Sir, – The Fr Tony Flannery storm-in-a-tea-cup was well analysed by Álvaro Paúl (April 11th). Fr Flannery is free to write whatever lunacy or heresy that crosses his mind – he is just not free to call it Catholic. The real scandal lies with Fr Flannery and his ilk, who comfortably remain within a church that they have little in common with. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The Vatican has advised the silenced Fr Tony Flannery to go to a monastery and “pray and reflect”. I have just returned from a visit to Vatican City and am still reeling from the wonder and magnificence of the art and from shock at the pomp, splendour and wealth of this place. As our guide repeatedly stressed during our tour, the so-called Vatican museums are not really museums. They are the living quarters of the Pope and the workplace of the Catholic hierarchy.
Might I suggest that the Pope and his colleagues take some time out in a humble monastery and “reflect” on what connection there is between their church, ruled from the power and wealth of the Vatican, and the humility of Jesus Christ and the church he intended?
My trip to the so-called “Holy See” has served only to compound my disaffection from this hypocritical church and the delusions of power and grandeur of those who govern it. If Fr Flannery is to heed the Vatican’s order, let his prayers be for those who, from my perspective, have lost the plot. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Although I am not a Catholic priest, I joined the Irish Association of Catholic Priests last year because I see no other forum in which I can express regret for what has happened to my church.
I’m not hankering for 1960s liberalism. I just hope that the freshness of Vatican II will permeate and renew God’s people. I want to see celebration of the Eucharist maintained here in Donegal as the Lord asked. I don’t want it lost because there is no celibate man to preside.
I want my children and three grandchildren to be part of my communion because our liturgy is meant to give a meaning and joy to family life. I don’t want them to feel discarded because Humanae Vitae means nothing to them.
In the late 1960s, Josef Fuchs SJ taught moral theology at my university in Rome. He had chaired a committee for Paul V1 investigating birth control. Despite much dissension, I can’t recall Fuchs or any of his colleagues being “silenced” after the promulgation of Humanae Vitae even though their view was not supported by Pope Paul.
Fuchs and fellow theologians like Alfaro, Sullivan and Stanley critically explored scripture and tradition. They taught us to doubt and probe. I continue to do both in an effort to understand what has been handed down to us.
Am I to be silenced? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Hopefully the report that the Vatican is to take action against Fr Tony Flannery will turn out to be true. Fr Flannery has garnered quite a high and indeed favourable media profile over the years by dissenting from Catholic teaching and generally bad-mouthing the Pope. I’m sure it’s gratifying to be on the receiving end of such approval.
Hans Küng has shown that anti-Catholicism can be quite a lucrative career move. Although as a distinguished Swiss pastor observed, the Lutheran Church initiated all of the reforms so beloved of Herr Kung (and indeed Fr Flannery) with less than spectacular results.
Given the level of his dissent/disagreement from church teaching, would the honourable course of action for Fr Flannery not be to leave the church he so fundamentally disapproves of? It’s not as if an alternative career may not be available. His close familial ties with the Blue Shirts/Fine Gael and his obvious high regard for the present Taoiseach would suggest a seamless entry into a career in politics awaits! – Yours, etc,
Sir, – As an Anglican, I hesitate to intervene in Roman Catholic internecine squabbles. As a historian, though, perhaps I can give heart to those Roman Catholics who are fighting the good fight for a more inclusive and liberal church. That church is quite capable of a sudden change of direction in matters of doctrine.
Can I point out that, as recently as 1950, Pope Pius XII suddenly promulgated the doctrine of the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven as an Article of Faith, a doctrine characterised by the then Archbishop of Canterbury as “. . . altogether outside of the Bible and the ancient universal creeds”? There is considerable evidence that this was done at the time to bolster Mariology in the church, as a bulwark against what was seen as a rampant and unstoppable communism – in other words, a doctrinal reaction to contemporary political pressures and expedients.
Just as then there was no basis in scripture or the ancient teachings of the church for the assumption, neither is there, now, a ban there on married or women priests. It is cultural and misogynistic conservatism that is the primary reason. But I have every confidence that the church’s holy spirit can and will again move it in the direction that Fr Flannery and other liberals would wish to see it travel. It will take time; but history tells us that it will happen. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – What I cannot understand is why Reality and the Redemptorists take any notice when the Vatican tries to give them the belt of a crozier!
The bottom line in official Catholic teaching is that people should always follow their consciences after appropriate study and reflection. I suggest that Fr Flannery do an in-depth study of the lives of Vatican-declared saints and venerables such as Dorothy Day, Mary Ward, St Mary MacKillop and St Joan of Arc.
It used to take a century or two for Rome to realise the error of its ways but history moves a lot faster in a digital age. My advice? Write, publish, preach, and be damned! Whatever you do, “Be not afraid”! – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The recent furore over the silencing of Fr Flannery by the Vatican highlights the à la carte nature of many Catholics in Ireland. Being a Roman Catholic means that you agree to the church’s rules and regulations. One cannot simply pick and choose which rules to follow without, by necessity, becoming a non-Catholic, as agreement of the rules and obeying the church is one of the fundamentals of membership.
As an atheist who doubts the value of having any organised religion play such a central role in our State, I can only hope that the Vatican’s draconian response to Fr Flannery’s teachings will result in more people correctly identifying themselves as non-practising Christians rather than Roman Catholic or members of any other church whose teachings they don’t subscribe to. – Yours, etc,
