Dear Editor, The leadership of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) have been particularly successful in recent times of getting their opinions broadcast and published in national media. I accept that all priests need to have a voice in representing their views and that the demands of priesthood in 2017 are very onerous, as older men undertake more duties.
However, I do wonder if the ACP appreciate the contradictions of some of their statements. Objecting to plans for the continued introduction of male only diaconate because it may disrespect women while bemoaning the workloads, stress and isolation felt by many priests, makes little sense to me. I am sure our bishops appreciate that, unlike the priesthood, there are no theological reasons why a woman should not become a deacon, indeed St Paul refers in Romans 16:1 to “our sister Phoebe, a deacon”.
Even with a committed parish team of lay people to support the priest, sacramental duties can only be performed by an ordained minister of the Church. The role of the deacon is one of service and it does not command a controlling position in any parish that I am aware of, indeed St Francis of Assisi was a deacon and he clearly had no intent on exercising power.
The value of the permanent diaconate even if it is only open to males at this time, is that it offers support now, to priests in sharing the sacramental workload. But I would argue also that rather than disrespecting women it offers the opportunity for a process of cultural change within parishes, as people become accustomed to seeing married men, often with families, undertaking sacramental duties such as baptisms, weddings and funeral services.
Yours etc.,
Frank Browne,
Templeogue, Dublin 16.
Cardinal Müller and the ‘elephant in the room’
Dear Editor, I can’t help noticing that, in Christopher Altieri’s Notebook about the papal sacking of Cardinal Gerhard Müller as Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (IC 10/08/2017), he carefully avoids mentioning the ‘elephant in the room’ – Cardinal Müller’s attitude to the dubia expressed by four cardinals about the Pope’s teaching on Amoris Laetitia.
For those who don’t know, Pope Francis has told the bishops of Argentina that his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia means that divorced and remarried Catholics can receive Holy Communion. Four cardinals – Raymond Burke, Carlo Caffarra, the retired archbishop of Bologna, and German cardinals Walter Brandmüller and Joachim Meisner — eventually sent five questions, called dubia (Latin for ‘doubts’) to the Holy Father and Cardinal Müller, last September. They have asked Pope Francis to clarify how his teaching can be read in the context of the Catholic tradition. He has refused.
Cardinal Müller told EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo in May that the dubia contained “legitimate questions to the Pope”. The cardinal also addressed the issue of deaconesses (female priests “will not come,” he said), Rome’s efforts to reconcile with the Society of St Pius X (SSPX) and “liturgical abuses” in the Church.
Now Cardinal Muller has been sacked as head of the CDF, Cardinal Burke has been dismissed as head of the Apostolic Signatura and the other three cardinals wait to learn whether their red hats will be taken away by the Pope.
Yours etc.,
Kieron Wood,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
New nuncio a welcome sight
Dear Editor, I was glad to see our new nuncio has arrived in Ireland (IC 17/08/2017). Perhaps now the elderly bishops awaiting permission to retire can finally be replaced with some young bloods who can lead the charge of the mission of re-energising the Irish Church. And dare I say it, could we also maybe see some of the smaller dioceses amalgamated so we have a more realistic number of dioceses for the size of the island?
Yours etc.,
Deirdre Burke,
Bray,
Co. Wicklow.
Jesuits’ amazing survival of atomic bomb
Dear Editor, In relation to the article of David Quinn (IC 10/08/2017) on the atomic bomb, your readers might like to know that when that bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, on August 6, 1945 four Jesuit priests were saying the Rosary in a house at the epicentre of the blast, where every building was demolished and people were vaporised in the terrific heat generated by the blast.
Later photographs showed the house in which the priests were praying remained intact and they suffered no aftereffects.
Over many subsequent years they were examined by various medical specialists and scientists, none of whom could explain their survival unscathed. All four priests remained healthy and died of natural causes in their old age.
In 1969, the French government was carrying out nuclear tests on the island of Moruroa in the south Pacific. In photographs of the mushroom generated by the blast, at the bottom left hand corner of the mushroom can be clearly seen Christ on His Cross, with the Blessed Virgin kneeling at the bottom of the Cross. And this was well before digital photography came into being.
Yours etc.,
Pat Mullin,
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9.
We shouldn’t limit avenues of faith formation
Dear Editor, I agree with Fr Patrick Seaver (IC Letters 03/08/2017) regarding the centrality of parents in the faith formation of children. The family, as a ‘domestic church’ is of crucial importance in the handing on of faith. I also concede that sacramental preparation may be best served solely in a parish context, once adequate resources, particularly well-trained catechists, are in place to facilitate this. Parents may also require formation to enable them to live a truly sacramental life as a family.
I also agree that knowledge of the Faith alone does not suffice. However, I do not view Catholic education as a simple imparting of knowledge. A teacher who lives his/her Catholic faith with conviction and integrity, has great influence regarding the attitudes children develop about God and faith. I am fully aware that my witness or the school’s alone is no guarantee that my pupils will become intentional disciples actively involved in their parishes. However, the witness of a significant person could ignite a spark.
Further, while the home may be the primary evangelising agent, it can happen that a young person can choose God even without home-based faith formation.
Ultimately, is it truly wise to limit the avenues within which God can work? Is it wise for Catholics to support school secularisation when in countries like France, all religious symbols are now banned from schools, ‘strict neutrality’ is demanded from all teachers with regards to faith, and no leeway whatsoever is given for teachers to witness to their religious convictions in the classroom (Secularism Charter, 2013)?
Not only do I see school secularisation as a bad move for our young people, but inevitably for teachers of faith too.
Yours etc.,
Róisín O’Rourke.
Leitrim Village,
Co. Leitrim
Be careful of wording of old prayers
Dear Editor, I would like through the columns of your newspaper to call on people to be careful about the prayers they use which belong to a different time and era. They reflect a bad theology.
I would suggest that people stop using a prayer which contains these words: “O Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell…” This prayer is sometimes used during the public recitation of the Rosary. It is claimed that it originated in Fatima.
Wherever it originated it should be abolished forever. I would also ask people to refrain from the old versions of the Act of Sorrow about “offending” God and to use the new one learned by children in school. It is short and meaningful.
Yours etc.,
Fr Joe McVeigh,
Enniskillen,
Co. Fermanagh.