Mattie Long, moderator of the comments on this site, raises the issue of anonymous comments being published on the ACP website.
“It would appear to me that doing so encourages less than charitable, and less than Christian, instincts to get the better of some people who otherwise would see themselves as Christian in word and in deed”.
Brendan in his weekly Western People column outlines how we can all experience Christmas in very individual ways.
Brendan then suggests; “Make sure you take a bit of time off from Christmas. Let the water under your feet settle into a little puddle so that you can see a bit of yourself in it. Let the bustle fade into a silence. Find a clear space where you can hear what life is saying to you. Sit somewhere and look out at the world as it rages and races past. Find a quiet corner ….”
Good advice!
Pope Francis, suffering from a cold, in addressing the curia prescribed a course of “curial antibiotics”.
He said that last year when speaking to members of the curia he “spoke of certain temptations or maladies – the catalogue of curial diseases. …Diseases which call for prevention, vigilance, care and, sadly, in some cases, painful and prolonged interventions.”
However this year “.. in the context of this Year of Mercy and our own preparation for the coming celebration of Christmas, I would like to present a practical aid for fruitfully experiencing this season of grace. It is by no means an exhaustive catalogue of needed virtues for those who serve in the Curia and for all those who would like to make their consecration or service to the Church more fruitful.”
A challenge for all, not just the curia!
The NCR carried an interesting Editorial about the “Year of Mercy” and what is intended by it.
“The fear inspired by legalism dominated the community’s life for decades, but we’ve learned that fear stifles and kills; it does not nourish or transform. Mercy is an encounter with the other, and ultimately an experience of God. Mercy is transformation. “
“Speaking at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 8, Francis said: “We have to put mercy before judgment, and in every case God’s judgment will always be in the light of his mercy. Let us abandon all fear and dread, for these do not befit men and women who are loved. Instead, let us live the joy of encounter with the grace that transforms all.”
Sean McDonagh comments on the multilateral treaty on climate change that was signed by 195 countries at the end of the Conference of the Parties (C0P21) in Paris.
“At most of the COPs which I attended during the past decade, the Catholic Church was barely visible, but at COP21 in Paris, the reverberations from Pope Francis’ powerful encyclical Laudato Si’ could be heard.”
“Despite major omissions, the Paris agreement demonstrates that global cooperation has the potential to steer us on to a safer path for both people and the planet.”
The Website IP5, or onepeterfive, carries an interesting article about an open letter written to Pope Francis by a “former member of the curia”.
The letter originally appeared in the German-language magazine, FOCUS.
While clearly meant to be read as a criticism of Pope Francis it perhaps unintentionally gives a disturbing insight into much of the culture and mindset of the curia and how they see their position, power and status in the church.
Do all bureaucracies, in the spirit of “Yes Minister’s” Sir Humphrey, eventually come to think that they are there to be served rather than serve, that all wisdom resides in them and none in the temporary ministers, or popes, who come and go and that all decisions should be left firmly in their control?
Pope Benedict’s reasons for retiring become clearer every day.
[for international readers; “Yes Minister” was a BBC tv comedy. The chief civil servant, bureaucrat, Sir Humphrey was apt to reply ‘Yes Minister’ to every request of the Government Minister and then worked wholeheartedly at subverting every single plan and policy of the minister if it in any way infringed on the power and control of the civil service.}
Tony Flannery, on his own blog, reflects on his experience of the past four years.
“I tell myself I have coped reasonably well….
I think it has also served to strengthen my views on the urgent need for reform in the Church…
I believed the process they (the Vatican) engaged in with me was seriously unjust and abusive…
His (Pope Francis) coming brought a great ray of light and hope for the Church, and lifted my spirits also…
But there are times when the reality of this enormous upheaval in my life hits me, and I feel oppressed by it…
Some of the things that tend to make me angry:
– The total indifference shown by the Irish bishops to the sanctioning of myself and five other Irish priests.
– Bishop Crean’s banning of my invitation to speak in Killeagh … did hurt me …
– the opposition to Pope Francis by very senior figures in the Church…
I have great support from my family and close friends, which of course is crucial. There is also a wide body of people who give me encouragement. “
Brendan Hoban in his latest weekly column in the Western People suggests that we in church, (people, priests and bishops), are traumatised by “the fact that an institution (church) at the heart of Irish life, apparently so secure in its world and so confident in the support of its people, could become a marginal and often scorned presence on the periphery of Irish society.”
The late Michael Paul Gallagher sj had warned us but we couldn’t believe what he and others were saying. He had taken the “example of French-Canada where the level of practice among Catholics plummeted in a relatively short time. It could happen in Ireland too, he warned. And none of us believed him. But it did.”
Brendan says we need to name, accept and engage with the new realities.
“We need prophets, like Michael Paul Gallagher, to help us realise and accept where we are if we are even to begin to take responsibility for the choices we have to make.”
Brian Fahy shares a memory of Gerry Reynolds, ‘ a happy lunch hour spent in the quiet of the countryside with a very gentle soul. . .
