I am a straight man in his early forties who discerned off and on with the Benedictines and Jesuits in my early-mid twenties. What I saw and heard during that time and since made it clear to me that I did not have a place in religious life as it stands now, particularly in the latter order. Your coverage has resonated with me and thank God I was never physically abused, but I met and saw several characters who in a sane Church would have been laicized years ago.
Almost every school run by the Bendictines in the UK has been busted for assaults on pupils. As usual, the pupils seemed to be far more aware of what was going on than the adults. The writing was really on the wall at St Benedict's in London. Youthful graffiti declared "Fr David is bent". Fr Lawrence Soper, star of this story, was known as Fr Florence by the pupils.
It was not just the monks. A high flying layman and deputy head (principal) at St Benedict's had to change career after the police found porn on his computer. He was also spending money on chemsex parties.
How did Fr Florence manage to steal £182,000 (around 300,000 USD at the time) before vanishing to the Balkans and where was he hiding? A shrewd parishioner at my church heard that he was hiding in a monastery in Croatia, though he was caught in Kosovo.
I have not idea how or why this happens, but detect two trends - in church as well as state. First, the people in charge believe in nothing, certainly nothing of the institutions from which they derive their status. Second, they have no real power - that rests with those who know the facts. The media could remove McElroy tomorrow. They choose not to.
I wrote an article in July 2022 in which I opined: "Based on the local mainstream media’s one-sided coverage of McElroy’s career, “Church bookies” would afford him favorable odds of not suffering a fate similar to that of Polish Archbishop Stanisław Wielgus. Just one hour before he was scheduled to be installed as the Primate of Poland in Warsaw’s St. John’s Cathedral, Wielgus announced his resignation owing to media reports that he cooperated with Polish Security Services known to have arrested and tortured several priests. Pope Benedict XVI accepted Wielgus’ resignation knowing that people would never accept an Archbishop who cooperated with the secret police which included three agents who were found guilty of murdering Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, a charismatic, anti-Communist priest involved with the Solidarity trade union.
Perhaps fearing being exposed in the media like Wielgus, Ghent Bishop Luc Van Looy declined being named a cardinal in August because of his record of covering up sexual abuse. Despite the decisions made by Wielgus and Van Looy to avoid addition media scrutiny of their records, McElroy is betting mainstream and “Catholic” media sources will continue to keep quiet about how he covered up the sexual predation of McCarrick; the rape of Rachel Mastrogiacomo; and the abuse of other victims in the San Diego Diocese.
The work you are doing here is so, *so* important. Thank you for this. Becoming informed and talking about these problems are the first steps to solving them. May you experience abundant health and goodness for many years to come, so you may continue this good work!
Spot on, as always Fr. Gene. When people make the obvious logical connection of Francis' teaching that all faiths and churches are just different but equal paths to God, with the fact that 80 % of non-Asia or African priests and Hierarchy are gay, they are respectfully concluding, in effect, that " The Catholic Church is for gay people and their supporters. I am NOT judging that, but since I am not gay I'm going to choose one of those other churches that even the Pope himself says are equal paths to God. Good-bye Catholic Church." Hence all the parish mergers, closures, and empty pews seen in your photos of the Shrine, Buffalo Cathedral, et al.
Don't leave the church. It is Christ's true church. The Christ is present in the Mass and Sacraments. Focus on Jesus not the sewerage that is in the leadership. Jesus still leads his church and he will bring these devils to justice.
I could not find truthful article on CNA site re McElroy installation. But Raymond Arroyo on EWTN had a humdinger hour last night. And what Catholic watches or reads America, Pillar etc? Steve Bannon’s WarRoom had great interview with Janet Smith and abuse victim Rachel Mastrogiacomo right outside installation. LifeSite had good coverage too. So it is not news that good Catholics have to look for better places to get their news from. After all, JD Vance is doing his part.
Demographic studies have shown that traditional members of various churches, on the whole, contribute support for their congregations at a higher rate than the more secular mission oriented. Doubt seriously they will be blind to this obviously ginned up show and tell. They will indeed probably take an even closer look at how their support advances the mission of the organization rather than some mitered leader's ego trip.
