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Tony Flannery outlines his expectations of the papal visit in an article on his own website. The article also appeared in the Irish Independent.

A statement from the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests.

BBC NI have published an article, prepared ahead of the Irish papal visit, on their website.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/Ireland_between_Popes

When honesty comes at a price Chris McDonnell  We happen to live in a time when honesty is lacking. Maybe that has always been the case but in our own…

LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS 
TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD   “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it” (1 Cor 12:26). These words of Saint Paul forcefully…

Great to see the work for Church Reform going on in Scotland.  But you will see from the account below that they are meeting with obstacles that we are familiar…

ACP Papal Visit Survey 2018 15 August 2018 ***************** An ‘on the spot’ survey conducted by the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), in the run-up to the visit of Pope…

Irish Times Rite and Reason August 14, 2018   Pope is bringing his revolution to Ireland Brendan Hoban   Unlike Pope John Paul in 1979 who, with his training as…

PRESS RELEASE 15 August 2018 Association of Catholics in Ireland ACI supports Marie Collins in her call to Pope Francis for commitment to action on abuse scandals. The Association of Catholics…

‘All Together Now.’ Relics of old decency: It was my father’s, sister’s and mother’s 20th anniversary. We drove down south. We went back to the clay of the past. We…

Saints in August 01 August St Alphonsus Ligouri, Bishop, Doctor of the Church Alphonsus (1696-1787) from Marianella near Naples studied law and practiced as a lawyer until the age of…

In principle, we try to upload on the website at the start of each month that month’s full quota of Mass Readings and Homily Ideas. For example, on Aug.1st, something…

Non-Catholics at the table: now or never? Thomas O’Loughlin
This is an expanded version of an article that appeared in The Tablet on 21July 2018 under the title: Eucharistic Hospitality: Don’ t deny the promise of future glory.

Four public meetings, organised by the ACP, been held countrywide to give people the opportunity to articulate what they would like to say to Pope Francis about the church, and particularly about the church in Ireland.
The ACP realise that many people were unable to attend these meetings and have expressed a wish to have their views taken into account.
We invite people who wish to express their opinions to do so by emailing
info@associationofcatholicpriests.ie

Seamus Ahearne finds the ‘living is easy’ in summertime.
“The unexpected has to happen or we have to believe in the surprises of life. The unlikely does occur. ‘Summertime and the living is easy.’ That may not be so always. But in faith and with God, there is always a summertime.  The life of grace. The life of wonder. The life of love. It is there. Our church cannot be dour.”

Updated
With thanks to Gerry O Hanlon and The Messenger we include the Introduction to Gerry’s new book.

Gerry O Hanlon sj has just published a book on Pope Francis and the Catholic Church in Ireland which may be of interest to readers of the web-site. More info available at Messenger web site.

Chris McDonnell writing in the Catholic Times, Friday 20 July 2018, suggests that “So after fifty years, where do we now stand? Acceptance of Humanae Vitae is a matter that has worried the consciences of older Catholics since it was first promulgated; for our children and grandchildren it is a matter of little consequence. Their decision has been reached in the light of practice and is unlikely to change.”

Chaplains – Irish Prison Service, Nationwide,  permanent full and part-time positions available

Brendan Hoban writing in the Western People suggests that “Part of the problem we have in the Irish Catholic Church is that little respect was given to the critical voices that time and again warned against the icebergs stalking our voyage. A lack of vision, a failure in leadership and an inability to cope with the complexities of a changing world meant that the uncritical voices, especially those that echoed official thinking, were given an inordinate influence in the last few decades. And anyone who didn’t subscribe to the old conservatism was taken out in some shape or form.”

Chris McDonnell  writing in the Catholic Times on Friday 06 July comments on the shattering of the ‘American Dream’.
“The current argument in the US is not between Democrats and Republicans; it is between decency and autocracy.”
“”It is a time when the Christian voice of compassion and care must be strong in defence of those who have little, whose strength is insufficient to meet the challenge that they face.”