Catholic Spring?
• There has been a sharp focus on those wounded and sexually abused by Catholic clergy -- understandably and rightly so. I write to point out that there has also been a plethora of false accusations and injustices, which have left innocent Catholic priests demoralised, traumatised and social outcasts for the rest of their lives. That is patently unjust. Some would have me bludgeoned and silenced for daring to exercise the priestly role, inherently aligned to sacramental ministry -- namely, to speak this truth.
The presumption of innocence, unless legally proved otherwise, is the cherished right of every Irish citizen, even though the EU is already seeking to abolish this right. The law of the land applies equally to every person. Irish priests should not be treated otherwise, as if they were ecclesiastical serfs without legal rights. All priests tend to be tarred with the same brush; some are ridiculed or jeered and spat at in public.
Within the context of the Irish church, the objective norms of the Catholic Church's more humane canonical tradition have been sidelined, including the crucial principle of just law 'audiantur partes omnes' (let all sides be heard).
What now largely prevail are local church norms and regulations of bishops, major superiors, provincials, vicars major etc. And by what authority? That of Christ Jesus? Certainly this is not by virtue of civil law, or canon law, from which the concept of equity passed into the English common law and subsequently into our Irish common law tradition. Is this questionable authority founded simply on the power of leaden-fisted, insensitive and ungodly prelates scrambling for cover from the irresponsibility of the past while expending vast sums of the laity's money in legal fees fighting their own personal cases in the courts of justice?
Conjoined are the highly-paid, pseudo-psycho experts, self-proclaimed sexperts, and church-employed public relations people. Then there are trials by media teams, episcopally appointed lay commissioners and other vested interests who appear to have the power to topple Catholic bishops. The legal principle 'audi alteram partem ' (let the other party be heard) is not applied in spite of the declared policy of the Press Council of Ireland for fair, accurate and honest reporting.
The Irish Catholic priesthood is now a minefield.
Splendid religious spectacles -- presided over by an expensive cavalcade of patriarchs, cardinals, Vatican ambassadors and envoys, together with their entourages, bishops, monsignori, and perennial conference-givers from five continents -- are not the answer to our religious problems in this time of national and moral bankruptcy.
What Catholic Ireland needs to promote the 'new spring' are fully representative (clerical and lay) diocesan synods culminating in an Irish synod. These will bring healing to the abused and deeply wounded, an impulse towards true evangelisation and strengthen the common desire for the responsibility to elect our own bishops.
The Irish Catholic Church needs to regain its autonomy from the all-controlling, autocratic power of the post-Vatican II (post-1965) Roman career technocrats. These officials have been and are still the bane of our church. These initiatives will revivify our communion in a new age with the Pope, Peter's successor, to whom the Irish Catholic people have always been loyal.
Revd Dr Thomas SR O'Flynn
St Mary's Priory, Tallaght, Dublin 24
Irish Independent
