[See an update here.]Fr. Matthew Despard, author of Priesthood in Crisis, has apparently been suspended from priestly ministry. Here’s an excerpt from a story from one news agency in Scotland:
Parishioners at St John Ogilvie's Church in High
Blantyre, Lanarkshire, reacted with fury and disbelief when they were told just
before Mass last night that Father Matthew Despard had been removed from his
ministry.
They were greeted
by a weeping Father Despard outside the church shortly before the 4:30pm Mass
began, and were ushered inside to hear a statement from Bihsop Joseph Toal,
Acting Bishop of the Diocese of Motherwell.
Angry scenes broke out among the congregation when Bishop
Toal informed them “a penal judicial process” had been instituted against Fr.
Despard as a result of the publication of his book Crisis in The Priesthood [sic],
with parishioners demanding answers over the priest’s suspension.
Read
the rest at the link. My comments on the book are here.
I
know I will be praying for Fr. Despard. I sense there is truth in what he has
written, and he will pay dearly for revealing it. Of course, he knew that he
would be a target when he published the book, but still…
I’ll
be praying, too, for the restoration of order regarding the scandal of
homosexuality among the clergy, which can scarcely be denied at this point,
regardless of whether Fr. Despard’s book paints an accurate picture of the
situation in Scotland.
See also: Randy Engel, Fr. Despard, et al: Exposing the Homosexualist Agenda
See also: Randy Engel, Fr. Despard, et al: Exposing the Homosexualist Agenda
Why, oh, why has Bishop Toal chosen to escalate this matter ? He will do Fr Despard no good, he will do himself no good, he will do the Church no good. Madness.
ReplyDeleteFor, by my reckoning, Father Despard is more or less correct in his account of the bullying gay culture that exists in various parts of the Church. As he is about an actively gay culture within certain groups of priests. Why do I say this ? Well, I happen to know a lot about one area Fr Despard talks about in his book, and by my reckoning he is pretty much spot on. It has to do with his time in the Army as a chaplain, and I believe, in fact I know, that the vast majority of what he recounts, including names, is correct. He is not making it up. It happened. Take it from me, and from my experience of chaplaincy in the military. It doesn't make for comfortable reading, I know, but he is pretty much spot on in his recounting of and assessment of the culture which existed there - and to a certain degree still does, though some of the weightier and powerful characters are now elsewhere having moved on or died, and the extreme gay culture which Fr Despard recounts has diminished somewhat. But, make no mistake, there still is a large gay sub-culture which exists in that ministry, and some of it acted upon sexually by a number of individuals.
If Father Despard is not telling the truth, then why have those priests who think they have been maligned not sued ? Because they know that if the matter were investigated closely it would show that father Despard is telling the truth !
So, I reckon that if he is right about that bit of his experience and life, I think he is probably telling it as it was / is about other areas. Uncomfortable truth, I know, but don't shoot the messenger or try to silence him because it will all come back to bite you in the ass, Bishop Toal. Better to listen carefully to what is being said and address the issues constructively rather than punitively, as you currently appear to be doing.
Now, I'm not sure if Father Despard should have written his book and published it. I think I would have preferred if he had not done so. But he has. What really sticks in my throat is the scurrying around to attempt to discredit and silence him rather than address the issues he raises.