The Pope’s enemies are crawling out from the dens in order to attack the Pope. The braying and baying is getting more organized.
In the 13 Feb. IrishTimes.com we find this attack on the Pope
My emphases and comments.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Holocaust-denying bishop’s rehabilitation is ‘crowning disgrace’ of Benedict’s careerPATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent
THE ATTEMPTED rehabilitation [The first problem is what on earth "rehabilitation" means. If it really is "rehabilitation", wouldn’t that be a good thing? But the writer is probably like many journalists who neither understands much about the Church nor really thinks forgiveness or mercy is a good thing. Once you are tarred, you can never be a good person again. That is so common in the press.] by the Vatican of Holocaust-denying bishop Richard Williamson has been described as “the crowning disgrace of Pope Benedict’s career” by controversial Augustinian priest Fr Iggy O’Donovan. [We could tell you more about Iggy, and might before this is done.]
He has also said that change initiated by Vatican II in the Catholic Church has become “a debacle”. [He got that right, but not in the same way I think.]
Announced 50 years ago, Vatican II, “this noble venture”, was now “on life support”. [the term "drama queen" comes to mind] “Almost from day one insidious attempts were made to undermine conciliar reform,” he wrote in an Augustinian newsletter. [So… does this position have some official support of Iggy’s province?] “If anything illustrates this latter point it is the recent announcement, on the 50th anniversary of the convocation of the council, of the lifting of the excommunication of the bishops illicitly ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre.”
In 2006 Fr O’Donovan was bound to silence [not being very silent, I see] and removed from a teaching post in Rome by the Vatican after he concelebrated an Easter Sunday Mass in Drogheda with local Church of Ireland rector Rev Michael Graham.
“We are now at a juncture where Rome demands total conformity with papal ideas and ideals in all things and not merely in those which are essential to the unity of Christian and Catholic faith,” he said. [This guy is completely confused. The point is that Rome is emphasizing that there can be various views.]
“That is all very well but when the Holy Father is ‘accident prone’ (as the present incumbent is) the potential for damage to the church is incalculable. “The recent case of the rehabilitation of … Richard Williamson is a prime example of this.”
President Barack Obama had “been quick to come out and admit he ‘screwed up’” in proposing Tom Daschle as health secretary.
“In the case of Williamson Pope Benedict certainly ‘screwed up’ and must be as forthcoming as Obama in admitting it,” he said.
[The Augustinians were right to silence this guy.]
He continued: “how a German-born Pope (and a former member of the Hitler Youth to boot) [What a slime.] could not foresee the furore that would follow the rehabilitation of a man who denies the Holocaust leaves me baffled. It is the crowning disgrace of Pope Benedict’s career.”
Reuters adds: Pope Benedict said yesterday that “any denial or minimisation of this terrible crime is intolerable, especially if it came from a clergyman.
The pope also confirmed that he was planning to visit Israel. Vatican sources say the trip is expected to take place in May.
I think anyone in Ireland reading this should express their opinions of Fr. Iggy’s comments to his superiors.
The Archdiocese of Dublin lists the Provincial of the Irish Augustinians.
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I am noticing that the new consorted themes are evolving. First it was, “The Pope is getting bad advice,” and now it is a flat out, open questioning of competency. The funny thing is, Ratzinger could run intellectual circles around these people, and it is laughable that he doesn’t understand the machinery of the Curia. He has been saying, for years, that the bureaucracy needed trimming down. Now that he is Pope and is asserting his full authority (versus the consultation and collegial methods that are practically institutionalized), the bureaucrats who are used to calling the shots are getting upset. Since this is a hierarchical Church, there is not much that can be done except complain….and people are complaining to the press so that any successor is immediately put under pressure to “not be like that incompetent Benedict.”
Am I reading this right?
You are right in saying the contumacy is organized.
Clarification: When I say that “it is laughable that he doesn’t understand the curial machinery”, what I mean is, he has been a part of the Curia for decades. Who understands it better than he does? No one.
He does Martin Luther proud.
So when someone gets excommunicated that is intolerant? When an excommunication is lifted that is intolerant as well? Clear as mud.
I do think that it is a good thing that anti-pope Catholics are coming out of hiding. Long term it will mean that many of them lose influence. It is one thing for Catholic leaders to bad mouth the head of the CDF. When they let loose on the pope they put themselves in an impossible position.
It’s time to lance the boils. Tom
Anyone see a “non serviam” approach from this Augustinian? How the Pope can be criticized by taking a merciful act towards the SSPX completely boggles my mind and appears in complete contradiction to yesterday’s epistle by St. Paul. Can it be that he is one of the wolves?
Methinks St. Augustine would have some sharp words for this ‘son’ of his!
Referring to mathematicians who maintained that even God couldn’t know all numbers, he said: “Now who in the world would be fool enough to say that?” I think the quote could also be applied to Fr. O’Donovan whose ‘foolishness’ was evident in the earlier attempt at concelebration.
Note to Fr. Iggy: this is not what St. Paul meant about being a “fool for Christ”…
We have an order of Augustinians running a parish here in our town, not under diocesan juristdiction. They promote political agendas and AA-type philosophies every chance they get. They also decree garbage such as “Your kid only needed to go to confession once, before his first communion. After that, there’s a section in mass where sins are forgiven (confiteor), so that’s all he needs from that point on.” So, in my opinion, there is anti-Church thinking permeating the whole order.
