Pope Francis has announced new procedures for the annulling of marriages.
The documents making the announcement, Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus and Mitis et misericors Iesus, are still only available in Italian and Latin.
We carry a report on this move from Crux.
http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/09/08/pope-francis-streamlines-process-for-granting-annulments/
Is this an important step for reform and Francis’ message of Mercy?
How relevant is it for the majority of catholics who divorce and remarry?
God’s healing power was seen in the ministry of Jesus, and continues in the sacraments, in advances in medicine and in the work of the caring professions. Today we pray for strength, trusting that God will continue to show compassion to the whole world
Brendan Hoban, writing in his column in the Western People, gives his reaction to Bishop Crean recently forcing a Pastoral Council to withdraw an invitation to Tony Flannery to speak in a local community hall.
“It has brought the Irish Catholic Church once more into disrepute in that it showed that other voices have no place in it, even if Pope Francis encourages them in the wider Church. It insulted Tony Flannery …… it shows once again that the people are ahead of the priests, the priests are ahead of the bishops and the bishops, caught in the nineteenth century, are either out of touch or in abject denial.”
In the National Catholic Reporter Robert Mickens questions the type of legacy Pope Francis will leave the church.
“Francis has been a breath of fresh air. He has instilled new hope into the lives of millions of Catholics. And this is because his words and gestures continue to suggest that healthy change and development can take place in the structures and disciplines of the church.
But his longstanding legacy will depend on whether or not they actually do.”
Tony Flannery on his own website comments on the recent interview with the Papal Nuncio, Charles Brown
In debates about how to counter the declining number of priests in the Catholic Church it is often argued that despite having a married clergy, women and men, the Church of England is not attracting vocations either. In a recent interesting article in The Tablet Jonathan Wynne-Jones seems to give the lie to that argument with an account of 1000 ordinations in the Church of England this year.
As we move from summer to autumn, we praise God who sustains us all year round. We ask for help with new undertakings and perseverance with continuing projects, knowing that nothing will work well without God’s grace.
We gather as people who have chosen to serve the Lord, chosen to walk the Christian way. We worship God who leads us on — and ask for strength to continue as we have begun.
Hard hitting editorial in The Irish Examiner of 22 August 2015;
“The crozier was used to good effect to stifle debate, close down a necessary discourse, and bully a community group into accepting an unwelcome diktat from a blinkered hierarchy.”
In contrast Pope Francis speaking in July;
“When leaders in various fields ask me for advice, my response is always the same: dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. It is the only way for individuals, families and societies to grow.”
Brendan Hoban, writing in his column in The Western People, raises the issue of the campaign being waged to force the Catholic Church to hand over half of its primary level schools to patrons with a different ethos.
Brendan says that “The truth is that only Catholic parents can make that decision.”
and
“The real demand in Ireland is not for secular schools but for school places and providing adequate places is the responsibility, not of the Catholic Church, but of the State.”
Whoever eats the flesh of the Lord and drinks his blood will live for ever. We celebrate Jesus’ promise, believing we will share the eternal destiny of all who have this divine life in them.
Dawn Cherie Araujo reports in ‘Global Sisters Report’ on the recent Leadership Conference of Women Religious National Assembly at Houston, Texas.
Sr. Janet Mock, former LCWR executive director, referring to the Vatican’s now-concluded LCWR doctrinal assessment and mandate said “she was able to maintain hope during those years, because she tries to see the good in people. But during the process someone told her she needed to be more willing to look at the culture of corruption from which the Vatican’s actions stemmed.”
We worship God who brought Mary to the glory of heaven this day. We celebrate her Assumption, the tangible reminder that the resurrection of Jesus brings victory over death for all who believe.
We welcome Brendan Hoban’s return and wish him a speedy return to full health and continuing good health in the future.
Brendan casts his historian’s eye over the current system of appointing bishops and concludes that there was far less secrecy in 1829 than today and that “Now no one at local level really knows by what process an individual bishop is appointed. While there is a process and the scaffolding is clear – consultation at local level, a list of three candidates, discussion among bishops of the province, proposal of Congregation of Bishops (Rome), decision by the Pope, with everything organised by the current Papal Nuncio – the detail is cloaked in secrecy.” This gives rise to the perception “that an inordinate stress on secrecy has allowed individuals exert undue influence in the whole process.”
This Sunday, Christians gather together as friends, called by the Lord to forgive each other as quickly as God forgives us.
Martin Kennedy pays tribute to the late Willie Cleary.
Comments made by Pope Francis at an audience today about the status of divorced and remarried Catholics are attracting a lot of attention.
Chris McDonnell marks the 70th anniversary of Hiroshima with his lines “The Sturgeon Moon” and we carry an interesting article by Tony Magliano in the National Catholic Reporter about the experience of Fr. George Zabelka, the Catholic chaplain to the 509th Composite Group — the atomic bomb group.
From the days when the Jewish people wandered in the desert to this very day, God has been food to the hungry and meaning to those who lose their way. We celebrate our Lord’s loving-kindness.
Michael Magian offers a reflection and prayer on inclusiveness.
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