The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said he was “very encouraged” by the words of Pope Francis.
“It sets a pastoral tone for the whole church,” he said. He said it
“fairly unusual for a pope to open his heart on so many issues. It was
very deep, but he had said many of these things already.”
Pope Francis “was going back to the old practice in the church, not in a
legalistic or rigorist way, of accompanying the person within the
situation in which they find themselves, where they can encounter the
mercy of God.”
He described this as “the mentality of the good priest.” It was “a way which reflected a Jesus who accompanied people”.
Media obsession
As to Pope Francis saying that it was not necessary for the Church to continually talk about abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods, Archbishop Martin said this seeming obsession with such issues was not confined to the church. “The media too seems preoccupied with them.”
He agreed too, and as he had said at a recent meeting with the
Association of Catholic Priests, that where queries about the orthodoxy
of priests was concerned, these should be dealt with by the local
bishops’ conference rather than Rome.
Fr Brendan Hoban
of the association’s leadership team was “absolutely delighted” with
the pope’s interview. He said he was “absolutely exhilarated”.
He recalled that much of what the pope said was outlined in an article in the Furrow three years ago where the ACP outlined its aims. “It was very much on the same football pitch,” he said.
He recalled how the association had been criticised at a recent meeting
with the Council of Priests in Ferns diocese for not being more
publicly supportive of the bishops during the recent abortion debate.
He
had said “the bishops overegged their case” and now he sees that Pope
Francis was saying something similar.