The focus of the CDF's request focussed on homosexuality, civil unions between persons of the same sex, the admission of women to the priesthood and "gender theory."

Flannery was suspended in May 2012.

His signature on the C.D.F. document would allow him to return to public ministry.

He declined to sign the document and made the C.D.F. letter public on Sept. 16.

He described the process that brought him to this point as "unjust," saying he had "no chance to defend myself, no appeal system, no direct communication, the judgment passed and sentence decided before I even knew what was happening."

"Maybe I am deceiving myself," he said to America by email, "but I believe I can do more for the church by exposing in every way I can the unjust process, rather than trying to get Francis to wave a wand and return me to the ministry."

The C.D.F. said today: ‘We did everything possible to dialogue with Father Flannery. It wasn't always easy.'

Father Flannery, one of the founders of the Association of Irish Priests in 2010, which now counts in its membership around 30 percent of all Irish priests, said he was astounded by the fourth proposition renouncing gender theory he was asked to sign because, he said, he has never spoken on the subject.

If we have any advice to give to Father Flannery, we would give it to Father Flannery, but I believe that out of respect for everyone, and in particular for him, we would give this advice to him in private. We did everything possible to dialogue with Father Flannery.

It wasn't always easy. We did everything possible.

At a certain moment, we had to take some measures, which never involves a judgment on the person, because that is always reserved to Our Lord, but on his teaching or on his behaviour.

Therefore, we tried always to maintain our respect for Father Flannery. But the duty we have [in the C.D.F.], according to what is laid down by the church, is to safeguard the faith and to point out something that is not in conformity with the faith.

This is a very unpleasant responsibility of the C.D.F., very unpleasant, but it is our responsibility and it would be a failure on our part if we did not exercise our responsibility and set it aside and not say a word when in certain moments, painfully, many times, it has to be said.

The instruction from Rome for Father Flannery came in a letter from the Italian archbishop Giacomo Morandi, secretary of the C.D.F., to the superior general of the Redemptorist Order, the Rev. Michael Brehl, on July 9.

The letter does not mention Pope Francis, and there is no evidence that the pope was involved in the decision to issue it.

Archbishop Morandi said he had received a letter from Father Brehl on Feb. 27, which proposed that the C.D.F. consider permitting Father Flannery to return to public ministry.

"The specific task of the C.D.F. is to elaborate doctrine and defend it, and the pope as shepherd has to engage in a pastoral approach which does not disregard doctrine but looks at the persons where they are."

America has learned that the Council of the Irish Redemptorists, believing that a new climate prevailed in Rome, had sent a letter to Father Brehl requesting him to lift the suspension on Father Flannery, since it was the Redemptorists who had imposed the suspension, under pressure from the C.D.F.

Father Brehl referred the matter to the C.D.F.

The issue was discussed at a meeting in Rome on Feb. 27 which seems to have involved Redemptorist and C.D.F. officials.

The archbishop's letter of July 9 came with a document from the C.D.F. containing four "recent doctrinal propositions" on the topics in question.

It asked that Father Flannery give his written assent to each proposition and said that once the C.D.F. received the signed statement, "a gradual readmission of Father Flannery to the exercise of public ministry will be possible."

But, it said, "he should not be asked to speak publicly on the above-mentioned topics, which have caused problems in the past."

Each of the propositions Father Flannery was asked to sign was prefaced with relevant extracts from St. John Paul II's apostolic letter "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis"; Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortations "Amoris Laetitia" and "Querida Amazonia"; the Catechism of the Catholic Church; the code of canon law; and a document from the Congregation for Catholic Education on gender theory.

The texts of the propositions are:

1. According to the Tradition and the doctrine of the Church incorporated in Canon Law (c.1024), a baptized male alone receives sacred ordination validly.
2. Since the homosexual practices are contrary to the natural law and do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity, they are not approved by the moral teaching of the Catholic Church (cf. CCC 2357).
3. The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed with its own special laws by the Creator (CCC 1660). Other forms of union do not correspond to God's plan for marriage and family. Therefore, they are not allowed by the Catholic Church.
4. In so far as it contradicts the foundations of a genuine Christian anthropology, gender theory is not accepted by Catholic teaching.

