Dannie’s in Trouble – and He Knows It

In SGG’s January 28, 2018 bulletin (click here), Dannie Dolan’s ’Corner had all the usual “ingredients”: syrupy sanctimony, “name-dropping” – and even more gory anecdotes about his (and Big Don’s) cats.  But the salient theme was -- as it often is – guilt-tripping.  Of course, Dannie tried to be “subtle” about it; but the guilt-tripping message came through loud and clear (and it wasn’t all that “subtle”).  In fact, it wasn’t subtle at all (and even had an added note of sarcasm to it).

Dannie started off by wistfully recalling SGG’s “Friday night Lenten sermons back in the palmy years of the 80’s. Sermons ran as long as 45 minutes, and the darkened church was well filled!  Anybody remember?”  [Yes, Dannie, we do remember: those interminably long sermons (during which the Gerties had to keep their little ones from crying, and/or squirming in their seats, lest it “offend” you) – and we remember the dimmed lights, the affected, hushed whispering, and all the other histrionics you ginned up to enhance “the Show.”  It all sounded so splendid, and it “packed the house” (and kept them spellbound) -- for a while.]

Dannie then added, “Well, those days are done. Many souls, well fed, have departed to the Everlasting Banquet. But we still have our Sunday Masses, and some Sundays the Mass is well filled.”  [Our bold emphasis.]  Then, as if to reassure himself that things would get better, Dannie added, “Of course, we still do have Friday evening Stations…” after which he then added, “Today’s purple tells us it is planning time for Lent. What will we give up, what will we do ‘extra?’” [The “we,” in this case, are the Gerties, who, Dannie is hinting, must -- come Lent -- make sure that SGG’s pews are “well-filled.”]

But then, with his next dose of guilt-tripping, Dannie decided to embellish it with something extra.  Dannie started off with this: “I’ve only heard from one or two souls about a good daily Mass time. One individual said he wouldn’t be attending but that 7 AM would be the best time. How about you?”  But then came this fitting exclamation point on his guilt-tripping:  “What would be the best Mass time for you not to attend?”  “Not to attend?”  Wow, that bit of sarcasm was the “icing on the cake”!  [Careful, Dannie!  Through your cheesy smile, your fangs are showing!]

Recovering somewhat after that acerbic post-script, Dannie -- after regaling his Gerties with another one of his tasteless “cat stories” (this time, involving Sanborn, with whom Dannie is trying to give us the impression that he is a “bosom buddy”)² – Dannie continued with one last bit of guilt-tripping by (not-so-subtly) hinting that the Gerties come on Candlemas for “Winter Soup Supper, and All Night Adoration,” adding, “You will not want to miss any of it, I am sure. We would miss you if you did.  In the meantime, we’ll get started on taking down the Christmas decorations. You could help, maybe. But don’t miss Friday Mass! Our Lord would miss you.”   Wow!  The Gerties are not only being guilt-tripped into “taking down the Christmas decorations,” but coming to Friday Mass and All Night Adoration too.  Otherwise, it’s not only a case of “we would miss you,” but “Our Lord would miss you” as well.  [Wow!  A “double-whammy” guilt-tripping!  It doesn’t get any more “emphatic” than that!]

Well, Dannie, “don’t hold your breath” for the Gerties to come flocking back.  That bit of sarcasm before -- “What would be the best Mass time for you not to attend?” – turned out to be a Freudian slip: the Gerties indeed aren’t attending!  And do you now why, Dannie? They aren’t because, since then, they’ve been finding out the truth about you, and that all your theatrical whispering and lighting effects are just that: theater – just part of “the Show” – an act put on by an imposter who is the exact antithesis of all those sweet, pious words that you so melodramatically whispered out in those sermons. 

Since then, Dannie, they’ve witnessed the litany of scandalous events of 2009: how you ignored – actually, condoned -- the abuses at the school, and how you rebuffed those parents who came to you with their grievances (even Bernie Brueggemann, your main benefactor, whose grand nephew was so maliciously treated by “the principal”).  They saw how you also ignored what “the principal’s” sons did – a school girl impregnated, and the watching of porn on the school computer – and you wrote it all off as “boys will be boys.”  They’ve since found out how you treated Bernie Brueggemann – your main benefactor – and tried to guilt-trip him into returning to SGG after he had left in disgust.  (And, too, many of them recall Schiavo -- and how you and Tony actually condoned that travesty.)¹   And, adding all of this up, Dannie, they now realize that all of those nostalgic Friday night Lenten sermons that you want them to recall ere just so much empty rhetoric, that now rings hollow in their ears.  They now realize that, again, it was all just part of “the Show.”

