Controversial cleric Pat Buckley, who broke the news of Maynooth’s seminary scandal, has had his blog reinstated by Google after a mysterious 2-day hiatus.
Buckley received an email from Blogger (owned by Google) informing him that “your blog at http://wisecatholic.blogspot.com has been reviewed and confirmed as in violation of our terms of service for: HATE.
“In accordance to these terms, we’ve removed the blog.”
The blog was back up today, in a move Buckley attributes the involvement of The Belfast Telegraph. “Representations were made on my behalf to Google in America and that, along with the issue being raised by the Belfast Telegraph, seems to have done the trick.”
“I find it all rather mysterious that my blog is taken down without explanation and then is put back up without explanation,” he said.
“I suspect that the blog got too hot for the Catholic Church and, given that Google’s European headquarters are in Dublin, they had ample opportunity to make their voice heard in an attempt to censor me.”
He dismissed the suggestion that the removal was caused by an administrative error.
Independent bishop Buckley,who was ordained a Catholic priest in 1976 but excommunicated in 1998, has long been a controversial figure. In 2013 he pleaded guilty to officiating at 14 sham marriages, but avoid a prison term due to ongoing ill health.
His numerous revelatory blog posts about a gay sub-culture in Maynooth’s seminary received widespread media coverage in the past weeks.
Buckley has stated his intentions to continue investigating the secrets of the Catholic Church, despite alleged attempts to ‘silence’ him. “I am more determined than ever to keep digging on Maynooth and to keep revealing what they want hidden.”
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