor news update January 26, 2013
Catholic News Agency
Denver, Colo., Jan 25, 2013 / 04:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Colorado's three bishops will examine litigation surrounding Catholic Health Initiatives, after its lawyers allegedly argued in a wrongful-death lawsuit that human fetuses are not persons.
“The Catholic bishops of Colorado
“Catholic Health Initiatives has been accused by some of undermining the Catholic position on human life in the course of litigation," they added. "Today, representatives of Catholic Health Initiatives assured us of their intention to observe the moral and ethical obligations of the Catholic Church.”
Addicting Info
Posted by T. Steelman
In a stunning bit of hypocrisy, Catholic Health Initiatives – a non-profit that runs about 170 health facilities in 17 states – is arguing that fetuses are not people. Specifically, two fetuses involved in a wrongful death suit brought against them in Colorado
This began on New Year’s Day 2006, when 31-year-old Lori Stodghill arrived at St. Thomas More hospital inCañon City , CO OB on-call that night) was paged but he did not answer. Ms. Stodghill died from a heart attack less than an hour after she arrived at the Emergency Room. The twins she was carrying died in her womb. Her bereaved husband filed a wrongful death suit against the hospital on behalf of himself and his daughter (who was 2 at the time), charging that Dr. Staples should have at least directed the ER staff to perform an emergency C-section. An expert testified that while Lori could not in all likelihood have been saved, the babies could have been if a caesarean had been performed right away.
This began on New Year’s Day 2006, when 31-year-old Lori Stodghill arrived at St. Thomas More hospital in
Catholic Health Initiatives, being the parent company of Thomas More Hospital
The
Posted: 01/24/2013
By Electa Draper
The Denver Post denverpost.com
The Denver Post denverpost.com
Jeremy Stodghill filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in District Court in Fremont County after his 31-year-old wife, Lori, seven months pregnant with twin boys, died of a blockage of the main artery of the lung at St. Thomas More Hospital in Cañon City
Stodghill's lawyer argued that her obstetrician, Pelham Staples, never made it to the hospital — even though on call for emergencies — and there was no attempt by any medical personnel to save the Stodghills' sons by cesarian section.The unborn children died in the womb.
The lead defendant is Englewood-based Catholic Health Initiatives, which runs St. Thomas More and hospitals in 14 states.
The Catholic Church has fought for decades to change federal and state laws to protect fetuses as persons. Yet, according to court documents, Catholic Health Initiatives argued in this case that the Colorado Wrongful Death Act requires the death of a person and the statute doesn't include the death of a fetus that wasn't born or delivered.
UNITED STATES
Vatican Insider
The shocking case involving a Catholic hospital in Cañon City
Alessandro Speciale
Rome
Rome
Just as anti-abortion activists celebrate the annual March for Life in Washington, the American Catholic Church finds itself in a rather embarassing situation: a Catholic hospital in Colorado defended itself against a wrongful death lawsuit, stating that a foetus is not the same as a person.
This stance is in direct contrast with the position of the Church which has fought for years for the rights of unborn children and the rights of the hospital in question which in its statute states that the sanctity of life should be defended from conception until natural death.
This stance is in direct contrast with the position of the Church which has fought for years for the rights of unborn children and the rights of the hospital in question which in its statute states that the sanctity of life should be defended from conception until natural death.
In court, however, the lawyers representing Catholic Health Initiatives - the chain of hospitals which St. Thomas More in Cañon City
Vatican Terror on priests and the poor News Update January26, 2013
The Church Is Wrong! Fr. Flannery, Like MLK, Is Right to Follow His Conscience
Posted: 01/23/2013 4:53 pm
Steve McSwain
I was reading recently of the bravery of the Irish Catholic priest, Fr. Tony Flannery, who, at 66, is being threatened by the Vatican
No! I thought. The Vatican
LOL!
The history of Christianity, and not just in Catholicism but in all Christian denominations, is similar. The Church has found that it thrives best not in a world it sacrifices itself to redeem -- not in a world it lays down its life in order to give life to others -- but, instead, it survives best by demanding coercion, by making itself into a "god" and insisting this God can only be known "our" way; by making its beliefs into an idol that the faithful must bow the knee. The church has found that, by drawing lines in theological and doctrinal sands, battle lines between "us," the theologically "correct" and "them," the doctrinally "wrong," that, by doing so, the church wins.
But does it really?
Of course, it does not, as history has repeatedly demonstrated. Unfortunately, however, history, at least as far as the church is concerned, has never been a very good teacher for church leaders.
For all the good the church has done, and it has done much good, the history of Christianity is in large measure the history of madness. This morning's story is simply another case-in-point.
Last year, for example, the Vatican
Why?
Flannery has been an advocate for many years for more openness in the Catholic understanding of faith and practice. Although he is a popular writer all over the world, the fact is, however, to the male-dominated and frightened hierarchy of the Catholic Church, Flannery has become -- and is -- a threat too serious to ignore any longer. So much so, the Vatican
But, Flannery asks, "How can I put my name to such a document when it goes against everything I believe in?"
I would ask, "How contradictory can the Church be?" On one hand, the Church teaches people, and priests, to follow their conscience. When, on the other hand, they do, they are threatened.
Of course, Flannery could sign the bogus document and so get his ministry back. To capitulate to Church hierarchy would place him in the company of many other clerics who've compromised their character already. I know many, many priests, for example, who just "go along to get along." I coach and counsel many of them, as well as countless Protestant and evangelical ministers across the country. Many of them do not share the same religious views as their denominational leaders or even other colleagues. Furthermore, many of them share neither the theological views nor the doctrinal beliefs of those congregations that pay their salaries. But to get along, they go along.
In other words, the Flannery's of the Christian world are far too few. Many religious leaders have sacrificed who they really are on the altar of professional survival. They are silent when they should speak. They are themselves the fulfillment of the prophesy that the day would come when people would prefer ministers who preach what they want to hear and to do so pleasingly. The way the Apostle Paul put it is, "having itching ears, these pew warmers seek preachers who..."
Who what?
Who know how to be good "ear scratchers." Where I come from, such people are called "butt kissers"!
And these ministers have found plenty of justification for kissing ass. Please pardon the blunt honesty, but isn't it true? Ministers today have found plenty of reason why they should remain quiet -- go along to get along -- plenty of reason for attempting to hoist their sail just high enough to carry their career to the shore of retirement where there, they can be done with the charade that is their life -- their ministry -- once-and-for-all.
It might surprise you but I know colleagues in church consulting, which is what I do, who live with the same kind of internal discord I tried to live with for years -- a discord that is created whenever who you really are, as well as what you really believe, you hide from others. You do this for what you mistakenly think is career survival. Find yourself experiencing a little success and the illusion thrives. Inside you, however, you know you are a lie. You feel imprisoned. And that's precisely because, you are. You're a phony and you know it.
I am no fortune-teller but I suspect the hopes of the Vatican to put pressure on Flannery and others in the Church like him, the other priests and Catholics who advocate for change, I suspect that the Church's demand that the faithful line up, straighten up and give blind obedience to church doctrine will only and finally succeed in backfiring on them. You see, if I've learned anything from my own history, once you've tasted the sweet cup of freedom -- the freedom to be and so believe as your conscience dictates, as God directs you -- anything else is, well, just plain bitter to the tongue and to the soul.
The day I decided I would no longer live my life pretending to be someone I'm not, saying I believed things I really did not, and all because I needed and wanted come congregation's approval, some denomination's endorsement or the next consulting contract, the day I decided I wanted the applause of heaven over the compliments of a congregant, colleague, or cleric, that's the day I became free. On the occasion of Martin Luther King, Jr. day, what could be more important upon which to reflect?
When it comes to integrity and character, when I decided that being like Flannery is infinitely more important than living for flattery, well, on that day, I experienced what the Gospel of John calls, "the New Birth."
The real New Birth.
The Roman Church and its misguided leaders may seek to "kill" the reputation and ministry of Flannery. But, they will succeed only in giving birth to other Flannerys, to other Martin Luther Kings, and perhaps to ______________. Well, could your name go there?
Oprah asked Lance Armstrong, "Do you know what I hope the lesson in all of this will be for you?"