It remains forever in my mind and heart as a joyous moment in my life. And the words he spoke come to me over the years and across the divide of death, to give me courage and to encourage me on my way.’
“It will be all right. Let things unfold.”
Fr. P. John Mannion critically evaluates the ‘new missal’.
” The fact of the matter is that the Roman Congregation responsible for the current translation, completely ignored the directives of Vatican Two, and gave us instead the Mass we were using since Pope Paul VI laced with Tridentine insertions plus prayers rehashed in a supposedly “sacred language” and translated from the Latin according to Rome’s directive “in a most exact manner” thus giving us a translation that is ungrammatical and laced with pious, phoney verbiage.”
Sarah Mac Donald reported in the National Catholic Reporter on our recent AGM
Sean McDonagh reminds us that climate change is a moral problem for all Christians. Promoting the Christian message and its implications for climate change connects in real ways with people of all ages and backgrounds.
“Deirdre Duff, a student who spoke about climate change at the end of Mass, believes that Laudato Si is an incredible document which could not only help save our planet but which could also bring young people back to the Church. ‘I’ll admit that I used to be pretty bad for going to Mass, I’d only go once or twice a month. Then I went to Mass the Sunday after ‘Laudato Si’ was released and I haven’t missed Sunday Mass since. I realised that the Church did actually had an awful lot to teach me…I realised how awful I’d been to God’s creation and to His poorest people who were suffering from my actions in other parts of the world…it just woke me up! Then I simultaneously got to know and love both God and God’s creation in a way I had never had done before.”
Michael Maginn offers a poetic reflection inspired by a friend’s comment on poet’s Mary Oliver insightful poem ‘Prayer, it doesn’t have to be a blue iris.’ In her collection Thirst (2006), she grieves for the death of Mary Malone Cook, love of her life and partner of more than 40 years until Mary’s death in 2005.
Brendan Hoban writing in the Western People, is amazed that media commentators were declaring the publication of allegations against a former politician and government minister marked a new low in journalism.
Such commentary seems to ‘have missed the shocking ordeal that priests like Kevin Reynolds, and so many others like him, who have been wrongly accused, have had to endure.’
‘where was the outrage in the Irish media when one of the foundation stones of our legal system – the presumption of innocence – was seen not to apply to priests and religious accused of abuse? To pop stars, yes; to politicians, yes; to celebrities, yes. To priests, not really.’
With the sad news of the death of Gerry Reynolds we carry links to BBC N.I. and UTV. We extend our sympathies to his family and to his Redemptorist colleagues. May he rest in peace.
With the example of the lifestyle of Pope Francis there is renewed interest in many circles in a document known as the ‘Pact of the Catacombs’. Can all bishops and all who are in authority positions in church learn from it?
As Vatican Council II drew to a close in 1965, 40 bishops met at night in the Domitilla Catacombs outside Rome. In that holy place of Christian dead they celebrated the Eucharist and signed a document that expressed their personal commitments as bishops to the ideals of the Council under the suggestive title of the Pact of the Catacombs.
It is known that the bishops were led by Archbishop Helder Camara of Recife, Brazil, one of the widely respected 20th century champions of justice and peace.
The pact had some clear objectives;
“We renounce forever the appearance and the substance of wealth, especially in clothing (rich vestments, loud colours)…”
“As far as possible we will entrust the financial and material running of our diocese to a commission of competent lay persons…”
“We do not want to be addressed verbally or in writing with names and titles that express prominence and power (such as Eminence, Excellency, Lordship)…”
“we will try be make ourselves as humanly present and welcoming as possible; and we will show ourselves to be open to all, no matter what their beliefs…”
When is a crisis not a crisis? When it involves the church it seems.
The number of priests in active ministry 20 years ago – in 1995 – was 3,550.
There are now just 2,019 in active ministry – which represents a drop of 43%.
Just over 67% of that number are over the age of 55 – while it is believed the majority of those are actually even older.
Where is there evidence of strategy and planning to face this ‘crisis’?
Stan Mellett shares some thoughts on the importance of having a pastoral approach to funeral rites “when the increasingly normal experience is a funeral for one who has long since lost touch with the church, had ceased to practice the faith and been in an irregular marital situation,”
“People who have little contact with church – uneasy with ceremony and ritual – anxious and uneasy about protocol, any effort to accommodate and accompany them through the Wake, funeral Mass and burial/cremation is a service not to be underestimated; an important pastoral opportunity not to be missed.”
Fr. P. John Mannion in this article explores the disjunction between the Church’s Canon Law and the teaching of the New Testament.
He does so in the context of the dealings of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly The Inquisition, with Fr. Tony Flannery.
The injustice of those dealings and lack of due process is compounded when some commentators lay charges against Tony Flannery on the basis of what the CDF has done rather than anything he actually said.
Seamus Ahearne wrote this in response to the post ‘De-centralisation and the selection of bishops’.
It deserves its own space and as usual Seamus challenges us in a gentle way to expand our horizons.
“We don’t have to protect God. God is used to our mess. Let’s take hold of the vision from Rome and apply it locally.”
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