A leading advocate for reform in the Catholic Church has said trying to bring about about meaningful change is “like beating one’s head against a stone wall”.

Fr Tony Flannery has spoken about his frustration at the lack of support from the Catholic bishops since being withdrawn from public duties over his views on reforming the church.

Thanks to Margaret Hickey for her well-argued defence of Bishop William Crean’s actions in respect of a misguided invitation to priest, Tony Flannery, to abandon his silence and promote his Protestant ideas on Catholic premises.

When Pope Francis was elected he instanced two major issues that needed addressing: Firstly, reform of the Roman Curia (the Church’s civil service), and secondly establishing the underlying causes of child abuse by clerics and the cover up of that abuse by higher-placed clerics such as bishops and cardinals.

Priests have welcomed a letter from Pope Francis which allows them discretion to formally forgive women who have had abortions.

In the light of centuries of misogyny and patriarchy exhibited by the Christian churches, especially but not uniquely the Roman Catholic Church, under the guise of divine command, it is disappointing to read Margaret Hickey’s defence (Irish Examiner, 31 August 31) of banning Fr Tony Flannery from speaking on ‘Church property’.

The prophetic voice is not authentic if it seeks to redefine long-established Church teaching according to its own reading of the signs of the times, according to Margaret Hickey

No-one should be surprised hearing Fr Tony Flannery complain about being censored.

SOME things never change, at least in the institution of the Catholic Church. 

Celebrating ten years in existence, the Cork World Book Fest (April 22-26), organised by Cork City Library and Triskel Christchurch, is one of the city’s most popular cultural events.

I was sickened to read of the meeting between the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) and the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (Irish Examiner, March 8). Abusive priests have been shown too much compassion by their victims and the Irish public.

Priests who abused children should be forgiven for past “mistakes” and allowed return to ministries where they have authority over minors, a Catholic Church group has claimed.

Catholic rules on issues like contraception and same-sex relationships are "disconnected from real life experience of families", according to the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin.

Pope Francis is proving to be one of the great reformers of the Catholic Church and may even prove more radical than Pope John XXIII, according to Redemptorist priest, Fr Tony Flannery.

In spite of the Vatican’s stance, two thirds of priests here believe the availability of contraception is very important to their parishioners and three quarters admit the Catholic Church’s stance on family planning is not accepted.

A representative of the Association of Catholic Priests has welcomed comments from the former President Mary McAleese in relation to homosexuality within the Catholic Church.

The Association of Catholic Priests elected three new leading spokesmen yesterday as rebel priest Fr Tony Flannery admitted there had been “no change” on his ban on ministry.

The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has said children who were abused by priests must be remembered during any criticisms of the Murphy report.

Fr Iggy O’Donovan has accused the Catholic Church hierarchy of “luring him into a trap” and behaving in a mean and deceitful way over a complaint made about a baptism at which he officiated.

Pope Francis’s first major interview has been described as containing “wonderful authenticity” but as “very challenging” by the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin.

Fr Tony Flannery was officially silenced and told to withdraw from public ministry by the Vatican in 2012.

The country’s bishops refused to meet with six Irish priests silenced by the Vatican claiming their predicament was not an issue for the Irish hierarchy as the priests were members of religious orders and not diocesan priests.

The Pope’s second in command has opened the door to a conversation on priestly celibacy by saying the tradition “is not dogma or a law of divine origin” and so up for discussion.

An outspoken Catholic priest has moved to quash rumours that his departure from the parish he has served for 12 years is an attempt by the Vatican to silence him.

Most Irish bishops believe we have become a “nation of pagans” who bought in to the “evils of materialism and consumerism” of the Celtic Tiger era.

The Catholic Church has come under fire on several fronts for not supporting priests against whom false allegations of abuse are made.

Outspoken Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery, who was threatened with excommunication under the reign of Pope Benedict, has paid tribute to the former pope for stepping down — because, whether he intended it or not, he had paved the way for open discussion within the Church.

There was surprise and delight in Ireland when the Archbishop of Buenos Aires was announced as the new leader of the world’s 1.2bn Catholics.

Cardinals have set Tuesday as the start date for the conclave to elect the next pope.

Unwillingness to deal directly with an accused person, an injunction to secrecy, presumption of guilt, lack of due process – does this seem like a caring church in 21st century Ireland?

Fr Tony Flannery informs us that he has been threatened with excommunication from the Church, an institution to which he has dedicated the greater part of his life.

More than 150 people picketed the residence of the Papal Nuncio in Dublin this afternoon in protest at the Catholic Church's treatment of well-known Irish missionary Fr Tony Flannery.

The silencing of Fr Tony Flannery (Irish Examiner, Thursday, Jan 24) brings to mind another who spent a lifetime pursuing independent thought and conscience in defiance of the Catholic Church – Galileo.

THERE’S a thorny old problem in theology: free will versus determinism.

The Redemptorist religious order has come out in support of one of its priests who is to risk excommunication rather than give in to Vatican demands to stop questioning Catholic church teachings on sexuality and women priests.

On a weekend when the Catholic church flexed its muscles in the abortion debate, bringing an estimated 25,000 pro-life supporters from all parts of Ireland onto the streets of Dublin, its moral authority was quietly dealt a potentially damaging blow by an outspoken priest who openly defies the power of the Vatican.

The Association of Catholic Priests has called for changes to be made to the guidelines on standing aside priests accused of abuse from ministry.

Former president Mary McAleese has decried the Church’s treatment of five silenced priests, accusing Rome of operating through fear and imposing strictures on the clerics which “consume the truth”.

A priest who was censured earlier this year by the Vatican has said he has not been warned about his future conduct ahead of two large regional meetings on the future of the Church in Cork and Galway.

The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has welcomed proposals by the bishops that lay people could yet hold services in this country if there are not enough priests for every parish.