"What's that?" he asked.
"That the truth shall make you free."
The truth always makes you free. And what is the truth? For any of us?
Look inside. It's the person you really are.
Who you really are just waits to be born.
Protest at Papal Nunciature over treatment of Fr Tony Flannery
IRELAND
The Journal
ABOUT 120 PEOPLE have attended a protest outside the residence of the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, in Cabra in Dublin, over the treatment of Fr Tony Flannery.
The liberal Redemptorist priest, who founded the Association of Catholic Priests, has been taken out of ministry while the Vatican investigates his involvement with the group.
The body has been outspoken in its calls for an end to clerical celibacy and the right of priests to marry – as well as seeking an overhaul to church teachings on sexuality and on the method of selection for bishops.
The 66-year-old has been ordered to sign a document confirming his adherence to Church teachings before he will be put back into active ministry – but he has refused to do so, saying this week he would be unable to look at himself in the mirror if he did.
The Journal
ABOUT 120 PEOPLE have attended a protest outside the residence of the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, in Cabra in Dublin, over the treatment of Fr Tony Flannery.
The liberal Redemptorist priest, who founded the Association of Catholic Priests, has been taken out of ministry while the Vatican investigates his involvement with the group.
The body has been outspoken in its calls for an end to clerical celibacy and the right of priests to marry – as well as seeking an overhaul to church teachings on sexuality and on the method of selection for bishops.
The 66-year-old has been ordered to sign a document confirming his adherence to Church teachings before he will be put back into active ministry – but he has refused to do so, saying this week he would be unable to look at himself in the mirror if he did.
150 people picket Papal Nuncio's residence over 'shabby, unjust' treatment of gagged priest
IRELAND
Irish Examiner
More than 150 people picketed the residence of the Papal Nuncio in Dublin this afternoon in protest at the Catholic Church's treatment of well-known Irish missionary Fr Tony Flannery.
Last week Fr Flannery said he had been censored by the Vatican for his views on homosexuality and women priests, and called the Vatican's systems "unfair and unjust".
The 800-strong Association of Catholic Priests previously warned that forcing Father Tony Flannery to stop writing for a Redemptorist Order magazine would fuel belief of a disconnect between Irish Catholics and Rome.
Fr Flannery, a founder of the association, had his monthly column with the religious publication 'Reality' discontinued on orders from Rome.
IRELAND
Irish Examiner
More than 150 people picketed the residence of the Papal Nuncio in Dublin this afternoon in protest at the Catholic Church's treatment of well-known Irish missionary Fr Tony Flannery.
Last week Fr Flannery said he had been censored by the Vatican for his views on homosexuality and women priests, and called the Vatican's systems "unfair and unjust".
The 800-strong Association of Catholic Priests previously warned that forcing Father Tony Flannery to stop writing for a Redemptorist Order magazine would fuel belief of a disconnect between Irish Catholics and Rome.
Fr Flannery, a founder of the association, had his monthly column with the religious publication 'Reality' discontinued on orders from Rome.
Irish Examiner
More than 150 people picketed the residence of the Papal Nuncio in Dublin this afternoon in protest at the Catholic Church's treatment of well-known Irish missionary Fr Tony Flannery.
Last week Fr Flannery said he had been censored by the Vatican for his views on homosexuality and women priests, and called the Vatican's systems "unfair and unjust".
The 800-strong Association of Catholic Priests previously warned that forcing Father Tony Flannery to stop writing for a Redemptorist Order magazine would fuel belief of a disconnect between Irish Catholics and Rome.
Fr Flannery, a founder of the association, had his monthly column with the religious publication 'Reality' discontinued on orders from Rome.
Fr. Flannery's grasp of theology better than that of his silencers
National Catholic Reporter
by Eugene Cullen Kennedy | Jan. 25, 2013
The Irish Redemptorist Fr. Tony Flannery refuses to meet the
Flannery, a popular preacher and writer, told The New York Times he has been "writing thought-provoking articles and books for decades without hindrance" and that the campaign against him "is being orchestrated by a secretive body that refuses to meet me. Surely I should at least be allowed to explain my views to my accusers."
Flannery also organized the Association of Catholic Priests in 2009 to articulate the views of rank-and-file members of the clergy, the Times reports. Flannery may have gotten himself investigated as much for giving Irish priests a voice as for using his own in challenging old-fashioned formulations with his well-informed knowledge of theology and history.
If Father Flannery is being asked to endorse the notion that Jesus established the hierarchical church and that the bishops are the divinely appointed successors of the apostles, one might be more concerned about how firm a grasp his accusers have on modern theology.
This incident is an early 21st-century reprise of the early 20th-century Roman worldwide crackdown on priests who were keeping up with the new advances in theological and scriptural studies. All priests were forced to take the Oath Against Modernism, the vague catch-all phrase that supposedly summarized the heresies rampant in the new learning.
ACI speaks out on Fr. Tony Flannery controversy
IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests
The Association of Catholics in Ireland [ACI] expressed concerns in relation to the Fr. Tony Flannery case via a letter to the Irish Times on Wednesday 23 January. Unfortunately the letter has not been published to date – see text below.
In light of comments from Fr. Tony during the week which clarified the chronology of events and the role of the CDF in the controversy in recent months the ACI deemed it appropriate to address an ‘open letter’ to the Papal Nuncio which is also published below.
Letter to the Irish Times
Dear Sir,
We, the members of the Steering Group of the ‘fledgeling’ Association of Catholics in Ireland [ACI], view with great sadness the impasse which has developed between Fr. Tony Flannery and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [CDF]. In this week of prayer for Christian Unity, when Catholics are encouraged to enter into dialogue with members of other churches, it seems extraordinary that the CDF has refused dialogue with one of our own priests. We have sympathy too for the leaders of the Redemptorists in Ireland and abroad in the dilemma in which they have been placed.
The position of the Irish bishops is not known. Since they have insisted on the right of politicians to follow their consciences in a free vote on the abortion legislation issue, surely consistency and coherence must demand that they champion the right of a priest to follow his conscience? As the present Pope, then Cardinal Ratzinger, wrote: “Over the Pope as the expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority, there still stands one’s own conscience, which must be obeyed over all else, if necessary even against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority.” (Commentary on Section 16 of Vatican II’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.)
Association of Catholic Priests
The Association of Catholics in Ireland [ACI] expressed concerns in relation to the Fr. Tony Flannery case via a letter to the Irish Times on Wednesday 23 January. Unfortunately the letter has not been published to date – see text below.
In light of comments from Fr. Tony during the week which clarified the chronology of events and the role of the CDF in the controversy in recent months the ACI deemed it appropriate to address an ‘open letter’ to the Papal Nuncio which is also published below.
Letter to the Irish Times
Dear Sir,
We, the members of the Steering Group of the ‘fledgeling’ Association of Catholics in Ireland [ACI], view with great sadness the impasse which has developed between Fr. Tony Flannery and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [CDF]. In this week of prayer for Christian Unity, when Catholics are encouraged to enter into dialogue with members of other churches, it seems extraordinary that the CDF has refused dialogue with one of our own priests. We have sympathy too for the leaders of the Redemptorists in Ireland and abroad in the dilemma in which they have been placed.
The position of the Irish bishops is not known. Since they have insisted on the right of politicians to follow their consciences in a free vote on the abortion legislation issue, surely consistency and coherence must demand that they champion the right of a priest to follow his conscience? As the present Pope, then Cardinal Ratzinger, wrote: “Over the Pope as the expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority, there still stands one’s own conscience, which must be obeyed over all else, if necessary even against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority.” (Commentary on Section 16 of Vatican II’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.)
The cost of 'particularly grave sins'
Irish Times
JOE HUMPHREYS
Q What does it take to get excommunicated?
The censuring of Fr Tony Flannery by his superiors in the Catholic Church has been the subject of claim and counterclaim this week.
Just whether or not he has been threatened with excommunication for his “dissident” views remains hotly debated.
