Funeral Mass of Geraldine Flannery RIP – role of AB Michael Neary
Discussion on ‘Faith Alive’ on Midwest Radio Sunday 19 Sept 2021 – Brendan Hoban and Monica Morley.
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Brendan Cafferty. You have hit the nail on the head.
This seems heartless and uncaring. I watched the funeral online, and thought it was prayerful and intimate, and the weather was good. Tony did say that it was held in the house due to circumstances outside his control. I thought to myself at the time if there was a refusal for it to be held in a church as his late sister wanted him to celebrate the mass. But I reassured myself that this was unlikely, as he was allowed do the funeral of his late brother in the Order’s church in Limerick some months back; it was a death after all and even under totalitarian regimes funerals get sympathetic consideration. Things have come to a sad pass, it is hard to restrain oneself from being uncharitable to what is described as “Church leaders”. Brendan Hoban is correct when he says that funerals are a sensitive time, and that people remember hurts and slights. To me this is almost on a par with refusal to allow remains of a young McCarthy girl into a church in Kerry after she, an unmarried mother, died during childbirth about sixty years ago. And AB Neary has recently submitted his retirement notice to Rome on age grounds, so who is he afraid of this stage ?
Saying farewell to one’s sibling is heartbreaking on its own.. not to be able to fulfill the last wishes of your sibling, because of lack of kindness, understanding and a generous heart to move the boundaries , adds to the heartbreak. Will the powers that be ever learn how difficult it is to part of a church that’s shows such unkindness. Heartfelt sympathy to Fr. Tony on the death of his sister, Geraldine.. go lonrú uirthi an solas buan.
So many taboos in the church, so many voices silenced a priori, and so many human problems consigned to convenient obscurity, causing so much pain and mystification. That is how matters are disposed of in our bureaucracy. Moscow does not believe in tears.
Very well said, Iggy.
Whatever and I mean WHATEVER explanation Bishop Neary can offer for this apalling treatment of Tony Flannery and his family is simply not acceptable. If it is in deference to the CDF then it is simply moral cowardice. “I am simply obeying orders”, now where did we hear that before.?
At worst Rome could sack Bishop Neary but I say so what. From what I understand from Brendan Hoban’s account it simply stinks of sycophancy and cowardice not to mention lack of charity. Maybe we are just as well off that an institution which endorses (even creates) such behaviour is dying out.
Congratulations, Brendan, on yet another seasoned and deep-rooted response. Congrats also on your demonstration of synodality in action in Killala.
Why do churchmen get it wrong all the time in dealing with Tony Flannery? They would say, it is because he’s a trouble maker, but most decent people would say it is because they are complying with an outrageous institutional injustice that inevitably pushes them to blame the victim.
More shocking in this case is the treatment of Geraldine, a sad illustration of how little women’s contribution is appreciated by our male-dominated church.
Discussion on “Faith Alive” Sunday, September 19th.
Liamy, thank you for sharing this. And Brendan was really, really excellent.
Very well done, Brendan. What a blessing it is to have someone like you with the eloquence and the courage to tell it as it is.