Recent dire warnings that the Catholic
church in Ireland is "on the edge of collapse" have been dismissed by a
new Irish association of Irish priests.
Father Tony Flannery, a founding member of the Association of Catholic Priests, told the press
this week that he believes that the participants in Vatican appointed
apostolic visitation to Ireland are "really listening" to the concerns
of the clergy and the Irish people.
Father
Flannery added that he believed that the visitors truly grasped "depth
and urgency" of the crisis in Ireland caused by the revelations of
decades of sexual abuse and cover-up.
Pope
Benedict called for the visitation last year, in the aftermath of the
sexual abuse crisis, naming top prelates to lead the review, including
Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston.
Observers
say that Cardinal O’Malley believes Irish Catholicism is now at risk,
but he believes that the nation can still avoid the more pronounced
forms of secularization to be found in other Western European countries.
Sources
say O’Malley has stressed to the Irish clergy that the visitation will
be more than a cosmetic exorcise, assuring the participants that he will
make a no holds barred report to Rome.
"If
it goes into the Vatican and a response comes back that’s inadequate,
or we get no response at all, it will be an awful pity," Flannery told
the press.
"The future is at risk."