Belgian Catholics call for Reform
A new movement in Belgium: Click to read
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David Quinn congratulates Fr Kevin Reynolds and the ACP
Thu, 17/11/2011 – 22:28 The anti-Rome tendencies of some in the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) is not to my taste and I believe that Association would be more acceptable…
Presider’s page for Friday 6 January (Epiphany / “Nollaig na mBan”)
On this feast of the Epiphany we celebrate the revelation of who Christ is. The visit of the Magi from foreign lands reminds us that Jesus came as the Saviour…
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.”Nurturing the roots
Siobhán Larkin is a Holy Faith Sister who worked in New Zealand; she has lectured in All Hallows and has recently completed her Doctorate.
In this article she kindly shares some of the conclusions that she has drawn from her research.
Her thesis “puts the spot light on work that is being done by many committed lay people and suggests that education of this group in particular is imperative if this strong force within the Catholic Church is to be maintained and expanded.”
“the renewal of the Church in Ireland is most likely to begin at grass roots level, and that it is in the renewal of parish life that the sense of belonging to the community of the Church will be revived.”
“Official recognition of the place of lay people in ministry roles in Ireland is essential……. At national and diocesan level it is essential that ways of financing the education of adult lay people, particularly those who are undertaking significant roles, is found.”Brendan Hoban: Irish bishops listened to the wrong voices
Irish bishops listened to the wrong voices. Western People 17.8.2021 When something is difficult to understand, a good tactic is to look behind the presenting problem and ask the question:…
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.