Tag: Catholic Church

Father Bob and the Witch Hijacker


If a Christian minister goes into an occult proceeding and starts to maybe pray and proclaim the gospel, my guess is that Christian minister is likely to be labeled a evangelical fanatic, behaving stupidly and unreasonably. There would likely be outrage from some quarters, or at least some “tsk, tsk” hissing around.

Yet when a witch doctor takes over a wedding ceremony in a church, it hardly makes the news. Is there bias reporting against Christianity? You bet.

See here:

 

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Father Bob Maguire angry over witch hijacking wedding ceremony

• by: Aleks Devic

• From: Herald Sun

• January 17, 2012 12:00AM

A WITCH who went to jail for dragging a policeman 190m with her car has hijacked a wedding ceremony being performed by the reverend Father Bob Maguire.

Father Maguire said he felt like the “devil took over me” when Eilish De Avalon conducted a Pagan Handfasting Ceremony at a Brighton Catholic church.

Father Maguire said he had warned the woman to tone back her scripts for the January 7 wedding but was “taken for a ride” on the day.

Ms Avalon, who was jailed for two months last June after pleading guilty to recklessly causing serious injury, dangerous driving, driving while suspended and using a mobile phone while driving, yesterday confirmed to the Herald Sun it was the first time she had performed the ceremony in a church, but declined to speak further.

Handfasting ceremonies are performed for same-sex couples, opposite gender couples and for multiple partners.

The bride and groom’s hands are tied during the ceremony and vows are usually taken for a year and a day.

At the end of some services, the couple jump over a broomstick.

Father Maguire said he was fuming about the ceremony conducted after his official religious ceremony at St James Church Brighton.

He was also further angered that Ms De Avalon, 40, posted on Facebook: “History in the making this morning in when I conduct a Pagan Handfasting Ceremony in a Catholic church with the support of Fr Bob.”

Fr Maguire said: “She is using me as an endorsement to blow her own trumpet. She took an opportunistic advantage of the parish.

“I was taken for a ride and blindsided. Once in the saddle she took over the place. It was like the devil got a hold of me.

“I’ve never had an experience like that in my 50 years (with the church).”

Bishop Les Tomlinson, Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, said the matter would be looked into and described the service as “peculiar” and regrettable.

“Such a person is not welcomed in the Catholic Church to interfere with liturgy,” he said.

Ms De Avalon was pulled over by police in Geelong in February 2010 after police saw her talking on a mobile phone. She drove off with a policeman’s arm pinned in her car window.

The car came to a stop only when the badly injured policeman was able to pull the keys from the ignition.

devica@heraldsun.com.au

 

 

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Protecting, and Journeying with Individual Versus Doing the Right Thing…


Senator Nick Xenophon has outed a senior catholic priest in relation to allegations of sexual misconduct against him. His reason? See this and the following extract:

‘‘The people of the Brighton parish have the right to know that for four years allegations have been outstanding that the priest, Ian Dempsey, raped John Hepworth and that church leadership has failed to make appropriate inquiries into this matter and that church leadership had failed to stand this priest down as a matter of course while inquiries take place.”

Was this the right thing to do on the part of the Senator? After all it was only an allegation, by someone who might have had reasons to be aggrieved in relation to a separate matter, someone who might have had an axe to grind. The priest had also categorically denied the allegation.
What it does show however, is the responsibilities of the leadership. That there was no inquiry, no apparent action taken in response to the allegation, was what disturbed many. If the inquiry had taken place and perhaps no standing down but some interim measures imposed on the priest while the inquiry is on foot, might have satisfied some, no least the parishioners.
The no-action response was a no-no. Church leadership should never be seen to have done nothing.
Protecting an individual must be taken into consideration but must never be the prime driver of most decisions.
Discerning what is right, must always be the first and prime process.
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