Tony Flannery

So, Jack McClure, one of my fellow panelist at the WOW conference – the only one still in ministry- has now been forbidden to minister in the diocese where he lived and worked, San Francisco. This edict has come from the bishop there, Cordileone. Archbishop Cordileone is certainly not in tune with the message of Pope Francis, so this development, though immensely regrettable, is not a surprise.
The last speaker at our conference was Sr. Theresa Focades, the Benedictine nun from Catalonia.
She was impressive, both in the way she spoke and in the content, though, because it was very philosophical, it wasn’t always easy to follow.
She talked about the importance of space and time in human life. Every human being needed to be given the space, in the philosophical sense, to grow and develop to their full potential, without any walls or barriers or restrictions being put around them to block their progress.
Equally time was important, the time that is need for all aspects of life to grow and mature, including ideas and understandings.
It was for this reason, she said, that hierarchical systems are ultimately evil. The whole notion of hierarchy is to put some people above others, in a position where they can restrict space and prevent people from growing.
Hierarchies also block the maturing of time by declaring that certain beliefs and systems have been finally defined and decided at a certain time in the past, and that as such no further progress or development can take place.
Cordileone’s action is a perfect example of a hierarchy limiting space and time, and doing what is ultimately an evil action.
Focades went on to suggest that our modern notion of ordination, which puts certain men in positions of power and control over others, is wrong. Also it is not the way it was at the beginning of the Church, where positions within the community came as a gift from the community, and were seen as a service, not an exercise of power.