Tony Flannery

For those who might be interested, this is a list of the fifteen main issues that were highlighted in the synthesis presented at the Athlone Synodal meeting on June 18. Along with listing the topics, I am also including a line or two from the presentation on each, to give some sense of the flavour of what was presented.

1. Abuse is part of the Story of the Church.   

Abuse relates to so many areas — our understanding of sexuality and of power; the absence of women in decision making roles; transparency and accountability in governance; clericalism.

Yesterday’s meeting in Athlone, as part of the Synodal Path in the Irish Church, was by any standards extraordinary. I certainly never thought that I would live to be part of such a gathering, or to experience such a sense of change and new life and energy in our tired and battered Irish Catholic Church. 

The purpose of the meeting was to report on the process that has been going on for some months in parishes, dioceses and among other interested groups.

April 2022
Synod LGBT+ Focus Group Feedback Diocese of Elphin
Organisers: David Carroll and Ursula Halligan Facilitator and Report Editor: Ursula Halligan
Page 1

Table of Contents:
Introduction. 3.
Key Themes. 4. Theme 1. Damage caused to LGBT+ people by the Catholic Church. 4.
• Synthesis of Theme 1. 6. Theme 2. Rejection and hurt caused to LGBT+ people of faith by the
institutional Catholic Church. 8. • Synthesis of Theme 2.