(In February 2012 Tony Flannery, founder member of the Ass...)
In February 2012 Tony Flannery, founder member of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland, bestselling author and regular columnist with "Reality" magazine, was informed that the Vatican watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), was unhappy with some of his writings. He was summoned to Rome and told that until he revised his views he would not be allowed to minister as a priest or have any dealings with the media. He was to step down as leader of the ACP. Although he offered a statement of clarification and it seemed as if the matter were closed, a few months later the CDF made further, draconian demands, including a statement from him that he accepted all the moral teachings of the Church and that women could never be ordained priest. The CDF forbade him to return to priestly ministry, or be involved with the ACP, until he agreed to publish this statement. He was put under "formal precept of obedience not to attend the AGM of the ACP. (He did attend it.) During all this time the CDF never communicated directly with him. Documentation came through the leader of his own community on typed A4 pages with no heading, stamp or signature. He was warned abut the need for secrecy and threatened with excommunication and dismissal from the Redemptorists. Tony Flannery became convinced that he would never be allowed to return to ministry and that the real target of the CDF was his role in the Association of Catholic Priests. He went public on the matter in January 2013 and despite further attempts to clarify his position vis-a-vis the CDF he ramains barred from ministry. A Question of Conscience, which includes all the CDF documentation, provides conclusive proof of the Vatican's determination to stamp out what it regards as dissent, no matter how unjust the method it uses or how blatant its disregard for personal freedom and human dignity.
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Flannery was suspended by the Vatican in 2012. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith pointed out that Flannery"s views could be construed as "heresy" under church law, and threatened "canonical penalties," including excommunication, if he did not change his views.
(In February 2012 Tony Flannery, founder member of the Ass...)
In the past he has called for reconsideration of the church"s teachings on a variety of controversial issues, including the ordination of women. As a result he was investigated by the Vatican"s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In April 2012 he was silenced by the Congregation for publishing his views.
As of January 2013 he was reported to have rejected the Vatican"s orders to remain silent, stating, "I refuse to be terrified into submission." In a piece published in 2010 in Reality Magazine Flannery expressed doubt regarding transmission of priestly authority from Jesus to the priests of the Catholic Church, raising the possibility that the claim of authority was made by a group of early priests on their own behalf:
lieutenant is more likely that some time after Jesus, a select and privileged group within the community who had abrogated power and authority to themselves, interpreted the occasion of the Last Supper in a manner that suited their own agenda.
Recanting that assertion is one of the Catholic Church"s demands.
