Let us now begin the story which should have been printed by the 'The Irish Catholic' last Thursday as opposed to the rather slanderous piece they ran with...Fr Byrnes refused to officiate at a ceremony for a relative who then approached a cleric who after due consideration and advice decided that he could proceed and assist.
Having duly done so, within a matter of 3 days, Fr Byrnes decided to ring the cleric and verbally abused him on the telephone and from that moment onwards, to this moment in time, has been basically calling Fr Ryan and not at what could be described as sociable hours either.
Anyway, Fr Byrnes decided to go on a little rampage including ringing Bishop Willie Walsh down there in the Diocese of Killaloe for some info which he seems to have willingly provided (but to what extent and what was actually conveyed is up for debate) and thereafter, he was placed on 5 day break by his superior in Knock, Monsignor Joseph Quinn to 'cool his head'.
But far from cooling his head, Fr Byrnes decided to see who would be willing to take the 'scoop' he had managed to cobble together and contacted a few of the national newspapers who were more than hesitant to run such a questionable story and certainly were wary if nothing else...and rightly so.
However, he struck gold when it came to the 'The Irish Catholic' newspaper who seem to have absolutely no journalistic standards and the most basic being - check the source!!!
On Tuesday, June 17th, Fr Ryan was officiating at a funeral and his mobile had rang 4 times and when he managed to get the messages later, there was a voicemail from Ms Kirsten Gordon advising they were going to print the story they had and gave Fr Ryan less than acceptable time to respond.
Certain persons then made contact with the 'The Irish Catholic' in an attempt to advise them that running the story would cause difficulties and they would be best advised to not proceed...but proceed they did.
In the background, the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Neary had been contacted to advise him of all of this and indeed so had his Secretary, Fr Fintan Monahan, who only was now becoming aware of the existence of Fr Byrnes due to the telephone calls and indeed personal visits he had received.
The Archbishop had by this stage responded in writing to certain clergy in an attempt to pour oil on troubled waters (courtesy of Fr Byrnes) and this seemed to have the desired effect...until Tuesday and the involvement of the 'The Irish Catholic'.
Now, at this juncture, perhaps a little insight into Fr Christopher Byrnes would be helpful no doubt to all but most especially to those in the 'The Irish catholic' who failed to do this piece of their job....
* In Knock, on stipend, since last Autumn (2007) as he was placed on leave by his diocese in Canada;
* In Canada, he was, and remains under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of Nelson even whilst here in Ireland;
* He is in Ireland for the next 2 and a half years due to differences with Bishop of Diocese of Nelson which are yet to be known;
* He has made some rather outrageous remarks from the pulpit which have caused congregations to leave mid-sermon;
* Thus far, no Diocese or parish will permit him near an altar in Ireland;
* He had gone through 4 seminaries in Ireland before having to go to Canada for Ordination;
* Tends to enjoy living what can best be described as the 'high life';
Now, in relation to the issue of matters raised in the 'interview' with Bishop Walsh in the 'The Irish Catholic' newspaper, on Friday morning 20th June 2008, Bishop Walsh let it be known in a telephone conversation with a priest that he had NO problem whatsoever with Fr Ryan.
It is hoped that Ms Gordon is taking note at this juncture of all the above!!!
Tomorrow: all issues raised in the article itself shall be dealt with here and so will the further developments that have occurred since last Thursday (June 19th 2008) shall be expounded in full for your benefit.
Stay tuned....
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