Tony Flannery

Thank you for what you and the other eleven are doing. It looks perfect to me in terms of the approach and the timing (after what has happened or not happened in the synod).
It is a huge gift to the church in Ireland, I am sure, and a huge gift to the church worldwide, for women, for men, and for the future of all those growing up. (Boston)
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……and at the heart of my desire for a just and equal world where people are able to enjoy ‘life… to the fullest’ are the teachings of Jesus and the Blessed Saints.

Priests call for open discussion on the need for equality of Women in all aspects of Church life, including Ministry.

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal. 3, 28)

In the Catholic Church women, despite being equal to men by virtue of their Baptism, are excluded from all positions of decision making, and from ordained ministry.

I have been somewhat amused by the apparent discovery by some members of the Synod of Bishops of the notion of the ‘internal forum’, or ‘conscience’. It is a measure of how damaging the last thirty or so years have been to our Church. When I was studying theology in the late sixties and early seventies we were directed by the writings of Bernard Haring, which always encouraged the notion of people being able to make their own conscientious decisions, taking account of the particular circumstances of their lives.