Reform of the Irish Church

In response to the advertised discussion topic of ” Are We Killing Our Priests?” at our upcoming AGM Prof. Thomas O’Loughlin, President of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain and Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Nottingham draws our attention to an article he has published about the number of priests that are required in church.
He raises some points well worth considering and his conclusions are challenging;”it is obvious that there has been a serious crisis of under-ordination not just since the mid-twentieth century but since the mid-sixteenth century when as an effect of the Reformation debates the full-time, professionalized, seminary-educated cleric became the norm. Bringing the number of clerics up to quota would initially be a great shock to the churches: the education system of clerics would have to be altered radically, the expectation that this particular ministry would be funded by others Christians (who, incidentally, are expected to offer their ministry to the church usually without payment) would have to be swept aside, along with discriminatory canonical restrictions on who can be appointed presbyter within a given community.”

Chris McDonnell writes in The Catholic Times about the shortage of priests and states that “It will soon be too late to consider a possible resolution to the problems we face unless we take active steps now to address our difficulties.”
“there is a now a clear necessity for Commissions to be set up both in the UK and Ireland by the respective bishops’ conferences to examine the whole issue before the model we are currently struggling to manage breaks and we are left to pick up the pieces.”

Brendan Hoban writing in the Western People continues to question when the bishops will find the courage and imagination to face the ‘vocation crisis’ in the Church in Ireland.
“The simple truth is that the problem with vocations to the priesthood is that young Irish men are no longer saying YES to a celibate vocation, their parents are encouraging them to say No and the vast majority of priests in parishes know that prioritising celibacy over the Eucharist is not just bad theology, it isn’t working.”

Pádraig McCarthy reminds us, and the bishops, that St. John Paul II said “among the many activities of a parish, none is as vital or as community-forming as the Sunday celebration of the Lord’s Day and his Eucharist”.
John Paul also underlined the importance of “ensuring that parish assemblies are not without the necessary ministry of priests”, but according to Padraig ‘the Church is not ensuring this.’
Time has run out for action to be taken but we wait, and wait, and wait……

Tony Flannery has written an article, published in The Irish Times and on his own website, about the attempted stifling of the debate about the ordination of women.

“The efforts made by the Vatican to silence discussion on the ordination of women over the past 50 years have been both unsuccessful and unwise.”
“Though Pope Francis has said that this door is closed, his consistent call for open discussion and dialogue, and indeed for open doors, has created a climate where the whole issue of women’s place in the church is now centre stage.”
“The effort by the Vatican to stifle debate, often by using methods that should never be part of the Christian community, is doing enormous damage to the church.”

Brendan Hoban, writing in the Western People, welcomes Archbishop Diarmaid Martin’s recent comments about the lack of ‘people of intellect who can address the pressing issues of the day’ in the church in Ireland and the need for ‘competent lay men and women well educated in their faith’.
Archbishop Martin’s comments, read in conjunction with Siobhán Larkin’s research http://www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie/2016/06/nurturing-the-roots/ ,
point to a definite need in church and is a call for urgent action to address this issue.

What to do with church buildings when there are no priests is an issue that will face most parishes in the immediate future, despite the fact that church authorities soldier on as though no drastic changes are on the horizon.
Alan McGill puts forward a suggestion on how these buildings can be utilised ‘by predominantly or entirely lay communities so as to continue to be oases of prayer and pastoral care’.
Alan McGill works fulltime as Director of Faith Formation and Liturgy at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the city-center of Atlanta. He is a native of Dublin.

Ainead Ní Mhuirthile gives a personal reaction to her experience as a Synod Delegate in the Limerick Diocesan Synod.
Ainead quotes one priest saying “I thought I’d never see the day where lay people would have a vote in a Church Synod,” adding “should have happened a year or two after Vatican 2 of course…”
and Bishop Leahy “This Synod is a real marker, but the journey goes on..”

We publish the text of the talk given by Máire Ní Dhuibhir at the ACI meeting in Galway last Thursday, 31 March. It created an enormous impression among the people who came — long and sustained applause.
It loses something in print, in that Máire sang various parts beautifully, but it is a very worthwhile read.

“I think we would be immeasurably enriched by getting together as women, re-reading the New Testament and try and find the women’s story there and learn about the great women mystics and the independent women of the church who founded orders of nuns and the stories of contemporary women. I think we can articulate like these women before us how the Divine is always with us, just as Jesus promised. I believe we can then change the Church and the communities from within.”

Sarah Mac Donald reports in the NCR on comments by Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry who said that unless the bishops are seen to be “willing to go way beyond our comfort zone then people will say you are just a group looking after yourselves.”
Tony Flannery responding said that he has received “great support from many people and priests,” but he has also experienced “how quickly and completely church authorities shut you out as soon as the Vatican moves against you…… All I have ever looked for in relation to myself and others who are accused of ‘dissent’ is a process that is fair, just and transparent.”
He added, “The present CDF process is a scandal, and brings shame on our church.””