Gene,
I am a straight man in his early forties who discerned off and on with the Benedictines and Jesuits in my early-mid twenties. What I saw and heard during that time and since made it clear to me that I did not have a place in religious life as it stands now, particularly in the latter order. Your coverage has resonated with me and thank God I was never physically abused, but I met and saw several characters who in a sane Church would have been laicized years ago.
Augustinus
Almost every school run by the Bendictines in the UK has been busted for assaults on pupils. As usual, the pupils seemed to be far more aware of what was going on than the adults. The writing was really on the wall at St Benedict's in London. Youthful graffiti declared "Fr David is bent". Fr Lawrence Soper, star of this story, was known as Fr Florence by the pupils.
It was not just the monks. A high flying layman and deputy head (principal) at St Benedict's had to change career after the police found porn on his computer. He was also spending money on chemsex parties.
How did Fr Florence manage to steal £182,000 (around 300,000 USD at the time) before vanishing to the Balkans and where was he hiding? A shrewd parishioner at my church heard that he was hiding in a monastery in Croatia, though he was caught in Kosovo.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42443604.amp
I have not idea how or why this happens, but detect two trends - in church as well as state. First, the people in charge believe in nothing, certainly nothing of the institutions from which they derive their status. Second, they have no real power - that rests with those who know the facts. The media could remove McElroy tomorrow. They choose not to.
I wrote an article in July 2022 in which I opined: "Based on the local mainstream media’s one-sided coverage of McElroy’s career, “Church bookies” would afford him favorable odds of not suffering a fate similar to that of Polish Archbishop Stanisław Wielgus. Just one hour before he was scheduled to be installed as the Primate of Poland in Warsaw’s St. John’s Cathedral, Wielgus announced his resignation owing to media reports that he cooperated with Polish Security Services known to have arrested and tortured several priests. Pope Benedict XVI accepted Wielgus’ resignation knowing that people would never accept an Archbishop who cooperated with the secret police which included three agents who were found guilty of murdering Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, a charismatic, anti-Communist priest involved with the Solidarity trade union.
Perhaps fearing being exposed in the media like Wielgus, Ghent Bishop Luc Van Looy declined being named a cardinal in August because of his record of covering up sexual abuse. Despite the decisions made by Wielgus and Van Looy to avoid addition media scrutiny of their records, McElroy is betting mainstream and “Catholic” media sources will continue to keep quiet about how he covered up the sexual predation of McCarrick; the rape of Rachel Mastrogiacomo; and the abuse of other victims in the San Diego Diocese.
See: https://www.complicitclergy.com/2022/07/19/corrupt-cardinal-corrupt-pontificate/
The work you are doing here is so, *so* important. Thank you for this. Becoming informed and talking about these problems are the first steps to solving them. May you experience abundant health and goodness for many years to come, so you may continue this good work!
Thanks for your support! It's deeply appreciated! GTG
The pope is a evil disgusting man
Spot on, as always Fr. Gene. When people make the obvious logical connection of Francis' teaching that all faiths and churches are just different but equal paths to God, with the fact that 80 % of non-Asia or African priests and Hierarchy are gay, they are respectfully concluding, in effect, that " The Catholic Church is for gay people and their supporters. I am NOT judging that, but since I am not gay I'm going to choose one of those other churches that even the Pope himself says are equal paths to God. Good-bye Catholic Church." Hence all the parish mergers, closures, and empty pews seen in your photos of the Shrine, Buffalo Cathedral, et al.
Don't leave the church. It is Christ's true church. The Christ is present in the Mass and Sacraments. Focus on Jesus not the sewerage that is in the leadership. Jesus still leads his church and he will bring these devils to justice.
I could not find truthful article on CNA site re McElroy installation. But Raymond Arroyo on EWTN had a humdinger hour last night. And what Catholic watches or reads America, Pillar etc? Steve Bannon’s WarRoom had great interview with Janet Smith and abuse victim Rachel Mastrogiacomo right outside installation. LifeSite had good coverage too. So it is not news that good Catholics have to look for better places to get their news from. After all, JD Vance is doing his part.
Demographic studies have shown that traditional members of various churches, on the whole, contribute support for their congregations at a higher rate than the more secular mission oriented. Doubt seriously they will be blind to this obviously ginned up show and tell. They will indeed probably take an even closer look at how their support advances the mission of the organization rather than some mitered leader's ego trip.