It isn't just the Church in Ireland that “is on the edge of an abyss” but the Church throughout the whole Western world, and particularly Europe. The situation is so incredibly bad, for all the reasons and the facts set out by Fr Brendan Hoban (The Tablet, 8 November), that drastic action is needed, and needed now.
I would go as far as to say that the attitude and inaction of the Church on this matter, which is in effectively, knowingly and consciously endorsing the denial of the sacraments, above all the Eucharist, to the people of God, is downright wrong. The whole clergy, from the Pope, curia, hierarchies and every single religious and secular priest who goes along with it and does not publicly oppose it, is objectively culpable and one day will answer for it. Because they are denying the life of the Church, of Christ's body itself, to whole generations to come in their vast millions. Christ didn't die for this. And there were three women standing beneath his cross, and only one man.
There isn't one single theological objection to married clergy and women priests. And what so much worse, they all know it. Why, Peter himself the first pope, and Paul, and all the Apostles were married men. Paul tells us that in 1 Corinthians 9. And Paul tells us in Galations 3:28 that in Christ there is neither male nor female. “You are all one person in Christ Jesus.” What an insult to the female our Church is, what a dreadful statement to the modern woman! Only an out-of-date and petrified canon law, not our Christian faith and revelation, stands opposed.
What must happen now is wholesale demand by the people of God for the ordination of those deacons who want to be priests, for an invitation from the hierarchy to all priests who left to return and, above all, a declaration by women everywhere in groups, from conferences and meetings and individually, to be sent to the Pope and Synods and hierarchies, that they demand the right for women to be ordained as their rightful Christian heritage. The people of God – I hate the word “laity” – must no longer be a sleeping giant. To quote Shelley, we must all “Rise, like lions after slumber: In unvanquishable number! Shake your chains to earth like dew … Ye are many—they are few!"
Michael Knowles, Congleton, Cheshire
So many of the remedies Fr Brendan Hoban mentions have been replicated in England. Recently the academic Mary Grey has argued for the opening of the permanent diaconate to women as a transitional measure. Yet the real problem is the current model of clericalism and the inbred patriarchy in the Church – which women deacons would not resolve.
Fr Hoban is right to point to the work of Francis in seeking to extend the principle of synodality at all levels of church community. A diocesan synod with equal voice for all believers is an admirable idea. The aim should be not to inaugurate a new round of ‘remedies’ for a shrinking presbyterate, but to address questions such as, “How can the gulf between the clerical leadership and the pastoral concerns of the laity be overcome?” A second topic might be, “How radical should the content of the New Evangelisation be?” The Church is always striving to renew itself .
So much of Christianity has focused on Heaven, eternity, Life beyond the grave, redemption from our fallen nature. But there is a real need to see incarnation as a reality affecting all of us in our evolving cosmos. The promise of the Kingdom is not about the afterlife but about the whole of created reality and its future fulfilment. There is so much more to consider. I do not, however, hold my breath in expectation. Recent dialogue about a possible Diocesan Pastoral Council in Portsmouth is still heavily hierarchically structured within a clerically approved possible agenda.
Frank Campbell, Southampton
Fr Hoban identifies that “In Ireland it (the ministry of deacons) is not viewed as a ministry in its own right”. But isn’t that just as true of so many priests and people in this country too? He also identifies key errors in the thinking of local bishops, which has stirred up yet more misunderstanding of what deacons and diaconal ministry is all about.
Ordaining permanent deacons because of a shortage of priests a gap-filler or for substitutes is nonsense. The roles are quite different. Vatican II did not restore the permanent diaconate because of any shortage of priests but because of a shortage of expressed and led diaconia in the Church. The expressions of priesthood and diaconia are quite different – and that’s the point.
Until the bishops of Ireland (and elsewhere) understand this and appoint deacons to specific diaconal roles, confusion will continue to reign. The diaconate is not necessarily or primarily about parish ministry. It is about service to those in need. In helping Father to minister to regular Mass-goers to the exclusion of mission, outreach and attention to the unattended needs in this vicinity, we run the risk of manicuring the one sheep left in the fold whilst sending no one to minister to those sheep out there where it’s dirty and where many more are in greater need. That’s the role of deacons as exemplars and leaders of the diaconia of the whole Church – a vocation of all the faithful.
It is small wonder that lay people, most clearly visible right now in a few firm-faithed women in Ireland, see deacons as a problem if what they see is deacons as Father’s helpers, focused on the sacristy, the presbytery and the faithful few.
Deacon Bill Burleigh, Sheffield
Perhaps a temporary alleviation to the shortage of priests in Ireland could be for bishops to leave their palaces to take charge of parishes where there is no priest. I believe there are 26 dioceses, so they would be providing a valuable boost to numbers. Most bishops will already have experience of running parishes so will already have "the smell of the sheep".
It might well raise the morale of parish priests in Ireland. I know of one retired bishop in England who looks forward to becoming a parish priest again.
Frank Murphy, Sheffield
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