Dublin Archbishop accuses minister of using liturgy 
to push agenda

Dublin Archbishop accuses minister of using liturgy 
to push agenda Minister Josepha Madigan
Josepha Madigan urged to listen to ‘distressed’ parishioners

 

Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has accused Minister Josepha Madigan of having exploited a mix-up at a parish to advocate that the Church should change core teachings.

The Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, who led Fine Gael’s campaign to repeal the constitutional protections for unborn children, has been described across various media outlets as having “said Mass” when she took a lead role in an impromptu Communion service at St Thérèse’s Church in Mount Merrion after a priest scheduled to celebrate Mass there on the evening of Saturday June 23 did not arrive.

Ms Madigan subsequently claimed on RTÉ’s Today with Seán O’Rourke that the Church should tackle clerical shortages by ordaining women and married men.

Misunderstanding

Archbishop Martin, however, has said that the Archdiocese of Dublin does not lack priests to celebrate Sunday Mass, and that it was through a misunderstanding that the priest assigned to celebrate Mass in Mount Merrion on Saturday evening failed to turn up.

“It is in no way correct to say that the Minister ‘said Mass’,” Dr Martin said, continuing: “It is regrettable that Minister Madigan used this occasion to push a particular agenda. Her expressed view that a mix-up in a Dublin parish on one particular Saturday evening should lead to the universal Church changing core teachings is bizarre. “

Claiming that the minister’s comments had caused “considerable distress” to parishioners at Mount Merrion and further afield, Dr Martin suggested that Ms Madigan “consider listening to the voices of those people who disagree with her public comments”, and consider too “the hurt she has caused to parishioners who deem her actions deeply disrespectful”.

Dr Mary McCaughey, an Irish theologian currently working at the Institute of Priestly Formation in Omaha, Nebraska said “it seems that the same politicians who want a separation of Church and State, are now calling to try to recreate the Church in their own image and likeness with ordained women, married priests and the right to choose abortion or to be okay with others choosing it,” she told The Irish Catholic, adding that Ms Madigan “also seems to want a type of spirituality and liturgy that has no connection to the Church or its norms”.

Observing how the recent abortion referendum has pointed to serious confusion in the Church here, Dublin City University theology lecturer Dr John Murray said that clarity need to be established around Ms Madigan’s actions.

“It’s a definite source of confusion, a source of misinforming conscience,” he told this newspaper, adding that it could also be contributing to a sense of despair. “The whole idea of morale – people are at a low ebb, and the idea that the Church could look like its assimilating or caving in, that I think is also scandalous in its own way.”

Dr Vincent Twomey, Professor emeritus of Moral Theology at Maynooth, described Ms Madigan’s actions as “absolutely disgraceful” and “incredibly presumptuous”.

He said it is now “quite clear” that Archbishop Diarmuid Martin should act to clarify the mind of the Church on such actions.