Brendan Hoban in his Western People column questions the commitment of the leadership of the Irish Church to follow Pope Francis on the issue of family.
“Ireland will be represented at the synod in Rome by an archbishop and a nun. In a way no more needs to be said about the response of the Irish Church. While both may well be up to speed on the realities of marriage and family life in Ireland today, neither is married or has children so the signals are all wrong. Isn’t it inexpressibly sad for our Church that there was in Ireland no one the Irish bishops could find to trust who was married and had children?”
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.
Andra Tornielli provides a translation of Pope Francis’ address to bishops and says that the speech the Pope gave to bishops appointed during the last year was one of the most important pronouncements of his pontificate: Be present in your dioceses and make sure you are reachable, welcome everyone without discrimination, don’t be pessimists who despair because “the fort is under attack”
In light of the discussion due to take place at the AGM and as part of the ongoing debate in our church about vocation and ordained ministry we include these two contributions of how ministry is already being carried out in varied ways in church. Thanks to Brian Eyre and Mossy Hynan for these contributions.
Willy Slavin retired as a priest in Glasgow last year and says he has taken to a campervan to visit the 6000 miles or so of the Scottish Coast with an iPad.
He was 5 years in Bangladesh and spent 10 as chaplain to HMP Barlinnie afterwards.
He originally shared these thoughts about the future of the church in the light of the ‘vocations crisis’ in the magazine Open House.
Statement issued by the Association of Catholic Priests on the forthcoming Synod on the Family.
Brian Eyre draws on his own experience to add his contribution to the General Assembly of the ACP on October the 1st on the discussion of the possible return of married priests to public ministry. Brian says that his own experiences show that married priests need not necessarily be a financial burden on a parish and secondly that their dedication and time will not be divided.
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.
In a recent Tablet article Chris McDonnell, secretary of the Movement for Married Clergy, argued that sincere discussion should be welcomed by both the hierarchy and the laity, for the good of the Church.
An Invitation to come to Rome 02 – 05 October 2014 to ensure that families are recognized, included, and listened to by the Bishops attending the Synod in Rome.
Brendan Hoban, in his weekly Western People column, asks is there any silence like the silence of the Irish bishops in response to Francis’ reforming agenda?
The difficult truth is that, while technically Pope Francis is all-powerful and can introduce any changes he wants the reality is, change will be blocked and is being blocked by those who see their power and influence placed at risk.
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.
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.
Abigail Frymann, Christa Pongratz-Lippitt writing in The Tablet report on the excommunication of Martha Heizer, the leader of ‘We are Church’ in Austria.
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?
The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) welcomes reports emanating from Rome that all restrictions have been lifted from Marist priest, Fr Sean Fagan.
Sean O’Connaill deplores the bishops’ lack of transparency on the funding and independence of the national body for child protection that they set up (the NSBCCC), and hopes for the day when bishops will be accountable to their people.
Seamus Ahearne osa describes a dialogue that happened during Mass after the Gospel of Mark (10:1-12) was read last Friday morning
Seamus Ahearne osa shares reflections from his early-morning walk in the Tolka Valley Park in Dublin, where he exercises daily, planning the day, praying and sorting things out. Problems with the new Missal came to mind as he walked, and creative solutions appeared also,
The ACP Leadership Team report on their meeting with representatives of ACP members in Irish dioceses on 25 February
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