Tony Flannery

Young Catholics call for an authentic, empowering church
By Thomas Reese

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — After a week-long meeting in Rome with Pope Francis, young Catholics called for an authentic and empowering church where they would feel welcomed.

The call came in a 16-page document approved by the 300 young people from all over the world who participated in a meeting preparing for the synod of bishops that will meet in October on the topic of “Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment.”

Today, March 13, is the fifth anniversary of the election of Pope Francis. In the years since, I don’t think he has every been challenged in quite the manner he was last Thursday by Mary McAleese. Her language was strong, and her tone had an underlying anger to it. Some have criticised her for this. I am in no position to do so, having spent most of my life as a member of the clerical elite, and not having any personal experience of what it is like for a woman in the Catholic Church.

“Who made the changes to the World Meeting of Families promotional material?”
Association of Catholic Priests
Tuesday 6 March 2018

The Association of Catholic Priests is concerned that, following the earlier removal of photographs from a leaflet, the organisers of the World Meeting of Families have now also removed the words of Bishop O’Connell (Archdiocese of Los Angeles) from their promotional video clip. His words were such that we find it impossible to understand how anyone who supports the message of Pope Francis could object to them.