For the past several months – for the past several years, in fact – Dannie has been whining about attendance at “the Show” being down.  And as time goes by, Dannie’s whining has become more strident and shrill -- and desperate.  Just recently, Dannie again invoked another one of his phony “dispensations” (from abstinence) to get his Gerties to come to “the Show” on Friday.  And whether it fills the pews or not, it is (as Pistrina noted – click here), proof that Dannie has had to resort to bribery to get his Gerties to come – and is, as we’ve just noted, a sign that he is getting desperate.

That Freudian slip of Dannie’s that we mentioned earlier -- “What would be the best Mass time for you not to attend?” -- was perhaps even more “telling” than anything else, because – besides being a sign of Dannie’s obvious frustration -- it is a telltale admission by Dannie that the Gerties are indeed tiring of his “show” – that he’s losing his grip on them.  (That “individual [who] said he wouldn’t be attending” was telling Dannie, in effect, “I really don’t care what time it is; I’m not coming anyway.”  And the diminished crowds at “the show” are a reinforcing confirmation that this indeed is the case.)³ 

We also feel that the Gerties are finally starting to realize what real Catholicism is all about: that it’s not about – as with that Pharisee in Our Lord’s parable -- “saying all the right prayers” (aka, “coming to ‘the show”), but about “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  And perhaps they are also finally realizing that the way Dannie has been “doing unto others” is NOT what Our Lord intended.  And -- that being the case -- why then, Gerties, do you support such a leper?  Why go to the cult center out of “convenience” (or because of some “technicality” that Dannie invents to disqualify others), or out of the (false) notion that SGG is “the only game in town”?

Do not enable this predator, and in doing so, become his accomplice – which gives you a share in moral responsibility for those he victimizes.  Don’t let that continue to happen – to them or to you.  Get out now – and don’t let your “inertia” or your pride stand in the way.  Just get out.  But, for those of you who can’t yet find the courage to do that, you can at least stop supporting the mitered maggot.  You can…

Starve the Beast!

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¹ No doubt, too, they’ve been exposed to at least some of what they've heard from fellow (and former) SGG parishioners, and what blogs such as PL (and ours) have reported – either by reading us directly, or, more probably, by “word-of-mouth” from former SGG parishioners (which, in this latter case, represents independent corroboration of what we say).  And coupling that with what they have observed or discovered by themselves, all of this is starting to “sink in” for them.

² And tasteless it was: “Bishop Sanborn and I were trading cat stories. In my absence, Fr. Cekada was feeding ours. An over-enthusiastic Caravaggio (he does enjoy his dinner) suddenly body blocked Fr. Cekada, and cat food was spilled all down the front of Father’s new Polish cassock. Bishop Sanborn was awakened recently by munching noises under his bed. The cat had deposited a finch there and was eagerly consuming the little bird, bones and all.  [Our italics.]  Wow, what a nice, depraved touch -- and just before mentioning the Candlemas “Winter Soup Supper”!  What an appetizing “lead-in” for the “supper”! 

For that “supper,” by the way, the Gerties had to bring their own soup -- another way for Dannie and his indolent “clergy” to enjoy yet another freebie.  (That’s a common practice of Dannie’s: many of the “celebrations” that he has are “B.Y.O.” – “Bring Your Own” – affairs, where the Gerties must supply the goodies.)  It’s like inviting someone to dinner – and then asking them to pick up the tab.

³ Upon further reflection, one might also add that it was actually stupid of Dannie to mention this, because it is public confirmation on his part as well.  And mention it he does.  Just last week in his 'Corner, he started off by stating, "Like last week's rain you came in dribs and drabs all day, rather than a downpour."  (Dannie just can't seem to stop guilt-tripping, can he?!) 

Unity? Forget About It!

In the January 14, 2018 SGG bulletin, its Bishop’s(?) ‘Corner (click here) had this item: “The whole Church is called upon to pray for the precious grace of unity come Thursday, the opening of the approved, indulgenced Chair of Unity Octave. We pray for the return of different non-Catholic groups to Mother Church. We would do well to remember all of the confused Catholic groups out there as well in this great chastisement.”  This was just part of the token lip service that Dannie piously intones every week in his ‘Corner – empty words about things that he knows won’t come true, nor does he want to come true.

