Tony Flannery

Press Release

New Era – Last chance: Catholic Priests Associations and Reform Groups unite in International Conference in Limerick, Ireland

Limerick, 16.04.2015. “With the resignation of Pope Benedict we are at the end of an era, and this is our best chance to renew the church for a long time“, Father Tony Flannery of the Irish Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) saidduring an international conference in Limerick that brought together over 30 Catholic priests and church citizens from Ireland, Austria, Australia, Germany, India, Italy, Slovakia, Switzerland, the U.K.

It is now Wednesday night, and our conference is nearly at an end.  I haven’t been able to write much about it on this blog, for a number of reasons.  It has been enormously busy, and draining of energy. But much more, what has been happening here over the past three days among the forty of us who are gathered, is at such a depth and an intensity that it will take me some time to process it in my head, and to be able to make any attempt at describing it.

Our meeting began last evening.  All except two were present — those will be arriving today.

There was great fun and laughter as people re-connected who had not met in a long time, and others were meeting for the first time.  So there was lots to talk about, and great excitement.

We began the first formal session and 7.00 in the evening with prayer, a brief introduction of each person, and then down to business.