As I begin this article I have to admit that I recently suffered from what I will call battle fatigue. We had a lovely Easter weekend with family joining us from various parts of the country, even though this is now illegal in Ireland. The weather here in the West was particularly good, and we had a young French visitor who prepared some gorgeous food for us. The family members returned to their homes on Easter Monday afternoon and on Monday evening, I realised that the nightmare that is the Irish Government’s Covid-19 policy had not gone away. I felt weary, dissipated, and sad.
I was telling a friend about this and he said to me, ‘John, this reminds me of something you said to me a few weeks ago’.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God” he replied.
That is actually the only solution to our problems but at times it is hard to keep our spirits up and it can be hard to keep the focus on Jesus Christ when there is so much controlled chaos all around us. I also came across some very disturbing information prior to the Easter weekend and so this article is going to contain some more signs of the darkness that threatens to envelop us but I will end with some great signs of hope too.
***PARENTAL ADVISORY – Some of the content of this article is not suitable for children.***
The disturbing information reminded me of the great need that there is to pray for our bishops and so, let us pause to say an Ave for them especially as regards our returning to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the reform of our Catholic Schools, and the proper distribution of Holy Communion according to the norm of the Catholic Church which is on the tongue whilst kneeling.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
I had occasion to visit Castlebar before Easter and on one occasion, whilst I was leaving the Church of the Holy Rosary, a publicity banner caught my eye across the road. The banner was outside of The Family Centre in Castlebar.
The Family Centre website tells us that the building was erected in 1878 as a National School for boys run by the De La Salle Brothers until the late 1950’s. As far as I am aware, it is now owned by the Archdiocese of Tuam. Another online article states that ‘The Family Centre’ was established by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuam in 1994 to provide Family Life Services to people living in the Archdiocese.
On taking a closer look at the banner I noticed that it mentioned ‘Allied Services’ and included an organisation called ‘Sexual Health West’. This name triggered alarm bells in my head but I could not remember where I had heard of this organisation before. I left it go that day but a few days later, I was once again in Castlebar and this time I decided that I would look up the organisation. That’s when it clicked with me where I had heard of this organisation before.
‘Sexual Health West’ used to be known as ‘Aids West’ and I had covered this organisation in a presentation I had been doing about the dangers of RSE. One of the employees of Sexual Health West is a lady called Kate Dawson who promotes something she calls ‘porn literacy’. The abstract to a paper produced by Kate Dawson and two of her colleagues in the National University of Ireland, Galway which is titled, “Toward a Model of Porn Literacy: Core Concepts, Rationales, and Approaches”, states in part.
“Findings suggest that the proposed learning outcomes should focus on reducing shame regarding pornography engagement”
In an Irish Independent article from February 2019, Kate Dawson, referring to her study where she interviewed college students is quoted as saying:
“Participants acknowledged that pornography is here to stay and, rather than trying to fight against it, youth should have the opportunity to discuss its content and acquire tools to navigate their sexuality,”
I found out that a representative of Sexual Health West attends the Family Centre in Castlebar on the first Tuesday of every month.
On their website, Sexual Health West inform us that, “Sexual Health West distributes free condoms and lubricant from our office in Augustine St. During our office closure, due to government restrictions, we also offer a free condom and lubricant mail service. Please fill out our registration form and we will send condoms and/or lubricant directly to your door.”
At then end of this online page is where I found the most disturbing information about this organisation. They have a Condom Policy which states the following.
“We recognise that the public (including young people) can buy condoms at pharmacies and other outlets. Equally Sexual Health West is aware that the law in relation to the provision of condoms to young people below the age of 16 or 17 is particularly unclear. Accordingly, in the absence of Irish legal guidance and in line with common practice in Irish healthcare, staff of Sexual Health West will consider the best interests of the young person and will be guided by the Fraser Guidelines which advises that condoms and contraceptives can be supplied to young people provided that:
- The young person is deemed Gillick competent, that is they understand the advice and have sufficient maturity to understand its moral, social and emotional implications.
- The person providing the advice and /or condoms should not persuade the young person to inform their parents, or persuade the young person to allow the staff member to inform their parents that they are seeking contraceptive advice.
- The young person is very likely to begin or continue having sexual intercourse with or without contraceptive support and would be at risk of pregnancy or sexual infections.”
Sexual Health West is clearly stating that, in certain circumstances, they will give condoms to children under the age of 16. It is my view that this is a form of child abuse.
Sexual Health West also contradicts the immoral Fraser guidelines which recommended that health care professionals “should, of course, always seek to persuade her to tell her parents that she is seeking contraceptive advice, and the nature of the advice that she receives. At least he should seek to persuade her to agree to the doctor’s informing the parents.”
The Fraser Judgement arose from Victoria Gillick’s case of 1983 against the West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority.