The fact is, Dannie doesn’t want unity.  Unity implies hierarchy; and hierarchy means that Dannie would have to report to a higher authority – which he doesn’t want.  Dannie wants to be the boss of his own little realm, making up his own rules (and selectively applying and/or breaking them).  If Dannie were part of a larger, unified organization, he’d be reporting to superiors, and having to do their bidding, not his.  It also means that he couldn’t control his own purse-strings, use the sacraments as “weapons” (arbitrarily deny people the sacraments, etc.), or go on his winter getaway “apostolates” whenever he pleased.  In short, “unity” would put him out of business.

In our last article, we noted that Dannie acted “as if this were the High Middle Ages, and Dannie were some sort of feudal lord ‘prince of the church.’”  Well, that’s almost literally true.  Dannie does treat his Gerties as if he was a feudal lord, and they were his vassals (and the rank-and-file his serfs).  And that word -- feudal -- signifies in more ways than one.  First, “feudal” implies feuding factions, all fighting with one another over “turf” (which was usually the case in medieval Europe’s feudal society -- and is certainly the case in today’s Traddieland).  Most of the trad groups fight with one another – usually over technicalities – in order to expand their turf (at one another’s expense).  And when they do “unite,” it’s usually some sort of loose “confederation” (as it was back in the Middle Ages), and usually temporary in nature -- where each group keeps its own autonomy.  In Traddieland, it’s not about “the common interest,” but about self-interest.

And that’s the way it is with Dannie & Co.:  SGG does not report to MHT (or to CMRI): they’re all separate dominions, each with its own “lord” (aka “bishop,” “superior general,” etc.) – and “cooperation” occurs only to the extent of agreeing on “safe,” non-turf issues (“Bergie bashing,” etc.).  Dannie will never submit to Donny, and vice versa (nor will Marky and the CMRI, for that matter).  All three of them – at one time or another – have dreamt of being “Emperor of Traddieland” – but not by cooperative unification, but by imposing his will on the others.  They’re all rivals with one another – and NONE of them would ever voluntarily submit to being under one of the other’s suzerainty.

Big Don, whose MHT got “aced out” (at Our Lady of the Sun in Arizona) by the Pivmeister, will never merge with CMRI -- or with anyone else, for that matter.  (Besides, Big Don’s “merging” days are over.  He’s turning MHT over to “the Kid” now.  Plus, his declining health will keep him from playing a “major role” anywhere from here on.)  And as for the Pivmeister and CMRI, they’re not interested in “merging,” either.  They have been content to carve out a “niche” that is mainly “domestic” (the continental U.S) – plus some isolated outposts in Australia and elsewhere.  And Dannie?  Well, he and Big Don, despite their seminary “collaboration,” have never been “chummy” – especially after SGG’s Schiavo and 2009 school scandals fiascos created a lot of unwanted “guilt-by-association” publicity for MHT.  And now, since those same scandals (and other strategic blunders) have trashed Dannie’s (and Tony’s) one-time “reputation” here in the U.S., their only hope now seems to be to carve out their “niche” somewhere else: in Latin America, where their blunders are not so “well-known.” 

That – Latin America – is where Dannie is pinning his main hopes these days (and now, to some extent, Africa).¹  That is why Dannie is always braying about his “apostolates” in far-off lands: it’s about the only “prestige” that he (supposedly) has left with his Gerties anymore.  With his junkets to Latin America, Dannie can give his Gerties the impression that he is a “world player” – especially with ”Africa” (the Nigerian mission) thrown in. Dannie can plaster pictures of both all over his website -- both for his cyber suckers, and for his Gerties back at the cult center.    (Note, however, that when Dannie travels, it’s only to Latin America, not Nigeria.  The latter is too expensive and too dangerous for Dannie – and not nearly as much fun.  Nigeria has only propaganda value for Dannie.  Monetarily, it’s a sinkhole.)

But even that – Dannie’s “world player” image -- is getting to be pretty tarnished these days – especially in Latin America.  Dannie’s clumsy meddling in Lawrence, Massachusetts (click here) raised the ire of Argentine-born Bishop Andres Morello, amongst others; and other Latin American clergy (such as Fr. Siordia) seem to be getting Dannie’s “number” as well.  Dannie’s one-time charisma with Latinos is evaporating fast.  Nowadays, the only “south of the border” folks with whom Dannie (supposedly) still has any influence are those whom he can “buy off” (by playing “Gringo Santa Claus” for them).² 

More and more, folks in Latin America are “jumping ship” with Dannie.  As we intimated before, the only ones who have anything to do with him are those he can “buy” – and even their numbers are dwindling (because Dannie can’t afford to play “Santa Claus” for them as he once did).  Plus, “word is getting around” about Dannie in Latin America: word about Schiavo, about Dannie’s doubtful orders – and about his opulent life-style.  (At one time, Dannie could “hide” such adverse publicity from them – but not now in this age of the internet, where news travels fast, and knows no boundaries).  “Santa” or no “Santa,” Dannie’s “prestige” there is eroding – and people are seeing him for the sham that he is.

