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

Bishop elect Brown is a member Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists - C.Ss.R).

After being professed as a Redemptorist in 1979 Fr Peter's first appointment was to their newly established mission in Samoa. In the community with him were fellow Redemptorists Fr (later bishop) Patrick Hurley, and Fr. Brian Consedine.

After five years in Samoa Peter sought ordination to the priesthood and took up studies at the Yarra Theological Union, Melbourne, Australia. In 1981 he was ordained in Greymouth, New Zealand, by Bishop Brian Ashby, and graduated from YTU the following year.

He then returned to Samoa as parish priest of Our Lady of the Sea church in Safotu Savaii where he served till the Redemptorists reluctantly withdrew in 1987 because of limited numbers.

When Fr Peter returned to New Zealand from Samoa in 1987, Bishop Denis Browne appointed him chaplain to the 27 Samoan communities that were part of the wider Samoan Catholic Community spread across Auckland. He held that position for twelve years before being appointed parish priest of St. Peter Chanel in Clover Park, South Auckland.

For the period 2005-09 Fr. Peter was coordinator of the Redemptorist Region of Asia-Oceania during which time he participated in the restructuring of the worldwide Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer into five Conferences (regions). As that structure took shape he became the coordinator of the sub Conference of South East Asia - Oceania. At the time of his appointment as bishop he was a member of the Redemptorist's Asia-Oceania Council.

At the time of his appointment, Fr. Peter, 66, was serving as the Redemptorist leader in the Aotearoa New Zealand region, a role he has held for many years.

Bishop John Quinn Weitzel, the first Bishop of Samoa Pago Pago, announced that he is retiring at last Friday morning's mass at Fatuoaiga and at the same time made known Fr Peter's appointment as his replacement.

Bishop Quinn was ordained a Catholic priest in 1955 and in 1986 was ordained a Catholic bishop after being appointed by the late Pope John Paul II to head the Diocese of Samoa Pago Pago. Prior to moving to the territory, he served in Samoa as a Catholic priest.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Bishop Quinn celebrated his 85h birthday on May 10th this year and it was the same day that he was presented the Distinguished Citizens Award from the Boy Scouts of America, Aloha Council of the American Samoa District.

Source

• CSSR.org.nz
• Samoa News
• Talanei.com
• Image: Talanei.com

During most of the past seven years, however, that anticipated upheaval has seemed a lot like the dog that didn't bark. Back in February 2006, the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus famously voiced "palpable unease" among those most elated by Ratzinger's election, and that disappointment endured in a swath of Catholic opinion which had begun to despair that the pope would ever impose order.

Of late, however, many observers believe the "real Ratzinger" has finally come out to play. Consider the tumult of the past month:

• On April 18, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith decreed a sweeping overhaul of the Leadership Conference for Women Religious, the main American umbrella group for the superiors of women's orders, to correct what the congregation described as LCWR's "corporate dissent" on issues such as women's ordination and homosexuality, and its contamination by "radical feminism."
• At least five Irish priests have faced Vatican-inspired discipline, with implementation left to their religious orders. Two Redemptorists have seen their writings for a church magazine either withdrawn or limited (one was also dispatched to a monastery for a six-week "reflection"), a Passionist prominent in the English media is now subject to prior censorship, and both a Marist and a Capuchin have been told to stop writing and speaking on certain hot-button topics.
• On April 5, Benedict XVI included some blistering language in his Holy Thursday homily about a "call to disobedience" issued by more than 300 priests and deacons in Austria who oppose celibacy and support women's ordination. The pope called the effort "a desperate push to do something to change the church in accordance with (their) own preferences and ideas." Continue reading

Sources

• John L Allen Jr in National Catholic Reporter
• Image: NY Daily News