Probably in the early 1990s Kevin Hegarty was removed as editor of Intercom. Since then his name crops up occasionally in the media.
Last month he addressed the agm of the Association of Catholic Priests.
At the time his talk was acclaimed as the highlight of the meeting.
The talk appears in the November issue of The Furrow.
It has to be one of the most succinct pieces of writing on priesthood from an insider's view.
It is a fabulous read. And behind the reality of the gloom and sadness of a dysfunctional church there is a mood of great hope.
Highly recommended, a fantastic read.
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3 comments:
I am a former parish priest, American of Irish ancestry. I have no doubt that the Hibernian organization is as dull, unimaginative and reactive as you paint it. However, I have to say that the kind of church you hope(d) has been tried, and the results are not encouraging.
I am speaking of the American brand of Anglicanism, the Episcopal Church, referred to here often as “Catholic Lite”. It has adapted to every change in the “modern” world. It is the Church of Vatican II. It has everything you’d want…sacramental liturgy is flexible and in excellent English, elected bishops, married, female and gay clergy, no to few sexual hangups, divorce is fine, contraception not even an issue, a strong intellectual tradition, no heresy trials, decentralized but democractic government with strong lay involvement at every level, very open ecumenical relations, the list goes on and on...it has all that except one thing, except parishioners. It continues its annual hemorrhaging of membership, unabated by every new cooperation with the world around it. If its rate of decline continues, in 25 years it will disappear.
I just don’t see, and no one has been able to make a good case to me, why what fails for the Episcopals would work wonderfully for the Catholics?
Thank you for the comment. Difficult to argue against that. But is it a matter of numbers? Is it not all the time an issue of searching out what the Gospels are saying to mankind in the here and now situation?
When people such as you read this blog, then there is every reason to keep it alive.
Again, thank you.
There are some gaps here. The first is the presumption that the Episcopalian church is Catholic Lite. The second is the rate of loss. How do the relative rates compare? As far as I know it s the evangelical churches that are the fastest growing: no surprise there, as spiritual certainty is often sought after in economic crises.
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