Another progressive Catholic harassed on Facebook

Posted on December 22, 2024 by Edamame
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How to restore trust in the Catholic Church after its betrayal in the abuse scandals?

Posted on November 1, 2024 by Edamame

This conference is being hosted by the Centre for Safeguarding Minors and Vulnerable Persons at St Paul University this month, from November 4th to 7th, 2024. I am archiving the visuals so I can read more later about the speakers, and perhaps request copies of their papers.

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Christian nationalist TheoBro pastor calling for public execution of women.

Posted on October 18, 2024 by Edamame

This is why Director of Communications Dierdre Thomas and Priests for Life Fr Tom Lynch of the Peterborough Diocese should face consequences for sharing disinformation (information they knew to be false) about me. The charge was withdrawn; the staff and priests were exactly the abusers of power and trust that I said they were. There was a peace bond that I was threatened and coerced into, which is not an admission of any wrong-doing. There was Sacramental abuse, pastoral misconduct, sexual harassment and discrimination/a privacy violation (Did Thomas access my elementary school records illegally?) in the form of illegal surveillance and profiling. The worst thing by far was abuse of conscience in that the priests took it upon themselves to judge whether or not I was “really Catholic”, baptism notwithstanding.

Thomas is aware that I am progressive, and that I was traumatized from the N100 pitch content, which was connected to my father’s passing in a MVA and the insurance money that followed. Somehow, this was transformed into “Jen is a Jan 6th Truck Convoy wacko” and “Jen was traumatized from childhood abuse” because the Diocese had embarrassed themselves, and I had moved out of Peterborough because of what they did — so they choose deceit. Thomas lied to the Crown in her letter. There was intent. She wrote consequential things she knew to be false. She made a decision to cause me harm to salvage the reputation of a priest she knew to be guilty of pastoral misconduct, ultimately cause 100x more damage than if she and the Pastoral team had simply fixed things back in January 20188 when the Vicar General Fr Joe Moran investigated and made his decision. I learned in November, 2024 from attending webinars from the Shall We Talk About Trust conferences that deliberately being deceitful has been a strategy of Diocese Communications Departments, but this is no longer acceptable. Thomas is a professional woman. She wasn’t unaware that rules were being broken; she just decided she and Devereaux and Meihn were above the law.

I think Catholic women are taught that men can’t control themselves so it’s up to women to “live lives of self control.” They acted that burden. Do they think they are helping men bear a cross?

Because before I became Catholic, I never worked with or was involved with any male who was as rude as the priests. Is it the celibacy, plus the almost unlimited power, plus the testosterone?

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Agnes Richard Nov 2020 and Oct 2021

Posted on September 28, 2024 by Edamame

People who knew my story and understood that I had gone through was wrong cut off contact with me after September, 2021 and wouldn’t tell me why, or what they had been told. They started setting boundaries on our relationship, which served the abusers in the Pastoral Centre well.

Catholics believe what they are told, and uncritically ostracize others targeted by priests. When Agnes first heard what happened, she shared stories about growing up in Peterborough, her parents experience being neglected at St Alphonsus once they were too elderly to get there for Mass and her negative experiences with the Knights of Columbus.

Once Bishop Meihn decided to lie, though, the whole “unity” thing clicked into gear and all the sheep got behind the abusers. Like they always seem to do.

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Favourite One-liners Volume 7 (Coniston St Paul the Apostle Knights of Columbus edition)

Posted on September 23, 2024 by Edamame

“Welcome to the club.”
-Pat Masson (when I was made a lector)

“I don’t have a cell phone and I don’t use social media. I’m hanging up.”
-Sandra Boyd (when I asked her to listen to what had happened re: Facebook posts, and my students, and asked her give me 30 minutes to show her some documents)

“If you say that again, I’ll call the police.”
-Jane Shannon (in the church basement, when I said that the reason people don’t come to church anymore are the people in the church who don’t follow their own rules, after the CWL swearing in ceremony before Mass where they ignored me, even though I had been invited to be the Spiritual Convenor)

“If you do that again, I’ll call the police.”
-Andrew Cummings (after I broke down again at work as the St Paul crowd started giving me the silent treatment once I was kicked out) Just overnight, they turned on me, without hearing what happened. They avoided me, wouldn’t look at me. While I was working, Darren Dumontelle made a comment about how maybe I should have been more professional in Peterborough. I felt trapped there and so I quit because of Andrew’s threat.

“Looks like you’re backed into a corner.”
-Lindsay Fournier on Dec 9, 2021 when I met with him and Celestine Agwu about FCR and told them what had happened in Peterborough. Lindsay said that conversation was confidential.

“Don’t worry! You’re a child of God.”
-Celestine Agwu on Dec 9, 2021 in a meeting set up by Lindsay Fournier. He just spiritualized the matter.

“If you hang out with her (Marie Bouclin), maybe they won’t come after you. Angie and Suzette were never going to accept you anyways.”
-Roland from the Knights of Columbus

“You know what I like about you? You wore a skirt at Easter. You were the only woman wearing a skirt.”
-Roland

“They’re just covering their ass, Jen.” “We can’t let a Catholic woman have a trial, Jen.”
-Roland invited me to his house for coffee. I wanted to hear what he knew and what he had heard. After chit chat for a few hours, he said this to me. I think this was the real reason for the visit. I guess he thought it was acceptable for me to be put through all this so “they could cover their ass”

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Favourite One-liners Volume 5 (The coincidences, innuendos & pastoral amateur psychoanalysis edition)

Posted on January 8, 2024 by Edamame

I believe with my entire being that the priests and staff deliberately used innuendos to frustrate me, leading to anxiety, confusion, helplessness and anger. All of these emotions lead to trauma, as Arthur Henry told me. I don’t think they were ignorant about what they were doing; rather, tight-knit, tribal groups feel justified in hurting outsiders and that is what I was. They failed to provide healthy orientation to ‘doing church’ and instead were suspicious and uncooperative.

