Australia: Parishioners Enraged, Assault Priest For Being Too Catholic…
Complaints from annoyed parishioners about a priest’s “brand” of religion have forced the Catholic church to move on a recent appointee from northern Tasmania.
Father Nicholas Rynne, ordained in 2013 and formerly based in Sydney, ceased working in Tasmania’s Meander Valley Parish after “recent disturbances” and a subsequent investigation, the Archdiocese of Hobart announced on Wednesday.
“We pray that a process of healing and restoration of unity may be achieved in the parish and among all affected,” Hobart Archbishop Julian Porteous said in a statement, noting there was no allegation of sexual abuse among the complaints.
[Ed: it’s worth noting that other reports reveal that the same parishioners who persecuted Fr Rynne, also detest the archbishop. He’s weakly caved in to their demands instead of sending them off to attend an equality and diversity course in order to learn all about inclusion…]
The archdiocese launched an investigation headed by retired Melbourne Bishop Peter Elliot, who last week interviewed 86 people in the community.
The parish takes in the centres of Westbury and Deloraine, west of Launceston.
“In the light of Bishop Elliot’s recommendations and following discussion with diocesan consultors and the council of priests, Fr Nicholas Rynne has ceased his role,” Archbishop Porteous said, noting the father is taking leave.
[Ed: utterly disgraceful. Everyone involved should be hanging their muddled and apostate heads in shame.]
In a publicly-available letter addressed to Fr Rynne, Maureen Bennett wrote that she and fellow parishioners felt hostility towards the priest.
[Ed: that’s putting it mildly. These nuts physically assaulted this priest and an elderly female supporter – click here to read more. ]
“If people other than our Archbishop do not agree with your brand of religion you should expect it and stop putting forward a sob story about how badly done by you are,” she penned.
[Ed: this would be the “brand” of religion that has given us countless saints and martyrs for 2000 years, of course. Numpty.]
“You accused us of being apostates when it is you who is setting up a sect within our religion and trying to indoctrinate everyone that yours is the only true religion.”
[Ed: the traditional Catholic Church & Faith the only true religion? Where on earth did Fr Rynne get that idea?]
She slammed as “ridiculous” his decision to wear a cassock and collar and hit out at the priest’s attitude towards women on the altar.
[Ed: I think she means “in the sanctuary” – women would look even more out of place on the actual altar. This one really is a numpty.]
“We have no love for clerical dress and have embraced those priests and nuns who have shown us that by dressing in the same way as the rest of us they are human beings,” the letter continued.
[Ed: Maureen Bennett thinks she’s (only) a human being? Now, that really IS humble Since she clearly lords it over the archbishop and just about everyone in Australia, I’m not so sure there’s not some… er… supernatural activity going on here, a certain “spirit” shall we say, enveloping this self-appointed guardian of her own brand of religion… But this much is clear: she’s anything but human to treat her priest in this disgraceful way.]
Her criticism was broad.
“Your attitude to women on the altar, depriving of us of positions we have humbly held in the past and the jerky manner in which you now turn to the people and the way you pray the consecration are all very annoying,” she said.
[Ed: Well, we can see that the humility is just oozing out of this one, can’t we?]
The controversial priest had also introduced a Latin mass to the Westbury church in addition to the standard mass.
[Ed: Phew! So that’s it? Phew! Here’s me thinking he must surely have been selling drugs or dealing in human trafficking to excite such anger and opposition…] Source – The Australian 3/4/19
Please click here to sign the petition which has been organised by supporting parishioners
Comments invited…
But first, please pray for this poor priest, victimised by a bunch of nasty parishioners, and hung out to dry by his weak archbishop.
Comments (35)
I hope that priest shook the dirt from his shoes as he left that apostate parish. There is clearly no Catholic religion left there. Another Vatican II triumph for Lucifer.
Here’s a suggestion to kill two birds with one stone (not that this will happen, but it’s a thought):
Make that priest a bishop and send him to Washington D.C. to be the new archbishop there. Those Aussie rebels and the ADW faithful will both be happy.
Margaret USA,
Now, that’s what I call “a plan”!
