Tony Flannery

This letter was sent by the International Network of Reform movements, of which I am the Irish delegate.

Catholics Call on Pope Francis to Keep Parishes Open

As Pope Francis makes his inaugural journey to the United States, Catholics from the United States and around the world are calling on him to help them keep parishes open.

A Open Letter to Pope Francis released today calls attention to the widespread policy of bishops to merge, cluster and close parishes and asks Pope Francis to encourage them to find ways to keep them open rather than shuttering them.

Fr Tony Flannery has paid a high price for his membership of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP). A founder member, over five years ago, in the dog-days of the Pope Benedict era, Tony and others (including myself) spelled out as our platform the need for an agenda of reform for the Church we had served for decades – and which everyone (or almost everyone) could see was dying by the day.

Yesterday, Saturday, two friends and myself decided we would go to Dublin to the Gate production of “A Month in the Country”. It was not our brightest idea, considering we were clashing with the rugby match and the ‘right to water” march.
The train from Limerick Junction to Dublin was packed, and I had to make do with standing on the corridor between carriages. There were about half a dozen Cork men around where I stood, and I could clearly hear their conversation all the way to Dublin.