The Tablet: Concerns raised over Catholic Unscripted event in Ireland
Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore
OaksPics/Alamy Live News
The Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinan, has been criticised for permitting a group that is openly critical of Pope Francis to speak in his diocese.
The team behind Catholic Unscripted, Gavin Ashenden, Katherine Bennett and Mark Lambert, are due to give “a weekend of talks, conversations, reflections, prayers and fellowship” in October at the diocese-owned Glencomeragh House in Co Waterford.
The group regularly criticises Pope Francis and recently claimed he has “deserted Jesus”. Concerns have also been raised over praise for far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Censured Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery, who has been forbidden from using any Catholic premises in Ireland for the past 12 years, questioned how Bishop Cullinan’s invitation to the group conformed with his oath of allegiance to the Pope.
Referring to the group’s use of a Catholic premises and Bishop Cullinan’s willingness to be photographed with the group, Fr Flannery said, “Someone needs to challenge [Bishop] Cullinan and ask him how this sits with the promise he made when he became a bishop to be loyal to Pope Francis.”
Lamenting Catholic Unscripted’s “antagonism towards Francis”, he said he would be “very happy to accept an invitation to speak in a diocesan property in Waterford about the prophetic vision of Church of Pope Francis”.
He stressed that it was also “irresponsible” for the bishop to align himself with a group who had praised far-right activist Tommy Robinson as Ireland grappled with far-right agitators.
“Though consistently forbidden to speak in any Catholic premises” in Ireland, Fr Flannery said Bishop of Leeds Marcus Stock had “no problem” about him addressing the Root and Branch gathering at the diocesan-owned Hinsley Hall in Leeds recently.
Bishop Cullinan did not respond to a request for a comment.
I think it is great that this website of ACP makes us aware of alternative and contrary views – especially when it celebrates this week the freedom of the press in the National Media Award for the ACP founder and Western People columnist and on the advent of the Synod.
Tolerance is a wonderful antidote to the intolerance of ‘cancellation’ so prevalent today.
The reference to the Diocese of Lismore (and Waterford) in this article calls to mind the beautiful lyric/poem Deus Meus, Adiuva Me, composed by Máel Ísu Úa Brolchán who spent his youth in the Donegal parish of Culdaff and died at Lismore while on pilgrimage there in 1086, with its beautiful line:
Domine mi, exaudi me.
M’ainim rop lán dot grád, a Dé.
My Lord, hear me.
May my soul, O God, be full of love for thee.
And who said in another of his poems:
Beloved Lord, King of kings, dear Father, pity me.
Give us tribulation which cleanses us, Son of the living God, King of mysteries.
Rugged tribulation is a good gift: arrange it for us, beloved Lord.
(cf. Gerard Murphy, Early Irish Lyrics, Eight to Twelfth Century)
Why not listen to what Gavin Ashenden has to say for himself before coming to our own opinion and arriving at a judgement? See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LovOiS8302U&t=232s
Also, please God, what is alleged to have happened to another Munster bishop in 1381 (after he prayed at a funeral Mass) Latin, will not happen again:
Eterne Deus,
duo sunt in Momonia
qui destruunt nos et bona nostra,
videlicet comes Ermonie
et comes Dessemonie
cum corum sequacibus,
quos in fine destruet Dominus
per Christum Dominm nostrum.
Amen
[Translation]:
Eternal God,
there are two in Munster
who destroy us and what is ours.
They are the Earl of Ormond
and the Earl of Desmond
and those who follow them,
whom in the end the Lord will destroy
through Christ, our lord.
Amen.
(cf. James Carney – Medieval Irish Lyrics)
Because he prayed thus the poor bishop (of Cloyne) was proceeded against for slander, schism, and heresy and deprived of his see.
Thank God we’re not back in the 14th cent. and that “the tide of history” has given us a tabula rasa.
Well said, Tony. Totally agree with you.
I will be attending the retreat given by Catholic Unscripted at Glencomeragh House and am looking forward to it. I listen very often to the three presnters and like all three. I am especially looking forward to the presence of Gavin Ashenden. Gavin was an Anglican Bishop and chaplin to the Queen. He converted to Catholicism and has a rich and deep understanding of the Catholic faith.
All three Gavin, Mark and Catherine are simply Catholics seeking to tbe faithful to the teachings of the Church. They are a great help for those Catholics who find Pope Francis’s ambiguous statements on Church teaching confusing. Gavin Ashenden in particular is well placed to show how such ambiguous teaching can contribute to the destruction of a Church. One should remember that Pope Francis has actually encouraged Catholics to call out any of his actions they feel are at odds with the Papacy. According to the Gospels, the Popes most important job is to confirm the faithful in the faith, not to confuse them.
The article makes reference to a priest who is a member of the Association of Catholic Priests. A perusal through previous editions of the website of that Association would reveal extremely abusive references to Popes John Paul II and Pope Benedict.
I pray for Pope Francis several times a week. Were I to meet him, I would offer thanks for the way he challenges us regarding our duties to the poor and for his promotion of the notion of the Love of God. But i would demand that he stop being ambiguous about Church teaching.
“According to the Gospels, the Popes most important job is to confirm the faithful in the faith, not to confuse them.”
Neil, I wasn’t aware that the Popes were mentioned in the Gospels.
It’s good to hear from you again, Neil.
It’s been a long time.