IRELAND
Irish Central
Nick Bramhill @irishcentral May 19,2016
A leading advocate for reform in the Irish Catholic Church has conceded that trying to bring about meaningful change is “like beating one’s head against a stone wall.”
The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), which represents over 1,000 priests across the country, and a four-man delegation of Irish bishops are due to hold their first face-to-face talks in three years on Thursday.
But Father Tony Flannery, a founding member of the group, has admitted he fears the meeting is little more than a token gesture from church leaders and will not pave the way for significant reform.
Speaking ahead of the talks, which take place at Columba Center in Maynooth, Co. Kildare, the veteran Redemptorist said, “Experience leads me to have little hope or expectation from the meeting. I suspect the motivation of the Bishops Conference is to quieten us, and stop us from saying that they won’t meet us.”
Flannery, one of several clerics who have been “silenced” by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith for his liberal views, also called for ongoing dialogue between the clergy and church authorities to tackle the ever-worsening vocations crisis.
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