This article is from page 10 of the 2014-09-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
A NUMBER of priests from the Catholic Diocese of Killaloe were among those protesting at the now postponed Permanent Diaconate, which bars women from taking up the role within the Church locally.
Among those speaking at the open forum in the Inn at Dromoland and attended by more than 150 people was Ogonnelloe, Bodyke and Tuamgraney based Fr Donagh O’Meara who queried “how are decisions made in our diocese and who makes them?”
“I was on that listening process and there was only one time when I heard about deacons. Once. Where did that decision come from and who made it? That’s the debate that needs to happen. That’s the deeper question,” he said referring to the Listening Process introduced by Bishop Kieran O’Reilly.
According to those co-ordinating it, this process included feedback from 2,500 to 3,000 people and took 400 hours to put together.
“The overriding thing that I heard was about the absence of women in leadership roles and positions in the diocese. We then subsequently came back from that and what did we do? We were supposed to have to listened but we put in another layer of men. That appals me really,” he added.
Kilmihil priest Fr Peter O’Loughlin was equally forthright.
“One of the things that holds us all back at times is fear. Fear is created by people who have power and very often we’re afraid to speak. I congratulate you on speaking [to the organisers of the forum]. Thanks be to God you were listened to when some of us who have tried to speak on other oc- casions weren’t listened to,” he said.
“For myself I need to be listened to in my own diocese, but I’m not so I think it’s great to have groups like this expressing their viewpoints and the Church has to be listening as well,” the West Clare priest added.
Fr Harry Bohan made the point “If you smoother the debate you kill the organisation.”
Meanwhile Cross PP Fr Michael Casey asked one question, “What are the implications for the Church of excluding women from effective ministry in our own Church?” Communications off cer for the dio cese Fr Brendan Quinlivan fears were different however as he was worried that the stance taken by the women could result in a vocations crisis.
Speaking on a personal capacity he said, “If we are discouraging the development of holy orders in the Diaconate, you are also discouraging the development of holy orders in the priesthood. I hope and pray that I’m not a prophetic voice here tonight,” he said adding that the Diaconate stretches back thousands of years and that people may not understand what it entails.
“I think that in a lot of the discussion that has taken place and from people that I have listened to speaking, there is something of a lack of understanding in relation the nature of holy orders and sacrament. I’ve listened to def nitions of sacred ministry that are actually at variance with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
“It may not be your intended consequence but if you say that because women cannot be deacons, therefore we cannot have the Diaconate in the diocese then you might as well say that because women cannot be priests in the universal church today, that we should not accept candidates for the priesthood. That is the logical consequence of your argument,” he said.
Bishop Kieran O’Reilly sent his apologies for his non attendance at the forum.
One of the forum organisers conf rmed that Bishop Reilly had extend ed an invitation to meet with the forum committee, which she said they would take up.