In the wake of the controversy aroused by Archbishop Martin’s comments about his decision to transfer the three Dublin diocesan students from Maynooth Seán McDonagh wrote in the Irish Independent last week to express his surprise and disappointment at the issues that exercise and energise some of our bishops and most of the media.
“nobody mentioned three of the most significant documents of the modern Church – The Joy of the Gospel, Laudato Si’ : On Care For Our Common Home and The Joy of Love. These are pivotal documents in the modern Church and yet, they were missing for the debate.
I look forward to the day when the media – if they are genuinely interested in the future of the Irish Church- will afford the same time, interest and energy to discussing the latter as they have to this week’s Maynooth story. “
Perhaps we could apply that wish for the media to church as well and even to commentary on our website!
Jeannine Gramick writes in the NCR about meeting old friends at the annual conference of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests in Chicago.
“I had found them 40 years later — concerned about a Vatican II vision of church and yearning for a community with the same hopes and dreams for justice and peace. They seemed to have found this vision in Pope Francis and to have realized community in a group called the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests.”
Is there any learning for ourselves to be gleaned from the experience of our U.S. friends in AUSCP?
With the appointment of a ‘Commission of Study on the Diaconate of Women’ by Pope Francis there might be a temptation to suspend the debate on the issue until they publish a report. However as Vatican commissions tend to be very long running affairs it is necessary and good that the debate continues in all local churches.
Judith Valence writing in America Magazine gives a very interesting account of how the issue is perceived in Chicago.
“Maureen Garvey often serves alongside her husband, Deacon Kevin Garvey at their parish ……. ‘We had the exact same training, two nights a week, one weekend a month, summer internships,” she says of her husband’s formation studies. “I wrote every paper he wrote. The only thing that was different was on the day of ordination, I had tears in my eyes when all the guys were called up [to the altar] and they left their wives sitting in the pews’ “
Gabriel Daly attended the funeral of Seán Fagan and has now penned some thoughts on Seán’s funeral and ‘the suffering and injustice inflicted on him by the leaders of his own church.’
‘The presence of a bishop at Seán’s funeral would have been a golden occasion to express metanoia and the readiness to respond more sensitively to the the message of the Gospel. It would have meant so much to his family.’
‘It cannot be said too often that peace, unity and friendship in the church do not depend on agreement about matters that do not belong to the essence of the faith. What the Gospel prescribes is willingness to live together in peace, friendship and respect for ideas and attitudes that one cannot share, and finally, if possible, even to be open to the desirability of reform. …….
Pope Francis is leading with words of mercy and healing. Why are we not following?’
Gabriel Daly is author of ‘The Church always in need of Reform’, Dominican Publications, www.dominicanpublications.com
Seamus Ahearne casts his eye over some of the topics that are currently exercising bloggers and bishops; i.e seminaries and diaconate and the future of ministry.
Seamus as usual views them in the wider context of living the good news, of being a living church. “Deacons. Students. Priests. Bishops. Everyone. All of us have to find our bearings in that mess. The tidiness of the past is gone. The Church has to lose control. Ministers have to be strong. Men, women, married, unmarried (as ministers) – who cares (it is so totally unimportant). All that matters is the world of faith is celebrated with humility.”
With the ongoing controversy about Archbishop Martin of Dublin deciding to remove all 3 of Dublin archdiocese’s students from Maynooth Tony Flannery suggests “The solution would have to involve a radical revision of our understanding of ministry and the requirements necessary to become a priest. So, rather than just tinkering around with Maynooth, the Irish church needs to initiate a process of discussion at all levels to discern what type of ministry is best suited for the Church of the future.”
“…. we need courage. The problems in seminaries is only one part of a much greater malaise in the church. Trying to re-create the past is not the answer. Significant change is needed.”
Excerpts from a report by Gerard O’Connell in America Magazine on Pope Francis’ “Wake-Up Call to Polish Clergy”.
It could be a wake up call for the Irish Church as easily.
“Francis has heard about the tendency toward clericalism and resistance to change among many of the 156 bishops and 30,000 priests”.
“Francis noted that “in our lives as priests and consecrated persons, we can often be tempted to remain enclosed, out of fear or convenience, within ourselves and in our surroundings.”
“Looking at the bishops and clergy seated in front of him, he said, “Jesus wants hearts that are open and tender towards the weak, never hearts that are hardened.”
This article by the late Sean Fagan appeared in ‘Doctrine and Life’ in March 2001.
Sincere thanks to Bernard Treacy OP, Director, Dominican Publications, 42 Parnell Square, Dublin 1 for permission to publish this article by the late Sean Fagan. www.dominicanpublications.com
Thanks to Sean O’Conaill for the suggestion to publish the article as a tribute to Sean and for providing an electronic version of the article.
Brendan Hoban, writing in the Irish Times, offers some initial thoughts in the immediate aftermath of the murder of Fr. Jacques Hamel.