Sexual Health West, like many other organisations which promote abortion and other immorality, use the tactic of breaking or ignoring laws in order to bring about a change in the law which is favourable to their immoral cause.
That such an organisation is allowed to operate from a Family Centre with strong connections to a Catholic Archdiocese is utterly appalling and there is a duty on Archbishop Michael Neary to publicly denounce this practice and to ensure that Sexual Health West are not given any access to children in the Family Centre in Castlebar. It is all the more incumbent on Archbishop Neary to do this as two priests of his Archdiocese serve on the board of the Family Centre.
One can ask the question ‘how is it that once Catholic organisations become involved in promoting immoral activities’. I think one of the answers to this question is provided by Our Lord Himself when he says in Chapter six of St Matthew’s Gospel, “No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)
I believe that The Family Centre in Castlebar, like the Kerry Diocesan Youth Services and the Ferns Diocesan Youth Services, were initially set up at a diocesan level in order to provide services with a Catholic ethos.
However, the need for ongoing funding leads to an exploration to see if government funds might be available. The initial organisation is then set up as a limited company. The Memorandum of Association for Cúram Clainne Ltd, which is the Company that was formed in 2003 to manage the affairs of the Family Centre in Castlebar contains no reference to a Catholic ethos.
The financial report on the charities website for 31 December 2019 tells us that The Family Centre in Castlebar had an income of €476,722 of which €242,143 came from central government or local authorities. Thus the centre has become dependent on finance from a corrupt, abortion promoting government, which is involved in the murder of innocent children.
It is therefore no surprise to find out that immoral organisations, which condone immoral sexual activity amongst young people, can gain access to Catholic Children through centres that were initially set up with the approval of the diocesan bishop.
I encourage readers of Catholic Voice, especially parents of young children, to contact Archbishop Michael Neary, especially by registered letter, to complain about this scandalous situation.
Archbishop Michael Neary can be contacted at the following address.
Archbishop Michael Neary
Archbishop’s House
Tuam
Co Galway
I cannot overemphasise the point that Catholic parents need to be aware that there are evil forces at work which seek to destroy the innocence and purity of your children, and these forces have gained very strong footholds within our once Catholic education system and they have also infiltrated many other once Catholic organisations like the Family Centre in Castlebar. Another example is the Kerry Diocesan Youth Services which seeks to corrupt children as young as thirteen by telling them that they should attend gay pride parades.
We have entered one of the darkest epochs of human history and I firmly believe that the attack on the Catholic family, mentioned by Sister Lucia of Fatima in her letter to the late Cardinal Cafarra, is in full swing. Catholic parents need to take heed of Psalm 126:1
“Unless the Lord build the house, They labour in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city,
He watcheth in vain that keepeth it.”
Our family life must be grounded in a strong Catholic Faith and Catholic parents have a duty to see to it that their children are properly educated in the authentic teachings of the Catholic Church. Most likely your children will not learn these teachings in our Catholic schools, so you must take whatever steps are necessary to protect your children from those with smiling faces and sweet words who seek to corrupt them.
I said that I would finish with signs of Hope and I understand that it can be difficult to maintain Hope amidst the darkness. The words of Psalm 22 come to mind.
“For though I should walk
In the midst of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evils,
For thou art with me.
Thy rod and thy staff,
They have comforted me.”
Recently I was invited to give a talk to a group of people. It was the first time I had given a talk in almost a year. This group meets once per week and most of them were in their twenties. They come together to pray and they also have some priests who offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for them on a regular basis.
I know of several other priests who are celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in private houses. I am aware of another group which recently had an outdoor Mass celebrated for them.
I have heard other reports of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass being offered with people present in many parts of the country.
These reports of ordinary Catholics working to make the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass available give me great hope for the future.
We have entered a new penal era and we must prepare ourselves to do what our ancestors did when they were legally prevented from attending the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. They organised secret locations where the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass could be celebrated and they set up discreet local communications networks which allowed faithful Catholics to know where and when the Holy Sacrifice would be celebrated.
I have been asked to try to set up a national organisation to help in this fight but I have stressed to those who have asked me, that this must be done on a local basis and by word of mouth. It is imperative that we avoid social media networks for this work. Take a look around you and try to think of where there is a safe place for celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The more locations you can arrange the better and it is also good to vary the times when the Holy Sacrifice is offered.
Try not to gather too many cars in any one area. Be aware that there will be Judases, that your location may be discovered, that there may be fines issued and time to serve in jail. Many of our ancestors risked their lives to make sure that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was available to the people of the previous penal era. Many Catholic priests were martyred in this country for offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We cannot shirk our duties and we need to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with our families, so let us get to work in the Lord’s vineyard whilst we still have some light left to us.
