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1. Let's hope the Bishop takes decisive action this time, rather than turning a blind eye to what has been going on at St Mary's for many years.
   
   This 'priest' is going to continue to claim he is doing nothing wrong; - and he remains in communion with the Catholic Church. It is the Bishop's duty now to step in and make sure this myth does not continue.
   
   What the Church needs in these situations is strong and unambiguous leadership such as is given by the Pope, Cardinal Pell, or Archbishop Chaput who, I am sure, would not have allowed this situation to develop to its current point.

   Posted By: OREMUS

2. God is impartial, often our understanding of God is very partial, as Fr Kennedy say’s, “it is ironic that this is happening to his community at Easter.”
   
   There are many signs of our church declining and it seems very sad that we cannot heal the rifts, forgive what needs to be forgiven, forget what needs to be left behind and come together as a united diverse community this Easter.
   
   God bless Fr Kennedy’s community and the Brisbane Catholic/Christian community this Easter.
   
   Peter Igoe-Taylor
   

   Posted By: peter Igoe-Taylor

3. There is no irony Fr Kennedy. You brought all these troubles upon yourself.
   Fr Kennedy, can you do us all a favour and stop running to the media to tell of your alleged persecution complex please? The Archbishop of Brisbane is fairly liberal and for you to get off- side with him shows that you are really an ultra 'spirit of Vatican II' kind of guy.

   Posted By: Michael Webb

4. Fr Kennedy can perhaps give Tony Blair a call if he wants another member to join his schismatic, heretical, disobedient cult.

   Posted By: Michael Bernard

5. Divine Mercy Sunday. What a co-incidence!

   Posted By: robert carrucan

6. More 'Wanting to have his cake and eat it, too' from Fr Kennedy and his disciples? Life's just not like that, nor is the Gospel.

   Posted By: James

7. Keep walking Father Kennedy and take those with you who want to follow. The faithful and truly committed Catholics will be back next Sunday. As another contributor has quite correctly said, this situation should never have been allowed to develop and for that the Archbishop must accept criticism and take full responsibility that he had allowed this weeping sore to remain festering for so long. It should never be allowed to happen again.

   Posted By: peter

8. Just leave and let the healing process begin. If you wish to form your own church do so, but don't insult the Catholic church and talk so much rubbish

   Posted By: Brian

9. A number of years ago, when questioning my faith, I heard about St Mary's and decided to go to Mass there one Sunday evening and see what it was about. I was amazed at what happened during the service, and all the parts of the Mass that had been culled, changed and swapped about. It was some sort of service, but it was not a Catholic Mass, and in what was probably considered to be a homily
   Fr Peter Kennedy, gave a speach about how evil the Diocese and the greater Church was. It felt more like a Union Rally prior to going to form a picket line.
   
   I have watched the St Mary's saga from a distance, but it always amazes me the things that have been said and done by that community.
   
   Are they in communion with the Catholic Church? Judege for yourself, as they have posted a video of their "Mass" from Palm Sunday on their website, it is so strange and hardly could be called Catholic

   Posted By: Michael

10. for Robert Carrucan:
    
    Re Divine Mercy Sunday ... I'm sure that if/ when Fr Kennedy and his supporters repent and make restitution for the damage done, mercy will flow abundantly from everyone.
    
    Remember it is the actions there, that have been judged and necessarily so - even by Fr Kennedy who acknowledged "flying under the radar".
    
    Such intellectual dishonesty (indeed fraudulent behaviour; cf millstone around necks.) brings its own rewards, the timing of which has been more the control of Fr Kennedy than Archbishop Bathersby.

    Posted By: Chris Saidou

11. Thank-you OREMUS and Michael Webb for writing what I wanted to write but doing it better.

    Posted By: paul g

12. Let us all pray for Father Kennedy

    Posted By: Charity

13. The best way to know whether a group is a cult is when or if you try to leave it or even if you think about leaving - take special note of your thought patterns and level of fear.
    
