Moral revolt of Irish priests

GIACOMO GALEAZZI
9/30/2011
VATICAN CITY

A fight against abuse, priestly celibacy and transparency in the Church. In Ireland, the Association of Catholic priests will meet between 4 and 5 October to draft a memorandum of requests to be addressed to the Holy. Amongst its speakers, there will be three priests who are emblems of the protest against the Church hierarchies: the Austrian Helmut Schüller, the American Bernard Survil and the Irishman Tony Flannery. The Church hierarchy is being accused primarily of coming up with an inadequate solution to the urgent paedophilia crisis in the clergy. Added to this, is the appeal to the Vatican to review the rule of obligatory celibacy for priests.

Other items on the agenda include working towards “a full implementation of the vision on the Second Vatican Council’s teachings, with a particular focus on the importance of individual conscience, on the status and the active participation of all baptized Catholics, and on the task of creating a Church where all believers are treated equally. Further items to be focused on are the restructuring of the Church’s governing system, so that all our gifts can be brought together, the wisdom and experience of the entire community of faithful, women and men, encouraging a culture of discussion and transparency, particularly in the nomination of ecclesiastical leaders; a re-evaluation of the Catholic teachings on sexuality, in recognition of the deep mystery of human sexuality.”

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The organization intends to have “a forum and a voice to reflect, discuss and comment on Church related topics and Irish society today.” One of its objectives is to contest the new English translation of the missal. A translation which, Hoban affirms, is “excessively complex and too Latinate”, and written with very little previous consultation. A translation which no one seems to want: “It is an example of the Church trying to straighten out things that are of little importance rather than dealing with issues that really matter.” Many priests in Ireland feel bitterness and disappointment with regards to the current situation in the Irish Church, but have also expressed their hope for the future.”

The clergy is becoming aware of the necessity for a serious and genuine dialogue for the sake of change. With regards to the cover up of paedophilia cases, the Association of priests was inspired by a 2.600 page report issued in May 2009 by the inquiry commission on the abuse of minors, which condemned the abuse suffered by many children who were being hosted by bodies that were financed by the State and managed mainly by the Catholic Church. The report is based on statements given by victims and individuals who had worked in more than 250 of these institutions. It also claims that the cases of molestation and rape were “endemic”, especially in youth institutes.

“A climate of fear, created by pervasive, excessive and whimsical punishment, permeated the majority of institutions, all of them hosting males. Every day, children lived in fear, not knowing when they were going to be abused next,” the text condemned. The report revealed that inspectors from the department of education rarely visited the institutions, managers were warned of these visits in advance and they generally did not speak with the children guests.

full article at the Vatican Insider