Tony Flannery

Doctrinal Authority in the Francis Era

Toward a Pastoral Magisterium in Today’s Church
Richard R. Gaillardetz

Pope Francis during his general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican Dec. 14 / CNS photo
Pope Francis is a remarkable witness to authentic Christian discipleship. On this most Catholics agree. We love his humility and simple lifestyle, his infectious joy, his commitment to fundamental Gospel values. This admiration has not prevented some critics from expressing concerns regarding the exercise of his papal office.

When An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, visited Pope Francis recently he agreed to take a message from me to the Pope.
Below is the text of what I sent to Pope Francis:

Your Holiness, Pope Francis,

Since 1994, the credibility of the Catholic Church in Ireland has been severely damaged due to the clerical sexual abuse problems. This led to many people, even committed Catholics, asking serious questions about the structure and practices of our Church, and the reasons why Church authorities failed to deal properly with the emerging scandal.

After watching the interview of the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Brown, by Gay Byrne in the Meaning of Life programme of November 20, I wrote the following letter to the Nuncio:

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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​November 21, 2016

Archbishop Charles Browne
The Apostolic Nunctiature
183, Navan Rd, Dublin 7

Re: Would You Believe Programme, November 20, 2016, RTE

Dear Archbishop,
When you appeared on the above programme you stated that I had been asked by my superiors not to celebrate Mass publicly.