A SEXUAL LIFE, A SPIRITUAL LIFE

In this highly personal and heartfelt book, dissident Bishop Pat Buckley attempts to reconcile his sexual life with his spirituality, and argues that the Catholic Church must undergo a transformation of its own.

A THORN IN THE SIDE

"I burned my ecclesiastical bra years ago"

"I tackle things too hot for others."

I get daily calls from all over about thorny problems.

 I'm proud and happy to be the unofficial chaplain to Ireland's liberal or alienated Catholics."
In the old cowboy movies the wagon train always had a few scouts - guys who would go ahead to

 survey the territory for the group that would follow. I'm just a scout, someone that's gone ahead. Many of the things I do now will be done generally in years to come by the Church"

Bishop Pat Buckley is known as a rebel. But he is also known for his compassion, particularly towards people whose marriages have ended. Sacked from the diocese of Down and Connor, Bishop Buckley runs an 'independent parish with no boundaries at Larne, Co.Antrim. He believes that the Church is hierarchy-bound, and that the one thing it cannot tolerate is a threat to its power.

Here he tells of his boyhood and training in Clonliffe College; his experiences as a curate in Wales, Belfast, the Mourne Mountains and Larne; he outlines his position on certain Church teachings - on marriage, divorce, abortion, contraception - and on the Church's attitude towards women, celibacy, homosexuals; he gives an inside but critical view of the structure and organisation of the Church, and he tells of his hopes for the Church of the future.

An independent voice from inside the Catholic Church, Bishop Buckley gives his reasons for staying within the organisation he criticises so deeply.

First Published in 1994 by The O'Brien Press Ltd, Dublin

FAITH AND FATHERLAND

FAITH AND FATHERLAND - The Irish News, The Catholic Hierarchy And The Management of Dissidents is part of the fruit of Bishop Pat's MSSc masters degree at Queen's University Belfast. It is a study of how the ultra Catholic Belfast newspaper and the Irish Catholic Hierarchy co-operated with each other to manage, censor and sideline Catholic dissidents at various periods. To this day Bishop Pat remains censored by the Irish News !

Bishop Pat was one of the principle contributors to the book THE BORDER - reflections on the political border that divided Ireland North and South from 1922 to the current day. These reflections are very informative in the context of the peace that has broken out in Northern Ireland in the past decade. Published by Oaktree Press.

In this collection ON BEING IRISH Bishop Pat joins other Irish public figures like Taoiseach Bertie Ahern reflecting on what it means to be Irish. This book was another small literary paving stone in the build up to the peace process. At the launch of Being Irish at Buswells Hotel Dublin the Taoiseach singled out Bishop Pat's short essay as being worthy of special attention.  Published by Oaktree Press.

LITERARY WORKS IN PREPERATION

By Bishop Pat

GOD'S MARKSMAN:
A study of the Late Archbishop McQuaid of Dublin

MY FATHER TED MOMENTS:
30 years of Church humour.

THE JESUS INTERVIEW:
A Christianity For The Third Millenium

NEWSPAPER COLUMNS 1986 - 2006

BEING IRISH

 

THE BORDER

Published by Apollo Press Belfast