Year: 2016

Brendan Hoban, in the Western People, considers the case of the politician who was dismissed from the ministry of reader in Cobh.
“If every priest in Ireland was to examine the consciences of everyone who has a ministry in the Church and decide whether or not they tick the one-size-fits-all Catholic box (and act according to the Cobh dictat) it would clear out our parishes in jig-time. We need to jettison that sniffy, arrogant mentality before it does real damage.”

John Shea has again written to Pope Francis and to the Council of Cardinals asking for honest dialogue on the issue of the ordination of women.

With a seeming hiccup holding up the production line of new bishops, {five appointments in the waiting line}, Brendan Hoban asks in his weekly column “who would want to be a bishop? “
A little tongue in cheek he suggests ” a few of us might even at this late hour be prepared, for the good of the Church and reluctantly, of course, to accept high office though in advanced years, …. So if the nuncio is really, really stuck, I have a few in mind who would loosen things up a bit.”

With genuine concern being expressed in varied quarters about the toll on the mental and physical health of priests due to increasing workloads and expectations Brian Fahy’s article is timely.
“A soul friend is someone you can go to regularly and share your spiritual feelings and condition with them, trusting them to hold your confidence and to listen in a positive and constructive manner, and who will offer guidance and advice as needed. This habit of having a soul friend puts us all on the level playing field. You are no longer regarded as a suitable case for treatment. You are a fellow traveller on life’s journey and your soul is never neglected.”

John O Connell, retired parish priest of Bray, recalls a run in some years ago with the CDF. Their heavy hand has been felt for many years by teachers and pastors alike but now more and more people are no longer willing to submit to their secretive ways and suffer in silence. There are probably many more stories of their attempted suppression of pastoral practices.

Fr. John Mannion in “Doctrine and Life” (Dominican publication) January, 2016 wrote about the dilemma that Gays present to the church.
The traditional response was, he said, “fed by a historical separation …. between scientific advancement and Thomistic moral theology.”
“The current theory explaining the biology of sexuality … has two complementary dimensions, one evolutionary, the other statistical.”
Outlining this theory, he states, that it “explains the major sexual phenomena currently the focus of controversy in most societies”.
“In medical circles, the curtain has irrevocably set on those who think that homosexuality is an illness which can be cured with psychological treatment.”
John concludes that “We live in a country which still calls itself Christian but where the level of scholarship needed to bridge the gap between modern man and a heritage of thousands of years is often conspicuous by its absence.”

Pat Rogers provides a summary of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, ‘The Joy of Love’. Pat says his intention is “to provide the main thrust, and some of the key phrases, of this most encouraging papal teaching on family life today. I feel that this inspirational text has not yet been widely publicised or read here in Ireland.”

America magazine and the National Catholic Reporter remind CDF and Vatican officials that the issue of the injustice of CDF procedures isn’t just going to disappear because they choose to ignore it.

Neither will the issue be disappeared by Vatican officials practising a basic lack of courtesy and good manners in refusing to read or acknowledge a letter sent to them about such a grave issue.
Did they learn nothing of the damage done to individuals and to church in the recent past by their ignoring issues of justice and people’s rights?