    If your levels of anxiety increase rapidly (when you leave) and you think you are going to be got at by the devil and burn in hell, lose God's love etc. then your relationship (while with that group) was never with God or Jesus but an institution, an ism, a comfort zone of ritual and certainty, in short, a cult and you have never developed an adult spirituality.
    
    And if people try to stop you by appealing to fear and also with anxiety in their own voice (because you are a big threat to them), another sure sign that what you belong to is a group that exists to cater for a psychological reliance on and need for certainty not at all the same as actual pilgrim faith.
    
    Will this happen to those who want to leave St Mary's? It didn't when we left. Did it happen when I wanted to leave a charismatic community? Sure did (they've changed a lot since then). Has it happened when I have left the church? Depends which group I listen to: If it is the 'orthodox, yep, absolutely; if it is the more liberal, no.
    
    SO, spot the cult.
    
    Interesting, isn't it?
    
    Try it. See what happens.

    Posted By: Oh Yet We Trust

14. Hey Oremus, who gave you the sword? Your solution is no solution.Archbishop Bathersby has handled this with great sensitivity and has earned the respect of all Catholics.

    Posted By: Mike S

15. This guy is a joke! He makes it sound like his community is being persecuted because they're gay, down-and-out's etc.
    Well Ive got news for him.Im a gay Catholic and I do believe that the Church should minister to those who are on the fringes of the Catholic world like myself. but this guy has denied the divinity of christ, the Virgin Birth, the priesthood, and the real presence of Christ in the eucharist. On top of that he uses a 'mass' that resembles nothing like a catholic Mass.
    Ministering to gay people and those who don't fit into the mainstream of society is one thing. rejecting the basic fundementals of our religion is another.

    Posted By: Andrew

16. Oh Yet We Trust: the God the Catholic Church worships and proclaims is beautiful, true and loving.
    
    If that's a bit spooky, count me in.! More power to the Holy GHOST. (Aren't ghosts for haunting, especially when we're proud and complacent?)
    
    Christ easter in us!

    Posted By: Jenny

17. The world's full of those who'll tell us what we want to hear, Oh Yet We Trust - especially "liberal Catholics". Funny how they're never around when we really need them, though.
    
    "Lord, to whom shall we go - you alone have the words of everlasting life."

    Posted By: Anna

18. Not a cult
    I'd say that ten strong indicators of a cult are:
    
    - presenting an initial public face which is non-threatening, non-challenging, and promises infinite rewards whilst asking nothing and demanding no change in anyone's lifestyle and promising "you can have, be and do whatever you want";
    
    - an overwhelming emphasis on the individual leader and slavish adherence to his whims, no matter how objectively irrational they are;
    
    - constant vilification of people outside the cult;
    
    - constant claims that outsiders are part of a powerful evil conspiracy trying to destroy the cult, when there is no objective evidence of this (persecution complex);
    
    - continual claims that the cult is the only organisation which actually cares for anyone or does anything to help the needy and marginalised, and that all others claiming to do so are complete hypocrites;
    
    - continual obvious contradictions and non-sequiturs in the leader's statements, which are accepted unquestioningly with blank-faced equanimity by the followers as if they were perfectly rational and consistent;
    
    - no clear indication of what cult members are actually supposed to believe, other than vague generalities and the conviction that the beliefs of those outside the cult are utterly wrong and evil;
    
    - severe vilification and abuse of anyone who speaks out publicly against the leader's ideas, or reveals any of the cult's activities to outsiders;
    
    - threats, violence and harassment directed at those who attempt to retain their own property or other rights versus the cult;
    
    - association with extremist militant political groups who use the threat of violence to prevent any attempt at reversion from the cult.
    
    
    

    Posted By: Ronk

19. At this point of the converstion. I'd recommend Fr Peter Steele SJ's beautiful reflection "On saying 'Yes' " - it can be found in the Madonna magazine.

