The Irish bishops have launched a year for vocations which aims to start conversations on “the beauty of the vocation of priesthood” within families, parish communities as well as among priests.
Speaking to The Tablet at the national seminary in Maynooth, Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan, chair of the Bishops’ Council for Vocations explained: “Everyone has a vocation, but this year is specifically about prayer for vocations to the diocesan priesthood.” The theme for the Year of Vocations is “Take the Risk for Christ”.
Speaking ahead of the launch, Bishop Cullinan said: “From speaking to newly ordained priests, there is a strong correlation between their calling and the influence and encouragement received from a priest who had previously spoken to them about their ministry, about taking the risk for Christ.”
He appealed to any men considering priesthood to “be generous and trust. If this is what God wants for you, then this is how you will find fulfilment, not only in this life but in the next.”
There are calls for the Catholic Church to ordain women as deacons and priests and to allow women to preach the homily during Mass from in a new survey of more than 17,000 Catholic women around the world.
The International Survey of Catholic Women, carried out last year in response to the call for submissions to the 2021-2024 Synod of Bishops on synodality, was published as women worldwide celebrated International Women’s Day.
Recommendations include changes to Canon Law to permit women to preach the homily during Mass and considering the ordination of women to the diaconate and priesthood as a legitimate expression of doctrinal development.
Cafod has welcomed a report by MPs calling for government legislation to support debt relief for low-income countries and to prevent private creditors from blocking settlements. The charity said that these lenders had shown “time and time again they cannot behave responsibly when it comes to cancelling debt of low-income nations”.
The report from the House of Commons International Development Committee, published today, warned of a “debt crisis” in poorer countries, undermining national infrastructure and the effectiveness of aid.
A campaign to attract a new generation of RE teachers has begun after UCAS data showed that RE is down a third of applicants from the last recruitment cycle. Government inaction over recruiting teachers to RE has been blamed. The Department for Education has so far missed its target for the recruitment of RE teachers in nine of the last 10 years.
Despite this year’s fall in applicants, the subject continues to grow in popularity. Over the last five years entries to the GCSE have stood around an average of 250,000 with entries to the full course GCSE rising by 30 per cent over the last decade.
A new report published by Policy Exchange has identified key flaws which could lead to serious and harmful unintended consequences of assisted suicide. There are currently legislative proposals to legalise the practice in England and Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Jersey.
Written by Professor John Keown, one of the world’s leading ethicists, who describes the recent House of Lords debate on the subject as “flawed” and “below par” and identifies serious issues that could result from rash or ill-thought-through legislation.
A Derry priest this week celebrated 72 years since his ordination, making him the longest-ordained priest in his diocese – and possibly all Ireland.
Fr Michael Keaveney, aged 96, marked 72 years of priesthood on Friday 10 March. Originally from Molville, Co Donegal, Fr Keaveney was educated in Maynooth and Rome and in 1970 helped to recover La Trinidad Valencera, a ship from the Spanish Armada that sank off the Irish coast in 1588.
Fr Keaveney worked as a teacher in Derry's St Columb's College and as a parish priest in Countys Donegal, Tyrone and Derry.
An Anglican tribunal has granted permission for the exhumation and reburial of a Catholic buried in a Church of England churchyard 35 years ago due to the Church’s laws at the time against the burial of those who died by suicide.
The deceased took his own life in October 1988, when he was aged 20. The sister of the deceased man petitioned the Anglican Diocese of Ely for permission to move her brother’s remains to a family burial plot in a south-east London cemetery which described itself as “serving the members of all faiths and communities”.
The deceased’s mother’s parish priest had agreed to bury the mother with the deceased, using full Catholic burial rites, according to the mother’s stated wishes.
The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) and the Lay Catholic Group (LCG) have called on the Vatican and the Redemptorists to restore Fr Tony Flannery to ministry. The popular priest was censured by the CDF in 2012 over his support for women priests, optional clerical celibacy and for questioning of the church’s LGBT teachings.
In their joint statement the ACP and LCG said a “flawed process” had condemned Fr Flannery to “a gratuitous and unacceptable punishment of banishment from the exercise of his priesthood, effectively for life”. They said the issues he wrote about which resulted in his removal from ministry are now discussed in the public forums of the Church.
The Irish bishops have welcomed the new framework for the Primary School Curriculum saying it respects the holistic nature of education in providing for the development of the whole human person.
Launched last week by the Minister for Education, Norma Foley, the new Framework was developed over six years by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. It is the first major overhaul of the curriculum in 25 years.
The revised curriculum will see foreign languages become mandatory while the time spent teaching religion will be reduced. The bishops said they recognise the need for the curriculum to meet the evolving educational needs of pupils while respecting the ethos and curriculum of all primary schools.
The Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland (AMRI) has called on its members to cooperate with the government’s scoping inquiry into revelations of historical sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders.
AMRI has encouraged its members to make records and documents available and to engage with the inquiry in “an open and transparent way”.
In a statement, Brendan Coffey, president of AMRI, said the religious leaders hoped the inquiry would help frame a response that would meet the needs of survivors, who should continue to be consulted in the planning and design of the inquiry. “As Church leaders, we are committed to supporting the healing of survivors of abuse,” Abbot Coffey said.
The Homes for Ukraine Scheme saved the UK tax payer over £4 billion, compared to the costs of housing refugees in hotels, according to a report by Sanctuary Foundation, enabling 117,100 people, predominantly women and children, to find sanctuary in the UK.
Special Masses and celebrations on St Patrick’s Day in London were to include an 11am Mass at the London Irish Centre in Camden, celebrated by Fr Gerry McFlynn, followed by refreshments and live music. The project manager for the Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas also concelebrated a special Mass at Sacred Heart in Kilburn.
Elsewhere in London, St Patrick’s in Soho Square blessed and distributed shamrocks at all Masses.
Last Sunday, the St Patrick’s Day festival in London, attended by thousands, was described by Mayor Sadiq Khan as “an amazing celebration of London’s Irish community”.
St Theresa’s Catholic Primary School was among crowds celebrating in Leeds the same day, and saw Canon Eugene McGillycuddy, parish priest at St Patrick's in Leeds, lead the parade. Parishioners of St Mary’s Church and a group from Gloucester Catholic High School enjoyed a Gloucester City celebration last weekend.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s trip to the US to discuss the Aukus defence agreement with his Australian and US counterparts was been criticised by peace groups. The Aukus pact aims to counter what the three nations see as China’s threat in the Indo-Pacific region.
However, Bridget Tiller, co-chair of the Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, told The Tablet that “nuclear weapons are not only immoral and hugely expensive, they are also strictly controlled by international treaties, something the Aukus deal clearly breaches”.
She added: “As Christians we believe that Jesus calls us to work together for peace not by sharing weapons of mass destruction and increasing global instability but through understanding, collaboration and seeking justice.”
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