Dear Editor, So the Church needs to change with regard to its obvious discrimination towards LGBT people? This charge is levelled against the Church without any specificity about the nature of this discrimination. So is this charge of a ‘homophobic’ Church justified? Is it not Church teaching that the homosexual person should be accepted with…
The diocesan Synodal Steering Committee proposed four questions focused on joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, to help local parish gatherings to share experiences. As participants listened to each other, indications of ‘what the Spirit is saying to the churches’ emerged. A total of one hundred and seventy-three parishes hosted gatherings. Hopes – Synodality as…
It’s amazing to think we’re still seeing biopics of Elvis Presley, like Baz Luhrmann’s 3-hour audio-visual extravaganza, Elvis (PG), nearly half a century after the rock ‘n’ roll icon “left the building”. What would the man himself have thought? When he went into the army, he thought his career was over. He thought so again…
The Diocese of Kilalla covers parts of counties Mayo and Sligo and is home to approximately 38.715. The bishop of the diocese since 2002 has been Bishop John Fleming. The themes that emerged throughout the Diocese of Kilalla’s gatherings were centred around: What we need to do now (Among adults) Youth, Appeal to / Encourage/ Include 26% Women,…
Conflicts between Church and State can cause a lot of grief to both, but can also help to clarify principles. These themes were explored in the rather unusual film Servants (Film Four, Tuesday). Set in a Czechoslovakian seminary during communist times, in 1980, it told the story of young seminarians resisting the imposition of state…
The Diocese of Kerry covers most of County Kerry and parts of County Cork. There are 146,790 Catholics in the Diocese. Although the listening sessions were a positive experience for those who took part, the general consensus was that the number and diversity of people participating were disappointing. Female Perspectives Two focus groups – members…
The Archdiocese of Armagh accommodates 242,860 Catholics and covers County Louth, most of County Armagh and part of counties Tyrone, Derry and Meath. Eamon Martin was appointed archbishop of the diocese in January 2013. 1,500 people responded to the questions posed by the Diocesan Synodal Core Group and the Archdiocese acknowledged that most responses seemed…
The Diocese of Killaloe covers parts of counties Clare, Laois, Limerick, Offaly and Tipperary. It accommodates 119,313 Catholics and has been overseen by Bishop Fintan Monahan since 2016. Over 500 pages of data were submitted from pastoral area and parish groups and from individual respondents. The emerging themes were focussed around: Broken trust in the Church The impact of revelations of…
In 2021 Pope Francis launched the Laudato Si’ Goals as an effort to encourage all sectors of Church to try to achieve ecological sustainability by 2030. It is an enormous task but one which we are invited to embrace, to help heal our relationship with our common home and with each other. We have been…
Think synods are representative of a new Church? They’re older than you think writes Fr Eugene Duffy. The practice of holding synods at a diocesan level has deep roots in the history of the Church The first documented diocesan synod, in the sense of establishing legislation or issuing disciplinary decrees, was held in Auxerre in 585.…
Aubrey Malone
Brendan O’Regan