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Vatican Radio announces that Pope Francis has appointed a commission that ‘could study the question” of the diaconate of women, “especially with regard to the first ages of the Church.” ‘
Interestingly for a Vatican body the commission is gender balanced.

The idea that all sanctions and restrictions were lifted from Sean Fagan before his death is being widely circulated, and also in some of the comments on this site.
Shamefully, for those who had the authority to do so, all the sanctions placed on Sean Fagan were not removed before his death.

‘The Judas Iscariot Lunch’ , a documentary, features 13 former Columban missionary priests including Joe O Grady from Cloonacool, County Sligo.
It is is a story about faith, religion, love and life after the priesthood.
This documentary, often funny, sometimes sad, is beautiful, raw and thought-provoking.

Sarah Mac Donald writes in NCR about the experience of Gerry Moloney at the hands of the CDF.
“You are tried, found guilty and sentenced, before you even know you were on trial. And yet the gospel tells us that people will ‘know we are Christians by our love.’ “

Brendan Hoban reviews Michael Paul Gallagher’s “Into Extra Time.”

‘Michael Paul worried that publishing such a personal narrative would seem to inflate his own experience or appear too self-centred and pious and he found writing a book that would be read only when he was dead a strange moment in his life. But he need not have worried. It is, I believe, the most important book he has written.’

A monthly celebration of Sunday Mass in Avila Carmelite Centre, Bloomfield Avenue (off Morehampton Road), Donnybrook, Dublin 4, at which all are welcome, with a particular welcome for lgbt (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered) people, their parents, family members, and friends.
Celebrants have included Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and diocesan and religious priests.

At the request of the Leadership Team of the American Association of Catholic Priests (AUSCP), Jim Schexnayder, of Oakland Diocese, extended an invitation to Archbishop John Wester, Archdiocese of Santa…

The CDF has issued its first document, “Iuvenescit Ecclesia” or “the Church rejuvenates.” under Pope Francis.
Can a leopard change its spots? Not according to some commentators;
“Much of the text reads like the “desk-bound” or laboratory theology that the 79-year-old pope finds unhelpful.” commented Cindy Wooden, Rome bureau chief of Catholic News Service.

Others such as Massimo Faggioli see it a little differently;
“There is a very interesting admonition about ordained members of new movements that seek ordination to serve only their movement (par. 22) – a very well-known problem that so far has been officially denied by the Church leadership – and an interesting phrasing about the danger of having the movements creating a “parallel” path in the Church (par. 23). This is something that came up at the 1987 Synod, but no pope before Francis had the courage to talk about. There is also the clear intention of Francis not to create new precedents in the recognition process of new movements.”

Thanks to Paddy Ferry for bringing this video by Fr. Jim Martin SJ to our attention.
Fr. Martin is commenting on the attitudes we have towards the lgbt community in the context of the murders at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando.

Updated with Bishop Fleming’s address at the launch.

Brendan Hoban is well known as a commentator on current church affairs as well as his commitment to the implementation of the reforms of Vatican II at all levels in church.
Less well known is his remarkable interest in history as demonstrated with the publication of his latest book “Telling the Story, A Dictionary of Killala Clergy” which is the third book of a three volume series of Readings in Killala Diocesan History.

Interesting statistics to while away a little time on the May Holiday Weekend. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has published a Report on “The Class of 2016: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood”.

Fr. Tim Kesicki, SJ, president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, announced the death today of Fr. Daniel Berrigan SJ at the age of 94.

Pádraig McCarthy has re-formatted ‘The Joy of Love’ on A4 pages as a downloadable and printable PDF file.

Details of a conference being organised by the Loyola Institute entitled ‘The Role of Church in a Pluralist Society: Good Riddance or Good Influence? ‘
It will be held in Trinity College, Dublin, from 22 to 24 June.

The homily at the Funeral Mass of Judge Adrian Hardiman (1951-2016) 10th March, 2016 Readings: Proverbs 2:1-9; 2 Corinthians 5:1,6-10; Mark 12:28-34 We have to pinch ourselves, are we really…

Clarification concerning statement issued by the Catholic Communications Office Media Service of November 2nd 2015.

Tony Flannery thinks we should accept Pope Francis’ invitation to discuss openly and honestly issues in the church.
Francis said recently’ The path ahead, then, is dialogue among yourselves, dialogue in your presbyterates, dialogue with lay persons, dialogue with families, dialogue with society.I cannot ever tire of encouraging you to dialogue fearlessly.’
Tony feels it is time there was an open dialogue about the issue of ordination for women.

Christopher Lamb writing in The Tablet blog reports that Cardinal Mark gave a basic theology lesson to some at the synod.
Cardinal Reinhard Marx said “doctrine and theology are not the same” adding that “many people talk about doctrine but they have no idea what it is.”
“Doctrine, he explained, is the tradition of the Church which is “not a closed shop, it is a living tradition” while doctrine needs to be lived rather than read in a book.”

Anthony Ruff OSB writing in his blog www.praytellblog.com asks ‘what to do when your church changes on you’. He bases his comments on a presentation by Barry Hudock at St. John’s University and uses the case of Fr. Joseph Fenton as an example.

Perhaps a pertinent question in the light of the Synod’s discussions?

Brendan Hoban writing in his weekly Western People column worries about the type of church some church leaders are pushing on the faithful.
“What’s emerging is almost a church within a church where visions, novenas and relics skirt the edges of superstition, where questionable piosities are lauded and intellectual rigour is suspect, where asking a question is tantamount to betrayal, where pleasure is distrusted and sexual pleasure anathema, where Catholicism takes on an Amish-like appearance and where a series of ‘Catholic’ newspapers encourage a return to the severity, rigidity and judgementalism of the past.’