Seamus Ahearne shares two personal letters he wrote to the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Charles Brown, about the nuncio’s refusal to accept an invitation from the ACP to meet with us.
“You will meet the formal church in your work. People will dress up. All the Liturgies will be done beautifully. You will be invited to a celebrating Church. I would suggest that the church you need to meet is the one on the ground; the informal one; the broken one; the hurting one; the one where most people have walked away; the one where lives are messed up totally.”
“Your job is much too important for you to opt out of hearing the views of a very serious and passionate group – the ACP. How can you shape the Church in Ireland if you are dismissive of the experience of those who know the scene best?”
Thanks to the National Catholic Reporter, we are glad to be able to bring the full text of Cardinal Martini’s interview. We in the ACP believe that this is an enormously significant statement, coming from a man of such learning, distinction and spirituality; and the circumstances of the interview make it, in a sense, his last will and testament to the Church. It gives us encouragement and hope in the positions we have adopted.
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.””
Seamus Ahearne OSA reflects on the aftermath of the meeting between the ACP and Dublin priests’ council and Archbishop Martin. As a Church, we need to talk, bishops, priests (Nuncio) and people together!
The Provincial Leadership Team of the Irish Redemptorists express sadness at Fr Tony Flannery’s plight and hope for an agreed resolution
Brendan Hoban summarises the background of the ACP, and explains in some details what the association is about — and what we are not about.
