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Press Release – We Are Church

“We have to learn to be missionaries. To find eyes and ears and heart to catch the speaking- God in a new way. “

Tom O’Loughlin discusses his book Eating Together, Becoming One (Liturgical Press Academic, 2019) in this interview.

Seamus Ahearne continues to be inspired by his early morning walks.
“We walk humbly into the future. We are indeed ‘tiptoeing’ with reverence into that new world, where there are hints of mystery everywhere.  ….. Ministry has to change. Parish life has to change. Church has to change. Our understanding of Sacrament has to change. Our concept of Liturgy and worship has to change. We have to change”. 

Eating Together, Becoming One by Thomas O’Loughlin has won First Place in the “Ecumenism or Interfaith Relations” category in the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada’s 2020 Book Awards. We extend our congratulations to Tom.

Pope Francis called on theologians to explore whether Catholic practice should be changed to allow Christians, belonging to other churches, to share fully at the table when they take part in a eucharist celebrated by Catholics. Thomas O’Loughlin argues that the various ways of thinking about what we are doing in the liturgy should lead us to see intercommunion as enhancing our participation in the mystery of the church and the mystery we celebrate.

Seamus Ahearne reminds us of God being found where we are, and asks; “And what then is prayer?  It is noticing the little things. The little people. The little gifts. The little beauty. The hidden gems. The wonder.  It is being able to see. To take off the shoes. To bow the head. To be grateful.  To being aware.  To looking back and remembering the graciousness of life in people. It is looking around and seeing the Godly image in everyone.”

Chris McDonnell reflects on the Book of the Psalms. “They challenge their readers to face up to their own success and failure in life’s journey and in so doing to come face to face with the mercy and constant forgiveness of the God who made us.”

As we mark the fifth anniversary of this ground-breaking encyclical, internationally-acclaimed Irish theologian Dermot A. Lane has published a new book, Theology and Ecology in Dialogue: The Wisdom of Laudato Si’, that builds bridges between theology and ecology.

Seamus Ahearne thinks about all the changes we are now faced with as a result of the pandemic.
“We will adjust our thinking to a new way of being,  as we consider a new way forward.  There is no option.”
“Many decisions that should have been taken years ago in terms of planning, are now being forced on us.  Our mentality has to change drastically.”

Fr. Pat Rogers remains in hospital but is much improved and we hope and pray now on the road to a full recovery.
It has been a difficult time and he and his family are very grateful for your continued prayers and good wishes.

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Seamus Ahearne emerges from lockdown “taken back myself at how old I had got and how I had deserved the cocooning!” 
“It is a humbling reflection to glance backwards towards 14/15th March and since.
The world lived without us. Lived without Church. Lived without Mass. No Holy Week. No Easter. No Baptisms. No First Communion. No Confirmations. No house visits. No Schools. No full Funerals. No shopping. No hospital visiting or visits to the sick.
Somehow the sky didn’t fall in.  We can’t go back to how we were.”

Chris McDonnell thinks about one thing that has been missed in recent weeks – “the exchange of touch between each other in recent weeks for without words our hands speak of our emotions, our cares and our suffering.”
“It is with our hands that we take and give, share and consume. What could be more practical than we receive the gift of the Christ in the same manner?”

Revised: Armagh were incorrectly reported and their revised score is now 30.

We Are Church Ireland publish their ‘Transparency Table’ for irish dioceses.
The Transperancy Scores are calculated based on 10 criteria developed by Voice of the Faithful in the USA. The criteria include the availability on websites of Annual Accounts; details of the Finance Committee; Search functions to quickly find information; financial guidelines.

Soline Humbert questions why our bishops don’t publish their ad limina reports, considering that in other places they do exactly that.

Seamus Ahearne’s riverside reflections lead him to conclude that “Like Jeremiah this weekend; we all have to speak up and speak out…. I call on our leaders and our ministers to speak up and to speak out. With a new vision of parish, church, priesthood and sacrament.    There is a new place for God and the Word,  to be heard.”

Brendan Hoban wonders why Pope Francis’ agenda is not gaining traction in the Irish church; the agenda “to rediscover and implement the insights of the Second Vatican Council…. to focus on protecting planet earth, to place the poor at the centre of our concerns, to breathe new life into the concept of mercy, to emphasise a synodal (or group)  approach to decision-making and to find new ways of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

Chris McDonnell in writing about the murder of George Floyd reminds us that true leadership comes at a cost; “Colin Kaepernick. When he first protested against racial injustice and police brutality by kneeling down during the United States national anthem in the summer of 2016, he did so paying a high personal price but his actions gained him respect.”

Seamus Ahearne writes of the God who is with us. “God gives us the kiss of life daily for us to revive, walk, sing, dance, love, enjoy, be aware, be grateful, appreciate, notice, wake up and see.     
‘Earth is crammed with heaven.’   (Elizabeth Barrett Browning).”

Joshua J. McElwee writes in NCR on the report commissioned by Australia’s bishops and religious orders into how governance in the church can be more “co-responsible,” or be better shared among bishops, clergy and laypeople.
‘The most visible indicator of the barriers to full participation is that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Australia, as in the Church across the world, remains exclusively male.’