IRELAND
The Irish Times
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent
THE VATICAN is an “ever-present elephant in the room” for those within the Catholic Church who wish to discuss reform, a priest silenced by the Vatican has said.
He said: “It would appear that we are returning to an authoritarian era where the church will meet its problems, not by discussion and open investigation but by decree. Fr Tony Flannery is the latest to learn this lesson.”
The Redemptorist priest Fr Flannery was silenced by the Vatican because of his views on contraception, celibacy and women’s ordination, and has been advised by Rome to go to a monastery for a period where he would “pray and reflect”.
It also instructed Fr Flannery and the editor of Reality magazine, Fr Gerard Moloney, to desist from publishing articles on these issues, and called on Fr Flannery to withdraw from the Association of Catholic Priests.
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