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“They had learned nothing and forgotten nothing.”

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Hard hitting editorial in The Irish Examiner of 22 August 2015;

“The crozier was used to good effect to stifle debate, close down a necessary discourse, and bully a community group into accepting an unwelcome diktat from a blinkered hierarchy.”

In contrast Pope Francis speaking in July;
“When leaders in various fields ask me for advice, my response is always the same: dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. It is the only way for individuals, families and societies to grow.”

School Patronage: Give or Take?

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Brendan Hoban, writing in his column in The Western People, raises the issue of the campaign being waged to force the Catholic Church to hand over half of its primary level schools to patrons with a different ethos.
Brendan says that “The truth is that only Catholic parents can make that decision.”
and
“The real demand in Ireland is not for secular schools but for school places and providing adequate places is the responsibility, not of the Catholic Church, but of the State.”

Leading in difficult times

Stories of Religious Sisters
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Dawn Cherie Araujo reports in ‘Global Sisters Report’ on the recent Leadership Conference of Women Religious National Assembly at Houston, Texas.
Sr. Janet Mock, former LCWR executive director, referring to the Vatican’s now-concluded LCWR doctrinal assessment and mandate said “she was able to maintain hope during those years, because she tries to see the good in people. But during the process someone told her she needed to be more willing to look at the culture of corruption from which the Vatican’s actions stemmed.”

Appointing, Selecting or Electing bishops; We can do better than this.

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We welcome Brendan Hoban’s return and wish him a speedy return to full health and continuing good health in the future.
Brendan casts his historian’s eye over the current system of appointing bishops and concludes that there was far less secrecy in 1829 than today and that “Now no one at local level really knows by what process an individual bishop is appointed. While there is a process and the scaffolding is clear – consultation at local level, a list of three candidates, discussion among bishops of the province, proposal of Congregation of Bishops (Rome), decision by the Pope, with everything organised by the current Papal Nuncio – the detail is cloaked in secrecy.” This gives rise to the perception “that an inordinate stress on secrecy has allowed individuals exert undue influence in the whole process.”

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