Blog

Brendan Hoban in his Western People column tells us that ‘openness, transparency and respect are prerequisites for sustaining loyalty…… Adults will only give their loyalty if they are respected as adults.
Which is why infantilism – treating adults as children – no longer works in the modern world. And which is why the Catholic Church, in a more open and questioning society, is struggling so hard to maintain the loyalty of its members.’.

In her address to the AGM Marie Keenan made reference to the work and research carried out by Alan Hilliard.

Alan has kindly made his work available to the ACP website for the benefit of those who may wish to follow up on Marie Keenan’s presentation in Athlone.

Pádraig McCarthy draws our attention to reports of Pope Francis completing his year of ‘Mercy Fridays’, Pope Francis chose to visit priests who have left active ministry to marry and also met their families, in order to give a sign that the Church does not judge people but embraces all.

Stan Mellett, a Redemptorist priest, suggests we have a problem with our identity as catholics.
Stan is suggesting we begin to make an attempt this Advent to forge a new catholic identity for ourselves, even if “With our age profile coupled with ill health, weary with poor response and poor participation in the parish, it is an effort to muster up enthusiasm for a new start. Our attending faithful flock is also ageing and weary. But they are regular – in this lower income parish we count about 700 at three Masses between Vigil and Sunday. Politicians, Summer Schools and other organisations make headlines with that kind of attendance. Surely the alarming prospect of losing our identity totally, will rake the embers to stir up new life in our old bones! There’s fire in the grate still even in our eighties!”

EL PAÍS, the Spanish newspaper, carries an interesting article about an intervention by the Papal Nuncio to Mexico in that country’s debate about plans to enshrine same-sex marriage in the Constitution.