Tony Flannery

In my recent sojourn in the U.S. I came across a Canon Lawyer. We met over dinner on the evening of my arrival, with three other people in the company. This Canon Lawyer straight away launched into questioning me about my situation re the priesthood, and told me that if he had been dealing with my case it would have been long ago settled. I wasn’t passing too much remarks, since I had decided at an early stage not to go down the canon law route, reckoning that it would take years, and that I could find better ways to spend the later years of my life than wrangling with the Vatican.

This letter (below, and published on the ACP website) is a response from the ACP leadership meeting with the two bishops Martin earlier this year, and also the Papal visit in August.

In the eight years of our existence the ACP have tried constantly to get some worthwhile dialogue going with the Irish bishops. We have done this because we are passionately concerned for the future of our church, and since we represent a fair body of priests, we know that it would be much more beneficial to the church if we and the bishops worked together.

As I sit at Dulles Airport, waiting to fly back to Ireland, I am reflecting on my week here in the United States.

My first assignment was in Pittsburgh last Wednesday evening, where I was invited to speak to the Association of Pittsburgh Priests. This is an organisation founded back in the late nineteen sixties, after Humanae Vitae. That far back it was an independent association of priests, with an independent voice.