The style of the letter from the congregation and the document Father Flannery was asked to sign has raised serious questions.

As is evident from Father Flannery's case, the C.D.F. is still using the same procedures that prevailed under the pontificates of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

Several Vatican sources consulted by America confirmed this, though none wished to go on record for this article because they were not authorized to speak. Continue reading

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, recently admitted that he is "open" to the idea of ordaining women to the Catholic priesthood.

"I am not saying that women have to become priests; I just don't know. But I'm open to it," he said in an interview published by the German Catholic news agency.

Hollerich, who is Luxembourg's archbishop, is one of the world's most influential cardinals due to his position as president of the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union.

Several German bishops - including German episcopal conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing - have also called for open discussion on ordaining women to the priesthood.

So far, none of them has been treated like Tony Flannery (pictured), a priest suspended from publicly practising their priesthood.

Flannery - an Irish Redemptorist priest - was suspended in 2012, for supporting women's ordination and his views on same-sex marriage and homosexuality.

In February the Redemptorists' Superior General in Rome wrote to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) about Flannery's return to public ministry.

In response, the CDF said:

"After reflecting carefully upon your request, the Congregation has decided that Fr Flannery should not return to public ministry prior to submitting a signed statement regarding his positions on homosexuality, civil unions between persons of the same sex, and the admission of women to the priesthood."

Flannery says the CDF sent him a series of doctrinal proposals in July via his superior general, to which he would have to "submit" as a first step towards "a gradual readmission" to public ministry.

He must submit to the statement that "a baptized male alone receives sacred ordination validly", as the price for "a gradual readmission" to the public ministry.

He must also submit to three other doctrinal formulae, affirming:

• homosexual practices are contrary to the natural law
• unions other than marriage between a man and a woman do not correspond to God's plan for marriage and family
• gender theory is not accepted by Catholic teaching.

Flannery says he's never expressed any views on so-called "gender theory" and is confused as to why that issue is in his CDF file.

He has refused to sign the CDF documents, saying:

"For me to sign a document that I submit that women can never be ordained priests in the Catholic church would be a total lie.

"I just could not live with myself if I signed that document. There are bishops - the German bishops for instance - many of whom have come out in favour of the ordination of women. It is very much an open question in the church now."

The CDF have not so far pressed Pope Francis to have Hollerich or other German prelates to recant and sign a fidelity oath as they have with Flannery.

Source

• La Croix
• Irish Times
• The Tablet
• Image: The Irish Times

The five-person panel met as part of the "Open to the Door to Dialogue" conference held in Rome earlier this month.

Last month, Pope Francis said he would create a commission to study the history of female deacons in the Catholic Church.

Panel member Fr Tony Flannery from Ireland said if women are ordained as deacons, parishioners will no longer distinguish between males and females performing liturgies on the altar.

He said this would be a big step forward.

But US panel member Jamie Manson said the establishment of women deacons "runs the risk of being a compromise that ends up trapping women in a role in which they will continue to be subservient to men, particularly in service to priests".

Continue reading

In March, an international group of 15 bishops, nuns, priests and lay people wrote to Pope Francis and the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith calling for reform.

Many of the signatories to the letter have been subject to CDF investigations and some had subsequently lost their positions.

The Irish Times reported Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi, SJ, stating it is very unlikely there will be any public response from the CDF.

Fr Lombardi said he had not read the letter.

Other Holy See insiders suggested that there was nothing new in the theologians' critique, adding that it looked like similar criticism "voiced 10, 20 or 30 years ago".

Irish Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery, who Rome has silenced, did receive a type of response from the CDF.

Fr Flannery said the CDF had instructed his superior general to send him a copy of "To Promote and Safeguard the Faith", a 2015 CDF publication.