As with many matters of canon law, there is scope for different interpretations.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes excommunication as “the most severe ecclesiastical penalty, which impedes the reception of the sacraments and the exercise of certain ecclesiastical acts”. It is reserved for “certain particularly grave sins”, and cannot be absolved except by the pope, a bishop or an authorised priest. Theologians who spoke to The Irish Times described excommunication as extremely rare and almost unheard of in an Irish context. Traditionally, it has been reserved for clergy who hold “heretical” views or who have been involved in unauthorised ordinations. But it has also been used recently to penalise figures within the church who have supported or advocated abortion.
No excommunication for Fr Flannery - Vatican
The Irish Catholic
The
Michael Kelly
There is “no question” of Fr Tony Flannery facing excommunication senior
During a press conference in
However, senior
Sources in the Roman Curia who spoke to The Irish Catholic this week claim that it is a 2010 contention by Fr Flannery that he no longer believed that “the priesthood as we currently have it in the Church originated with Jesus” or that Jesus designated “a special group of his followers as priests,” that is problematic for the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF).
Vatican threatened to excommunicate priest, documents confirm
Irish Times
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery was threatened with excommunication by the
It quoted such “senior
A document from the
The same document pointed out that “the Church’s canon law (canon 1044) calls a priest who has committed the delict of heresy ‘irregular for the exercise of orders received’, while canon 1364 says that ‘a heretic incurs a latae sententiae excommunication’.”
Colum Kenny: Might of Rome descends on an unlikely heretic priest
IRELAND
Irish Independent
Tony Flannery is an unlikely heretic. An Irish Redemptorist priest, he is now being threatened with excommunication from his own church.
So who cares? According to some media reports last week, a new survey of Irish public opinion ranks religion last among 119 priorities. But the survey and the reports about it were misleading.
Rome has let Flannery know that his opinions on the priesthood, and on the role of the laity, "are clearly contrary to the defined teaching of the Church" (as Rome sees it). He was stripped of his column in the Redemptorists' Reality magazine, forbidden to administer the sacraments and now has one last chance to recant before being excluded from the institution to which he has given his life.
Some have linked his predicament to Enda Kenny's criticism of the Vatican. Flannery's brother Frank has long been a leading light in Fine Gael. Rome was not happy with the Taoiseach's criticisms, and it was whispered by some that Fr Flannery had a hand in Kenny's controversial speech of 2011. When Fr Flannery first heard that whisper, he thought it was a joke. He says: "I had absolutely nothing to do with the speech. I keep well away from politics in my profession."
Irish Independent
Tony Flannery is an unlikely heretic. An Irish Redemptorist priest, he is now being threatened with excommunication from his own church.
So who cares? According to some media reports last week, a new survey of Irish public opinion ranks religion last among 119 priorities. But the survey and the reports about it were misleading.
Rome has let Flannery know that his opinions on the priesthood, and on the role of the laity, "are clearly contrary to the defined teaching of the Church" (as Rome sees it). He was stripped of his column in the Redemptorists' Reality magazine, forbidden to administer the sacraments and now has one last chance to recant before being excluded from the institution to which he has given his life.
Some have linked his predicament to Enda Kenny's criticism of the Vatican. Flannery's brother Frank has long been a leading light in Fine Gael. Rome was not happy with the Taoiseach's criticisms, and it was whispered by some that Fr Flannery had a hand in Kenny's controversial speech of 2011. When Fr Flannery first heard that whisper, he thought it was a joke. He says: "I had absolutely nothing to do with the speech. I keep well away from politics in my profession."
PROTEST IN SUPPORT OF ATHENRY PRIEST AT PAPEL NUNCIO IN DUBLIN
IRELAND
Galway News
January 27, 2013
The residence of the Papal Nuncio in Dublin is to be picketed today, in protest against the Catholic Church's treatment of well-known Athenry-based Fr. Tony Flannery.
Last week Fr. Flannery revealed on Galway bay Fm how he had been censored by the Vatican for his views on homosexuality and women priests, and called the Vatican's systems "unfair and unjust."
The protest has been organised by the group 'We Are Church Ireland'.
Galway News
January 27, 2013
The residence of the Papal Nuncio in Dublin is to be picketed today, in protest against the Catholic Church's treatment of well-known Athenry-based Fr. Tony Flannery.
Last week Fr. Flannery revealed on Galway bay Fm how he had been censored by the Vatican for his views on homosexuality and women priests, and called the Vatican's systems "unfair and unjust."
The protest has been organised by the group 'We Are Church Ireland'.
===========
Boston Archdiocese Reports Deficit, $137M Debt
BOSTON (MA)Boston Catholic Insider
With almost no fanfare, the Boston Archdiocese released the 2012 Annual Report on Friday. This stands in contrast to last year, when the archdiocese released the 2011 results saying they had a “balanced budget,” when that really was not true. Central Operations for the archdiocese ran at a loss of about $6.8M, and the archdiocese also faces their own “fiscal cliff” of sorts as they have $137M of debt and no obvious way of paying it right now.
For all who care about the future of the Boston Archdiocese and her ability to carry out the saving mission of Jesus Christ for generations to come, there is reason for serious concern.
The report, available here, presents a lot of data, and it is easy to be overwhelmed with the data and miss the meaning of the data, as the Boston Globe did in their article on Friday. Once you look at the big picture, the message should raise alarm bells at 66 Brooks Drive and at the Vatican that we can no longer have “business as usual.” A few finance experts looked over the report and helped shed insight for us into the data. Here are just some of the key things you should know:
o Despite a “balanced budget” announced for the 2011 fiscal year, the recently released financial statements show (page 24, and page 73–Column 2) that the Central Operations of the archdiocese had an operating loss of $6.8 million in 2012 and $6.3M in 2011 (page 24). BCI pointed out the deception last year, and at least this year, they did not say they had a balanced budget–they just said they had a goal of having one.
How Much Longer Can the Vatican Avoid Priest Sex Abuse?
UNITED STATESChristian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
The
On an academic level, a promising young UK/Italian lay ecclesiologist has effectively exposed the mainly mythological foundation of the Vatican’s claim for absolute papal primacy. The recent book, “Democracy and the Christian Church”, concisely shows the scriptural, theological, philosophical and historical weaknesses of the papal claim and is accessible in part by clicking on at: http://amzn.com/0567449521
Catholics are increasingly learning that hierarchical conduct too often deviates significantly from papal propaganda. Initial Los Angeles secret abuse file revelations have exposed Cardinal Mahony’s reckless protection of known predatory priests. Criminal allegations of drug dealing against, and related cross-dressing and porn shop operation reports about, a former Bridgeport state chaplain of the Knights of Malta and top subordinate to Cardinal Egan and to Archbishop Lori, head of the Pope’s anti-Obama “religious liberty crusade”, are almost incredibly unsavory.
Moreover, reported efforts apparently to protect the secrecy of Munich and Regensburg files of the Pope and his brother, relating to alleged failures in the 1970′s to curtail a Munich predatory priest and to protect abused Regensburg choir boys, by sacking a too thorough German academic investigator, further erodes the steadily disappearing papal credibility. Ruthless attempts to silence a popular Irish priest who spoke about women and married priests, and apparently also to try to curtail an Irish priests’ “union”, are backfiring as the brave priest stands fast. Continued diatribes against gay marriage by a reported drunk driver San Francisco Archbishop appear cynical and desperate at best. Seemingly unending criminal trial disclosures about Cardinal Rigali’s Philly pedophile priest paradise continues to disgust many Catholics. Millions of U.S. Catholics have had enough and want to see these hypocritical and unaccountable actions curbed promptly.
Vatican Billions: its history, sources, and assets today worldwide.
UNITED STATESPope Crimes & Vatican Evils...
Paris Arrow
BOYCOTT the Vatican Museum and boycott ALL donations to the Vatican Catholic Church Reign of Terror Vatican Assets in England and in the United States of America
Vatican assets in London
- premises of Bulgari, the upmarket jewellers in New Bond Street
- headquarters of the wealthy investment bank Altium Capital, on the corner of St James's Square
- Pall Mall
Is the Pope Panicking Over Sex Scandals, Political Polls, or Both?
