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Planning for priestless parishes...
Dear Friends,
A lot of information to digest today — but significant developments. As you probably already know, if things continue to go on the way they've been going, within another generation large areas of this nation will be without priests. If the Holy Spirit hasn't answered the constant calls for more priests from the sectors that want to re-create Catholicism of the 1950s she's not likely to provide the necessary "miracle" in the next couple of decades. In his commentary today, George Ripon reveals that planning for this sort of scenario was actually begun under the late Archbishop Frank Little in Melbourne more than 15 years ago. Others came along with different ideas — or greater faith in miracles — and all that planning was discarded. George Ripon argues we need to develop those ideas further and urgently begin planning for Priestless Parishes. He puts forward ideas as to how that might begin based on some of the work done in Melbourne in the 1990s.
In a related article we bring news of a significant development in the United States where the reality of parish closures has caused lay people in 18 dioceses to mount an unprecedented appeal to the Vatican for mediation over the closures. While these are fascinating developments, in my own meditation on these sort of things, I have honestly begun to wonder if the Holy Spirit might have completely different ideas altogether, and we've not yet "locked in" to what the church of the future might look like in the mind of Almighty God. Great material for discussion in all of this.
<Read George Ripon's commentary>
www.catholica.com.au/gc2/occ/035_occ_170409.php
OUR CELEBRATION AT CARCOAR: This afternoon I hope to send out emails finalising the arrangements for our celebration at Carcoar on 4-5 May. If you would still like to be included in this celebration please email me or go to the registration form HERE. |