Fr Flannery cited an article in the Italian publication La Repubblica that stated, "Francis knows well the curial way of stopping careers of theologians and bishops, using the dossiers."

"As archbishop of Buenos Aires and head of the Argentine Bishops' Conference often he saw candidates for episcopal appointments rejected by the Vatican," the article stated.

Recently, Swiss theologian Fr Hans Küng said he has sensed a "new freedom" in the Vatican.

Fr Kung said this after he received a personal response from Pope Francis following an appeal from theologian for debate on papal infallibility.

Augustinian theologian, Fr Iggy O'Donovan, one of five Irish priests to have signed the letter about CDF theological investigations, told The Irish Times: "Küng has got it wrong. He is hopelessly optimistic. Pope Francis is a well-intentioned man but the Curia is fiendishly difficult to reform."

Sources

• Irish Times
• National Catholic Reporter
• The Tablet
• Tony Flannery blog
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

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 include the "grave disquiet" felt by some priests at how bishops are currently being appointed in Ireland.

The association wrote to the Irish episcopal conference expressing concern about such matters last year.

In a reply to the ACP this week, Msgr Gearóid Dullea, executive secretary to the Irish episcopal conference, said the ACP correspondence "was circulated to all bishops at the March 2016 plenary meeting of the Irish episcopal conference".

"In order to discuss matters of mutual interest, the bishops have recommended that a group comprising the bishops from the Council for Clergy (Bishops Browne, Boyce and Nulty) along with Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, meet with representatives of the Association of Catholic Priests.

"It is envisaged that the meeting would take place some time in the near future. I will be in contact again to arrange a date."

Four years ago it emerged that Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery had been suspended from ministry by the Vatican.

This was over his views on priesthood, women's ordination and Church teaching on sexuality.

Several other Irish priests have also faced Vatican censure over their views.

Last month, Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown, when asked about Fr Flannery and the other Irish priests, reportedly said: "We have to be constantly reaching out - that is the job of followers of Christ."

He also referred to Pope Francis's comments that the Church must be seen to be building bridges rather than building walls.

Speaking to the National Catholic Reporter, he said this applied to dealings with people who have been abused by the Church in the past, priests who have left ministry and priests who have been censured in one way or another.

Sources

• Irish Times
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Catholic Ireland

The annual meeting of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland this week heard that six of their members had faced sanctions for their views.

Among their number is the Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery.

Fr Gerry O'Hanlon, who raised the issue, was highly critical of the manner in which Fr Flannery had been treated.

He suggested the Year of Mercy, which begins on December 8, would offer an opportunity for the Church to return the priests to full ministry.

One priest queried the possible perception that the priests were in some way seeking forgiveness.

"If anything it should happen the other way," he said.

"That maybe Rome and so on should be asking forgiveness for how they have treated people. The issue of justice is very important."

However, Fr O'Hanlon said a resolution on the matter was drafted in the hope it "might be a door you can walk through without admission".

The resolution on the matter was put before the meeting of over 100 members of the association.

It was unanimously passed by members of the ACP.

The meeting also heard bishops being appointed appeared out of sync with the realities of life in Ireland today.

Fr Brendan Hoban told the meeting "the same men that were being appointed 40, 50 years ago are still being appointed".

In recent times the appointment of bishops from far away dioceses has been adopted from the American practice, he explained.

This, he said, had "unmasked" any pretence of consultation.

ACP members also expressed concern at the treatment of priests who are the subjects of allegations of sexual abuse.

Sources

• Irish Times
• Irish Times
• Image: Smalbany New York

"Discriminating against women encourages and reinforces abuse and violence against women in many cultures and societies," they said.

Some of the 12 have been prominent members of the reformist Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland.

Among them is Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery, who was suspended from public ministry by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2012.

"We believe that we can no longer remain silent because to do so colludes with the systemic oppression of women within the Catholic Church," the priests stated.

"So, in the spirit of Pope Francis constant encouragement of dialogue, we are calling for free and open discussion concerning the full equality of women in all facets of church life, including all forms of ministry," they stated.

