CathNews New Zealand

The vast majority of Ireland’s Catholics want married priests and women priests, reports the Independent.

The finding is the result of a poll conducted by Ireland’s Association of Catholic priests (ACP) which has one of its founding members silenced and sent to a monastery for a period of reflection.

The ACP claim a mandate from mass-goers to raise concerns after a survey revealed a disconnect between official church teachings and what ordinary Catholics believe.

Almost 90% of respondents to the poll say priests should be allowed to marry, and 77% are of the view women should be ordained.

Fr Brendan Hoban, of the ACP, told the Independent the group believes in the fundamental teachings of the Church and is not leading any breakaway from Rome.

“We are not dissident priests. There are not 815 dissident priests,” he said.

“We (ACP) are reflecting what we are hearing in parishes and have heard in parishes for years.”

The poll also found that respondents thought the Church’s teaching on sexuality is “irrelevant”.

The poll was conducted on behalf of ACP by Amarach Consulting. It polled 1,000 respondents who identified themselves as Catholic, whether or not they practiced the faith. Of those surveyed about 33% said they attended Mass at least weekly.

Sources

• CNS
• The Independent
• Image: IBT

Additional reading

• David Quinn: The beliefs of the church are not going to change by poll (Opinion)
• The Irish Association of Catholic Priests should stop using Vatican II to justify its defiance of papal teaching: some of us know what the Council actually said (Opinion)
• Full text of the survey (PDF)

News category: World.