Meeting with Archbishop Prendergast

On Tuesday, December 14th, Brendan Hoban, Colm Kilcoyne and myself, Tony Flannery, met with the Apostolic Visitor to Tuam, Archbishop Prendergast.
It was a very good meeting. We were with him for about forty five minutes, during which time he listened very closely to what we had to say.
While the particular focus of the visitation is on the issues area CSA, he did not put any limit to what we could say to him; so we also spoke about the need for reform and renewal in the Irish Church.
But mostly we reported on the concerns of priest around the implementation of the guidelines in relation to allegations against priests. We got plenty of time and opportunity to relate to him the points that had come up at the various meetings of the ACP over the past few months.
Our hope now is that members of the ACP from the different regions would have similar meetings with the other Apostolic Visitors when they arrive.  We believe that we have a particularly useful message to give, and that we are probably in a position to be a little more independent in what we say than the local diocesan groups might be.
All in all, we considered it a very satisfactory exchange.

Similar Posts

Vatican asks for wide input on 2015 synod, not based on doctrine

Articles, Editor's Choice, Pope Francis, Reform of the Irish Church
3 Comments

Joshua J. McElwee, NCR’s Vatican correspondent, reports on the latest request from the Vatican in preparation for Synod 2015.
Will our bishops’ conference be better organised, and willing, this time in getting the views of ‘all levels’ of church in Ireland?

Priestless Church Buildings

Articles, Reform of the Irish Church
3 Comments

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.

Mary McAleese to Pope Francis -‘develop a credible strategy for the inclusion of women as equals’

Articles, Pope Francis, Reform of the Irish Church
15 Comments

A report on the Voices of Faith International Women’s Day Conference from the National Catholic Reporter and the text of the talk given by former President Mary McAleese.
“Today, we challenge Pope Francis to develop a credible strategy for the inclusion of women as equals throughout the church’s root and branch infrastructure, including its decision-making.”
Mary McAleese

One Comment

  1. Michael Kelleher says:

    It is very encouraging, at many levels, to know that your meeting with Archbishop Prendergast took place. Maybe there is the possibility of an Irish Catholic Church where decisions and input are not the privilege of the few. Our Church has so many interested, committed, wise and prayerful people who don’t get heard.

    Reply

Join the Discussion

Keep the following in mind when writing a comment

  • Your comment must include your full name, and email. (email will not be published). You may be contacted by email, and it is possible you might be requested to supply your postal address to verify your identity.
  • Be respectful. Do not attack the writer. Take on the idea, not the messenger. Comments containing vulgarities, personalised insults, slanders or accusations shall be deleted.
  • Keep to the point. Deliberate digressions don't aid the discussion.
  • Including multiple links or coding in your comment will increase the chances of it being automati cally marked as spam.
  • Posts that are merely links to other sites or lengthy quotes may not be published.
  • Brevity. Like homilies keep you comments as short as possible; continued repetitions of a point over various threads will not be published.
  • The decision to publish or not publish a comment is made by the site editor. It will not be possible to reply individually to those whose comments are not published.