Maynooth Controversy Described As ‘stumbling Block’ to Sharing the Gospel

By Greg Daly
Irish Catholic
August 11, 2016

http://www.irishcatholic.ie/article/maynooth-controversy-described-%E2%80%98stumbling-block%E2%80%99-sharing-gospel

Cork-based Redemptorist Fr Gerry O’Connor

A senior figure in the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has said that current high-profile tensions about the national seminary have become a stumbling block for ordinary Catholics.

Anonymous allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, have led to Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin withdrawing his seminarians from Maynooth to send them to the Irish College in Rome.

Calling for greater leadership on the issue, Cork-based Redemptorist Fr Gerry O’Connor told The Irish Catholic that “every parishioner you speak to is asking ‘what is going on in the Church?’”

Fr O’Connor, who is a member of the ACP leadership team, said this summer should be a prime opportunity for “a Church that is celebrating the Year of Mercy when we have an inspiring Pope and have just had a fantastic World Youth Day” but that stories of alleged scandals and division at the seminary have hijacked the Church’s message.

His comments go further than the ACP statement which described media focus on Maynooth as “unfair and unwarranted”, driven by personal grievances or by ideological agendas. However, Fr O’Connor stressed that he was in no position to comment on the college’s internal matters, save to emphasise the importance of due process.

“People are very concerned,” he said, describing the Maynooth story as having become “a barrier” that is preventing the Church from getting its message across, “because the leadership of the Church appear once again to be divided, and they seem to be placing something that’s got a good institutional history before communicating the Gospel”.

“The people are bewildered,” he said, adding that as the faithful feel hurt and disillusioned there is a duty for the Church leadership to communicate with them and to show real leadership.

“Whether the bishops like it or not, and whether people are defensive or not, this is an issue that is disturbing people,” he said, continuing, “that’s why they should be meeting as an absolute priority. It’s quite extraordinary that the trustees haven’t met to discuss something like this.”

The 17 trustees of Maynooth are expected to meet before the end of August to discuss the issue.