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Dublin Diocese’s website has published the speaking notes of Archbishop Diarmaid Martin’s talk at the Patrick Finn Lecture Series given at Saint Mary’s Haddington Road, 16th November 2017.
Archbishop Martin made some very interesting points:
” ….. will involve new forms of priestly presence within faith communities in the changing future of Ireland.”
“How do we reach out in a new way to people where they are and create a desire among them to deepen their understanding of Christian message?”
“What are the factors that alienate people from the Church structures of today?  Probably the most significant negative factor that influences attitudes to the Church in today’s Ireland is the place of women in the Church.  Next would be the ongoing effect of the scandals of child sexual abuse.”
“A survey of young people’s attitude to parish was carried out in the Dublin diocese …. The report was one of the most disappointing documents that I read since becoming Archbishop.  Young people felt unwelcome in parishes.”
“But the fate of the Christian is more likely to be that of marginalization rather than martyrdom.”
“Why am I still optimistic?  Irish society is still permeated with elements of faith.  Residual faith, however, is probably more fragile in an indifferent world than in a world of hostility.   There are deeper elements of goodness and idealism and generosity among young people but despite years of Catholic education, they do not seem to have been truly touched by the knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ.”

The first Seán Fagan Memorial lecture was delivered by Angela Hanley on 13 November 2017 at the We are Church meeting in the Arrupe Room, Jesuit Communications Centre, Milltown.
We thank Angela Hanley for making the text of her paper available to us for publication.

Peter Johnstone is President of Catholics for Renewal, an organisation with many supporters who are committed Catholics determined to seek reform of the dysfunctional governance of the Catholic Church institution.
He wrote on https://johnmenadue.com about the Australian Church in the context of the wait for the final report from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. He stated that “Only those in blind denial could fail to realise that the Catholic Church in Australia is now in the midst of a massive and existential crisis.”

A look at statistics (from 2014) about the Catholic Church in the U.S. is somewhat depressing. Apart from a growth in the numbers of permanent deacons there seems to be decline in all else.
What can we learn from these figures, what can we do?

Different sources are carrying stories about the possibility of married men being ordained priests being on the agenda of the Amazon Synod. It is an issue that is gaining momentum.

Seamus Ahearne in his reflections on ‘our search for the God of our everyday life’ reminds us that ‘The presents of life have to be appreciated.’

Chris McDonnell, writing in this week’s Catholic Times, reminds us again of the need to look to new models of leadership and priesthood. “The idea of a person being called from their community, to serve their community has lost credibility. It is this concept that we ought to explore. That is why the first tentative steps in formation for pastoral leaders in parishes rather than the closure of parishes or the creation of ever-increasing numerical entities is a courageous and welcome initiative.”