The priests note the equality of all Christians in Baptism.

They also reference recent papal statements, including those by Pope Francis on the topic, where he referenced St John Paul II and stated no further discussion is possible.

The priests stated that this situation is very damaging.

In September, Fr Flannery was banned from speaking at a parish in Cloyne diocese after intervention by a bishop.

Now the pastor of that parish has said that the bishop's actions came after a self-appointed vigilante group of conservative Catholics complained.

In the US, Benedictine feminist Sr Joan Chittister said women are leaving the Catholic Church in droves.

In a recent open letter to Pope Francis, Sr Chittister wrote that women "are ignored — rejected — as full human beings, as genuine disciples, by their churches, including our own".

Sources

• Irish Times
• Irish Times
• MPR News
• Association of Catholic Priests
• Image: Irish Examiner

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 this is another example of Francis "stealing the [Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland's] best ideas.

"We [the ACP] have been calling for a synod of the Irish Church for the past five years," Fr Flannery said.

"And I find it ironic that the two Bishops Martin, who are now so enthusiastic about the process they have been through in Rome, showed no interest whatever in our proposal, and wouldn't even meet and talk to us about it."

Fr Flannery was referring to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin and Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, who both went to the synod in Rome.

Fr Flannery said he was pleased at the synod's final document, even though it didn't contain everything he had hoped for.

"It left issues sufficiently alive for Francis to say further on them when he produces a document.

"And judging by his final statement to the synod on Saturday evening, which I loved, his document could be really interesting, maybe even on the same scale as Evangelii Gaudium."

In 2012, Fr Flannery was suspended from public ministry by the Congregation of the Faith (CDF) for his views on women priests, homosexuality and contraception.

Fr Flannery said the big problem with the synod on the family was the absence of women as voters.

He said voting was clearly not restricted to the ordained as one religious brother who isn't a priest was a voting member at the synod.

This was another example of the Church keeping "women in their place", "subservient with no input into decision-making", he said.

"Unfortunately, this is the one area in which Francis is particularly weak, and I have no doubt that the unequal position of women in the Church is going to be the big stumbling block for the foreseeable future."

Sources

• Fr Tony Flannery blog
• Irish Times
• Image: Catholic Ireland

Fr Tony Flannery was invited by the parish pastoral council in Killeagh in Cloyne diocese to give the opening address at Spiritfest 2015.

But Flannery's invitation was cancelled at the order of Bishop William Crean of Cloyne.

This came after meetings between the bishop and the parish priest, the Redemptorist provincial and a pastoral council subcommittee.

Bishop Crean stated that: "The reason being is that Flannery is currently out of ministry and the policy of the Diocese of Cloyne is that a priest who is out of ministry, for whatever reason, cannot exercise a public ministry."

In 2012, Flannery was suspended from public ministry by the Congregation of the Faith for his views on women priests, homosexuality and contraception.

In a statement on his website, Flannery said since his suspension he has given many talks in Ireland, England and the US.

"With one exception in the US, there had been no problem, and my talks mainly consisted of highlighting the message of Pope Francis," he said.

"To find an Irish bishop extending the notion of ‘silencing' to a talk in a community hall is very disappointing.

"How long and at what cost do these bishops imagine they can keep the lid on every boiling pot?"

He said Pope Francis has called for open discussion and respectful listening and asked how a bishop can justify extreme measures to silence people.

He said the incident was an example of a bishop using his episcopal authority to "lay down the law" to a group of committed lay people in a parish, and to "peremptorily overrule their decision".

"How can we seriously expect any lay person to put themselves forward for positions in the Church when they can so easily be brushed aside when the bishop does not like what they are doing?" he asked.

Flannery is scheduled to speak at the Women's Ordination Worldwide conference, in Philadelphia next month, just prior to Pope Francis's visit to the city.

Sources

• Tony Flannery blog
• Irish Times
• Irish Examiner
• Irish Times
• Image: Irish Independent

Writing on his blog, suspended Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery mentioned a Scripture passage that refers to Jesus' brothers and sisters.

