Fr. Tony Flannery should heed words of Pope Francis
We are Church Ireland fully support Fr. Tony Flannery’s decision to celebrate a
public Mass on Sunday on January 22nd in Killimordaly, Co. Galway.
This conscientious decision taken by Fr. Flannery on the occasion of his
70 th birthday ignores the sanction of the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine the
Faith which forbade him to celebrate the Eucharist in public.
By defying this ban he has the implicit support of Pope Francis who told a group of
Religious on June 13th 2013 not to allow any communication from the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to bother them and encouraged them
with these words:
‘Explain what you have to explain but keep going forward – open doors, do
something where life is calling you‘
‘Fr. Tony Flannery should continue to open new doors and follow where his
discernment is calling him’, stated Brendan Butler, spokesperson.
Brendan Butler, We are Church spokesperson.