Tony Flannery

In less than four weeks time we will be faced with a vote to decide if we will keep or repeal the 8th amendment to the Constitution. In 1983 I voted against putting it into the constitution, mainly following the advice of Peter Sunderland. Now I am undecided as to how I will vote this time.

I believe that as an elder male, who was never married, neither myself or any of my siblings having had children, leaving me with no close experience of pregnancy or birth, I am in a particularly unsuitable position to be making any statement on the question before us.

It was this month, April, six years ago when I was ordered by the CDF/Redemptorist superiors to step down from priestly ministry. There was a short period during the summer months when I was allowed back, while efforts were being made to sort things out, and then in September the sanction was re-enforced, and remains to this day.
For various reasons, thoughts of that year, with all its stresses and strains, its drama, and the struggle making major, life changing, decisions, is coming back to me now.

i. The Angry God: This image the institution projects of a God of Wrath and Anger needs to be challenged. It is wrong, and bad theology.

ii. The Male Church: Women have been marginalized and treated as second class by the institution for far too long.

iii. The Culture of Celibacy: Not so much celbacy per se but mandatory celibacy has to take a major part of the blame as a contributing cause of this crisis.