The Archbishop of Dublin has removed priests from the seminary in Maynooth amid allegations of Grindr use, sending them to Rome for training instead

Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmaid Martin, will not be sending trainee priests to the seminary in Maynooth, instead choosing to send them to the training facility in Rome.

Three priests are confirmed to be moving to Rome this September to continue their training, instead of being sent to the Kildare seminary which has sixty seminarians studying there.

Archbishop Martin alludes that his reasoning behind sending priests to Rome over Kildare are not related to the reported crisis facing the seminary in Maynooth: “I have my own reasons for doing this,” Archbishop Martin said.

Crisis In Maynooth

Dr. Martin explains in The Tablet, the international Catholic journal, that his decision was made prior to the reports of a crisis in the Maynooth seminary which emerged earlier this year.

The crisis refers to the allegations of inappropriate behaviour of certain members of the seminary. The claims that some within Maynooth have been using Grindr were brought to light in May this year by an anonymous letter.

Monsignor Hugh Connolly told The Irish Catholic that the church intended to “thoroughly deal” with any concerns regarding such behaviour.

Reports of a second bishop sending his priests to Rome for training have emerged, but have yet to be confirmed as the bishop in charge of the Catholic Communications Office in Maynooth is currently unavailable for comment since he is attending World Youth Day in Poland.

Testing The Waters

Reports of Catholic priests using Grindr continue to crop up, as a Northern Irish priest was discovered using Grindr earlier this year. Following Fr. Rory Coyle’s outing on Grindr in Armagh, the priest took a leave of absence from his clerical duties in early March to “obtain personal and spiritual support”.

A new group called Voices Against Maynooth Abuse (VAMA) was formed by gay Bishop Pat Buckley, who is in a civil-partnership with a man. The group is inviting seminarians to disclose ‘unorthodox’ behaviour the have witnessed in Maynooth.

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