Tony Flannery

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.