Dear Editor, While it is encouraging to read the front-page article [The Irish Catholic – August 4, 2022] and applause is certainly well deserved, it was truly heartening to see an effort to voice support for our bishops and priests who really are “bombarded with the notion that everything needs to change”. But, can it be…
Synod not about giving space for loud voices – Bishop McKeown The synodal process is not about giving space for loud voices, it’s for people attuned to the Spirit, Bishop Donal McKeown has said. Speaking in his homily August 7, the bishop of Derry said we “commit ourselves to journeying in hope”, trusting that we…
Letter insists younger faithful embrace Church teaching EXCLUSIVE Hundreds of young Catholics have signed a letter to Church leaders challenging the widespread perception that younger people in the Church want teachings to change. The organisers of the letter – which attracted more than 500 signatures in less than a week from young committed Catholics before…
The bishop of Córdoba, Spain, Demetrio Fernández, warned about the challenges facing the Synod on Synodality, an initiative that he acknowledges “has stirred up the waters of the Church” but that cannot “invent” the mission of the Catholic Church. In his weekly pastoral letter, which concludes by quoting the Letter to the Hebrews — ”Jesus…
The Synodal discussions can’t undermine the authority of the Pope or the bishops’ contrary to popular misunderstanding, Archbishop Eamon Martin said in a homily Saturday. This comes after the Vatican warned July 21 that the synodal process in Germany cannot adopt new approaches to the Church’s teaching on doctrines and morals. This was seen by…
The latest warning by the Holy See about the risk of a new schism from Germany arising from the “Synodal Way” has been rejected and met with “astonishment” by its organisers, who in turn accused Rome of not acting like a synodal Church. However, at least one German bishop and a reform group welcomed the new intervention…
Now is the time for priests and people to plan creatively for a future together, writes Fr Gareth Byrne Unprecedented change is coming in the Archdiocese of Dublin. In April 2021, Archbishop Dermot Farrell formed a taskforce under the title Building Hope. The archbishop asked the Building Hope taskforce to assess the needs of the…
Despite the popular appeal of Pope Francis, the vast majority of Irish Catholics ignored the synodal consultation process, writes Fr Andrew McMahon Appreciation is due to this newspaper for its recent Synodal Times, outlining the contents of the various diocesan synodal syntheses. From figures contained within the summaries, the participation/response rate per diocese appears to…
Fr Niall Coll The Synodal Pathway: When Rhetoric Meets Reality, edited by Eamon Conway, Eugene Duffy and Mary McDaid (Columba Books, €16.99/£14.99) St John Henry Newman famously observed that “there has seldom been a Council without great confusion after it”. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) was no exception. Hence the often fractious discourse between traditionalists and…
The second assembly of Australia’s plenary council ran from July 3-9. A plenary council has wide-ranging power, and Australia has gone through an extensive process to get to this point. Here are some key questions and answers. Q. What was the plenary council? A plenary council is a gathering of the local Church; it has…