    Posted By: John

20. Slightly off the topic - or perhaps not - isn't it interesting that the tone of these posts is generally so lacking in charity, desire for unity, humility, or grief for what's happening. I believe Fr. Peter and his community are going the wrong way. I also believe that Archbishop Bathersby has acted like a true pastor with regard to St. Mary's. I also believe that there's an awful lot of self-righteousness and rejoicing in the faults of others going on - and it simply isn't Christian, never mind orthodox Catholic. Let's examine ourselves instead of rejoicing in the downfall of others.

    Posted By: Joan Seymour

21. Fr Kennedy you are truly a Christ-like person. My family and I are appalled that the Catholic Community of St Mary's are being excluded from their Church of many many years.
    
    I love your mission statement. What a wonderful world it would be if we were all to "Act Justly,Love Tenderly and Walk Humbly with our GOD"
    
    My family of seven and I continue our prayers and loving support for the community of St Mary's, especially those in exile.

    Posted By: Bernadette McPhee

22. Curiouser and curiouser. After going out of his way to gratuitously vilify and calumniate the Blessed Virgin Mary on nationwide television, Kennedy now proposes to name his new denomination after her!
    
    And if there had been a “Ronk’s Café” in South Brisbane since the 19th century, and a disgruntled sacked manager of it opened up “Ronk’s Café in exile” 200m down the street, the owner would certainly prosecute the former manager under the Trade Practices Act, even if it wasn’t a registered business name. What is Abp Bathersby doing about Kennedy’s proposed abuse of this longstanding name of a Catholic parish, which would obviously mislead those looking for the real Catholic parish in S Brisbane?
    (Since 1850 when Catholic bishops have been permitted again in England, they are not even allowed to have dioceses of the same names as Anglican dioceses (most of which are originally names of Catholic dioceses).

    Posted By: Ronk

23. It is a sad reflection on the church that condems the community at St Mary's. I have attended St Mary's on several occasions (I live interstae) and have found that it is an incusive community where everyone is welcome to celebrate the Eucharist. Peter respects the dignity of each person and reaches out in friendship and love as the gospels have taught us to do. Jesus would be comfortable sharing his supper with this community. What do OREMUS and other detractors fear? It's a pity the Bishop hadn't taken the time to visit the community and be uplifted by their faith and prayerfulness. Striving for justice can be a painful journey but one we must travel so as to open our hearts and time to those our church would disown.

    Posted By: Rhonda Ansiewicz

24. The amount of made-up stories and personalities here is just astonishing...
    Anyone who truly and deeply knows Fr Peter Kennedy and St Mary's Church knows too well how Catholic they are and immediately detect the untruths from some of this 'people' commenting about that community.
    
    Isn’t deceit sinful and immoral?
    

    Posted By: TJ Lawson

25. Dear Bernadette
    
    There is such a thing as self-exclusion.
    No point blaming the Archbishop for adhering to the Church in this matter.
    Perhaps a re-think of Vatican II theologies that have given you and others at St Mary's forlorn hopes is where you could begin your journey.

    Posted By: Michael Webb

26. Ah, TJ Lawson, welcome back .... Yes of course you're right, all of those media statements in which Fr Kennedy categorically denied all the tenets of Catholicism and vilified, ridiculed and expressed hatred for those who believe them, must have been faked by evil people out to denigrate a fine orthodox Catholic priest. ... It's nice to get a laugh at last out of this sad situation.

    Posted By: Ronk

27. TJ,
    
    I can't comment too much about what goes on at St. Mary's itself, never having been there.
    
    I have read statements of Father Kennedy though, and from them can talk about how Catholic he isn't.
    
    To say otherwise, assuming you've read and heard what he believes, would indeed be sinfully deceitful!

    Posted By: Paul Keen

28. Ronk, the points you bring up of a cult seem very similar to your expressed viewpoints, which smell largely of a of Constantine Cultist but not of an Apostolic Catholic. They are part of a new emerging and dangerous Constantine Cult trying to misguide people within the Catholic church with weak theology and minds, away from the Apostolic message of the church into your Constantine Cult. The Church started at Pentecost Sunday and not in 324 AD

    Posted By: Jonathon

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