Tablet Rome correspondent to speak at Dublin meeting
Robert Mickens, the Vatican correspondent of the Tablet, will speak at an event, jointly sponsored by the ACP and the ACI. This takes place at the Regency Hotel, Drumcondra on Friday, Nov. 15th at 7.30pm.
Robert Mickens is the Vatican correspondent of the Tablet. He will speak about Pope Francis, and the possibility of renewal and reform in the Church under his papacy.
All are welcome. We ask those who are attending to please go to the ACI link on the home page and register your intention to be there. But if you find that is not possible for you, feel free to come anyway.
Apart from the chance to listen to Robert Mickens, this will also be an evening for those who love the Church and long for renewal to come together and support each other.
From “Pope Francis and the shedding of pagan papal custom” by Leonardo Boff.
“The innovations in the customs and speeches of Pope Francis have led to an acute crisis in the conservative groups that strictly followed the directives of the two previous Popes. They find it especially intolerable that the Pope received in private audience one of the pioneers of the “condemned ” Theology of Liberation, Peruvian Gustavo Gutierrez. They are stunned by the Pope’s sincerity in recognizing the Church’s errors, and his own, and in denouncing the careerism of many prelates“.
I was greatly impressed by this analysis, until word came out last week about the ‘promotion’ of +Richard Gagnon,from Bishop of Victoria, B. C., to Archbishop of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Bishop Emeritus of Victoria +Remi de Roo, one of the remaining Fathers of Vat II., still travels widely, waxing eloquently on the Council.
I am not disappointed that Bishop Gagnon has gone elsewhere, just that the promotion smells of careerism.
This is not a good sign for the future!
I look forward to hearing Robert Mickens. However, those who are “longing for renewal” need to consider if such renewal can come from within the present structure of the Catholic Church. If we want real change we need to start initiating it ourselves–it won’t come from the hierarchy or by a decree of a synod, or even from the statements of a Pope. We need to focus on what changes we can make ourselves. Adding our own Prayers of the Faithful at our Sunday Mass might be a small step in reclaiming the Eucharistic Celebration for the laity–though I am not sure I’d have the nerve to do it. People who are in second relationships need to just present themselves for the Holy Communion. WOW (Women’s Ordination Worldwide) may hold a meeting in Ireland and, if this happens, those of us who believe in this will have to make attendance at the open day a priority. One women who has been ordained as a Roman Catholic Woman Priest said to me “Be the change you want to happen”. I think it was Shakespeare who said something like “The fault lies with ourselves that we are underlings” So, it won’t be enough to go the hear Robert Mickens and come away feeling good, we have to do more.
I couldn’t agree more with what Margaret said above. There are encouraging signs coming from Rome at the moment but should we be concerned by the apparent lack of enthusiasm and comment from our Church Leadership in this country? The Vatican questionnaire recently circulated to Bishops Conferences throughout the world has not yet been considered by our Bishops, according to a spokesperson. Does this document not constitute the most significant development in our lifetime in terms of consultation with the laity? We are entitled to be excited by this initiative and to be impatient to engage in this novel consultative process. Just imagine if we had been offered the same opportunity for ‘open’ consultation before the new liturgy of the mass was imposed on us!! Would we be struggling with the awkward, archaic language which has driven some people back to saying the rosary during mass as they did when attending mass in Latin half a century ago?
Will Catholics in this country be given the same opportunity to comment on the family issues in the questionnaire as our brothers and sisters in the UK? Lay people who have lived as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, grand-fathers and grand-mothers might just have something worthwhile to contribute to the process. Many have had to cope with marriage breakdown, the drift of children and grand-children from the church, loved ones entering second relationships and announcing to the family that they are ‘gay’, etc. How long will we have to wait before we are consulted?
The Regency Hotel was the setting for a memorable occasion in May 2012 when the laity seeking change in our church ‘found their voice’. Many of the views expressed that day, were considered by some observers to be extreme and unrealistic in the circumstances pertaining in 2012. Now many of these same issues are part of the agenda for consultation in the questionnaire issued by the Vatican. As baptised lay faithful we have a particular responsibility at this time to act in support of the leadership being displayed by Pope Francis. Based on the comments of the Pope he clearly expects and needs the laity to ‘stand up’ and ‘speak out’ on the agenda he and his advisers are setting for the Church in the 21st Century.
Would it be possible to have a report on the meeting with Robert Mickens?