"We are told that Jesus had four brothers, and an indefinite number of sisters," Flannery wrote.

"This does not fit with the Church's need to present Jesus as the Son of God, conceived in a way that is different from other humans, and Mary as the perpetual virgin.

"So the scholars turned the brothers and sisters into cousins!"

He also said the Gospel account made "a believable statement - that the family of Jesus found it hard to understand what he was about".

"But the Church, who wished to present an idealised version of the Holy Family - Jesus, Mary and Joseph living in peace and harmony - choose to quietly pass over these words of Jesus.

"Not only that: these doctrines about Jesus, Mary and the Holy Family are now part of the essential doctrine of the Church that we all must accept."

Flannery also referred to the "thorn in the flesh" quote from St Paul at last Sunday's Masses.

It, he said, "greatly helped in the Church's efforts to make anything to do with sex the greatest sin".

Flannery was suspended from ministry in 2012 by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for his views on women priests, contraception and homosexuality.

He was a founding member of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland.

Sources

• Irish Times
• Fr Flannery blog
• Image: Irish Independent

In an open letter, 32 signatories told the Pope that the future of parish life is "massively threatened".

According to an article in the National Catholic Reporter, the letter writers state that "active and vibrant parishes" are being merged into "anonymous and unmanageable structures".

One result is that personal contact between people and ministers is being lost, the writers state.

Sacraments are removed ever further from the life of ordinary Catholics, in these cases.

This is leaving the faithful "alienated, unsettled and insecure" as priests are increasingly focused on administration instead of caring for souls.

New paths to vibrant parishes where everyone is "welcome without exception" are needed.

Calling for new models of ministry and new ways of managing parish life, the letter tells Francis that there is opposition to clustering among a cross-section of the faithful.

"Let us establish a new culture of co-responsibility and joint decision-making in all structures of our Church," the signatories write.

New management models and forms of pastoral ministry would allow parishioners to participate according to their charisms, the reformers state.

"Let us open the priestly office to everyone who has the charism," they continue.

The signatories warned Pope Francis: "Without active parishes, your vision [of the Church] lacks the foundation and the necessary strength to overcome opposition."

Another concern for reformers, according to the NCR article, is that the current model of the parish council isn't working.

Letter signatory Fr Tony Flannery from Ireland said: "Its weakness lies in the fact that it is a consulting body, while decision-making is still restricted to a small clerical group."

"That must change if we are to have any sort of meaningful co-responsibility, from parishes right up to the Vatican," he said.

"We need real responsibility for parish councils with the power of decision-making, which would allow priests to be free to do the ministerial work," Fr Flannery said.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Tony Flannery blog
• Image: Bishop Accountability

In a statement issued after a meeting in Limerick in Ireland, bishops were called on to "courageously and publicly" support the vision and programme of Pope Francis.

"A key issue will be to devolve authority away from the Vatican to local churches.

"Connected to this is the need to enhance the authority of the local churches, especially parishes," the statement noted.

The meeting was organised by Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery, who had been silenced by Rome.

"With the resignation of Pope Benedict we are at the end of an era, and this is our best chance to renew the Church for a long time," Fr Flannery said.

He called on Ireland's Catholic bishops in particular to "put their shoulders behind Francis".

He was "personally disappointed" that this had not been the case.

A major topic of the three-day event was the need for "full equality of women in Church life".

The statement said that "during a very open and honest discussion, it became clear that there is much pain concerning the exclusion of women from governance, leadership and ordained ministry - and how that causes division and affects the entire life of the Church".

Such was the depth of feeling about women in the Church that a planned Eucharist at the conference did not happen and a prayer service was held instead.

Fr Brendan Hoban of the ACP said there was "grave dissatisfaction" among his 1000 members over the way the current nuncio in Ireland was operating in the appointment of new bishops.

He pointed to a lack of "real consultation", a restricted pool of possible candidates and he also objected to the practice of "parachuting" bishops from other parts of the country into dioceses.

