Canberra-Goulburn Catholic priest Peter Day quizzes Cardinal Pell about his outspokenness in reasserting the church’s longstanding exclusion of divorced and remarried people from communion ahead of October’s Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family. ‘Has a simple, inclusive and profound ‘family’ meal been overwhelmed by an impersonal and, often times, sterile institutional sacrifice; one that tends towards mass exclusion?’
http://johnmenadue.com/blog/?p=2459
Seamus Ahearne, as usual, asks the pertinent questions about what is essential in belonging to church.
‘I feel so embarrassed that such nonsense (banning and silencing) is still going on. Robust discussion is essential in our faith. Anselm said: ‘Theology is faith seeking understanding’
“If any of us are listening to the Christ of the Gospels in recent times – we would get something of these message: The Table is open. All comers are welcome. The outsiders are the insiders. The unlikely ones are the most acceptable ones. Never shut doors. Open hearts and open minds and open imaginations.”
The pope said the enormous amount of work and demands being made on pastoral workers “make us run the risk of becoming frightened and withdrawing in on ourselves out of fear and self-defense.”
“And out of that springs the temptation of self-sufficiency and clericalism, that codifying the faith into rules and instructions, which the scribes, Pharisees and doctors of the law did during the time of Jesus. We will have everything exact and everything just-so, but the faithful and those who are seeking will continue to be hungry and thirsty for God,” Pope Francis explained.
If pastoral ministry uses the same approach the scribes and Pharisees took, “never, never will we be witnesses of being close” to people like Jesus was, he said.
Since I got involved in the reform movement in the Church with the ACP some five years ago I have attended many meetings and gatherings on various aspects of reform….
Statement issued by the Association of Catholic Priests on the forthcoming Synod on the Family.
Johan Bonny, Bishop of Antwerp, Belgium, has written of his expectations of the forthcoming synod.
It is a longish document but well worth reading in its entirety. The following excerpts are meant to only give a flavour of what he has written.
As a preparation for our discussions ‘The Vocations Crisis, will clustering work?’ at our AGM on 01 October, we commend to our members two articles from the September Furrow, On the Edge by Donagh O’Meara and The Last Priests in Ireland by Donald Cozzens, which map out the context for our discussion.
We encourage as many of our members as possible to attend the AGM in the Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone, 01 October 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.
As a preparation for our discussions ‘The Vocations Crisis, will clustering work?’ at our AGM on 01 October, we commend to our members two articles from the September Furrow, On the Edge by Donagh O’Meara and The Last Priests in Ireland by Donald Cozzens, which map out the context for our discussion.
We encourage as many of our members as possible to attend the AGM in the Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone, 01 October 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.
Kirsty Jane McCluskey interviews Peter McVerry SJ, for her project about Jesuit vocation and identity: http://jesuitstories.wordpress.com/2014/08/31/peter-mcverry-sj-social-activist-and-campaigner/
Seamus Ahearne in his unique style shares his reflections on his fifty years with the Augustinians. Seamus, as usual, challenges us with his experience and wisdom.
Ad multos annos.
The Association of Catholic Priests will hold its AGM at Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone
on October 1 from 2.00pm to 5.00pm.
This year the theme is: The vocations crisis: will ‘clustering’ work?
Pages for presiders (including bidding prayers for the Sundays and holydays of August) have now been published on the ACP website.
I have always believed that to be a Catholic, you need faith. It’s what Jesus had: the faith to question the status quo, to seek a different way, to share…
Statement from the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) responding to the establishment of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and the appointment of Yvonne Murphy The ACP welcomes…
The response of the Irish Bishops to our meeting of 04 June last (with Bishops Boyce, Drennan and McKeown) is disappointing and disheartening.
Leadership demands a much more open and creative engagement with the issues addressed in the June 4 meeting.
Report of a Meeting between representatives of the Bishops Conference and the Leadership of the ACP, which took place in Maynooth on Wednesday, June 4th, 2014
This decision is a fatal signal for all who are hoping, together with Pope Francis, for a kind Church that is close to the people.
Seamus Ahearne is saddened at the loss of All Hallows. He says “The Church in Ireland; the Church in Dublin will become less hospitable (less warm and open) at the death of such a homely place. We cannot afford the loss of someone so dear. Can something else be done?”
Kevin Hegarty, writing in The Mayo News, in the light of recent additions to the Irish episcopal bench raises the topic of the appointment of bishops. Who should do the appointing?
Seamus Ahearne muses on the special moments of life we mark with Sacraments and he wonders how can we help to let the world of God be glimpsed?
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