|

Silent Vigil outside the Apostolic Nunciature: April 29th

Today 20th April  We are Church Ireland announces  a silent vigil in support of those  silenced priests , Sean Fagan, Tony Flannery, Gerry Moloney , Owen OSullivan and others who wish to remain anonymous.
It  will take place at the residence of the Papal Nuncio to Ireland , Archbishop Charles Brown, the Apostolic Nunciature , 183 Navan Road , Dublin 7  on Sunday 29th April 2012 at 16.00 hours.
It is important that Irish committed Catholics show their solidarity with these priests who are articulating the views of the majority of Irish Catholics as evidenced in the recent Amarach survey.
We call for the revocation of these silences by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which punished these men without due process and through secretive procedures with no right of Appeal.
Gina Menzies is supporting this vigil and expresses her solidarity with these theologians .
‘We wish to thank the International Movement of We are Church (  IMWAC ) who at our request have issued a press statement in support of these  silenced priests and for all theologians world-wide who continue to suffer unfairly at the hands of this secretive Congregation,’  stated Brendan Butler , spokesperson.’
Further information : Brendan Butler 086 4054984
 

Similar Posts

Rejoice in difference, Struggle against Division

ACP News, Articles, Editor's Choice, Reform of the Irish Church
7 Comments

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?”

Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: An Interpretive Review of the Literature and Public Inquiry Reports

Articles
9 Comments

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/world/australia/australia-catholic-church-child-abuse.html

The New York Times carries an interesting article about a study that examines child sexual abuse worldwide in the Roman Catholic Church that has found the Australian church has done less to safeguard children in its care than its counterparts in similar countries have.

The report, released on Wednesday by the Center for Global Research at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, also found that the church’s requirement that priests be celibate was a major risk factor for abuse.

“Your God is too small“ – Hawking

Articles
7 Comments

Seamus Ahearne casts and eye over recent happenings.
“We celebrated St Patrick. Was his father a deacon and his grandfather a priest? I don’t know. The accretions of history have decorated the story and there is great unsureness. But it doesn’t matter really, the essentials of faith and mission have survived. His Confessions are delightful in their simplicity; evocative as a story; inspirational in how God works despite our own shortcomings.”

Thinking for Ourselves

Articles
9 Comments

Brendan Hoban in his Western People column tells us that ‘openness, transparency and respect are prerequisites for sustaining loyalty…… Adults will only give their loyalty if they are respected as adults.
Which is why infantilism – treating adults as children – no longer works in the modern world. And which is why the Catholic Church, in a more open and questioning society, is struggling so hard to maintain the loyalty of its members.’.

7 Comments

  1. Soline Humbert says:

    It just happens that Sunday the 29th April is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations and the feast day of that great outspoken saint and doctor of the church, Catherine of Siena.One of her impassioned pleas was: “Speak out as if you had a thousand voices. It is silence that is killing the world.”
    DEfinitely not a time to remain silent in the face of ecclesiastical institutional violence.

    Reply
  2. Elizabeth Byrnes says:

    I am very sorry that I will be unable to be present at the Vigil on Sunday next for family reasons but I want to express here my solidarity with those who will be there.
    I have the deepest sympathy and admiration for the four priests mentioned and for all who have suffered through being silenced by the Vatican in this way. As I said in a recent post on this website, I had hoped, in my naivety, that Vatican II had ended anathemas and silencings, but, sadly, that hasn’t happened.
    I realise, of course, and accept that there has to be discipline in the Church, as in any group, but, at a time when others are ‘being brought in from the cold’ it is a sorry thing that loyal members of the church should suffer in this way for stating what many catholics are saying and thinking and for simply calling for debate on issues that concern them.
    As several have already pointed out, none of those involved are talking about or taking issue with fundamental matters of faith.
    I, too, call for the revocation of these silencings which have caused much suffering for those involved and for a more open church in which there can, at least, be debate on these issues.

    Reply
  4. Soline Humbert says:

    Please note: The Silent Vigil of solidarity with the silenced outside the nunciature will start half an hour earlier than initially announced, that is now at 15:30. Come if you can.If not please join in prayer.

    Reply
  5. Kathleen Faley says:

    For family reasons I cannot be there physically to stand in Silent Vigil outside the Nunciature in support of our silenced priests: Fr. Sean Fagan,C.M., Fr. Tony Flannery,C.Ss.R., Fr. Gerry Moloney, C.Ss.R.,Fr. Owen O’Sullivan and those who wish to remain anonymous. I read on this website a couple of days ago a list of 93 other priests, bishops, cardinals, nuns monsigneur and theologians and seven women priests from Austria, Germany NO:77-83 who have been silenced in the past and probably ongoing at present. Among that list I read the well known names of No:48 Bishop Helder Camera, No:91 Archbishop Oscar Romero who was martyred, NO:2 Fr. Bernard Haring, C.Ss.R., several Jesuits including NO:21 Theologian, Karl Rahner, NO:10 Anthony De Mello and NO:88 Pedro Arrupe, NO:20 Liberation theologian,Gustavo Gutierrez, NO:16 Theologian Fr. Edward Schillebeecz O.P.,and Matthew Fox, O.P. from whose book “The Pope’s War” this list was taken. Some of those names mentioned above I would have read about and felt in agreement with in their sharing of their experience. The message I convey to those priests for whom this Silent Vigil is being held is this: don’t be discouraged, Be Not Afraid, you are not alone.

    Reply
  6. Pádraig McCarthy says:

    Without getting into the question of the orthodoxy of what any of the “silenced” have said or written, it seems to me there are some clear grounds for disagreeing with the actions that have been taken.
    1. It seems that those against whom action has been taken have not always been informed who the accuser is. This is a clear contravention of the statement of the Synod on Justice in the World of 1971: “The Church recognises everyone’s right to suitable freedom of expression and thought. This includes the right of everyone to be heard in a spirit of dialogue which preserves a legitimate diversity within the Church. The form of judicial procedure should give the accused the right to know his accusers and also the right to a proper defence.” (40-45)
    These principles are re-stated in the document The Church and Human Rights from the Pontifical Commission “Justitia et Pax”, 2nd edition, 2011.
    2. The accused person is not even always informed of the specific teachings which are alleged to be unorthodox.
    3. The fact that action is taken in secret, even with further threats should the accused person make the media aware of the action, is not a good way to procede, and can lead to a perception that even those taking the action wish to hide their actions because they are aware that they are not good.
    4. To take action like this is not a good way of countering perceived errors. Dialogue is essential, and even if no agreement is achieved, a clear statement of what church authorities hold as the truth, with clear reasoning for it, is a far more effective way of countering error.
    5. If the church is to work and speak for justice in the world, the church must be seen also to act justly (1971 Synod). To fail to do so is an obstacle to carrying out the mission of the church in the world.

    Reply
  7. John Brady says:

    I attended the silent protest yesterday and there was a great spirit present. These are wonderful priests who need our protection and support.

    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.