The reform conference also called for full participation in October's synod on the family of Catholics who are LGBT, divorced and re-married, members of inter-faith families and other marginalised people in the Church.

Sources

• Irish Times
• Irish Independent
• Image: Catholic Ireland

The International Network of Church Reform Movements conference, organised by Fr Tony Flannery, is expected to attract 40 representatives.

Fr Flannery said the topics expected to be discussed include the "reform agenda of Pope Francis, the future of parishes and communities, women's equality and how to communicate with the Vatican".

According to The Tablet, among those attending will be Martha Heizer, head of We Are Church Austria, who was excommunicated by the Vatican along with her husband, Gert Heizer, for celebrating Mass without a priest present.

Other participants include Australian Paul Collins who resigned his priesthood in 2001 over the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's censure of his book, Papal Power.

Another attendee will be American Loreto Sr Jeannine Gramick who champions the cause of equal rights for gay people in the Catholic Church, and who has had a long running dispute with Rome.

On his blog, Fr Flannery said this would be the first time "such a large gathering of leaders of the Church Reform Movement have met".

Fr Flannery said the "main focus of the event will be to get to know each other, with the aim of supporting Church reform, both at the level of structures of authority and at the grass-roots".

"This is the first time that this group will come together, so a lot of it will be sharing experiences and ideas on Church reform."

No member of the Irish hierarchy had been invited to attend the conference, Fr Flannery said, adding that the priests attending will be representing priests' associations.

The public is invited to attend the final session of the conference to be held in a hotel in Limerick from April 13-16.

Fr Flannery was banned from ministry by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2012 for his views on the Eucharist and priesthood.

Sources

• The Tablet
• Fr Tony Flannery blog
• Image: Irish Examiner

Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery told an Irish radio show that Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, leads the anti-Francis faction in the Vatican.

"He would generally be seen as the leader of that," Flannery said.

"There is an enormous power struggle going on in the Vatican, at the moment, there's no doubt about that.

"A lot of people there who are very unhappy with the type of thing that Francis is doing," he said.

Flannery said he is a fan of Francis and likes the way he was going about reforming the Church.

The Redemptorist also said the Pope was unable to touch the power of the CDF, who are still "very strong and powerful".

Writings on subjects like Church structure and reform, the place of women in the Church, celibacy, contraception and the nature of priesthood saw Flannery summonsed to Rome by his order's leadership in 2012.

It was made clear to him that objections had come from the CDF.

A long process lead to Flannery being forbidden to minister as a priest, write or give newspaper interviews.

Last year, Flannery decided to ignore the instruction to remain silent.

In the radio interview last week, Flannery also discussed recent talks between himself and his order.

On his blog, Flannery wrote that his Redemptorist superiors told him there was no way they would take on the CDF.

He said he was told the only way to get back into ministry was to re-enter the process with the CDF, "strictly according to their rules", and then give a further statement.

But Flannery said the CDF has "resolutely refused to meet me, or in any way to communicate with me directly".

So Flannery said he is faced with a choice of re-engaging with the CDF in what he calls an unjust process, or accept that he will probably never minister as a priest again.

Sources

• Irish Independent
• Tony Flannery blog
• Irish Independent
• Image: Catholic Ireland

Fr Mike Tegeder of St Frances Cabrini parish in Minneapolis was told by Archbishop John Nienstedt that the venue of Fr Tony Flannery's talk be changed to a non-Catholic location.

Fr Tegeder said the archbishop wanted this so as "not to cause scandal".

The talk went ahead last week, with the audience filling the church to overflowing.

Fr Tegeder also said that Archbishop Nienstedt described the Irish priest as "not a Catholic".

During a 30-minute meeting with the archbishop before the talk, Fr Tegeder said he pointed out that Fr Flannery is a Catholic of good standing.

Fr Flannery is a founding member of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland,

"To say he is not Catholic is to suggest he has been excommunicated, which is not the case, and in fact is a defamatory statement," Fr Tegeder said.

