Update June 9:  see below - letter by Chris McDonnell to Tablet, published June 9
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A letter of some significance appeared in the correspondence pages of the Tablet this week, June 02.  

It was signed by seven priests from various parts of England .

It seeks, in a moderate and considered tone, to re-establish the collegiality envisaged by the Second Vatican Council and further recognizes the need for the laity to be brought into significant discussions on a range of issues.  

With the Austrian Priests Initiative and the Association of Catholic priests in Ireland , we are beginning to see a grass roots movement in Europe seeking renewal and reform in our Church.  

I sometimes feel that the Call to Disobedience made by the group in Austria was an unfortunate term to use. But at some stage, and maybe we are now approaching that point, the voices of those loyal to the Church who seek such a movement in the spirit of the Council, must be listened to.  

Disagreements within a family do not seek to rupture that family but only express honestly held differing points of view.

In that way we can move forward together. It will be interesting to see the response they receive from both fellow priests and the laity in England and let’s hope that the manner in which some of the Irish priests have been treated by Rome is not extended to this island. I have attached a copy of their letter with this Note.  

Chris McDonnell UK

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Call to action

The Tablet June 02 2012  

We are a group of priests who have been meeting together because we are deeply concerned for the future of our Church, and we wish to support each other in the task of creating forums for all the baptised to contribute to the full teaching life of the Church.

The recent “universal call to holiness in Christ” for all the baptised made by our bishops at their November 2011 conference and their desire to promote a “culture of vocation” within the corporate identity of the Catholic Church, marked by a confident Catholic faith, has encouraged us to respond as follows.

The promotion of this culture of vocation must, we feel, be seen as a call to all the people of God to take responsibility for our Church.

It seems to us, therefore, that our bishops and priests should actively encourage this. Even though many lay people follow courses in theology and pastoral care, there seems little opportunity for them to use the skills they have acquired for the service of our Church.

The bishops speak of “fostering and encouraging a culture of dialogue and solidarity” but, in reality, there is little opportunity or forum for this and there seems a reluctance to listen to the people whose lived reality is so often at odds with the teaching of the institutional Church. This is especially true in reading the signs of the times; i.e. matters of developing a theology of sexuality rooted in the actual experiences of the faithful and developing an understanding of the relationships between evolution and religion. The sensus fidelium seems forgotten.

“Creating a national vocations framework, offering discernment and opportunities for all” again seems to ignore the view of so many of the laity that it is time for us to have serious discussion about married men and the institutional priesthood. While we support our bishops in their desire for the renewal of our Church, we recognize that certain basic teachings of the Second Vatican Council seem to be bypassed by the Roman Curia so that real collegiality is not fully exercised and much of the responsibility of the local bishops has been abrogated by the Curia. The recent imposition of the new translation of the Mass texts is an obvious example of this. We feel that it is imperative that those of us in the ministerial priesthood who are concerned for these and many other matters should gather together so that we both support our bishops and be a voice to which they can listen. We invite priests who feel as we do to contact us on sappie.dj@gmail.com with a view to calling us together to consider how best we might move forward.

(Fr) Ian Byrnes, (Fr) John Lally, (Fr) Patrick

McLaughlin, (Fr) Frank Nally, (Fr) Derek Reeve,

(Fr) Joe Ryan, (Fr) Paul Sanders

Letter by Chris McDonnell to Tablet, published June 9:

Vision for a pilgrim people

At last a group of priests has had the courage to raise their voices and put into print what so many of us are thinking (Letters, “Call to action”, 2 June). Theirs is not a rebellious call of disaffection with the Church which is their home, but they do express the real anxiety that is growing regarding the direction we are taking as we approach the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of Vatican II in 1962. 

Proverbs tells us that “without vision, the people perish”. That necessary vision of a pilgrim people is now being clouded as we lose direction in these post-conciliar years and attempts are made to inhibit the intentions of the Council Fathers. On too many issues there is a deafening silence from our bishops as the Roman Curia attempts to regain a centralised control of the Church, giving short shrift to collegiality. Raise a voice, offer an alternative view and the consequences are only too clear. Ask those priests in Ireland who offered a caring ministry to their people what can happen if you challenge, in charity, the accepted norm and seek to respond to the real needs of the Christian community. I would hope that not only fellow priests, but the laity in general, offer the signatories to this letter their support, encouragement and prayers. 
Chris McDonnellLittle Haywood, Staffordshire