IRELAND
Irish Central
Nick Bramhill @irishcentral January 16,2015
A founding member of a group representing over 1,000 Catholic priests has said the time is not right for the Pope to visit Ireland, as there are too existing many problems in the Irish Church.
Speculation has been growing that a historic papal visit could take place in the near future, following recent comments from the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Brown.
But a spokesman for the Association of Catholic Priests said he believes a high-profile visit by Pope Francis would hamper their efforts to bring about reforms and changes in the Church.
Fr. Brendan Hoban, a founding member of the group, said: “A papal visit is exactly what the Irish Church doesn’t need at the moment, because it would distract us from tackling the issues which we need to put right.
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