Changing Habits Part 3. Back For Good?

 Changing Habits Part 2. Back Out Of The Habit!

I seriously doubt the over inflated ego's of either Abbot Cuthbert Brogan and Dom Gregory Carey (Ex Fr Dominic Carey S.S.J.) could abide with each other for long in such a relatively small monastery as Farnborough Abbey!

I suspect one or other does not expect to be there full time and most likely it will be Carey off for "Further Studies" though I suppose it not impossible Cuthbert might be the next Abbot President or even up for a Bishopric!

So after much bemusement here it is!

 

 

Much has been written and linked here and elsewhere about Carey and The Society Of St. John S.S.J. but here are highlights (or should that be lowlights!) of why Carey should not be Solemnly Professed at F'bro or anywhere but should be laicized!

 

Sister Act!

 

 Now you might say that the above photo is just a little fun among peers and certainly not indicative of a greater malaise. That might be true with different people and in different places but below is why I think "Great Malaise" is precisely what it indicates! (In addition to all the SSJ stuff!)

Three novices left in 2019 and made contact citing their great distress finding the Monastery pervaded by a Homosexual atmosphere. Not just that but the Abbot's guests often contributed to the atmosphere and to further the distress, the Abbot would be overly "Tactile" with the younger and toned Monks, even kissing their hair! (Personally, I think the victims might have successfully brought a case for Sexual Harassment!) 

 

And he is about to profess Stability?

Whilst the term "Gyrovague" is less of an exact fit these days, I was left with a strong impression during my time at F'bro that in the process of discerning a Vocation any Community should be particularly cautious where a candidate brought with them a track record of many failed attempts - and if that alone should be reason for caution then surely having been a founding member of a Religious Society that was mired in corruption and eventually suppressed should trigger a whole array of RED LIGHTS! It leads you to consider that the resolving of Canonical irregularity as certified above, was not a matter of conscience but of a far lower expediency!

Coupled with the interruption in his formation for him to be a Diocesan in Peru....this makes a mockery of any discernment practice!

 

 Mac The Knife!

"And the shark, it has teeth, And it wears them in the face. And Macheath, he has a knife, But the knife can't be seen...."

Only himself and those directly involved know quite how deep this allusion goes but I think for the most part Carey is behind the scenes, more sleight of hand Magician and whether with direct knowledge or in "Who Will Rid Me Of This Turbulent Priest" fashion, leaves the muscle, in this I'm thinking of activities like "Shunning," but exactly like the Becket analogy....things might get out of hand....or worse... and consequences cannot always be foreseen.....but would he care?

 

Could this be the reason for Carey's continuing Clerical career?

"Bishop Joseph Martino – “suppressed” or disbanded the society.

Even though the society and its members were responsible to Martino, Carey and the others refused to meet with him or provide him with financial statements for the $6 million Carey had raised and the $8.6 million the society had spent.

 

Oh, and he's about to profess Obedience? 

A Wilde Pastiche

 

If You Tell A Lie Long Enough It Becomes The Truth.

My response to LCSB Abbot Cuthbert podcast.

I listened for about ten minutes before becoming "Triggered!!!" (and I'm not listening again for accuracy or chronology in this response, so from memory...)

 Ironic considering that was the excuse LCSB safeguarding used for taking down my comment on their facebook that relating in the briefest of terms my unfortunate experience of said Abbot when we were in formation, might be triggering to others!

 I wonder if they will now remove the podcast? I hope not. Being "Triggered" is a cross I am happy to bear if it saves anyone becoming a victim of the institutional church. So.....

Here he goes again talking about being 18! He was 20 when he joined F'bro and had already been to university.

 I remember talk of Ushaw, but not Carmelites. I don't recall he went to Quarr while "Nibbling" He may have started at Minsteracres but was studying Classics, I believe in Liverpool University and living in a Passionist Monastery in St Helens. Word is, he was kicked out for innapropriate behaviour and so I assume was indeed looking for a "Better Fit" Yes, he is a Benedictine! In the worst sense!!! To say he liked the family feel of F'bro made me want to cry! Yes I now realise F'bro was not the Idyll I imagined...ever...but I nurture that imagining as inspiration, what F'bro should have been...and could have been....and maybe still can be? But F'bro was to get alot worse, for it was fairly relaxed and warm, though flawed, made up of sinners, like us all of course, but lacking the "Good Men" of Fr Magnus imaginings and memory ....so what Cuthbert saw was not a warm family to fit in but a vulnerable community ripe for manipulation and usurpation...which is what he has done, destroyed what was good and built it as a shrine to his vanity and opportunity to his whim and destroyed vocations and damaged Souls along the way!

