- Remember Patrick Skelton whose anniversary also occurs.
- The collection last Sunday was € 918.00.
AS I WAS SAYING...
The bishop of Galway, James McLoughlin, has submitted his resignation to Rome, a mandatory act for all bishops on reaching the age of 75. In some instances, the resignation is accepted immediately; in others, a considerable time is allowed to elapse before the new bishop is appointed. Inevitably, the successor has been the subject of some speculation. It has centered on Eamon Walsh, an auxiliary bishop in Dublin and apostolic administrator in Ferns. I presume that this speculation is entirely without foundation. But, given the secrecy that surrounds the process, it is inevitable that such speculation will rush in to fill the vacuum.
'Openess' and 'accountability' are the buzz-words associated with today's political and social climate. These two qualities are now in demand to an almost obsessive degree in the political sphere. Yet the process of appointing a bishop remains, in practice at any rate, arcane and secretive. Officially, the appointement of a bishop is governed by the articles of Canon 378, 'the Rule Book' of the Catholic Church. It is worth quoting in its entirity:
- To be a suitable candidate for the episcopate, a
person must:
- Be outstanding in strong faith, good morals, piety, zeal for souls, wisdom, prudence and human virtues, and possess those other gifts which equip him to fulfil the office in question.
- be held in good esteem.
- be at least 35 years old.
- be a priest ordained for at least 5 years;
- hold a doctorate or at least a licentiate in Sacred Scripture, theology or canon law, from an institute of higher studies approved by the Apostolic See, or at least be well versed in these disciplines.
- The definitive judgement on the suitability of the person to be promoted rests with the Apostolic See (ie. with Rome).
Most of the provisions laid down in #1 are so broad as to be meaningless. For example, the requirement 'to be held in good esteem': what precisely does this mean? to be held in good esteem by whom? In effect, the only provision that matters is contained in #2. In other words, Rome or, more specifically, the Apostolic Nuncio will have the first and final say on who the local bishop will be. When it comes to espicopal appointments, the Catholic Church is an entirely centralised institution. The whole notion of 'collegiality' has gone out the wndow, especially over the last ten years.
So much for the method of appointment. The next question is: 'What criteria are used in the selection of an episcopal candidate?' Fr Thomas Reese in his book, Inside the Vatican, answers that question:
Questions on orthodoxy and church discipline are crucial. A priest supporting the ordination of women, optional priestly celibacy or birth control will not be made a bishop.
Conspicuous loyalty to Rome is regarded as a prerequisite for episcopal promotion. All other qualities of leadership are secondary. No wonder we're in a mess!
-Dick Lyng.EVENTS THIS WEEK AND LAST
- MIKADO:
To your left you find the very fearsome
Ko-Ko, aka Peter Flynn.
With about 25
others, Peter was involved
the Augustinian production
of the Mikado, the Gilbert
and Sullivan show. Great
fun was had by all involved,
including the occasional
audience! Actually it did
come together rather well in
the end. Admittedly, our audience was sparse enough on
the first night, but things picked up as we progressed.
(Never forget that only four men and a dog showed up for
the first ever production of Becket's 'Waiting for Godot' !)
But seriously, even if not one sinner showed up, the fun
involved in the production carried its own justification.
Great credit is due to our producer, Gerry Ferguson, ably
assisted by Bernadette. They were responsible for the
script (with a slight nod towards Gilbert and Sullivan!), the
set, the stage, the puppets, and almost everything else
connected with the show. Gearóid Lacey looked after the
sound, Maeve Heaney the lighting and Kathleen Leahy was
Stage Manager. The show would not have been possible
without the singers and musicians, all of them ably
marshalled by the endlessly patient Fin Garvey. Finally, I
want to acknowledge the sterling efforts of our two young
make-up artists, Feena Cunnane and Máirín Whelan. They
provided the disguises that enabled most of our actors to
take to the boards. It really was a super effort and does
them great credit! Thank you all very much. - ART EXHIBITION: The Galway Art Club hold an annual exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture in St. Patrick's School Hall, as part of the Galway Arts Festival. It continues until Saturday July 31st and admission is free.
OUR CHURH TODAY
"I will pin-point five essential features of the 'spirit of the Church today' , focused on 'how' questions rather than 'what' questions. How is the Church to be Church - what kind of procedures does it use, what kind of relationships does it foster among its members, what is its style as an institution? I would consider the following five characteristics to be essential:
- horizontal - the 2nd Vatican Council called the Church from what had been an almost exclusively vertical, pyramid-type, top down style of behaviour to one that took more account of the horizontal traditions in Catholicism. We should be on the look out for such horizontal words as co-operation, partnership, collaboration and especially collegiality;
- serving - the Council' s style and mentality is more consonant with serving than with controlling;
- changing - though Vatican II never used the word 'change' , its use of words like 'development' , 'progress' and even 'evolution' were precisely about change and implied that its own provisions were 'somewhat open ended' ;
- inclusive - a move from 'exclusion' to 'inclusion' marked by 'friendship words like sisters and brothers, and men and women of good will' and extending this friendship far beyond fellow Christians to 'anybody wanting to work for a better world' ;
- participative - a move from 'passive acceptance' to one of 'active participation and engagement' - not just in the liturgy but actually as 'a norm for the way we behave, that is constitutive of our style as Church' ."
-Kevin T. Kelly, The Furrow, July/August, 2004, Page 397.
MEMORABLE QUOTES
- "What is an artist? For every thousand people, there's nine hundred doing the work, ninety doing well, nine doing good, and one lucky devil who's the artist!" -Tom Stoppard.
- "A good many inconveniences attend play-going in any large city, but the greatest of them is usually the play itself ." -Kenneth Tynan.
- "It takes your enemy and your friend, working together, to hurt you to the heart; the one to slander you, and the other to carry that news to you." -Mark Twain.
- "Writers, like teeth, are divided into incisors and grinders." -Kenneth Tynan.