THE FIRST regional meeting of the newly established Association of Catholic Priests takes place at the Curam Centre in Claremorris, Co Mayo, this afternoon.
Over 300 priests attended the inaugural meeting of the association in Portlaoise on September 15th. The three founder-priests, Fr Brendan Hoban, Fr Seán McDonagh and Fr Tony Flannery, have said all priests are welcome.
The meetings aim “to spread the association, and give other priests, who may not have been able to attend the inaugural meeting in Portlaoise, a chance to get involved”.
They wanted “to give priests a chance to express their concerns and their ideas on how this association might operate and the issues it should deal with”, as well as “to give the leadership a chance to listen to what priests have to say”.
The association originated from a meeting in Athlone on June 23rd and arose from what Fr Hoban, parish priest in Ballina, Co Mayo, described as the “need for some light in what often appears as an enveloping darkness around priesthood”.
A further meeting will be held on November 9th at the Charleville Park Hotel in Charleville, Co Cork, also at 2.30pm. And in the Dublin archdiocese, there will be a meeting on November 24th, in the Marianella Centre on Orwell Road, Rathgar, at 3pm.