Fr Iggy should get down on his knees and thank those Irish traditional Catholics who held on to the True Faith through some of the most difficult times for Catholics in the history of the Church. Without them holding strong, the people and the priests, sacrificing their lives for the Mass of All Time, there wouldn’t be any Catholics left in Ireland. Go join the Church of Ireland if you’re so in love with it, you fealltóir.
What do you expect from a guy who uses “Iggy” as a nickname?
just found a great blog quoting a response – http://infelixego.blogspot.com/2009/02/iggys-rant-riposte.html
which I haven’t noticed before, and which does some very pertinent fisking…
We need the FSSPX to be regularised ASAP.
[To battle this trype of clap-trap]
God bless His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI!!!
Reading the genius comments of Fr Iggy, I am reminded of a story from the history from professional boxing.
In May of 1941 light heavyweight Billy Conn fought Joe Louis for the heavyweight championship. Conn had a secure point lead after 12 rounds. He only needed to stay away from Louis for the last three rounds, and he would make history. But he got big headed and decided to go for the knockout. Louis took advantage of the situation–he knocked Conn out.
After the fight Conn was asked by a reporter why he decided to go for the knockout. The defeater boxer replied: What’s the use of being Irish if you can’t be stupid?
therese b, thanks for sharing that very lucid and logical response. Tom
This is the same Fr Iggy who was censured by the Archbishop of Dublin for concelebrating a ‘mass’ with a Church of Ireland (Anglican) clergyman. He even invited the loyal town mayor! Needless to say, it caused quite a ruckess.
“What do you expect from a guy who uses “Iggy” as a nickname?”
Iggy comes from the Irish-name Iognáid (Ignatius).
Yes it is this Fr Iggy
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=6525
Good to know where he is coming from.
O’Neill – I know where it usually comes from, but in his case, it could well be Ignorance.
He reminds me of that priest in Australia – Fr Kennedy. They’ve got moral relatatism down pat.
No I don’t think any of this really organised at all. Its just the vestages of a morally bankrupt clerical generation going through its death throes…that being said they can do great harm. Ask yourself this…would the Lord do as the Pope is doing? Of course he would..so they are exposing themselves (the Pope baiters) as being thoroughly un-Christian.There is no law in the Church saying that we have to be best friends with everybody and agree on every triviality but hatred has no place and at this point I’m seeing more hatred coming from the liberals.
As the closest thing to an Augustinian as you have who regularly comments on your blog, let me just say I am sorry. This is atrocious. Sadly, I just came tonight from the funeral of a beautiful Augustinian who would be deeply saddened at such comments by one of his brothers. I know we are not a perfect group as an order, but this sort of behavior and commenting is just unacceptable.
Holly,
You have an Augustinian parish, and how many priests are there? Two, three? And somehow that tells you something about the entire Order? Get over yourself.
The Augustinians are just like every other order in the Catholic Church – they have some highly orthodox priests, some very heterodox priests, and everything in between. The good thing is they are firmly rooted in the teachings of Saint Augustine, and this itself is a great aid to orthodoxy. What’s more, because we are an order rooted in Augustine, about the last thing you will find “permeating” our order is anti-Church teaching. You will not find a Father with greater love and devotion for the Church than Augustine, and by and large this sentiment holds true for the Order, as well – with some obvious exceptions. But please don’t project your poor experience with a handful of Augustinian friars onto the Order as a whole. It’s unfair and inaccurate.
A little bit of persective from one close to the actual area. Firstly, anyone familiar with the Irish Times would know that this correspondent was one of those who were “devastated” in St. Peter’s Square following the election of HH Benedict XVI. Which about says it all.
This is just another jaded attempt to push something that’s not really going anywhere in the first place. In fact, Fr. O’D’s 15 minutes of (in)fame were well and truly over following that Easter stunt with the C. of I. man and he’s now well-past his sell-by date. He’s about as “controversial” as gone-off milk.
Surprisingly enough, or perhaps not, I haven’t seen any great deal of follow-up correspondence in that paper since the tantrum… ooops, sorry… matter was first reported on 2 weeks ago. Talk about a dog bites man job.
The problem with Fr Iggy is that the Irish media dig him up as ‘rent a Pope basher’. They do it with a number of clergy – within the Irish province of the Augustinians, Fr Gabriel Daly was another favourite.
But as Michael Hallman says the Augustinians have everything between very orthodox to very heterodox. I am aware of a now long deceased Irish Augustinian who was saying the TLM semi-privately in the early ’70s outside Dublin. One of the long-serving supporting priests in the Dublin indult community was Fr Harry Leahy OSA who is now in his 90s. If one attending the Novus Ordo Mass in John’s Lane (the main Dublin Augustinian community) at that time (’80s and ’90s), it was very edifying to attend Fr Gervase Corcoran’s Mass – Novus Ordo but as rubrical as one can be. Fr Corcoran had a doctorate in patristics but alas had a stroke. And Fr F.X. Martin, professor of mediaeval history in University College Dublin and elder brother of the ex-Jesuit Malachi Martin – the Augustinian Father Martin spent his Saturday afternoons hearing confessions in an inner city Dublin church. These are not the kind of Irish Augustinians people hear about thanks to media focus on the Iggy O’Donovans and Gabriel Dalys of this world.