UNITED STATESChristian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
Recent
Meanwhile, the scandal is seriously harming the
The new appointment as chief of staff to President Obama of Denis McDonough, the highly regarded brother of a senior hierarchical canon lawyer from the Minneapolis-St. Paul diocese, (member of Opus Dei???) with its extensive priest sex abuse claims, suggests the President will know well what is going on in the USA with its more than 100,000 estimated survivors of priest sex abuse. President Obama has already spoken out strongly against child sex abuse in organizational settings; now he may step up and do more than talk about it.
Given this, one would have expected the
Updates for Febraury 6, 2013
Updates for February 6, 2013 . Vatican Terror on Women and Children
2,000 Irish children were illegally adopted in US from Magdalene Laundries
Irish Central
By
IrishCentral Staff Writers
Published
Up to 2,000 children were illegally exported from Magdalene laundries in
Many of those children are now demanding justice for their birth parents and an apology from the Irish government who they say were totally complicit in the cover-up of what went on. Activists believe the McAleese report is the first step in the right direction.
The children were taken away from their mothers who worked under near slave conditions in the Magdalene Laundry system set up by the state and religious orders.
The Justice for Magdalenes campaign group, founded in the U.S. by a 'Magdalene baby' Mari Steed, has fought a 10-year campaign for an official apology from the Irish State and Catholic Church, and for compensation for all who are still alive.
GALWAY LABOUR SENATOR SUPPORTS CALL FOR MAGDALENE COMPENSATION SCHEME
Groups supporting survivors of Magdalene laundries say it's a momentous day for the women involved and their families.
However, they say the issue will not rest with the publication of Martin McAleese's report into the laundries, including the
The Justice For Magdalenes Group wants the government to act swiftly - to apologise to the Magdalene women, and to set up a redress scheme that will compensate them.
Galway Labour Senator, Lorraine Higgins is supporting the call for compensation scheme for the survivors of the laundries.
Magdalene Laundry devastated my life
Evening Echo
“MY LIFE has been devastated — I was left without a mother, without love, without a home, without everything a human being should have.”
Mary Smyth, who spent time in a Magdalene Laundry in
Mary, who was in the Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry in Sundays Well, was one of several women who told their stories to the interdepartmental committee who have prepared the 1,000-page report.
The committee was chaired by Senator Martin McAleese.
Majority sent to Magdalene laundries for minor offences
ITV
The majority of women forced into Magdalene laundries were there for minor offences such as theft and not paying for a train ticket.
A small number of women were there for prostitution - despite the stigma attached to those who were sent to the laundries and became known as Maggies, a slang term for prostitute.
The report also confirmed that a garda could arrest a girl or a woman without warrant if she was being recalled to the laundry or if she had run away.
Report to reveal Magdalene laundry responsibility
Scotsman
Published on
A NEW report is today expected to lay bare the extent of responsibility that successive Irish governments must accept for what went on in Magdalene laundries.
• Over 74 years, thousands of women were put to work in detention, mostly in laundries run by nuns
• 18-month investigation into the Catholic-run workhouses will formally reveal state involvement and knowledge
An 18-month investigation into the Catholic-run workhouses will formally reveal state involvement and knowledge of the harrowing life women in the institutions endured between 1922 and 1996.
A committee chaired by Senator Martin McAleese, who has since resigned from politics, spent 18 months establishing the role official Ireland played in the for-profit Church-run operation.
Survivors have been campaigning for the last 10 years for an apology from state and Church and a transparent compensation scheme.
10 laundries: Four orders
Irish Times
Sisters of Our Lady of Charity , St Mary’s Refuge, High Park, Grace Park Road, Drumcondra, Dublin.
Monastery of Our Lady of Charity,
Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy
Magdalen Asylum / Home,
St Patrick’s Refuge, Crofton Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co
Overseas media take critical line following publication
Irish Times
ÁINE McMAHON
The long-awaited report into the Magdalene laundries made headlines around the world when it was published yesterday afternoon.
The Financial Times reported: “No apology for Magdalene laundry inmates.” The BBC website used the headline: “Irish PM: Magdalene laundries product of harsh
‘Enslavement’
A tweet from the BBC breaking news Twitter account earlier that day noted: “Irish PM apologises for conditions in #Magdalene laundries, workhouses where thousands of women were locked up from 1922 to 1996.”
The Guardian’s website covered the story under the heading: “Magdalene laundries:
Kenny under fire for failure to issue full apology to Magdalene women
Irish Times
STEPHEN COLLINS and HARRY McGEE
A political row has erupted over the refusal of Taoiseach Enda Kenny to issue a full apology to the women who spent time in the Magdalene laundries, despite the fact that more than a quarter were sent there by the State.
The official report published yesterday of an interdepartmental committee chaired by Martin McAleese found the women were from many backgrounds. Some were referred by courts, others released on licence from industrial schools before they reached 16 years of age, while some were young women over 16 years of age who had been orphaned or were in abusive or neglectful homes.
The report, which investigated 10 Magdalene laundries run by four congregations found that:
* The number of women who spent time in laundries since 1922 was 10,012;
* Some 2,124 referrals were made or facilitated by the State - 26.5 per cent of the total;
* The average age at the time of entry was 23.8 years;
* The age of the youngest known entrant was nine and the oldest 89;
Abused in the past and abandoned in the present
Irish Times
JAMES M SMITH
Opinion: She remains anonymous by choice. She values her privacy above all. She lives alone and never married. She attends daily
Her mother died when she was seven. At 14, her father remarried but she and a younger sister were unwelcome in the new family household, the only home they ever knew. Poverty was her only crime.
She was taken to the Good Shepherd convent in New Ross, her younger sister sent by train to the congregation’s
But the two sisters were put to work in the Magdalene laundry with its population of adult women workers. For the next five years she washed society’s dirty laundry and received no pay. When she refused to work the nuns cut her hair as punishment. The hair grew back but to this day the loss of her education angers her. To her, it was a prison in all but name. There was no inspector, no child welfare officer. She was abandoned and no one cared.
'I wondered if I should just open the place and let them out'
Irish Times
DAN
Patricia Burke Brogan joined the Sisters of Mercy to help the poor, but after working briefly in
In doing so she became one of the first writers to tackle the subject, with a short story and then in the 1980s with a play. At the time most theatres rejected it as too controversial. “One theatre director wrote back and said: ‘Do you know what you’re saying?’,” she said.
She encountered the laundry on
Magdalene laundry survivor: 'Treated worse than prisoners'
BBC News
[with video]
In
1990s are waiting to hear the extent of the Irish government's involvement.
Girls considered "troubled" or what were then called "fallen women" were sent to the Catholic-run workhouses by families or the courts.
Maureen Sullivan was sent to a Magdalene laundry in New Ross,
One in 10 women put in laundries by own family
Irish Times
JUDITH CROSBIE
Family members were responsible for one in 10 women being admitted to Magdalene laundries. Epileptic fits, tuberculosis and a “heart condition” are among the reasons recorded in the laundries’ registers for placement by families. One 13-year-old was put into a laundry in the 1920s by her mother “because of fits”. Her sister took her out after a few days but she was returned a year later.
The youngest girl admitted by her family was just 12, the oldest was 72.
Other non-State routes into the laundries included self-referrals (16.4 per cent), referrals by priests (8.8 per cent) and by charity groups or other organisations and individuals.
Majority sent to Magdalene laundries for minor offences
ITV
The majority of women forced into Magdalene laundries were there for minor offences such as theft and not paying for a train ticket.
A small number of women were there for prostitution - despite the stigma attached to those who were sent to the laundries and became known as Maggies, a slang term for prostitute.
The report also confirmed that a garda could arrest a girl or a woman without warrant if she was being recalled to the laundry or if she had run away.
Caitriona Palmer: Stolen lives - How women like Josie were cruelly robbed of their best years
Irish Independent
By Caitriona Palmer
TO account for a missing decade of her life, 79-year-old Josephine Murphy uses a comforting euphemism: she tells friends and family that between 1947 and 1957 she was simply, "with the nuns".