 Perhaps that is not entirely fair. Perhaps he did see a warm and friendly family but through nature and nurture was unable to react other than from the fear perspective and therefore was pressed by a strong sub conscious drive to control it and possess it. Thing is, love cannot exist in that paradigm, it has to be given with one hand and received with the other. If you try and cling on to it and control it's outcome, it atrophies and dies. I believe this is what has happened with Cuthbert and the Communities (Prior, Novice Master, Chapter, Congregation) failure to exercise the surgeons knife, resulted in the poison affecting and destroying the original Community (Though admittedly there were tensions extant, but to what extent these were a part of Cuthberts machinations I can only think that they certainly didn't help build bridges! If the Community imploded, he might hope to benefit but others might know more for certain?) and every iteration of Community since. His frustrations are revealed in his bullying and unkindness and he takes comfort, not in healthy relationships, but in the perpetual fancies and fantasies of a teenager and he inflicts much damage upon those who genuinely love(d) him. (Mea Culpa at this point in that I recognise my sexuality is stunted or most likely will always be at this point too, but I pray I have the insight to avoid hurting others with promises or demonstrations that I cannot sustain or fulfil)

I remember that boy with the deep brown eyes, who waxed lyrical his love for the Monastic life juxtaposed with the sudden change to a bar propping bitchy old queen, and again to someone who could be deeply hurtful and have no realization that they had been, or not care...or not appear to care?

Will the real David Cuthbert Brogan please stand up?

To some extent we are all a mixture of vying personalities but if we do not become the Charioteer in control of the team, we cause mayhem, personally and to others. 

The church affords Cuthbert a half life. A life of superficiality.

It can only become real if he would acknowledge or takes steps through psychotherapy / Counselling to gain insight into how he hurts himself and how he hurts others.

Stepping into his authentic true nature would, as it does for everyone from Jesus Christ to Ourselves, involve swimming against the worldly tide, perhaps at great worldly cost. But it is the journey of the true human soul, it is the journey of perfection, it is the revelation that god became man that man might become God.

I pray we may merrily meet again in Heaven...in this world or the next!

 

 

The Lay Community of Saint Benedict

 

The Lay Community Of St Benedict recently interviewed Abbot Cuthbert Brogan for their series of podcasts

 It came to my notice on their facebook page and I commented thus:

 If this is difficult to read you wont find it on the LCSB facebook page anymore (Try here ) because they have removed it citing that their safeguarding thought it might be "Triggering" to others! Well, I have found alot of comfort in the support of fellow victim /  survivors and in knowing I am not the only one! We are stronger together which is why the perpetrators and their defenders seek to prevent our solidarity...but anyway, you can read below what they said to me and how I responded in our F'bro specific support group.

"Dear Tom

We were sorry to read your post on our Facebook site this morning. We are not in a position to comment, not knowing the circumstances, but we express our sincere human support to you as you struggle with these memories. We also note that the police appear to have been involved and no further action has been taken. Today, as a result of your post, and as quickly as we could get everyone together, we convened a meeting of the Safeguarding Compliance team of the LCSB. We wanted to let you know that we have decided that we are going to take the post down, in order not to cause any further potential hurt to people who read the post and who themselves may be triggered into difficult memories. We have made a record of this exchange in our safeguarding log. If you would like further support, we can recommend the safeguarding helpline of the organisation 31:8 which was created for the protection of people in Christian communities. You may of course be familiar with it already. This is the link https://thirtyoneeight.org.

All best wishes

Peter Agius

Administrator laybenedictines@gmail.com 

(Translation) We don't want to lose our sense of self satisfied sanctimonious entitlement ...or cash flow...by waking others up to the fact that Farnborough (and Worth, where this venture originated and well "worth" avoiding for "The Usual") and most of the OSB and Church institution are con men hiding behind a veneer of similar entitlement and in reality are narcissistic sexually / psychological abusers who have never known a days work whilst poncing off the finances and vulnerabilities of others!!!

 

 Survivor of De La Salles abuse and writer Pat Mills (Whose blog I would heartily recommend to those with eyes to see and ears to hear) says "in my direct experience unholy lay Catholics in the UK are a greater danger to children than even priests."  I note with great concern the origins and connection of this organisation to Worth Abbey and connect that with the experiences of Pat Mills and Farnborough Abbey Choir survivors and extol with great exhortation people to exercise extreme caution in their dealings with LCSB, particularly around placing children and teenagers in their care and to young adults, particularly men, do not give them the  "benefit of the doubt" to anything whatsoever that you know is wrong, If their pat on your back seemed rather low, it's likely deliberate, but you know ideally, there is nothing stopping you and your friends forming your own small group to pray and live according to monastic ideals. You don't need them! Don't fall for the lies and deception of the child catcher!