The priest told his archbishop that the very issues Fr Flannery discusses are those which got an airing at last month's synod on the family.

Fr Tegeder said if they can be discussed in the Vatican, they can be discussed in Minneapolis.

In follow-up correspondence, Archbishop Nienstedt dispatched a registered letter to Fr Tegeder.

This requested that Fr Flannery "not be perceived in any way as being sponsored by the Catholic Church", but stated the archbishop had not cut off dialogue.

The parish priest agreed to "announce this publicly" and said he would "have a sign up at the lectern to that effect noting that it comes from you, the Chief Catechist of our Archdiocese".

Fr Flannery "is trying to reform the Church", said Fr Tegeder.

"He said listening to women in confession talk about sexual issues and birth control, it's transformed him."

Fr Flannery, who is a Redemptorist, was touring the US talking about reform in the Church and his 2012 censure by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.

The CDF ordered Fr Flannery to be silent after he questioned elements of Church teaching including whether current understanding of the priesthood directly reflected Jesus' actions at the Last Supper.

Sources

• The Tablet
• Minneapolis Star-Tribune
• Tony Flannery
• Image: CathNews USA

In a new book, Augustinian Fr Gabriel Daly examines the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's 2012 silencing of Fr Tony Flannery and its suspending him from ministry.

Flannery, a Redemptorist, had written in "Reality" journal that Jesus didn't intend the kind of system that is the modern Catholic Church.

"I no longer believe that the priesthood, as we currently have it in the Church, originated with Jesus," Flannery wrote.

Daly told The Tablet, however, that these views "are both theologically and historically unexceptionable".

"His attackers have simply failed to reckon with his qualification ‘as we currently have it in the Church'."

Daly added that it was "abundantly clear" that today's Catholic Church is very different from the gathering of disciples around Jesus.

His new book, The Church: Always in Need of Reform, will put the case for reforming the CDF and will discuss the "meaning of reform in the light of some theological principles and insights".

It is due to be published later this year.

Daly said the CDF seems intent on claiming that everything in today's Church is consonant with the will and intentions of Jesus.

"I can do no more than point out that this cannot be historically true," he said, adding that much depends on one's interpretation of development.

Flannery wrote on his website that the CDF's former prefect Cardinal William Levada once told him during a visit to Ireland that he was "formally in heresy".

But his order has received no notification of this, he wrote.

Flannery stated there is no justification for banning him from ministry, adding that his order is afraid to stand up to the CDF, even though "Pope Francis has created the climate in which this is very possible".

In 2012, former Irish president Mary McAleese labelled as "dreadful" the way the CDF treated Flannery and several other Irish priests who had been investigated.

Sources

• The Tablet
• Tony Flannery.com
• Irish Examiner
• Image: Catholic Ireland

Consider especially those who are now in their 60s, after a life of service to their church.

They were seminarians in the heady days of Vatican II when everything seemed possible.

They managed to survive the aftermath of was Humanae Vitae and continued to preach and counsel, to lead the sacred rites and to be faithful leaders of their flocks.

Some have directed retreats or preached parish missions; others have ministered to the young in schools and youth clubs; all have lived by the dictum that service to the least — the poor and mentally ill, the prisoners and prostitutes, the homeless and the addicted — is service to their god. But while their life has been exemplary, they cannot help being stained by association with those who have disgraced their calling.

In addition to this many priests see themselves as being under siege from an old guard in the Vatican.

As this is written, six Irish priests have been silenced so that they cannot hear confessions or officiate at baptisms, weddings or funerals.

There is some official term like 'had their faculties removed' but that sounds too painful.

Two are Redemptorists; the others are a Passionist, an Augustinian, a Capuchin and a Marist — all order men.

Tony Flannery, one of the Redemptorists thus silenced, has written of his experience. Continue reading.

Source: Eureka Street

Image: Eureka Street

McAlese described Marist Fr Sean Fagan and Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery as "good men who have loved this Church with a passion" who are now living through a time when they were being asked whether they were "real Catholics".