A product of
As a child, Murphy – not her real name – was taken from her unmarried mother and sent to live in an industrial school in
There she gave birth to a little girl, a baby she adored for 18 months before the child was taken from her by the nuns and sent to live with another family in
Amnesty warns of 'justice gap' for Northern Ireland Magdalene Laundry victims
Amnesty International
Posted:
Amnesty International has issued a call for former residents of Magdalene Laundry-type institutions in
But the human rights group warned that there was now a clear "justice gap" emerging for women who experienced abuse in such institutions in
On the day that the Irish Government published a review showing state involvement in the operation of ten Magdalene Laundries in the
Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland Programme Director of Amnesty International, said:
"The truth must now also emerge about the experiences of abuse suffered by girls and women in Magdalene Laundry-type institutions in
Magdalene survivors reject Taoiseach's apology
Breaking News
Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries
Survivors of the Magdalene Laundry have quickly rejected the Taoiseach's apology, and demanded a fuller and more frank admission from government and the religious orders involved.
Maureen Sullivan, Magdalene Survivors Together, said: “That is not an apology.
“He is the Taoiseach of our country, he is the Taoiseach of the Irish people, and that is not a proper apology.”
Mary Smyth said she endured inhumane conditions in a laundry, which she said was worse than being in prison.
“I will go to the grave with what happened. It will never ever leave me,” said Ms Smyth, also of the group.
Case for greater compassion
Irish Times
A full apology to former inmates of the Magdalene laundries on behalf of the State would represent a positive start in dealing with a harsh and distressing chapter of Irish life spanning more than 70 years. Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s decision to delay debate on an official report for two weeks is cause for concern, however, because of blunt denials of any responsibility by previous governments. Involvement and collusion by the State has now been placed beyond doubt and an early, compassionate response is required.
An inquiry under the chairmanship of Senator Martin McAleese has confirmed extensive official State involvement with the laundries while attempting to dispel public misconceptions and place the institutions in the social context of the time. He considered a wholly inaccurate link between the laundries and “fallen women” as the reason many inmates had declined to detail their experiences. Memories of those women who did come forwards were, however, generally negative.
Allegations of sexual abuse were not made against the sisters and the ill-treatment, physical punishment and abuse prevalent in industrial schools were not repeated. There were complaints of mental, rather than physical, cruelty. Laundries were “cold, with a rigid and uncompromising regime of physically demanding work and prayer”. Former inmates spoke of being exploited; of a deep sense of hurt at being locked up; of being denied their names and refused information on when they would be allowed leave.
Taoiseach refuses SF call for apology
Irish Times
MARIE O'HALLORAN
Taoiseach Enda Kenny refused to be drawn on a Sinn Féin demand that he apologise to women held in the Magdalene laundries rather than try to put a “positive blas” on what happened.
Mr Kenny told Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald about the just-published Government-commissioned report: “Far from jumping to conclusions, everybody should read this report carefully and reflect on it deeply.”
It will be debated in the Dáil in a fortnight’s time.
He praised the courage of the women who came forward to tell their story to Senator Martin McAleese and his team and said “the stigma that the branding together of all 10,000 residents in the Magdalene laundries needs to be removed and should have been removed long before this and I really am sorry that that never happened”.
The stage was set for Kenny's humanity to shine. It didn't happen
Irish Times
MIRIAM LORD
Dáil Sketch: The stage was set for Enda Kenny. Enda – the emotional Taoiseach, the sympathiser and the empathiser. This is his territory, and he’s good at it.
Everyone knew that a question about the Magdalene laundries would come up during Leaders’ Questions. Everyone expected Enda Kenny to deliver the reply the country wanted, for so long, to hear. Why? Because the Taoiseach’s innate decency and humanity shines through on these occasions. He doesn’t put it on for effect. His sincerity never comes across as contrived. People respect that, and appreciate it.
So there was a certain expectation when he rose to answer Mary Lou McDonald’s question in the wake of the publication of the Magdalene laundries report: “When does the Taoiseach propose to offer – on all our behalves and that of the State – a full apology to these women?”
Enda would speak for all the people who are ashamed and embarrassed and angry by what was done to vulnerable people in State and religious run institutions during harsher and less tolerant times.
'All we could think of is we are going to die here. That was an awful thing to carry'
Irish Times
JOE HUMPHREYS
Women admitted to Magdalene laundries described to the committee the “harsh and physically demanding” conditions in which they worked, with routine punishments for slacking or breaking silence during work.
“The overwhelming majority . . . described verbal abuse and being the victim of unkind or hurtful taunting and belittling comments,” the committee found.
While a small number of women reported physical abuse, many more said they were subjected to “mental cruelty”. One of the biggest grievances was “complete lack of information about why they were there and when they would get out”.
One woman said: “In our heads, all we could think of is we are going to die here. That was an awful thing to carry.”
Magdalen laundries: Women confined in convents
CBS News
[with video]
Hard labor, enforced silence, and imprisonment - that was the sentence for more than 10,000 young Irish women sent off to the church-run Magdelen Laundries between 1922 and 1996, a dark chapter in Irish history that Steve Kroft reported on for 60 Minutes in January 1999.
"The women had been virtual prisoners," Kroft reported. "Confined behind convent walls for perceived sins of the flesh, condemned to a life of servitude."
Today there was a significant development in the case when the Irish government issued a report acknowledging, for the first time, that the state was directly involved in the laundries, having sent as many as one quarter of the women to these institutions - most of them in their twenties, but at least one as young as age 9.
Laundry work 'more cost-effective' than care at State facilities
Irish Times
COLIN GLEESON
Decisions made by the State’s health authorities to approve the transfer of a girl or woman to a Magdalene laundry hinged on the fact that such a transfer was “more cost-effective” than making direct provision for her in a State health facility, the report found.
Of the 10,012 women who spent time in a Magdalene laundry since 1922, the routes of entry are known for 8,025. Some 6.8 per cent of these were referred by the health and social services sector, which are defined as referrals by psychiatric hospitals, social workers, health authorities and county and city homes.
The committee found instances where decisions to approve the transfer of “an indigent, homeless, disabled or psychiatrically ill girl or woman to a Magdalene laundry hinged on the fact that such a transfer was more cost-effective than making direct provision for her in a facility operated by the health authorities”.
Government hedges on redress scheme
Irish Times
HARRY McGEE, Political Correspondent
The Government has ruled out any consideration of a redress scheme or compensation for the survivors of Magdalene laundries until after the Dáil considers the 1,000 page report prepared by a committee chaired by Senator Martin McAleese.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny made no reference to compensation or redress in the course of several statements made to the Dáil yesterday about the report.
While Mr Kenny said he was sorry the stigma faced by laundry “penitents” had not been removed before now, his comments were lambasted by the main Opposition parties and by survivor groups who expressed disbelief that he had refused to issue a formal State apology.
When pressed on this matter later, the Taoiseach’s spokesman said: “I repeat that the Taoiseach, as Taoiseach, has said that no stigma attaches, or should have attached as long as it did. For that he is sorry.”
'Significant' that survivor testimony not called into question
Irish Times
JOE HUMPHREYS
A leading academic and researcher on the Magdalene laundries said it was very significant that “nowhere does the report call into question” the testimony of survivors.
James M Smith, associate professor in the English department and Irish studies programme at
It was “very significant because the State had the option of calling into question” what it had previously depicted as “allegations”, but chose not to do so.
Dr Smith, who is the author of a book on the subject as well as a member of the Justice for Magdalenes advisory committee, said he was disappointed, however, with the Government’s response.
Congregations welcome Magdalene report
Irish Times
AOIFE CARR
The four congregations who operated the Magdalene laundries have welcomed today’s report and apologised to women who experienced hurt in their care.
In a statement, the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of Refuge said it was with “deep regret” that women did not experience refuge under their care.
"For the past 160 years in
"Regardless of why a woman was in a refuge or how she came to be there, we endeavored to provide care. It is with deep regret that we acknowledge that there are women who did not experience our refuge as a place of protection and care. Further, it is with sorrow and sadness that we recognize that for many of those who spoke to the Inquiry that their time in a refuge is associated with anxiety, distress, loneliness, isolation, pain and confusion and much more.
Taoiseach's comments 'a cop out'
Irish Times
Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s response to the Magdalene laundries report is a “cop out”, a group of survivors has said.
Maureen Sullivan, who was in a laundry in New Ross, said the response was “not enough” and she said wanted a full apology. The report itself showed there was still “denial” about the profits the religious congregations made from the unpaid labour of the women who worked in them, she added.
