Irish bishop caves under pressure, won’t ordain only male deacons
Over at Crisis I saw that there is a piece by the esteemed Anthony Esolen called The Serpents Return to the Irish. That seems to be the case not only in these USA but also in the “old country” itself.
I saw this at Rev. Mr. Kandra’s blog, Deacon’s Bench:
Irish bishop bows to pressure, says he will postpone introduction of permanent deacons
Protests over the proposed introduction of a male-only lay ministry [oops!] in the Catholic diocese of Killaloe have forced the local bishop to back down and postpone the move.
In a letter read out in parishes on Sunday, Bishop Kieran O’Reilly acknowledged the concerns raised by lay women and groups in the western diocese about the permanent diaconate. [permanent deacons are not lay men. They are clerics.]
The move came after Kathleen McDonnell, a member a parish pastoral council in west Clare, had criticised the move to set up the men-only lay ministry and had called on the diocese to create a ministry for all. [Good grief.]
It also provoked a poster campaign opposing the new ministry which appeared on parish noticeboards across the diocese.
It comes as over half of Killaloe’s 82 priests are now aged 66 or older and between them they minister to 56 parishes across Co Clare as well as parts of Offaly, Laois, Tipperary and Limerick.
In his letter, Bishop O’Reilly told his flock that in light of the conversations held over the past weeks: “I will not now proceed with the introduction of the permanent diaconate at this time in the diocese.” [He caved in? Only men can be ordained, so let's not have anyone ordained.]
It is understood that a number of men had already put themselves forward for consideration as candidates for training to become deacons.
[...]
Check out the rest over there.
His smacks of what happened in the Diocese of Saginaw. The late Bishop Untener didn’t want to ordain men until he could also ordain women. Guess what that did to vocations.
In my opinion, the ordination of Permanent Deacons is not solution to the lack of priests, but it’s not nothing. I don’t mean that “not nothing” to be dismissive, but the fact is that deacons cannot say Mass, absolve sins or anoint.
But to buckle under this ridiculous protest? Really?
What is going on when bishops caved in to protest pressure like this?
Pray for our bishops, friends.
Moderation queue is ON.
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