At a Catholic leadership conference in Melbourne last month, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin spoke of a young curate who recently told his parish priest he was not happy with some things the Pope had said.

The young priest felt they "were not in line with what he had learned in the seminary".

And the young priest suggested some of Francis's comments were "making the faithful insecure and even encouraging those who do not hold the orthodox Catholic beliefs to challenge traditional teaching".

Dr Martin said his immediate response was that it was the curate whose security was being upset.

The young priest was not the only one "upset by the way Pope Francis speaks about some things", the archbishop continued.

"There are those who say that he is a communist because of his concern for the poor and his trenchant criticism of some aspects of today's market economy".

However, the archbishop concluded that the problem was "with us, with all of us".

"We all fall into the temptation of reading Pope Francis superficially and selectively.

"All of us are pleased with what Pope Francis says when he says things we like."

But Pope Francis's thought is subtle and full of nuances, as seen in The Joy of the Gospel, and very often people don't pick up on these and miss what the Pope is trying to say, Dr Martin cautioned.

Fr Seamus Ahearne of the Association of Catholic Priests said the Church in Ireland needs to hear more comments like Archbishop Martin's.

He said the archbishop's concern about the "young curate" was a familiar one as many were concerned that the few young priests there are in the Irish Church appear to embrace a very traditionalist view of Church.

They are "so locked into a past model of priesthood" he commented and said this manifested itself in "the way that they dress up, the way they celebrate Mass, and in their views".

Sources

• The Tablet
• The Irish Times
• Image: The Journal

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 month, Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari reported an interview he did with the Pope in La Repubblica newspaper.

Scalfari, who did not take notes during the interview and relied on memory, reported that the Pope promised to "find solutions" to the "problem" of priestly celibacy.

The Vatican was quick to state that the celibacy comment could not be attributed to the Pope.

But it conceded the report did capture the sense and spirit of the conversation between the Pope and Scalfari.

Fr Ahearne said Francis has a new way of looking at things and it makes total sense.

"We raised the question of celibacy with [Ireland's] bishops in the early days of June as an issue to be looked at and the fact that Pope Francis has opened that discussion matters," Fr Ahearne said.

"Our view would be that Christ takes flesh in the messiness of everyday life. The wider the ministry the better, it's the mixture that is necessary.

"It can't just be male - old males, celibate males - it has to be a mixture of male, female, young people, old people, married people and unmarried people, anyone."

Fr Ahearne also told the Sunday Independent newspaper in Ireland that it is now just a matter of time before the Catholic Church begins to reconsider its stance on women being priests.

"I think it's going to happen eventually," he said.

"Who would ever have thought that Francis could have been elected?

"Who would ever have thought that the kind of things he is saying could be said? When will it happen? I have no idea, but it should."

Fr Ahearne said given the age profile of Ireland's priests, there will be no replacements when they die.

"Priests are going on until they are 75 or 80, when they could be retired at 65. They can't carry the load."

Only 12 priests were ordained in Ireland in 2012.

Sources

• Sunday Independent
• Irish Central
• New York Daily News
• Catholic Herald
• Image: CNBC