A Wellington developer Richard Burrell, who has a reputation for restoring heritage buildings, is the likely purchaser.

Should he be successful, Burrell intends to turn the building into a hotel.

Pending due diligence into what is needed to strengthen the building against earthquakes, it is understood the sale price to be about $5m.

Currently, the buildings are 25% of the New Zealand building standard, and fall well below the 34% earthquake risk threshold.

Burrell estimates around $20m for steel and concrete is needed to spend on the building.

The building's rateable value is $16.9 million, of which $16.4m is in the value of the 2433m² of prime land it sits on.

Following City Council Rates increases and fewer priests, in 1988, the Redemptorists sold the church and monastery at a discounted rate to the International Catholic Programme of Evangelisation (ICPE).

ICPE tried to raise $11m for earthquake strengthening but came up well short.

Lambton Ward Wellington City councillor Nicola Young, whose father donated a baptismal font to the church in the 1960s, was "thrilled" to hear the building may get a second life.

"It's probably Wellington's most distinctive building. As soon as you see it you know it is Wellington," she said.

The historic church was closed after a final Mass on Pentecost Sunday, May 23, 2021, celebrated by Cardinal John Dew.

"St Gerard's is our most imposing landscape building," said Felicity Wong from Historic Places Wellington.

"It looks down on our small lives, reminding ... civilised human endeavours to care for each other. For some years, it has needed a contemporary purpose to secure its future.

"The ICPE have (sic) looked after that building and have made it open and welcoming to the people of Wellington," Wong commented in 2021.

Congregation gathers for Sunday Mass

The building is a Heritage NZ category one heritage-listed building.

Source

• DomPost
• DomPost

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

The National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, a shrine operated by the Redemptorists, will be installing solar panels in the coming months.

Brother Ciriaco Santiago, head of the congregation's Commission on Social Mission Apostolate, said the project is a "step toward becoming a green church."

The religious community approved to use the church's roof to generate electricity for the shrine, including its offices and other facilities.

"It would take at least three months to finish the installation, but the target is to complete it within the year," Brother Santiago told ucanews.com.

Continue reading

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

A video of the incident at a church in Cebu province was posted on Facebook by the 17-year-old's grandmother.

The video was also posted on Brute Show's YouTube account, which provided an English translation of the sermon.

The postings drew a barrage of social media criticism and condemnation of the priest.

"I am now making a public heartfelt apology to the mother of the child and her immediate family," Redemptorist Fr Romeo Obach told media.

Fr Obach said he realised "the rudeness I displayed . . . was indeed unbecoming".

The teen mother was shown standing apart from other people, her face not clearly seen, holding her baby in front of the priest, who spoke in the Cebuano language

"What you did was worldly. You allowed yourself to sleep with a man who isn't your husband? Have you no shame?" Fr Obach said before performing the Baptism.

"Even if the child has not sinned, a man and woman who sleep together without being married live in sin. She may pass the consequences of her sin on to the child," he continued.

"Yes, a baby is a gift from God, but the baby was born in sin," the priest said.

He also told the teen she should be ashamed and even try to hide herself.

The grandmother said her daughter had already suffered because of her pregnancy and had even attempted to commit suicide, but instead decided to continue the pregnancy.

They did not expect the humiliation by their priest.

Several online critics contrasted Fr Obach's actions with that of Pope Francis who baptised a child of unmarried parents at the Sistine Chapel in January.

The Pope simply told the parents that they had a duty to pass the faith on to their children.

The Redemptorist congregation in Cebu also issued an apology, saying it was "saddened by the incident".

It was contrary to the Redemptorists' charism and mission, which is "compassion especially to the poor and the most abandoned", the congregation stated.

It added that an internal investigation is underway and gave assurances that "appropriate sanctions" will be applied "so that justice may prevail".

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• UCA News
• Image: Philstar

Fr Thanh has worked for Vietnam Redemptorist News since the 1990s and has often had problems with authorities in the communist-run nation.

Last year, he was arrested during a demonstration in support of an activist blogger.

Fr Thanh is under police surveillance and is frequently prevented from covering and publicising the human rights abuses he has witnessed.

Continue reading

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