Thank you, Madame Editor. 😊
Yes I read about this Protestant Woman who wanted a Catholic Priest removed from Her Church well for being Catholic. Am not going to read it again as am sure this was the same Demonic Female who said she was Glad or Maybe Even Gay that this Holy Priest was Spat upon because God forbid he even had the Cheek to dress as a Priest. I wonder if on the Day that this Evil Person is lying on Her Deathbed crying out For a Priest and her Family are searching the Area for one to hear her Last Confession. That she would maybe think that if all Priests dressed as Priests they would maybe be able to recognise one .
FOOF,
Excellent point. I’ve heard umpteen stories of more or less miraculous occurrences due to a priest being recognizable – e.g. some long-lapsed Catholics on a journey, seeing a priest in collar, asking to have their confessions heard. That sort of thing. Priests have no idea, some of them, of the nobility of their vocation.
Father Nicholas Rhyme take heart! Many of us put you awesome young priests in our prayers which are stronger than your enemies words. You are a ‘white martyr’ as are we, the remnant. God Bless you and may Our Lady cover you with her magnificent mantle of blue. Viva Cristo Rey!
I have been fully aware of this outrageous carry on for quire some weeks now, The great Fr. Zulsdorf had it on his blog together with the appauling letter sent by Maureen Bennet to Fr Nicholas Rynne. I sent him a message of support of course even though he is from Tasmania! I have never been to Tasmania yet but it is on my “to-do” list. I am very disappointed in Bishop Peter Elliot in not supporting Fr. Rynne. I thought he had more guts than that!
There is a brand new Benedictine Monastery in Tasmania. Its Abbot is Fr. Pius Noonan and the Monastery is Notre Dame Priory Tasmania if any of you are interested in looking for it. They are struggling to get themselves really set up!
All is not lost in Tasmania!
One day I will get there. I have a friend lives there! We do have direct flights from Perth to Tasmania.
The reader who first alerted me to this case, said he first learned about it from this video….
Fr Zulsdorf had the full story weeks ago together with pictures and that shameful letter in full. He even posted pictures of Fr. Rynne complete with his cassock and large black hat, sitting with a group of parishoners clearly enjoying a picnic together. They were clearly supportive of Fr.Rynne. He also showed why Maureen Bennett was really upset. She had recently done a course for lay ministers in how to organise Liturgies of the Word. This was something that Fr. Rynne clearly was not going to tolerate within his church. There were Latin Masses aplenty within the churches he served.
John,
Thanks for that information. I never visit Fr Z so would not have known anything about it but for the reader who posted me the information late yesterday. Father Z – and maybe he’s changed now, I don’t know – was not always sympathetic to “Tradition” and blacklisted a couple of Catholic Truth bloggers (myself included) for daring to disagree with him, e.g. in my own case when I criticised the use of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. His line then was that, sure, they’re not ideal, blah blah but (drum roll) anything permitted by “the Church” is OK with him. I dared to challenge that and – boom! I was gone.
Pope Francis is forcing these half-in, half-out types to face the truth that you either accept the entirety of the Catholic Faith, discipline and practice, or you… well… don’t!
As I say, I’ve not visited Fr Z’s blog for ages, so not sure where he is on the “Catholic Tradition scale” at the present time. I hope he’s come to the realisation to which I refer in paragraph 2 above !
Feel free, of course, to post the link to the Fr Z post on Fr Rynne.
Editor,
Like you, I was banned by Fr Z. I cannot remember what it was over, but probably something similar to what you experienced with him. I very rarely visit his blog, but the last time I did he seemed more sympathetic to the SSPX.
This kind of thing is quite frequent in Novus Ordo parishes who already have, or inherit, priests of a more conservative nature. I recall one of the dissenting ‘Catholics for a Changing Church’ brigade viciously persecuting a priest for his temerity to introduce the occasional TLM in their parish.
