IRELAND
Vatican Insider
Tony Flannery, the head of Ireland’s Association of Catholic Priests, has rejected Rome’s request for him to sign a “mea culpa” declaration. “Freedom of conscience comes first,” he insists
Alessandro Speciale
Vatican City
An Irish priest has decided to defy the silence imposed on him by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith because he considers that giving up “on freedom of thought, freedom of speech and most especially freedom of conscience is too high a price” for him “to pay to be allowed minister in today’s church.”
The 66 year old priest, Tony Flannery, a Redemptorist, is a founder of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland, an independent association made up of over 850 priests that was created in response to the indignation shown towards the Church’s handling of the paedophilia scandal.
In a long open letter published in The Irish Times, Flannery explained he risked excommunication and dismissal from his congregation if he did not agree to sign a document that reaffirms the Catholic Church’s doctrine on women priests and homosexuality, amongst other things.
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