Tony Flannery

The story of the effort by the bishop of Killaloe, Kieran O’Reilly, to introduce the permanent diaconate in his diocese continues to break new ground, and set an example for other places
The latest development is that the bishop has decided to put the decision on hold while further discussion takes place. He deserves great credit for making this decision. How often have we seen Church authorities stubbornly stick with decisions even when they were obviously wrong, because they felt they could not publicly admit that they made a mistake. Kieran has set a new and very useful example by his action.
The women had arranged a public meeting for Monday, 15th in the Clare Inn at 8.00pm. I am very pleased that they have decided to go ahead with that meeting. Even if they bishop’s proposed action has been put off for the present, there is still plenty for this gathering to discuss. The problem of ministry, and who is going to celebrate the Eucharist in the future, continues and the amore people come together to discuss solutions the better.
What I find really remarkable about all this is the fact that the first real opposition to the permanent diaconate originated in west Clare. The diaconate has been introduced in other dioceses around the country, including Dublin. Dublin has a great many women who strongly object to it, but they weren’t able to act in such a coherent and effective manner.
The person who who took the initial actions that got this movement going is Kathleen McDonald. She did an interview on Sunday morning with Midwest Radio, Faith Alive. You can listen to this interview on the following link
http://www.midwestradio.ie/index.php/podcasts/37-about-midwest/schedule