We extend our sincere sympathy to the family of Fr. Jacques Hamel, to the parishioners in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray and to the people of the Diocese of Rouen.
Nous adressons nos sincères condoléances à la famille du père Jacques Hamel, les paroissiens de Saint -Étienne- du- Rouvray et à la population du diocèse de Rouen.
Chris McDonnell writes in The Catholic Times about the shortage of priests and states that “It will soon be too late to consider a possible resolution to the problems we face unless we take active steps now to address our difficulties.”
“there is a now a clear necessity for Commissions to be set up both in the UK and Ireland by the respective bishops’ conferences to examine the whole issue before the model we are currently struggling to manage breaks and we are left to pick up the pieces.”
Brendan Hoban’s weekly column in the Western People takes a look at the ‘noxious weed’ of clericalism.
Clericalism, Brendan describes, is when “In simple terms the priest was given to believe that he knew best, was in full charge of everything and should feel superior to mere lay-people. To give this clericalist mentality substance it was wrapped in black soutanes and Roman collars and placed in a context of status, deference and privilege. Priests became part of an exclusive, hierarchical and authoritarian elite.”
Brendan Hoban in the Western People suggests it’s time that Cardinals who are obstructing the reforms of Pope Francis should be called to order.
“Francis has very publicly told members of the Roman Curia that they often suffered from ‘the pathology of power’ which produced ‘ a superiority complex’ “
It was with great sadness that the ACP learned of the death of Fr. Sean Fagan.
May the Lord grant him peace.
Tony Flannery penned a brief appreciation on learning of Sean’s death.
Praytellblog and http://aleteia.org are reporting that Pope Francis summoned Cardinal Sarah to a meeting last Saturday following the latter’s call for priests to face east while celebrating Mass from next Advent.
A statement was issued by Press Office of the Holy See, 11/07/2016.
“There are not, therefore, any new liturgical directives beginning next Advent” and “it is best to avoid using the expression ‘reform of the reform’, referring to the liturgy, as sometimes it has been a source of misunderstanding “
Cardinal Sarah asks priests to start celebrating Mass facing east this Advent ……. Really, he did!
Brendan Hoban writing in the Western People continues to question when the bishops will find the courage and imagination to face the ‘vocation crisis’ in the Church in Ireland.
“The simple truth is that the problem with vocations to the priesthood is that young Irish men are no longer saying YES to a celibate vocation, their parents are encouraging them to say No and the vast majority of priests in parishes know that prioritising celibacy over the Eucharist is not just bad theology, it isn’t working.”
Pádraig McCarthy reminds us, and the bishops, that St. John Paul II said “among the many activities of a parish, none is as vital or as community-forming as the Sunday celebration of the Lord’s Day and his Eucharist”.
John Paul also underlined the importance of “ensuring that parish assemblies are not without the necessary ministry of priests”, but according to Padraig ‘the Church is not ensuring this.’
Time has run out for action to be taken but we wait, and wait, and wait……
Soline Humbert brings to our attention a presentation by Sr Jeannine Gramick from 2000 about a document, relevant to the issue of silencing, that was produced by the Second General Assembly of the 1971 Synod of Bishops. Entitled Justice in the World . . .It says: “The Church recognizes everyone’s right to suitable freedom of expression and thought. This includes the right of everyone to be heard in a spirit of dialogue which preserves a legitimate diversity within the Church” (JW 44).
Soline says ‘the importance of this document exceeds the importance of any document produced by a Vatican dicastery because it bears the weight of the world’s bishops in communion with the Bishop of Rome. This fact should be noted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [CDF], which has silenced theologians and pastoral workers even after Vatican II. A higher authority than the CDF has validated free expression and public debate on controversial theological issues.”
Tony Flannery has written an article, published in The Irish Times and on his own website, about the attempted stifling of the debate about the ordination of women.
“The efforts made by the Vatican to silence discussion on the ordination of women over the past 50 years have been both unsuccessful and unwise.”
“Though Pope Francis has said that this door is closed, his consistent call for open discussion and dialogue, and indeed for open doors, has created a climate where the whole issue of women’s place in the church is now centre stage.”
“The effort by the Vatican to stifle debate, often by using methods that should never be part of the Christian community, is doing enormous damage to the church.”
Brendan Hoban in his weekly Western People column reflects on the recent atrocity in Orlando.
Wondering about the influence religion may have in encouraging acts of homophobic violence he writes;
“A Florida bishop, Robert Lynch, lamented the role religion has played in breeding contempt for the LGBT community: ‘Sadly it is religion, including our own, which targets, mostly verbally, and also often breeds contempt for gays, lesbians and transgender people,’ he wrote ‘attacks today on LGBT men and women often plant the seed of contempt, then hatred, which can ultimately lead to violence.”
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