“Those comments from Enda Kenny are a complete and utter cop out,” said Steven O’Riordan of the Magdalene Survivors Together.
He said the Taoiseach was “so sneaky and so quiet” about dealing with the banking crisis and if he put as much effort into the Magdalene report as that “maybe we would get the results that we require”, he added.
MAGDALENE GROUP SAY REPORT OMITS GALWAY RECORDS
The committee set up to inquire into the Magdalen laundries has found clear evidence of state involvement in the religious run work houses.
it notes that there was a legal basis for the way the State operated.
The report, written under the chairmanship of Senator Martin McAleese, finds that more than a quarter of 10-thousand women who entered the laundries were referred there by the State.
However, according to Justice for Magdalenes the statistics compiled by the Senator omit the records of the Mercy run
The sisters of mercy operated the magdalene laundry at
Magdalene laundries report: the numbers
Irish Times
Some statistics published by the 'Report of the Interdepartmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries' are laid out below.
Admissions
Number of women who spent times in laundries since 1922: 10,012*
Known admissions, including repeat admissions, from 1922: 14,607*
Admissions for which referrals route known: 8025
Number of referrals made or facilitated by the State 26.5% (2,124)
Average/Median age at time of entry 23.8 years/ 20 years
Age of youngest known entrant :9
Age of oldest known entrant: 89
Magdalene survivors 'should be compensated'
Irish Times
PAMELA DUNCAN
The Government should establish a compensation process which includes the provision of pensions, lost wages, health and housing services and redress to women admitted to the Magdalene laundries, the advocacy group Justice for Magdalenes has said.
The group made its comments following the publication of a report into State involvement in the laundries which found that over a quarter of the 10,000 women referred to the laundries between 1922 and the closure of the last laundry in 1996 were made or facilitated by the State.
“Magdalene survivors have waited too long for justice and this should not be now burdened with either a complicated legal process or a closed-door policy of compensation,” a spokeswoman for the group said in the wake of this afternoon’s publication.
Justice for Magdalenes has welcomed the findings of the inquiry, which it said, showed that the State was “directly and fundamentally involved" in the Magdalene laundries.
Magdalene laundries: Ireland accepts state guilt in scandal
The Guardian (
Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries
Henry McDonald in
guardian.co.uk,
Labelled the "Maggies", the women were sent to the Magdalene laundries where they worked for nothing, serving in some cases "life sentences" simply for being unmarried mothers or regarded as morally wayward.
On Tuesday, a report headed by Irish senator Martin McAleese found that the state and the Irish police force bore a major responsibility for sending the women there and failing to protect their rights as workers. The laundries were not private and the vast majority of women and girls were sent there against their own wishes.
The McAleese report also concluded that the women were used as free labour and that Irish labour laws from the state's foundation were continually broken inside the laundries.
‘State must finally accept its role’: Amnesty responds to Magdalene report
The Journal
THE IRISH BRANCH of Amnesty International has called on the State to accept its role in the human rights abuses that occurred at the Magdalene Laundries.
The call came after the official report of an Inter-Departmental Committee discovered that the State had an active role in the admission of 2,124 women to Magdalene Laundries from 1922 onwards.
“The State must now finally accept its own role in what the report reveals,” Amnesty International Ireland director Colm O’Gorman said this afternoon.
“It is has ducked and denied its responsibility for what happened to these women and children, including to the UN Committee Against Torture, for far too long.”
'988 women' buried in laundry plots across Ireland
ITV
The Justice for Magdalenes group said it was aware of at least 988 women who are buried in laundry plots in cemeteries across Ireland and therefore must have stayed for life, however, the inquiry could only certify 879.
The last laundry,
Irish state held responsible for Magdalene Laundries
Reuters
Tue Feb 5, 2013
(Reuters) - An official report said on Tuesday the Irish state was responsible for sending many women and girls to the now-notorious "Magdalene Laundries", where they were subjected to a harsh regime of intimidation, prayer and unpaid work.
The institutions, run by Catholic nuns, have been accused of treating inmates who were sometimes put in their care for sexual misdemeanours or simply for illegitimacy, like "slaves" for decades of the 20th century.
Irish governments had in the past insisted the Laundries operated purely privately. But the report by an inter-departmental committee said one in four of the inmates were sent there by the state.
Apology for Magdalene laundry women
Corkman
The Irish Government has apologised to the thousands of women locked up in Catholic-run workhouses known as Magdalene laundries between 1922 and 1996.
As an inquiry found 2,124 of those detained in the institutions were sent by the authorities, Taoiseach Enda Kenny expressed his sympathies with survivors and the families of those who have died.
"To those resident who went into the Magdalene laundries from a variety of ways, 26% from state involvement, I'm sorry for those people that they lived in that kind of environment," he said.
Records have confirmed that 10,012 women spent time in Magdalene laundries across the country between 1922 and 1996.
Expert panel: Ireland oversaw forced, unpaid labour in Catholic laundries for 'fallen' women
Global
Tuesday's report analyzing the defunct Magdalene Laundries found state authorities committed about one-quarter of 10,012 women to the workhouses from 1922 to 1996, often in response to school truancy or homelessness.
The report found that 15 per cent lived in the workhouses for more than five years, and police caught and returned women who fled. They endured 12-hour work days of washing and ironing.
Magdalene: Kenny declines to apologise for state role
Irish Independent
By Michael Brennan Deputy Political Editor
TAOISEACH Enda Kenny has declined to apologise for the state's role in admitting women to the Magdalene Laundries.
Around 10,000 women were kept in the ten laundries run by four religious congregations between 1922 and 1996.
The Dail has heard that a new report by former Senator Martin McAleese that the state was involved in the admittance of around one quarter of the women.
Mr Kenny told the Dail that the women had been sent into the laundries during a time when there was a harsh, uncompromising and authoritarian
'Significant' State role in Magdalene laundry referrals
Irish Times
GENEVIEVE CARBERY
Some 10,000 women and girls entered Magdalene laundries since 1922 with more than a quarter of referrals made or facilitated by the State, a report has found.
The 'Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries' was published this afternoon. It found “significant” State involvement in the laundries.
In the report, the committee said it found “no evidence” to support the perception that “unmarried girls” had babies in the laundries or that many of the women were prostitutes.
“The reality is much more complex” committee chairman Dr Martin McAleese writes in the introduction.
The women admitted to the laundries “have for too long felt the social stigma” of the “wholly inaccurate characterisation” of them as “fallen women”, he said. “[This is] not borne out of facts.”
Irish PM: Magdalene laundries product of harsh Ireland
BBC News
By Shane Harrison
BBC NI Dublin correspondent
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has apologised for the stigma and conditions suffered by women who were inmates of the Magdalene laundries.
Mr Kenny said the laundries had operated in a "harsh and uncompromising
About 10,000 women passed through the laundries in the
The laundries were Catholic-run workhouses that operated in
Magdalene report: 'There was a legal basis for way state operated'
Breaking News
Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries
The committee set up to inquire into the Magdalene laundries has found clear evidence of state involvement in the religious run work houses.
However, it notes that there was a legal basis for the way the state operated.
The report, written under the chairmanship of Senator Martin McAleese, finds that more than a quarter of 10,000 women who entered the laundries were referred there by the state.
But it paints a more benign picture of life in the laundries than may be popularly believed.
Between 1922 and 1996 around 10,000 women are known to have entered Magdalen laundries, working for no pay in what were lonely and frightening places.
Kenny sorry for 'stigma' of being in Magdalene laundries, but stops short of full apology
Breaking News
Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries
The Taoiseach has stopped short of issuing a full apology to the women detained in Magdalene laundries.
Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, Enda Kenny said he was sorry that the stigma of being in the laundries was not removed, sorry that people lived in the environment and sorry that it took until July 2011 to instigate the McAleese committee report.
The report, which will be published at
Senator McAleese's report finds that more than a quarter of 10,000 women who entered the laundries were referred there by the state.
Survivors of Magdalene Laundries once again 'disappointed'
Irish Independent
By Louise Hogan
SURVIVORS of the Magdalene Laundries have told how they feel let down by the report and the State.