I recall an amusing incident that happened in my own Novus Ordo parish when I used to attend it many moons ago. The old PP there – who to be fair was ill – had allowed the bossy-boots dissident laity in the parish (you know the type) to run amok and they had virtually taken over the parish including the presbytery. The PP died and when his replacement came, who was not exactly conservative, but more so than his predecessor, they welcomed him to the presbytery and showed him a room and said ‘this is your room’ to which he replied ‘No, no, this is my presbytery, and if you would all please leave now I’d be very grateful’! He had to get all the locks changed to stop them re-entering – unless invited. Of course the dissidents were up in arms. Likewise when he queried why there wasn’t a statue of Our Lady in the church and said that he was going to take the beautiful statue of Our Lady of Fatima from the local convent which was closing. This was announced at a parish meeting and you’d think he had said he was going to install a statue of satan, such was the uproar. However, he got his way, the statue was installed, and eventually he tamed some of the worst elements in the parish. Sadly, since this PP died, the statue of Our Lady, which was an original old Portuguese image with an exquisite facial expression, made shortly after the Fatima apparitions, was utterly vandalised by an amateur repaint job and it now looks like a dolly. I left the parish years ago and have never looked back.
I personally think these conservative priests should stop wasting their time and trying to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear. They’d be better joining traditional orders and encouraging their more sincere and conservative parishioners to follow them to the TLM, and leave the dissidents to their own devices. That would help sort the wheat from the chaff.
A similar thing happened in a parish I used to attend. There was no hall so the priest allowed a very large room on the first floor of the chapel house to be used for tea and coffee after Mass and also for meetings. This meant that the chapel house was practically a free for all with parishioners going to the “upper Room” as it was called. When the priest died the new priest announced that the chapel house was meant to the home of the clergy and so he was stopping the coming and going into the house. This didn’t go down well with some parishioners and some said that “oh we’ll soon knock him into shape.” One woman even claimed that the late priest’s last words were “fight for the upper room.” As he died very suddenly of a heart attack while on holiday I’m not sure how she knew this. Eventually those who didn’t agree with the new priest drifted away to other parishes when they saw that the priest was not going to be knocked into shape.
WF,
That story about “this is my presbytery” (brilliant!) reminds me of a priest some years ago who was appointed to a parish in a Scottish diocese (which shall remain nameless to protect said priest) where the previous priest had allowed a group of the laity free rein, to the point where they presided at a Eucharistic Service on his day off and on one other day.
When the new priest arrived, they told him that they had given Father X an extra day off by saying the two Eucharistic Services, and they would continue that for him.
The new priest thanked them but said he would be saying Mass every day, including his day off. They left, not too happy.
Next day they returned to say “We’re not sure we made ourselves clear: we prefer our Eucharistic Services, so we’ll go on doing them on your day off and another day if you like”.
Father replied that if they preferred Eucharistic Services to Mass, then they were not Catholics, end of discussion.
They then reported him to the Bishop, who sent for him, and told him to let the laity do what they wanted.
In the end, what they wanted was to “worship” at the local Presbyterian kirk.
Truly, you could not make this stuff up. Tragic.
It’s this grab for what they see as ‘power’ that’s behind it all. Pure pride. Even the official instructions for Extraordinary Ministers (only to be used under extraordinary circumstances, seldom – if ever – found in this country) from the Vatican state that people should only do the role for a certain period and then the role should be allocated to someone else. In practise, that never happens. Most priests would never dare take away that role from a parishioner. They just add to the rota of EM’s so in the end virtually everyone is an EM. Ridiculous. I remember another thing from my old parish as well. One of the pompous old dissidents approached me after Mass and asked if I would like to be an EM. I told him I wouldn’t and that it wasn’t his place to ask me anyway. I also told him to read the 1997 Vatican document on this subject stating that EM’s were forbidden except under extraordinary circumstances. Needless to say I was persona non grata after that. In the same parish, for some reason, the priest never purified the vessels after Mass (including the umpteen chalices used by EM’s for hardly any parishioners) leaving the EM’s to do it. I actually saw an EM take a piece of kitchen paper from a roll and start cleaning the chalices after Mass as if she were doing the pots and pans. After, she screwed up the piece of paper and threw it into a waste paper basket which was under the credence table. You couldn’t make it up. I walked straight into the sacristy and had it out with the priest, and he did put an end to that particular abuse. But every Mass brought a new abuse to complain about, which is why I left. But this complaining by dissidents is not about service, it’s all about power and lording it over others.