You’re not finishing your sentences.
Tom Lynch
I was trying to explain something to Lynch, and he replied by critiquing how I speaking. Since priests are busy, and one tries to use their time efficiently, what am I supposed to make of his using tone policing to avoid a real conversation?

You can’t be friends like you want.
Robyn Henighan
This was about Devereaux, after the meetings she and I had about Tavares and Okpu and all of the priests connected to my botched orientation. She said this like she felt she knew me; it was creepy. She had already drawn a conclusion. We didn’t have a conversation; she was either too stupid to know how to navigate a delicate issue or didn’t want to. She also said, “This has happened before”, which I think she meant I was attached to Devereaux. I did like him; that’s why I asked him to do the baptism. Then he started behaving weirdly, wouldn’t decide if I could be in his RCIA in 2017 or not. Henighan wouldn’t discuss; she just stared at me intently and said these cryptic things. Of all the people at the Diocese, I think she is most unsuited for ministry. She is just too religious in the wrong way.

We knew you were a victim!
Mike Heffernan

I think you SHOULD go back to Toronto. (emphatically affirming what I had just said, that I should back to Toronto)
Mike Heffernan

Think of yourself as a survivor, not a victim.
Deirdre Thomas

You’re so progressive!
Deb McCrae

You’re so progressive!
Deirdre Thomas

Your sentences aren’t well-connected.
Mary the Spiritual Companion

You need to learn to wash feet!
Mary the Spiritual Companion

Coincidences can happen when you’re coming to Christ.
Robyn Henighan

I’m short so I have a bit of a Napolean complex.
Tom Lynch

Yeah, single nouns, eh?
Tom Lynch

You’re polluting the Body of Christ.
John O’Brien

You ruined your chances. You should’ve thought about the future.
John O’Brien

You have to be careful with the Catholic Church.
John O’Brien


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Favourite One-liners Volume 4 (Privacy edition)

Posted on January 2, 2024 by Edamame

“What do you need privacy for if you’re not doing anything wrong?”
–Mr Brookes, Eucharistic Minister from St Alphonsus Parish, Principal of the Parish Elementary School
I had met Mr Brooks at Adoration and so when I started to think there had been a background check, I sought out his advice and assistance as a community elder. Above is / was his take on privacy back in 2017.

“If I’m told not to talk to you, I’m not going to talk to you.”
–Brendan Quigley
Brendan is the Diocese IT Director. I found his name in my Google Drive and didn’t know why. Searched for his name on facebook and messaged him. We had a phone call and I realised the St Alphonsus bulletins were owned by him. In that conversation, he also said that he was told not to communicate with me, he wouldn’t.

“Well, ya gotta be careful what you put on Facebook because people are going to talk!”
-the Douro Parish secretary
I asked her if thought people should be screened out of RCIA based on Facebook posts and this was her response. I said I was concerned because of a comment another secretary had said about me “believing in climate change” and was trying to make the point that political views, as gleaned from trolling someone’s social media, shouldn’t be relied upon as a full picture of someone’s character or suitability for RCIA. Her response was the above. No nuance.
This was just after the Trespass notice at St Alphonsus was imposed. I believe St Alphonsus secretary had been surfing my social media and formed a preconception of me, which accounts for why I didn’t have a sponsor for their RCIA even in Week 8 when everyone else had. This phone conversation with the secretary was the basis for my calling Cst Gillespie about being able to request to meet with the Parish Council about my suspicions about Hanah’s screening me out. I believe Joseph Devereaux didn’t want a newcomer trying to speak to the Parish Council about staff or priest’s indiscretions. The Parish Councils consist of lay people who are there to provide that additional layer of conflict resolution, oversight, a second set of eyes but the clerical authoritarian Chancellor of Spiritual Affairs, Joseph Devereaux, took that as being disruptive or not receiving information in the way he demanded.

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Favourite One-liners Volume 2 (from 2015, 2016)

Posted on October 26, 2023 by Edamame

“So, you’re on a Spiritual Journey?!!”
-Tom Lynch said this to me after I introduced myself to him, in the aisle at St Peter-in-Chains shortly after Mass one Saturday, right after he took over the parish.
I think this might have been in reference to an email I sent about Sherry Weddell’s talks on Intentional Discipleship, ongoing conversion, the dropping of nets, how people in the pews haven’t been taught about having a relationship with God. Later in 2020 I saw Bishop Meihn announcing Weddell’s program being used at St Alphonsus Parish! They had put a Trespass Notice against me at the parish and then implemented my suggestion!

“You gotta be careful with the Catholic Church.”
-John O’Brien, my sponsor, after I find nails in my tires the morning after an unpleasant exchange with Mike Heffernan after Saturday Mass in 2018, after he had read out the Bishop’s statement on the McCarrick scandal and I stayed after to ask him about a few things. The nails could have been a coincidence. I later asked John why he would say something like that, but he declined to elaborate. I later asked Dierdre Thomas about it, and she said she had no idea why John had said that. I think John liked the gangsta feel to “You gotta be careful with the Catholic Church,” which is one of many reasons why he wasn’t a suitable sponsor.


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