Irish seminary reviews policies amid Grindr gay dating app rumors

Allegations of a gay subculture and the use of a Grindr gay dating app among seminarians has forced Ireland's oldest priest-training college to review its current policies, including the use of social media.

Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference reported Wednesday that the Trustees of Saint Patrick's College in Maynooth, the National Seminary for Ireland, met the previous day to discuss new instructions for its students and staff as the college took in 14 new seminarians for priesthood training amid its latest controversies.

The Trustees of the college aimed to form priests "after the heart of the Good Shepherd" as they notably agreed to review the seminarians' use of the internet and social media, the college's whistleblowing policy, and to commission an independent audit into the governance of Irish seminaries.

The meeting of the four archbishops of Ireland together with 13 senior bishops acknowledged the controversy that recently entangled the reputed college.

While Hugh Connolly, the president of the seminary, described the atmosphere in Maynooth as a "very good one," one trainee priest speaking anonymously said it's "poisonous." Former trainee priest at Maynooth, 31-year-old Francis McLoughlin, also said, "there is an attraction for men with a same-sex attraction to the seminary."

"There is no place in a seminary community for any sort of behaviour or attitude which contradicts the teaching and example of Jesus Christ," the Trustees said in a statement.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin responded to the allegations by moving three Dublin seminarians to the Irish Pontifical College in Rome and said that he would no longer send seminarians to Maynooth.

"I wasn't happy with Maynooth," Archbishop Martin told The Irish Times on Aug. 1. "There seems to an atmosphere of strange goings-on there, it seems like a quarrelsome place with anonymous letters being sent around."

"I don't think this is a good place for students," he added.

The leader of Ireland's largest diocese told RTE Radio the next day that anonymous letters and blogs circulated surrounding allegations of a gay culture and students using the Grindr app. The anonymous claims also accused the faculty of misconduct.

Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan of Waterford and Lismore said he, too, would send future seminarians to Rome while 14 of the 26 Irish diocesan bishops voiced support for Maynooth.