ACP welcome for pre-WMOF priests-bishops dialogue

The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has welcomed plans for a meeting between representatives of the ACP and the Irish Episcopal Conference (IEC).

The meeting, proposed for Monday, January 15, follows a request from Fr Brendan Hoban for such a meeting ahead of next August’s proposed visit by Pope Francis to the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) in Dublin.

The papal visit, Fr Hoban wrote, could “generate much needed energy and confidence in the Irish Church, encourage us to address some of the difficult issues we face and help to re-invigorate our dioceses and parishes”. As such, he wrote, the association wants to discuss how it might cooperate with the bishops’ conference around such issues as the vocations crisis, Pope Francis’ insights on marriage and the family, and the possibility of the Pontiff visiting refugees in direct provision.

At their October 2017 plenary meeting, conference executive secretary Msgr Gearóid Dullea, wrote in reply, the bishops recommended that the ACP representatives meet with Armagh’s Archbishop Eamon Martin and Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, chairman of the WMOF 2018 board.

Meanwhile, Fr Gerry O’Connor of the ACP leadership team has rejected criticisms of the association expressed by Fr Mark Patrick Hederman OSB in his keynote address to the association in Athlone last week.

Fr Hederman, until last year abbot of Glenstal Abbey, challenged the ACP for persistent criticisms of bishops, saying they would have little hope of achieving their aims without episcopal support. Priests at the AGM felt Fr Hederman had “misread the ACP at several levels”, Fr O’Connor told The Irish Catholic, adding: “He confused comments from individuals with comments from ACP about bishops, and came across as someone who had not done his homework.”