The Catholic Church can attract parishioners although changes are needed, says Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin. “We have to construct a mature Church” to attract parishioners, he says. The question is how: how will the Church choose to reach out to people and define itself? In his opinion, the Church will need to be very Read more
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has spoken out against recent incidents of racism in Ireland, decrying intolerance as well as narrow-minded and judgemental attitudes within Church communities. At Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral on Sunday, the Archbishop said racist intolerance is always “an affront to the dignity of those who are its objects.” He said the Church must Read more
Priests in Ireland are preparing post-lockdown plans for their parishes so they will be ready when coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions on public worship begin to ease. The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, says reopening churches for worship “has serious public health concerns and we have to make sure that we are ready for them.” One of Read more
The Irish Church must adapt and reform if it is survive the clerical sex abuse scandal and other challenges that lie ahead, said the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin. Diarmuid Martin, 74, the most influential Catholic prelate in Ireland, said in an interview with The Irish Times on April 22 that there’s still “a lot of Read more
A radical overhaul of the Catholic church in Ireland may see a reduction in the number of dioceses in the Irish Church, says Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin. Martin has also called for a radical overhaul in the training of priests. Outlining his vision for renewal which would include a “reduction and rationalisation of dioceses” Read more
Suspended Irish Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery wants a synod of the Irish church, but says the Irish hierarchy hasn’t wanted to know. Writing on his blog after the synod on the family in Rome, Fr Flannery noted that Pope Francis sees the synodal process as the pattern for the whole church. Fr Flannery quipped that Read more
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has decried critics who have charged that the recent synod on the family caused confusion for Catholics. Archbishop Martin said he was “quite surprised at the remarks of some commentators within church circles about the recent synod of bishops, often making accusations of confusion where such confusion did not exist Read more
The synod on the family is showing the Church has to start to rethink how it does theology, says a Canadian archbishop. This is so it can truly address contemporary concerns, said Archbishop Paul-André Durocher. In the past, theologians have usually deduced from general, sometimes idealised notions of God or humanity, following the methods of Read more
The Catholic Church has to turn the image of a punitive, judgemental God head over heels, the Archbishop of Dublin says. Speaking at a Mass in Dublin on the feast of Our Lady of Mercy, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said many in his generation grew up in a religion where this punitive image prevailed. “Mercy was Read more