Speaking at the launch of her first book "Quo Vadis: Collegiality in the Code of Canon Law" she described this recent development at "dreadful".

"There is a fear at the centre [Rome] of how they can cope with these voices" she said.

Mrs McAleese, who is studying for a doctorate in canon law at Rome's Gregorian University, rebuked the Church for its way of dealing with dissent, which she said was to "iterate the demand for obedience".

She said this demand "was translated into a really, really dangerous silence where children suffered abominably".

It may also have contributed to the terminal decline of the Church, she said, and added that it "certainly made the church very, very ill".

Four of the five priests who have been investigated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith attended the launch: Frs Sean Fagan, Tony Flannery, Gerry Moloney and Brian D'Arcy.

Recently, during the visit of Anglican leader Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury and the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew of Constantinople, attended the opening Mass for the Year of Faith, McAleese called the ecumenical hopes of Vatican II as to nothing more than "a photocall".

"Rowan Williams still cannot take communion in my Church," she noted and she said for that reason she intended to look at the "ways in which I, with whatever brain power I have, and however much energy I have, can I contribute to creating the unity that Christ has promised us".

Sources

• Irish Examiner
• Image: BBC

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 team of the ACP.

A second, Fr Brian D'Arcy, was a weekly columnist in tabloid newspaper,The Sunday World. It turned out that someone in the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith had been trawling through decades of the paper to check D'Arcy's articles.

Two other stories provided a backdrop to the meeting.

One was a TV program which revealed that in 1975 when he was a bishop's secretary, Cardinal Sean Brady, now Primate of Ireland, was given the names of some boys abused by Fr Brendan Smyth during a canonical investigation, and failed to report this either to the parents or to the police.

Smyth, the abuser being investigated, continued to prey on children for a further 18 years.

In fact the Cardinal had passed all the information up to his bishop and was devastated when he learnt that Smyth had not been stopped.

He rejected calls for his resignation. Several commentators pointed out that had he called for a discussion on women priests the Vatican would have promptly given him his marching orders, as Bishop Morris in Australia found to his cost.

A second story concerned Fr Kevin Reynolds.

RTE, the national broadcaster, had accused him in a program of fathering a child by an underage woman in Africa.

Reynolds denied the charge and offered to take a paternity test in advance of the program.

This was refused.

Eventually, RTE was forced to publish an abject apology, pay an undisclosed sum for libel, and was subjected to a withering public report. Several staff resigned. Continue reading

Sources

• Brian Lennon S.J. in Eureka Street
• Image: Enlighthened Catholicism

Quinn says the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) need to ask themselves what if they cannot influence the Vatican over women priests, artificial contraception or in a more general context to change their teachings on sexuality.

He warns it is important for the clergy to keep their eye on the end game.

Will the church go into schism, or will it be the clergy accept it is the Church's right to teach, Quinn asks.

"In the end, this is a debate about authority. Does the church have the authority to teach that certain things are true, or not?"

"Unless and until the ACP sets out exactly how it views the teaching authority of the church it belongs to, then we can't know when the ACP believes a particular teaching is subject to change, and why."

"Until it clarifies this, then ordinary Catholics could be forgiven for thinking the ACP believes most teachings are up for grabs and in that case it will sow endless confusion and dissension because it will encourage Catholics to believe - erroneously - that very few teachings are ever settled doctrine."

Quinn observes the silence of the Irish hierarchy is deafening.

"It has said nothing about the decision by the Vatican to stop Fr Tony Flannery writing in 'Reality', the Redemptorist magazine. It has said nothing about the decision by the Vatican to discipline moral theologian Fr Sean Fagan."

While Quinn suggests the bishops silence may be them being prudent; it could be said the Vatican should not have disciplined either of these priests.

Quinn says a case could also be made to suggest the Irish bishops should perhaps have been more involved and prevented these situations from rising to level where the Vatican felt compelled to act.

Quinn is of the view the ACP needs to give some answers at next month's assembly at which they will discuss the future of the Church in Ireland.

Sources

• Independent