Women in Killaloe in County Clare who successfully campaigned for the deferral of the permanent all-male diaconate in the diocese are calling for money set aside for the project to be diverted to training the laity.
The group, which is now called “Seeds of Hope” in a reference to the Killaloe diocesan pastoral plan, “Builders of Hope”, was due to meet Bishop Kieran O’Reilly yesterday.
They are calling for the money set aside for the formation of deacons to be put into adult faith formation and training the laity in the ministries.
One member, Martina Meskell, said Seeds of Hope was delighted the bishop was open to dialogue and conversation.
“We are totally committed to our pastoral plan and our church. Kathleen McDonnell and I are members of the diocesan pastoral council. We believe dialogue is the way forward. We want a working relationship with our bishop and parish priests – we don’t want any conflict,” said Ms Meskell.
Bishop O’Reilly announced in September that he would delay the introduction of the diaconate following protests.
Ms Meskell said the reason the group was upset over the permanent diaconate was that it was introduced in a pastoral letter and had not been part of the listening process that produced “our beautiful pastoral plan, which is full of vision and hope and collaborative ministry”. The planned introduction of the permanent diaconate “came from nowhere” and is “exclusively male”.
She was speaking following a meeting in Dublin organised by reform groups, including the Association of Catholics in Ireland, to discuss the current Synod on the Family in Rome. Husband and wife Patricia Higgins and Seamus O’Gorman told the conference that the Church needs to “change the guest list” at next year’s synod and include more lay married participants.
Meanwhile, Kathleen McDonnell of Seeds of Hope told a meeting of the Association of Catholic Priests in County Mayo that the Church needed to be more imaginative around ministry, saying: “Deacons are not priests. This is not solving the vocations problem.”
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