Ireland’s Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) says the vocations crisis has become so critical that sacraments like baptisms and marriages are likely to “disappear” from some parishes in the near future. The ACP, which represents over 1,000 Catholic priests in Ireland, says reform is urgently needed to prevent parishes from closing across the country. “We’re Read more
Catholic funerals for priests who die while facing accusations of sexual abuse are now subject to new rules in Ireland. The National Board for Safeguarding Children’s guidelines to church authorities include ways to discreetly conduct the funerals of clerics who had allegations made against them. Some dioceses have added to these guidelines. They say funerals Read more
An Irish bishop’s comments about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine that prevents cervical cancer are “completely irresponsible” and could put girls’ health at risk, the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has said. Bishop Phonsie Cullinan told a news outlet he has “serious concerns” about the vaccine. He claims it offers “no absolute guarantee” of “full Read more
Four Irish prelates are to meet a priests’ group to discuss calls for restoration to full ministry of priests disciplined by the Vatican. This is one of the topics likely to be on the agenda of a proposed meeting between the prelates and representatives of the Association of Catholic Priests. Other matters to be discussed Read more
A group representing some priests in Ireland has welcomed Pope Francis’s reported hints that he will sort out the celibacy issue. Association of Catholic Priests spokesman Fr Seamus Ahearne said the Pontiff’s views have been welcomed by the majority of Ireland’s priests. The ACP represents about 10 per cent of clergy in Ireland. Earlier this Read more
The Association of US Catholic Priests has written to Pope Francis protesting comments by the Vatican’s doctrine chief against some American nuns. On April 30, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prefect Cardinal Gerhard Muller made blunt criticisms of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Among his charges were that the LCWR was promoting Read more
Four out of five Catholic priests in public ministry in Ireland want the current English translation of the Roman Missal revised or scrapped. This is the finding of a survey of clergy views carried out by the Association of Catholic Clergy (ACP) in Ireland. The survey also showed a significant percentage of priests still use Read more
Organisers had initially expected 200 to turn up at the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) meeting in Dublin this month. In fact over 1000 showed up. The size of the crowd in part was a response to the recent silencing of Irish priests. One of those silenced, Fr Tony Flannery, was part of the leadership Read more
A body of 800 priests in Ireland is disturbed over the Vatican’s silencing of one of its founding members for his liberal views. As reported in CathNews, Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery last week was asked by the Vatican to stop writing articles in the Redemptorists’ monthly magazine. In a statement released on Tuesday, Fr Brendan Read more
Fr Tony Flannery, founder of the Association of Catholic Priests, is under investigation by the Vatican for some of his liberal views, reports The Irish Catholic. The investigation comes just two weeks after the report of the Apostolic Visitation that described “widespread dissent” from traditional Catholic teaching by priests, religious and lay people. It is Read more