Vatican silencing of six Irish priests should be ended in preparation for the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland next August, one of those priests has said. Fr Flannery was banned from public ministry in 2012 for expressing his more liberal views on priesthood, women priests, homosexuality and contraception. The six priests Fr Flannery refers to include Passionist Fr Brian D’Arcy, Redemptorist Fr Gerard Moloney, Capuchin Fr Owen O’Sullivan, Augustinian Fr Iggy O’Donovan and Marist Fr Seán Fagan, who died in 2016. In a post on his website Fr Flannery commented that “the various levels of authority above me in the church” would “happily leave me where I am. Meanwhile ,“I remain outside the fold, unable to do my priestly work, branded a heretic, and left in this ‘limbo’ state,” Fr Flannery said.

Source: The Irish Times April 16, 2018 19:18 UTC