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Peter Feuerherd reports in the National Catholic Reporter on a resolution endorsed by the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests, calling upon Catholic bishops in the United States to enlist the aid of lay pastoral workers to administer parishes.

In a comment on another thread Iggy O Donovan asks
“Can anybody shed light on the reported comments of Francis in Chile regarding Bishop Barros Madrid. It appears to have offended abuse survivors and if true would definitely cast a negative cloud over his papacy. Also from the point of view of his Irish visit it would make itself felt and not in a positive way.”
To provide some information on this subject we carry a report from americamagazine and a statement issued by Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston.

John N. Collins, an Australian theologian, has devoted a great part for his life to studying the real meaning of ‘diakonia’. His thesis has serious implications for our understanding of ministry in church.
“I was confronted by the need to identify the nature of the ‘service’ of the Son of Man (Mk 10:45). Soon I came to recognise that the English ‘service’ words were totally inadequate to represent the range of meanings ancient Greek authors intended by their use of diakon- terms.”

Catherine Pepinster reports in Religion News Service, religionnews.com, on the fact that some Anglican priests are joining trade unions.
She quotes Rev. Peter Hobson, who is head of the priests’ Unite branch, Church of England Clergy Advocates; “vicars are turning to the union because they are under pressure from all sides — from the people in the pews and from their bishops…….. the bishop, while he is a pastoral figure, is also managerial. And the managerial approach is coming more and more to the fore …….. this more managerial approach makes relationships between clergy and bishops more difficult, and clergy consequently need more advice and someone ‘on their side,’ as it were, from outside the church .”

America magazine, among others, carries a report of the call by Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabruck ,(vice president of the German bishops’ conference) for a debate on whether Catholic clergy should bless same-sex unions..

Joe McVeigh ponders the future role of priests in the church.
“In Ireland, we are now in mission territory. We who have been ordained and who have survived this long are missionary priests in our own country. We are no longer maintenance priests in charge of maintaining churches, schools and parochial halls, …. We now need to adjust to the entirely new situation facing us and adopt new practices and a new ways of being church.”

A “We Are Church” Press Release of 14 January 2018 calls for Pope Francis to meet Marie Collins to show support of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Brian Fahy’s reflection on his own life’s journey certainly proves that ministry is not confined to ‘being a parish priest, or indeed a minster of religion, or a liturgical, sacramental operative.’
‘My time in the Redemptorists was rich even as it was also difficult…….. I am (now) learning how to be a good father and grandfather in these later years of my life. I am also learning how to be a widower at peace with the story of life that came to me.’

Colm Holmes of ‘We Are Church Ireland’ prepared this report on the transparency of our 26 dioceses in Ireland using the same criteria as VOTF in the USA at the end of 2017.

Chris McDonnell writing in the Catholic Times, January 5th 2018, offers a reflection for the new year.