The Irish Examiner has a two day feature on Irish Priests, which are well worth reading. They are on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th of June.
On Friday there is a good interview with Brendan Hoban on the Association.
And Saturday profiles Fr. Paul O’Boyle of Kildare and Leighlin, giving a very good outline of the varied work of a priest today.
The Irish Examiner gives coverage to the wellbeing of priests and in particular to issues of mental health and suicide.
It quotes Roy Donovan as saying that for priests “the issue of depression amongst members of the clergy was certainly one of the main areas of concern” that arose at regional meetings. Roy said that some “are suffering in silence, not knowing where they can turn to for help.”
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Brendan Hoban sees in the recent public disagreement between Cardinals Muller and Maradiaga a part of the ongoing struggle between Benedict XVI’s church and Francis I’s church. It is, he believes, a battle “between a black and white view of Catholic reality (take it or leave it) and an acceptance of the complexity of human experience (try to understand weakness and failure)…” (First published in the Western People).
Advent begins today; the season is at its shortest this year. During these first two weeks, the Church focuses on the end of time, when Christ will come in glory. Then, for the last week of Advent, we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ.
If these new guidelines come into practice it would appear that priests will be in even bigger trouble. It is worrying to hear that Ian Elliot describes a protocol that calls for all priests against whom an allegation has been made to be publicly named as “balanced and fair as possible”.
Fr. Anthony Ruff OSB reports on the meeting of the U.S. bishops at Baltimore.
He raises the possibility of some movement on the ongoing problems with the current “translation” of the Roman Missal with the election of a new chair to the U.S. bishops liturgy committee.
“it is noteworthy that the bishop who spoke most negatively about the new translation, Archbishop Wilton Gregory, was a candidate to be chair of the USCCB liturgy committee. He was elected. His term will begin in 2016.”
” Archbishop Wilton Gregory, also a former USCCB liturgy committee chair, rose to echo Trautman’s concerns. Before printing up more books with the current translation, we ought to look at the problems with the translation. There should be a review of the problems with the new Missal.”
Isn’t it time the Irish bishops addressed the problem realistically and had a real discussion about it?
The following statement has been issued by the Leadership of the ACP on March 7th, 2013