I meant to say – this is the 1997 Vatican document link: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_interdic_doc_15081997_en.html
Was the bishop ever told about these sacrilegious acts?
The one thing that stood out for me was the blatant arrogance of that woman. I bet she is a supporter of women priests and has had her nose put out of joint because this priest seems to be a strong male father figure. Pride is always at the root of these parish rebellions.
I believe a large part of the blame lies with the previous parish priests who have no doubt indulged this woman, and many others, in their desire to prance around the sanctuary.
Petrus,
She’s so far gone that she doesn’t know how to cover up her self-evident pride. There’s no judging of her souls here, folks, any more than we’re judging the soul of someone we see stealing a wad of cash, so don’t waste your breath.
Let’s just hope and pray that she repents of her manifest arrogance before it’s too late.
You are spot on about the previous clergy AND the weak archbishop.
The way this priest was treated by some of his parishioners is disgraceful. It shows how far the rot has set in as I’m sure these people would have been brought up to respect a priest, even if, for some reason you don’t like him, you still respect his priesthood. For someone to spit on anyone is shocking let alone to spit on a priest and then for this Maureen Bennett to condone it is beyond belief. She sounds like a right nutter.
Vianney,
I couldn’t agree more – no matter whether we personally like a priest or not, we must respect his priesthood. If he is preaching false doctrine and/or morals, then, of course, as we know, we have a right and a duty to correct him, but not to be nasty and Maureen Bennett is the Queen of Nasty.
The spitting and other assaulting is shocking beyond words. In fact, when I read that first time, my immediate thought was “demonic” – these people are possessed.
Regarding this information, I feel nauseated!
These “people of dialogue” do not hesitate to use their brutal methods to impose their sectarianism!
Among them, please let me know what remains of the Christian spirit?
They should be afraid of being held accountable of their scandalous behaviour on the day of Justice…
Another martyrdom of the “disastrous conciliar reform”!
Let us pray Our Lady of Victories for this priest!
THE MASKS ARE ACTUALLY FALLING!… This is clear.
Lionel,
“The masks are actually falling…”
Absolutely! There is clear frustration (not to mention undisguised hatred) in Maureen Bennett’s letter; it’s because it is dawning on them that their attempt to stifle and kill off the traditional Catholic religion has not worked and never will work.
Absolutely shocking – poor priest. I’ll pray for him.
Just when you think things can’t get any worse. These poor heretics have lost the Faith completely, and I can’t help thinking that if they have so little belief left, they won’t be too bothered about receiving the Last Rites, as they probably don’t believe in Hell. God have mercy on them, and thank God for good priests who are undergoing such persecution.
I have written to Archbishop Porteus and expressed my disgust at his treatment of Fr. Rynne. I have not received any reply, nor do I expect to receive one either.
John,
Just as well you don’t expect a reply – for all the talk about “inclusion” and “dialogue”, the record of modernists on replying to critics speaks for itself.
Does anyone know the whereabouts of this man or have his contact details?
Editor: You can probably contact him via this website
N O T I C E . . .
The blog will be closing to comments tomorrow, for the duration of Holy Week. It will re-open on Easter Sunday.
I have just seen that Archbishop Porteus has told the Latin Mass Community in Westbury Tasmania that there will be no more Latin Masses at this church until further notice. There is also a petition on “Change.org” asking for the reinstatement of Fr Rynne. When I signed up there already had be well over 850 who had signed the petition.
John Rayner,
That’s shocking about the archbishop disallowing Latin Masses. He’s obviously terrified of the Bennett woman and her useful idiot followers.
The petition is also linked at the end of the blog article.
It would appear that Fr Nicholas Rynne has a profile on “Facebook”. I will not have anything to do with Facebook..
John Rayner,
I am the same – I don’t like either Facebook or Twitter and, in fact I consider them to be very dangerous, if not demonic.
This has now gone further and further. It is now being reported on “Rorate Coeli”
Comments are closed.