Steven Riordan, spokesman for Magdalene Survivors Together, said the women wanted an apology from both Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the religious orders involved in the Magdalene Laundries.
Mr Riordan said a compensation scheme should be put in place for the survivors as they were "denied their constitutional rights". He was speaking after meeting with Senator Martin McAleese to get a first look at the 1,000-plus page report.
"The reality is we forced women in Irish society to participate in slavery," he said. "The women never got the opportunities it was said they would get by entering these institutions. The constitutional rights of these women were completely obliterated."
Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen Laundries
IRELANDDepartment of Justice and Equality
Introduction by the Chair, Senator Martin McAleese
Executive Summary
Acknowledgements
Magdalene laundries: 5 areas where the state was involved
ITV
An 18 month inquiry into Magdalene laundries chaired by Senator Martin McAleese has identified five areas where there was direct state involvement in the detention of women in 10 laundries run by nuns.
They were detained by courts, gardai, transferred by industrial or reform schools, rejected by foster families, orphaned, abused children, mentally or physically disabled, homeless teenagers or simply poor.
Inspectors, known as "the suits" by the women, routinely checked conditions complied with rules for factories.
Government paid welfare to certain women in laundries, along with payments for services.
Magdalene Laundries report finds direct State involvement
The Journal
A REPORT COMPILED following an 18-month investigation has found the
Senator Martin McAleese’s report, published this afternoon, reveals that more than 2,500 women who were incarcerated in the Magdalene Laundries were sent in directly by the State. In reality, that number is higher but many records did not survive.
McAleese said he hopes the findings bring “healing and peace of mind to all concerned, most especially the women whose lived experience of the Magdalene Laundries had a profound and enduring negative effect on their lives”.
Advocacy group Justice for Magdalenes welcomed the report, stating it ensures that the State can no longer claim the institutions were private, as has happened in the past, or that the majority of Magdalenes entered voluntarily.
According to the report, the State gave lucrative contracts to the 10 Magdalene Laundries, located across the country. It did so without complying with Fair Wage Clauses and in the absence of any compliance with Social Insurance obligations.
Magdalene laundries report published today
Irish Times
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent
The interdepartmental committee report on State involvement with Magdalene laundries will be presented to women who were in the laundries and their advocacy groups in
It will also be presented to the Government at its weekly meeting today.
The report was prepared under the chairmanship of Senator Martin McAleese and the committee was set up in July 2011 “to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalene laundries, to clarify any State interaction, and to produce a narrative detailing such interaction”.
The report will be published this afternoon.
The Journal
A REPORT COMPILED following an 18-month investigation has found the Irish State
Senator Martin McAleese’s report, published this afternoon, reveals that more than 2,500 women who were incarcerated in the Magdalene Laundries were sent in directly by the State. In reality, that number is higher but many records did not survive.
McAleese said he hopes the findings bring “healing and peace of mind to all concerned, most especially the women whose lived experience of the Magdalene Laundries had a profound and enduring negative effect on their lives”.
Advocacy group Justice for Magdalenes welcomed the report, stating it ensures that the State can no longer claim the institutions were private, as has happened in the past, or that the majority of Magdalenes entered voluntarily.
Senator Martin McAleese’s report, published this afternoon, reveals that more than 2,500 women who were incarcerated in the Magdalene Laundries were sent in directly by the State. In reality, that number is higher but many records did not survive.
McAleese said he hopes the findings bring “healing and peace of mind to all concerned, most especially the women whose lived experience of the Magdalene Laundries had a profound and enduring negative effect on their lives”.
Advocacy group Justice for Magdalenes welcomed the report, stating it ensures that the State can no longer claim the institutions were private, as has happened in the past, or that the majority of Magdalenes entered voluntarily.
According to the report, the State gave lucrative contracts to the 10 Magdalene Laundries, located across the country. It did so without complying with Fair Wage Clauses and in the absence of any compliance with Social Insurance obligations.
Herald
By Michael Lavery
A 1,000-page report into State involvement in the Magdalene laundries is expected to lead to fresh calls for a compensation scheme for the women.
AN 18-month investigation into the Catholic-run workhouses will formally reveal State involvement with Magdalene laundries and knowledge of the harrowing life women in the institutions endured between 1922 and 1996.
The report, due to be published this evening, will respond to allegations by former residents that the State colluded with the Catholic Church by illegally incarcerating thousands of women and girls and forcing them to carry out unpaid work.
The report, due to be published this evening, will respond to allegations by former residents that the State colluded with the Catholic Church by illegally incarcerating thousands of women and girls and forcing them to carry out unpaid work.
UTV
The Irish Government has apologised to the thousands of women locked up in Magdalene laundries between 1922 and 1996.
An 18 month long inquiry found 2,124 of those detained in the Catholic-run workhouses were sent by the authorities.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny expressed his sympathies with survivors and the families of those who have died.
"To those residents who went into the Magdalene laundries from a variety of ways, 26% from state involvement, I'm sorry for those people that they lived in that kind of environment," he said.
Watch Enda Kenny's Magdalene Laundries speech live here
Newstalk
[with live stream]
The Taoiseach Enda Kenny is being called on to make a full apology to the women who were detained in Magdelene laundries ahead of the publication of a report into the scandal this afternoon.
Survivors of the laundries want an apology and compensation, and where necessary prosecutions for the abuses which took place at the catholic-run work houses.
The committee which compiled this report was chaired by Senator Martin McAleese who resigned from politics last Friday.
The report which will be discussed by the cabinet today will outline the extent of the Irish government's knowledge of the abuses that took place at the Magdalene laundries, the last of which only closed in 1996.
Ireland to Publish Report on Laundry Workhouses
The New York Times
By DOUGLAS DALBY
Published:
A dwindling group of survivors of the laundries are seeking a state apology for their treatment and payment for years of unpaid labor and pension payments. The “Maggies,” as the women and girls were called, were excluded from a previous compensation scheme for those who suffered in state-run institutions on the basis that the laundries were never inspected or regulated.
In an opinion piece in The Irish Times this morning, Jim Smith, an associate professor at
Calls for full apology from government over Magdalene laundries
Irish Examiner
The Taoiseach Enda Kenny is being called on to make a full apology to the women who were detained in Magdalene laundries, ahead of the publication of a report into the scandal this afternoon.
The report prepared under the chairmanship of Senator Martin McAleese gives details of the state's involvement.
Survivors of the laundries – who have seen the report this morning - want an apology from the government.
Martina Keogh, a survivor of the Gloucester Street Laundry who was interviewed by Dr McAleese's inquiry, says she deserves compensation.
Day of reckoning for Magdalene survivors who say time has come for State to apologize - VIDEO
Irish Central
Survivors of Catholic run workhouses in
Sensitive information contained in the report investigation the State’s involvement in Magdalene laundries, will not be contained in the report, which is due to be published online at
The Irish Times reports that ‘appropriate safeguards’ were implemented to ensure “the sensitivity and confidentiality of the records”.
The report said, “in no case would such sensitive personal data be published or made available to the public without the consent of the data subject”.
Beyond the veil of tears: Survivors of the Magdalene Laundries
UNITED STATES/IRELANDDALLAS, Texas, February 1, 2013 ― “As I looked back on all the years I had suffered within the dark halls and stone hearts that were called a Magdalene Laundry, I felt a warmth on my cheeks as a lifetime of pain rushed in and I struggled to free my tortured soul and finally escape the veil of tears.” Magdalene Survivor.
In August 1993, workers in
Finding the grave forced open a 150-year-old secret. All the women had been residents of a Magdalene Laundry, an institution run by the nuns of Our Lady of Charity.
It's history reaching back to the middle ages, the Magdalene Laundries are named after Mary Magdalene, a reformed prostitute who became a follower of Jesus. The Magdalene convents were created by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages for repentant prostitutes. The institutions, however, shifted from being a refuge into forced labor camps for women accused of violating a strict feminine moral code.
Magdalene report to omit sensitive data
Irish Times
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Sensitive information disclosed to the McAleese committee, which has been investigating State involvement with Magdalene laundries, will not be published in the committee’s report tomorrow.