So then, what does the future hold for Traddieland’s “feudal lords”?  We’re not sure.  Some of it hinges, as PL said, on what happens after “the Kid” gets his miter at the Swampland.  Will MHT (as PL opined) become more “insular,” or will “the Kid” try to play a major role in Traddieland? ³  And, whether it goes one way or the other, will that set off another “turf war”?  But, whichever way it goes, don’t look for any “unity” in TradWorld. That’s a myth, because – to repeat -- no one (least of all, Dannie) wants that to happen.  They’ll all “pray” for “unity”; but they’ll do everything they can to prevent it, because – again -- it’s bad for business.⁴  Traddieland’s “feudal lords” don’t want to give up their positions and privileges –their “turf” – for some “ideal.”  They’re all pragmatists – “political animals” -- who are not about to sacrifice their self-interest for some intangible, unprofitable “principle.” 

So, don’t hold your breath for “unity.”  “It ain’t gonna happen”!  What will happen, instead, is that Dannie will continue to keep SGG as a separate entity – answerable to nobody, and free of interference from any “watch-dog” group -- so that he alone can benefit from exploiting his flock.  (And his recent plea to join his “CAT Club” was just another “installment” in that exploitation.)  Gerties, Dannie will continue to “sweet talk” you with his pious sanctimony, and “pray” for goals that he knows are unreachable (and, again, which he doesn’t want to be reachable).⁵  In the end, he’ll just keep telling the Gerties all those “sweet nothings” that they like to hear – and keep emptying their wallets.

One would hope that the remaining Gerties will eventually see what many others have seen (and borne witness) – and heed those warnings.  (Heaven knows – they’ve been warned often enough!)  But, realistically, if they haven’t woken up by now, they probably never will – until it’s too late.  But whether they do or not, the good news is that the rest of us have woken up.  And if the Gerties don’t – well, “that’s their problem!”

___________________________

¹ Dannie has a “mission” in Nigeria, run by a “Fr. Nkamuke,” who was “ordained” by Dannie (which, of course, makes him orders doubtful).

² Of course, another big personal reason (besides playing “Santa Claus”) for Dannie going down south is to get away from the cold gringo winters, and -- equally as important -- for dodging fast and abstinence rules during Lent.

³ One scenario that Pistrina opined is that “the Kid” will not play a major public role in Traddieland, and that, under him, MHT will become more “insular.”  This is probably a good guess, because “the Kid” doesn’t have the “leadership” skills (and forceful personality) that the Donster has; and education-wise, he was “educated” at MHT (which means that he has no credentials whatsoever).  Add to that the fact that, as PL also pointed out, he comes from a rich family, and has been pampered and indulged all his life.  That, combined with his lack of leadership skills, says that he’s not the “type” for putting out any “major effort” in Traddieland.  Lastly, remember that not only “the Kid’s” family, but the other “elite” families, have plenty of money -- more than enough to sustain their operation comfortably – so why take on anything (or anyone) else?  After all, “merging” or “unification” with anyone else might very well dilute their resources (monetarily or otherwise) – so why take that risk?

⁴ And, for the bishop-led cults, that’s just what they are: businesses.  Their “Catholicism” is not so much a belief as it is a business model; and they differentiate themselves from one another with the “products” that they “market,” to keep their sheep loyal to their “brand.”  We seriously doubt if any of them believe in what they “sell,” because their “product” often doesn’t match their “advertising.”  Example: Dannie talks about “protecting the innocence of our children” – yet overlooked (and even condoned) the scandalous events of 2009.  And he and Tony preach about “the sanctity of life” – yet they condoned the murder of Terri Schiavo.  They tell their audience one thing, then do another.    

⁵ The same, of course, goes for the other “bishop-led” cults of Tradistan.  None of them wants to see “unity,” because that would mean reconciliation with Rome – and then they’d have to give up their cushy life-styles, their autonomy, and all the rest of it.  (Besides, none of them are adequately trained; so, “post- reconciliation,” they wouldn’t last five milliseconds anyway.)