‘Disquiet’ over Vatican’s selection of Irish bishops
Sarah Mac Donald reported in the National Catholic Reporter on our recent AGM
Year: 2015
Put your foot down about climate change
Sean McDonagh reminds us that climate change is a moral problem for all Christians. Promoting the Christian message and its implications for climate change connects in real ways with people of all ages and backgrounds.
“Deirdre Duff, a student who spoke about climate change at the end of Mass, believes that Laudato Si is an incredible document which could not only help save our planet but which could also bring young people back to the Church. ‘I’ll admit that I used to be pretty bad for going to Mass, I’d only go once or twice a month. Then I went to Mass the Sunday after ‘Laudato Si’ was released and I haven’t missed Sunday Mass since. I realised that the Church did actually had an awful lot to teach me…I realised how awful I’d been to God’s creation and to His poorest people who were suffering from my actions in other parts of the world…it just woke me up! Then I simultaneously got to know and love both God and God’s creation in a way I had never had done before.”
Hell to Pay
Michael Maginn offers a poetic reflection inspired by a friend’s comment on poet’s Mary Oliver insightful poem ‘Prayer, it doesn’t have to be a blue iris.’ In her collection Thirst (2006), she grieves for the death of Mary Malone Cook, love of her life and partner of more than 40 years until Mary’s death in 2005.
Selective memory, selective shock, and selective outrage at the presumption of guilt.
Brendan Hoban writing in the Western People, is amazed that media commentators were declaring the publication of allegations against a former politician and government minister marked a new low in journalism.
Such commentary seems to ‘have missed the shocking ordeal that priests like Kevin Reynolds, and so many others like him, who have been wrongly accused, have had to endure.’
‘where was the outrage in the Irish media when one of the foundation stones of our legal system – the presumption of innocence – was seen not to apply to priests and religious accused of abuse? To pop stars, yes; to politicians, yes; to celebrities, yes. To priests, not really.’
Fr Gerry Reynolds R.I.P.
With the sad news of the death of Gerry Reynolds we carry links to BBC N.I. and UTV. We extend our sympathies to his family and to his Redemptorist colleagues. May he rest in peace.
Presider’s Page for 29 November (Advent 1, C)
Advent begins today. During these days, we look forward, waiting in hope. We watch for the end times, when Christ will come in glory, Christ who was born for us just a little over 2,000 years ago.
The Pact of the Catacombs
With the example of the lifestyle of Pope Francis there is renewed interest in many circles in a document known as the ‘Pact of the Catacombs’. Can all bishops and all who are in authority positions in church learn from it?
As Vatican Council II drew to a close in 1965, 40 bishops met at night in the Domitilla Catacombs outside Rome. In that holy place of Christian dead they celebrated the Eucharist and signed a document that expressed their personal commitments as bishops to the ideals of the Council under the suggestive title of the Pact of the Catacombs.
It is known that the bishops were led by Archbishop Helder Camara of Recife, Brazil, one of the widely respected 20th century champions of justice and peace.
The pact had some clear objectives;
“We renounce forever the appearance and the substance of wealth, especially in clothing (rich vestments, loud colours)…”
“As far as possible we will entrust the financial and material running of our diocese to a commission of competent lay persons…”
“We do not want to be addressed verbally or in writing with names and titles that express prominence and power (such as Eminence, Excellency, Lordship)…”
“we will try be make ourselves as humanly present and welcoming as possible; and we will show ourselves to be open to all, no matter what their beliefs…”
A drop of over 43% of priests in active ministry since 1995 – no crisis
When is a crisis not a crisis? When it involves the church it seems.
The number of priests in active ministry 20 years ago – in 1995 – was 3,550.
There are now just 2,019 in active ministry – which represents a drop of 43%.
Just over 67% of that number are over the age of 55 – while it is believed the majority of those are actually even older.
Where is there evidence of strategy and planning to face this ‘crisis’?
‘Mass’ at the wake?
