Tony Flannery

We still do not know what exactly, if anything untoward, was going on in the seminary in Maynooth. All sorts of rumours and insinuations were thrown around and published in the newspapers, and of course in social media. I suspect most people feel that this particular smoke had at least some fire at it’s base. Maybe so.
Clearly Diarmaid Martin thought so, and took his well publicised action of removing his students from the place and sending them to the Irish College in Rome.

Dear Tony,

If the bishops in this country are incapable of addressing women’s ordination—perhaps partly because of loyalty, partly because the church never makes mistakes, partly because of fear, and partly because they simply are not informed enough to speak—and if the theologians in this country who are informed enough to speak are also incapable of addressing women’s ordination—perhaps partly because they have been told by the bishops to be quiet, partly because of fear, and partly because of the prospect of jeopardizing their academic careers—then who is able to speak?

This article was published in today’s Irish Independent.

The current dispute over certain ‘goings on’ in the national seminary in Maynooth raises serious questions for and about the Church, questions that will not be resolved by simply changing personnel, or by adjusting the type of spiritual or theological formation being taught there. These questions are not peculiar to Maynooth, but are common to seminaries in Europe, North America and other places.