Once in a while it is good to be reminded that the oppression is still going on.
Did you see the story about the “conservative” seminarians who were given the heave ho from Maynooth Seminary in Ireland?
From Irish Catholic:
A number of Maynooth student priests [i.e. seminarians] who were reportedly asked to take time out [euphemis alert! “thrown out”] of seminary because they were ‘too conservative’ [i.e, they believe in God, they don’t think women should be ordained, they don’t think men should sleep together, etc.] are to return to the college in the autumn after interventions by a number of bishops, it has been claimed. [Because, these days, there are so many seminarians in Ireland they can afford to lose some, right?]
The Irish Catholic understands that of 10 diocesan seminarians who were due to return to Maynooth in the autumn [they have TEN?] after completing their pastoral year, six were recommended to take time out to reconsider their vocation. [This reminds me of the diocese in California which had no seminarians at all for a couple years. They said that their admissions process worked. It was so excellent and sophisticated that no one got through!]
Sources have indicated to The Irish Catholic that the clear impression was given to the students that they were so advised because their theological views were considered at the conservative end of the spectrum. [I’m shocked! Shocked!]
However, Msgr Hugh Connolly, President of Maynooth, rejected the claim, insisting that there has been “nothing out of the ordinary in terms of usual action between students, dioceses and the seminary in making a decision on what is the best next step for a particular student”. [Uh huh.]
Msgr Connolly said it was “not a question of conservativism” but rather a question of “getting the right experience”. [Uh huh.]
However, the issue will put fresh focus on concerns that the Vatican’s investigation of Maynooth, ordered by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, has had little practical effect. In previous years some Maynooth students claimed the college operated an informal ‘litmus test’ to sift out seminarians considered excessively conservative. [What does “excessively” conservative mean in the modern Irish context? Translation: the rector didn’t like them.]
Interventions
The Irish Catholic now understands that after interventions by a number of bishops, three of the six seminarians will in fact be returning to the college this autumn. It is understood that the bishops involved rejected the assessment of their seminarians by those involved in co-ordinating the pastoral year, [of course] and that the apprehensions shared were at odds with favourable reports from pastoral placements. The concerns aired were reportedly not shared by the college’s seminary council. [It’s dejà vu all over again. This is sounding really familiar.]
Maynooth President Msgr Connolly, who chairs the council, poured cold water on the claim that a bishop had to bring any student “back on board,” insisting that no student was ever “off board”. [Uh huh.]
[…]
This is not the first time the issue has provoked controversy. Some years ago, seminarians were reportedly suspended for wanting to kneel during the consecration at Mass.
[NB!] In 2012, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said “it is not just that the number of candidates is low; it is also that many of those who present are fragile and some are much more traditional than those who went before them”. [That’s the old technique from the 80’s isn’t it? Suggest that anyone who is conservative is psychologically damaged. Then either force them out the door or into a shrink’s office so that he tell them that they are really gay. It’s what we, back in the day, referred to as Lubyanka.]
Attachment
While rejecting “priests or candidates who simply go with the trends of the day”, the archbishop warned there is “a danger that superficial attachment to the externals of tradition may well be a sign of fearfulness and flight from changed realities: and that is not exactly what we need”.
[…]
Changed realities…
Read the rest there.
