Reform of the Irish Church

William Deresiewicz delivered this lecture to the plebe class at the United States Military Academy at West Point in October 2009. It was publised on The American Scholar website  (http://theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/).

This article, taken from the ‘Rite and Reason’ column in Irish Times of 13 March 2012, was written by Margaret Lee.  It raises serious and difficult questions about the role of lay people in the Church, and the difficulties around consultation processes that have been held in some dioceses;  and indeed also around parish pastoral councils

This is the result of an opinion poll carried out among Irish priests by The Moncrief Show on Newstalk.   It makes for very interesting reading.

With acknowledgement to Newtalk and the Moncrief Show.

In the year 1953 two young girls, both about seven years of age, were living very different lives. One had just been put into an orphanage, while the other, a…

Taken from the Western People, this is Brendan Hoban’s reflections on the latest news out of Maynooth, that seminarians are being separated from the rest of the student body

How did the Church in Ireland discern  their direction in difficult times in the past? They held many Synods, when such consultation was far more difficult  to arrange than today. Although these were clerical events, today it’s clear consultation must be opened up.

This is an article in the Furrow of January 2012.

The introduction of pastoral workers in Dublin diocese has clearly not been without its problems and difficulties, as was obvious at the meeting in Marianella last month.

Here a priest of the diocese, Paddy Moran, is reflecting on some of these difficulties.  He is calling for transparency in how this situation is dealt with, because that is the only way that proper understanding will be achieved.

I thank Pat Seaver for his challenging words (posting below).  I believe he may have started an important conversation, one that is being avoided and indeed with other necessary conversations…

This is an excellent article from someone who spent most of his life as a Christian Brother, and is now a priest of Limerick diocese.  He gives his impressions in a straight and clear way, without any equivocation.  We would love to get a response from other priests.

These are interesting, and quite disturbing, poll finding released by the Iona Institute.  They show either a high degree of ignorance or prejudice among many Irish people towards priests.  Or maybe it is saying something about the way media are reporting cases of clerical sexual abuse.  Read for yourself.

Bishops set too much store by seniority. Talent should matter, says Bernard Cotter, in an article recently published in The Tablet. He argues that the priority in parish appointments should be to find the person who has the particular gifts needed in a specific post.

These reactions to Bishop Edward Daly’s comments came to us from Des Wilson in Belfast and from Seamus Deegan in Long Island

You will see Vincent Twomey’s intemperate attack on the ACP on this website.  This is a response from Brendan Hoban