The interdepartmental committee, chaired by Senator Martin McAleese, began its work in July 2011 and has sought to establish the extent of State interaction with the 10 Magdalene laundries in
As Senator McAleese made clear when appointed on
Laundry survivors fear State will delay redress
Irish Examiner
Campaigners fear many of the survivors of the Magdalene laundries will be dead before the State compensates the estimated 1,000 women who were locked up by the nuns.
By Claire O’Sullivan, Conall Ó Fátharta and Sean McCarthaigh
With the Government commissioned report, due to be published tomorrow, expected to reveal the true extent of state collusion with the laundries, the survivors fear they may never get redress.
Under the terms of reference, Martin McAleese’s report was precluded from making recommendations, but was charged with establishing the facts of state involvement.
It is then up to Justice Minister Alan Shatter to make any further recommendations.
However, with the Government slow to make any formal apology, fearing it could open the floodgates to expensive compensation schemes, Justice for Magdalenes co-founder Claire McGettrick said the time for action is now.
The forgotten women of Ireland's Magdalene Laundries
The Telegraph (
By Rachel Cooper
They have been described as '
Thousands of women are thought to have passed through the gates of
The women - some of whom had fallen pregnant outside marriage, or were the daughters of unmarried women - worked for years in church-run laundries, at times allegedly enduring both mental and physical abuse.
Campaigners have long been calling for justice for the Magdalene women and this week, it could finally come.
Magdalene laundries report due next week
Irish Times
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent
The report into the Magdalene laundries is expected to be published next Tuesday afternoon, February 5th. It will be presented to the Cabinet that morning.
The report has been prepared by a committee of officials from five Government departments and chaired by Senator Martin McAleese, assisted by another official from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The laundries, where an estimated 30,000 single mothers and other women were detained between 1922 and 1996, were operated by four religious congregations. Most of the women have since died. The last such laundry, at
On
Magdalene report imminent
The
By:
Maria Tracey
The committee director of the Justice for Magdalenes (JFM) group has called for a State apology and compensation for victims ahead of the publication of a long awaited report on the Magdalene Laundries, due next week.
Mari Steed, whose mother spent 10 years at the laundries in Sunday's Well said an apology would relieve the “stigma” and “shame” felt by women who were detained at the Magdalene Laundries.
Ms Steed believes an apology should follow the findings of an interdepartmental report- prepared by a committee of officials from five Government departments- expected to be published next Tuesday, February 5th.
REPORT ON GALWAY MAGDALENE LAUNDRY NEXT WEEK
A report into the Magdalene laundries, including the
The report has been compiled by officials at five Government departments, chaired by Senator Martin McAleese.
The Magdalene laundries were run by four religious congregations and detained an estimated 30 thousand single mothers and women between 1922 and 1996.
In June 2011, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter announced that an investigation into the State's role in the laundries would be carried out.
Magdalenes hope for an apology after a long fight
The Journal
A BASIC CENTRAL heating system for a terraced house, an extra €20 per week to her pension, a few extra bob for Christmas or enough for a burial on sacred land in the
Rendered infamous through a film and several songs, the institutions were used throughout the 20th century as places to house women, often known as “problem girls”, affected by pregnancy outside marriage, poverty and crime.
Next week, the level of State involvment in the incarceration of thousands of women and girls will be examined, not by cultural forces, but by Government for the first time.
Senator Martin McAleese has sent his hefty report establishing the facts to Justice Minister Alan Shatter, who will publish it in full on Tuesday following a Cabinet meeting.
Former President’s husband Martin McAleese resigns from Seanad
Irish Independent
By Michael Brennan Deputy Political Editor
THE husband of former President Mary McAleese has resigned from the Seanad.
Senator Martin McAleese had been appointed by Taoiseach Enda Kenny in 2011.
In his letter of resignation, he said he had dedicated his time in the Seanad to two projects – the investigation into the plight of women who were held in the Magdalen Laundries and the “bridge building” between North and South.
He confirmed that he had completed his Magdalen Laundries report after spending 18 months putting it together.
“It is my fervent hope that the report will be of real public service most especially to the women concerned,” he said.
Justice for daughters of the laundries
Irish Times
MARK HENNESSY, London Editor
On Tuesday a report by Martin McAleese may finally help to write the story of State involvement in the Magdalen institutions, a shameful chapter in
So much of the story about the Magdalen laundries centres on names; on identities lost, abandoned or forgotten. Thousands of girls and young women went through their doors during two centuries. Each had her Christian name changed by the nuns, her surname unused.
On her marriage to an English soldier after she had fled
“When I came over I wanted to wash
Wait almost over for Magdalene women
Irish Examiner
Survivors of Catholic-run workhouses in
A report being published tomorrow is expected to formally reveal the extent of the Irish Government’s knowledge, involvement and responsibility for what happened in Magdalene laundries.
A committee, chaired by Senator Martin McAleese who has since resigned from politics, spent 18 months establishing the role that the State played in the operation of the institutions between 1922 and 1996.
Over the 74 years, thousands of single mothers and other women were put to work in detention, mostly in industrial for-profit laundries run by nuns from four religious congregations.
Magdalene Laundries: Victims Await Report
Sky News
By Vicki
A report into the running of the Magdalene laundries in
The religious-run institutions started in the late 1700s as places to rehabilitate so-called "fallen" women.
It is estimated that around 30,000 women, mainly single mothers and teenage girls, were placed in the laundries to work.
There were 10 Magdalene laundries across
In the years since, women who lived in the laundries have spoken out about the harsh and gruelling work they had to carry out.
Laundries survivor: We were slaves
BBC News
[with video]
A report published today is expected to detail Irish government knowledge of what went on in Magdalene Laundries.
The laundries were Catholic-run workhouses that operated in
Girls considered "troubled" or what were then called "fallen women" were sent there by families or the courts.
Sally Mulready, a survivor of the Magdalene Laundries, told the Today programme's John Humphrys that she was put to work using large washing machines.
"You had to do that or die with starvation," she explained.
IRE - SNAP pushes for more than apologies for Magdalene victims
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Posted by Barbara Dorris on
At the risk of seeming contrary, we hope church and government officials do NOT apologize to the hundreds of women who were abused at the Magdalene Laundry.
Apologies are cheap and easy. They may provide short term emotional comfort. They do not, however, provide the very real and sorely needed counseling and medical and financial help these deeply wounded women need and deserve.
If officials in
Efforts should be made to reach out to every woman that was forced to live at these laundries and make them aware of victim’s advocates groups where they can get help. They also should point them in the direction of support groups where they can connect with other survivors and help each other heal.
Key Magdalene laundry files went missing, says McAleese
Irish Independent
KEY files on the Magdalene laundries have gone missing, former senator Martin McAleese will reveal in a long-awaited report today.
An estimated 30,000 single mothers and other women were detained over a period of more than seven decades in the laundries operated by four religious orders.
However, it is understood that Dr McAleese's report into the State's involvement in the laundries won't accuse any order of deliberately destroying or withholding files.
It appears that the records were untraceable despite concerted efforts to find them.
Report on Magdalene Laundries to be published today
RTE News
The report of the committee investigating State involvement with the Magdalene Laundries between 1922 and 1996 is to be published this afternoon.
It is expected to respond to allegations by former residents that the State colluded with the Catholic Church to illegally incarcerate thousands of women and girls and to make them do unpaid work.
The report is the fruit of an 18-month inquiry by a committee representing six Government departments and independently chaired by Doctor Martin McAleese.
The report runs to over 1,000 pages.
An estimated 30,000 single mothers and other women were detained or resident in ten laundries.
Magdalene laundries survivors threaten hunger strike
The Guardian (
Henry McDonald Dublin
guardian.co.uk,
Elderly survivors of
The Fine Gael-Labour coalition will receive a report on Tuesday that will establish the Irish state's role in a system that the UN Committee on Torture described as slavery.
Girls described as "troubled" or deemed to have been morally "fallen" – mainly unmarried young mothers – were ordered by courts to work unpaid in the laundries run by the Irish Catholic church. The workhouses operated from the early 1920s until 1996.
Steven O'Riordain, a representative of the Magdalene Survivors Together, has warned some women will go on hunger strike if the government does not meet their demands.
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