Tony Flannery

As I write this we are three days away from the arrival of Pope Francis in Ireland for his very short visit. I have spoken at a conference in Trinity College on Monday last (Voices Pope Francis will not hear), and have done various media interviews.
I find it interesting that as the week goes on I am becoming more and more a defender of the Pope against a barrage of negativity, especially in the media commentary and from the various spokespersons for different groups.

After Pennsylvania, What Pope Francis Should Say in Ireland

James CarrollAugust 22, 2018 3:00 PM
Basic assumptions about sexual morality are at play everywhere in the present Church crisis, and they cry out to be reëxamined by Pope Francis.

Pope Francis will make a fate-laden journey to Ireland this weekend. On Sunday, when he addresses a throng of Catholics in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, he will recall the last papal visit to Ireland, that of John Paul II, in 1979.

ACP Papal Visit Survey 2018

15 August 2018

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An ‘on the spot’ survey conducted by the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), in the run-up to the visit of Pope Francis, has revealed huge support for a radical reform of the Irish Catholic Church.

The survey was conducted at four regional meetings held in July, on the ACP website in early August, in parishes and with a number of groups from different parts of Ireland representing priests and people with age-levels from teenagers to elderly.