A priest who was censured earlier this year by the
Vatican has said he has not been warned about his future conduct ahead
of two large regional meetings on the future of the Church in Cork and
Galway.That meeting attracted approximately 1,000 Catholics, many of whom expressed disaffection with the Church, amid concerns that some priests were being "gagged" by the Vatican because of their views on certain issues.
Yesterday, the ACP announced it will hold two similar meetings, in Galway’s Clayton Hotel this Saturday and the Radisson Blu Hotel in Little Island, Cork, on Oct 13.
Yesterday, Fr Flannery said: "I am not being silenced. I will not be speaking at it [the events] because I am not one of the speakers but I will be chairing a session.
"My dealings with the Vatican are ongoing."
He said he did not wish to go into great detail on the terms of his censure earlier this year, only to say that it had happened and that he had not been warned as to his future conduct.
He said none of the other leaders of the ACP had been censured in any way.
In a statement issued yesterday, the ACP said the meetings, which are expected to attract crowds of up to 400 people, were open to all and specifically to Catholics who are committed to their faith "but are worried about certain aspects of what they see happening in the Church".
At May’s event in the Regency Hotel in Dublin, members of the audience expressed frustration at the Vatican’s views on issues such as the ordination of women, on homosexuality, and the lack of debate within the Church on these issues.
Support was also voiced for Fr Brian Darcy, who had been censured by Rome the previous month.
Yesterday, Fr Flannery said the Papal Nuncio had been invited to the Cork event, but that he was not sure if he had responded as yet.
The Cork and Galway events will feature speakers from those regions and elsewhere and he said he hoped they would help give a voice to lay Catholics on the issues that concern them.
"We see the ordinary Catholics finding their voice being a very important part of the future of the Church," said Fr Flannery.
"There has to be change in the Church and it will come from the lay people finding their voice and insisting they will be heard."
On whether these issues should be discussed by bishops here, he said: "We would much prefer it if these issues were being discussed at that level also."
* See associationofcatholicpriests.ie for list of speakers.