Stan Mellett shares some thoughts on the importance of having a pastoral approach to funeral rites “when the increasingly normal experience is a funeral for one who has long since lost touch with the church, had ceased to practice the faith and been in an irregular marital situation,”
“People who have little contact with church – uneasy with ceremony and ritual – anxious and uneasy about protocol, any effort to accommodate and accompany them through the Wake, funeral Mass and burial/cremation is a service not to be underestimated; an important pastoral opportunity not to be missed.”
Resolutions from AGM
Resolutions from the AGM held on 24 November 2015.
The Inquisition by any other name
Fr. P. John Mannion in this article explores the disjunction between the Church’s Canon Law and the teaching of the New Testament.
He does so in the context of the dealings of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly The Inquisition, with Fr. Tony Flannery.
The injustice of those dealings and lack of due process is compounded when some commentators lay charges against Tony Flannery on the basis of what the CDF has done rather than anything he actually said.
Annual General Meeting, Tuesday, 24 November
Notice and
Agenda of Annual General Meeting
Presider’s Page for 22 November (Christ the King)
We celebrate the feast of Christ the King today, acclaiming Jesus as our king, the one who died for us and rose triumphant. We offer praise and worship — and ask for the grace to live as worthy citizens of his kingdom of justice, truth, love and peace.
Rigidity kills the Heart
Seamus Ahearne wrote this in response to the post ‘De-centralisation and the selection of bishops’.
It deserves its own space and as usual Seamus challenges us in a gentle way to expand our horizons.
“We don’t have to protect God. God is used to our mess. Let’s take hold of the vision from Rome and apply it locally.”
Pope Francis’ Advice for Bishops, Priests and prospective Seminarians
Iacopo Scaramuzzi reports on some off the cuff remarks made by Pope Francis at a Conference sponsored by the Congregation for the Clergy.
He told bishops: “Be present in your dioceses of resign”
To priests he said “It is not normal for a priest to be often sad, nervous, or of a hard character; it is not good, and does no good, neither for the priest nor for his people,”
About those wishing to enter the seminary he said authorities should think twice if the young man “is too confident, rigid and fundamentalist”.
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Faith, Ethics, Elections, Citizenship
Pádraig McCarthy poses some interesting questions as we face into a general election in the Republic of Ireland early in the new year.
“We have an election coming early next year, significant for the centenary of 1916. How does our faith in Jesus Christ inform our active citizenship?
What inspiration and challenges can faith offer to setting goals in political and public life? “
De-centralisation and the selection of bishops
Robert Mickens in his ‘Letter from Rome’ on Global Pulse Magazine comments on the stresses and strains that surface when trying to attempt de-centralisation in the church. He says “Reactions to the US bishops’ deliberations this week at their fall meeting suggest that Catholics may have drawn the conclusion, unwittingly, that decentralization may not be all that it’s cracked up to be.”
However he adds ‘it is going to be a rough and rocky road to healthy decentralization in the Catholic Church. It’s not likely to happen until the synodality that Francis is trying to instill in the Church’s way of living and being also embraces and transforms the way bishops are selected.
Even if a change in the discernment process for choosing our pastors were to be implemented in the next couple of years, it would probably take at least two more generations before we’d get an episcopate that would make decentralized government effective.
Having said that, there are some men in miters – even those with the august rank of cardinal – who should be doing everything as the pope wishes, both in style and emphasis.
And they actually do work for him. They are called apostolic delegates and Vatican officials.”
Mercy can heal the wounds of the Church
The Tablet recently carried an edited version of a lecture written by Cardinal Walter Kaspar for The Spirit of Catholic Renewal, a conference held at Durham University as one of the events to mark The Tablet’s 175th anniversary. In his absence due to illness, the lecture was delivered by Professor Eamon Duffy.
In his address Cardinal Kasper asked “How can we heal the many wounds of the Church caused by its divisions? How can we heal the many wounds of our world? Once more Pope Francis gives us the right cue. It is taken from the very centre of the Gospel; its name is mercy. Reconciliation, including reconciliation of divided Christians, can be achieved only by mercy.”
What Needs Reform in the Church?
Sarah Mac Donald reports in the NCR on a recent talk on “What Needs Reform in the Church?” by Fr. Gabriel Daly who was speaking ahead of the launch of his new book, ‘The Church: Always in Need of Reform’
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