A priest now at the centre of a storm amid a hugely controversial anti-LGBTQ homily delivered in County Kerry over the weekend, has since doubled down on his message in an interview on a local radio station by claiming he received a ‘standing ovation‘ at the end of the Mass.
Since the weekend, the Bishop of the Diocese Ray Browne apologised profusely for
the now retired priest from the ‘Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge‘, Father Séan Sheehy’s comments, saying such views don’t represent the Christian position of their church or parish.
The now suspended Father Sheehy told those present at St Mary’s Parish Church in the town of Listowel that sin was “rampant” in Ireland.
He told the congregation: “We see it in the promotion of abortion. We see it in the example of this lunatic approach of transgenderism. We see it for example in the promotion of sex between two men and two women. That is sinful. That is mortal sin,” the priest stated. He added that promiscuous behaviour is being promoted by the HSE, as condoms are being supplied to teenagers.”
His comments have caused great embarrassment within the local community, including many of the attendees at the Mass. The daughter of Eamon ‘Bomber‘ O’Connor, who the Mass was being said for was one of several walkouts.
During his rant, Fr. Sheehy said allowing two men or two women to have a sexual relationship was ‘sinful‘, while reserving particular spite for transgenderism for which he branded a “lunatic approach“.
He claimed that the people who remained in the church applauded him for his words once the service had finished.
He told Jerry O’Sullivan on Kerry Today: “The Bishop of Kerry is totally wrong when he said my words were not in accordance with the Christian message – the poor man must not even know the catechism.
“He is sacrificing the truth to appease people who do not want to come face to face with their sinfulness.”
Father Sheehy also noted that if openly gay legislators – like Tánaiste Leo Varadkar – didn’t “repent for their sins“, they would be going to hell.
He added: “What about all the people who remained? What about all of them? When I completed the holy sacrament of the Mass, the peopel applauded a standing ovation. What about them? What about the people who came into the sacresty and said ‘it’s high time we actually heard the truth’ – are they fundamentalists too? I mean, that’s the reality!“
