Bishops meet ACP

This from the Association of Catholic Priests.

Interesting to see the ACP team who met with the bishops and good to see Tim Hazlewood at the table with the other impressive men.

It's a start.

Bishops meet with Association of Catholic Priests

Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly (Cashel & Emly), Bishop Ray Browne (Kerry), Bishop Philip Boyce (Raphoe) and Bishop Denis Nulty (Kildare & Leighlin).

The ACP was represented by Tim Hazelwood (Cloyne), Brendan Hoban (Killala), Dermot Lane (Dublin), Sean McDonagh (Columban) and Gerry O’Connor (Redemptorist).

The meeting began with a joint prayer by Archbishop O’Reilly and Sean McDonagh.

The meeting was jointly chaired by Bishop Ray Browne and Gerry O’Connor.

The future of the Catholic Church in Ireland

Dermot Lane, on behalf of the ACP, made a submission about the critical situation facing the Catholic Church in Ireland.

He listed the many problems we faced; decline in practice, decline in vocations, etc. and suggested that people were asking “what’s the plan to deal with the crisis?”

The Church was at a cross-roads, he said, and we could get stuck at the cross-roads unless we decided to respond proactively. He suggested that as a Church we needed to initiate a process in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council and in the spirit of Pope Francis who was a beacon of hope and possibility.

Whatever we decide to do, he argued, should include three strategies:

(i) to realistically ascertain what the present situation is by gathering precise data on the present situation, the resources available to us and what needed to be prioritised;

(ii) to train lay men and women for ministry;

(iii) to underline the importance of bishops, priests and people working together.

The proposal of the ACP is that a National Synod be organised that would move from discussion and consultation at parish level to diocesan level to national level. The ACP is ready and willing to further this proposal through ongoing engagement with the Bishops’ Councils for the Clergy, for Faith Renewal and Faith Development, and for Liturgy.

This proposal would put flesh on Pope Francis’s encouragement of a synodal Church, pursuing a synodal process. In other words the Church would become a listening Church, an inclusive Church, that through active participation and involvement could generate new energy, enthusiasm and hope.

The important point, Dermot Lane concluded, is that the process of engagement is central as it presents a model of Church where everyone works together.

A lively discussion followed on the present situation of the Irish Church, the forces militating against it and the possibilities for the future.

The ACP delegates asked that this proposal for a synod be presented to the Irish Bishops.

Well-being of priests

Brendan Hoban told the meeting that the ACP was becoming more and more aware of a growing problem around the well-being of priests.

Many priests were struggling as a result of huge mental and physical pressure from a variety of sources: age resulting in a decline of energy and enthusiasm; isolation; ever-increasing work-load; ever-increasing demands of ministry; low morale; despair as vocations decline so massively; little free time; ill-health; and a lack of confidence in dealing with difficult emerging social issues in parish work.

At present many diocesan priests, unlike in the past, lived unhappily alone without the support-systems they needed in their declining years.

Younger priests were distressed by the reality they faced: increasing work-loads; few vocations; wondering whether or why they would stay with priesthood; the difficulty of saying Mass when so few of their peers attend; and the difficulty some experienced of even attending meetings with older priests with whom they had little in common.

A discussion followed on how difficult a challenge the ‘care of priests’ is, how difficult bishops find it, and what might be done.

There was a general perception that many were struggling, that some were at risk and that often appearances can be deceptive as priests who were unhappy often kept themselves under the radar.

The discussion turned towards the stress engendered by a fear of false allegations of sexual abuse. It was clear that many cases were badly handled, that many priests had lost faith in the goodwill of their bishops, that supports demanded by canon law were not always made available to priests, that some priests were very badly treated and had suffered much. Several instances were quoted. One case, which left much to be desired, was described in detail.

It was pointed out that many priests believe that their bishops would not be supportive of them if an allegation was brought against them. The ACP made the point that effective protocols were one thing but how they were implemented was another and that sometimes, even in neighbouring dioceses, there was a huge variety of practice.

The bishops pointed out that many of the problems were associated with the early years when bishops had very little advice available to them but that new protocols were expected which should improve the overall situation.

‘Silenced’ priests

Seán McDonagh suggested that the case of Ireland’s ‘silenced’ priests needed to be dealt with.

Pope Francis had recently said that every problem didn’t need the magisterium of the Church to deal with it. The present process, where an ethos of secrecy dictated that an accused individual wasn’t dealt with directly, didn’t know who his accusers were and didn’t even know when a process was initiated, made him feel ashamed of his Church. He instanced one case that appeared recently on the ACP web-site.

On behalf of the ACP he asked the bishops to take up a position on the priests who had been silenced and to develop a more just and respectful process for dealing with such cases as they arose. The men involved had given life-times of service to the Church, were deeply respected and their continued treatment was regarded as a source of great scandal by many Catholics in Ireland.

Laudato Si

Seán McDonagh said the encyclical Laudato Si was a great gift for the Church and that the promise and possibilities emanating from such an impressive and historic document needed to be taken seriously.

Young people were fascinated with it and it could be an effective evangelical influence in raising questions of faith for them. The wisdom of the document needed to percolate down to parish level. We needed, as Pope Francis said, ’to be attentive to the reality of creation’.

Poverty

• There was a long discussion on how to translate Pope Francis’ concern for the poor to direct action at parish level, the role of the St Vincent de Paul and the need to focus attention on this gospel reality.