Mass gathering helps break silence for rebel priest

Because Redemptorist priest Fr Tony Flannery has been forbidden by the Vatican to speak in public, he had to seek a non-church venue for the Mass he celebrated on Sunday to mark his 70th birthday.

“The obvious place was the community hall here [in Killimordaly]. Living so close by, where else would I go?” he mused as he addressed the packed congregation in the hall.

“But it was such a right decision,” he added. “The local community took it up and the sense of support and engagement and affection that I got from this area has been incredible.”

There had also been emails, calls and texts of support from elsewhere “which was lovely. But what happened here was special”, said Fr Flannery of the way friends and neighbours in his home place had rallied round.

Fr Flannery was silenced by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, five years ago.

The reason given by the Vatican’s ‘strong arm’ was that his liberal views on celibacy, women priests and homosexuality were out of line with Church teachings, as were his criticism about how the Church had dealt with cases of child sex abuse.

However, Fr Flannery feels that the real reason for the Vatican’s ire was his involvement in setting up The Irish Association of Catholic Priests. By silencing him, Rome was letting priests know that they were not entitled to a voice.

His decision to celebrate Mass in defiance of the Vatican was to mark the milestone of his 70th birthday, which fell on January 18. It was not to declare war on the Vatican, he said, just to celebrate his 40 years of ministry.

One group of women at Sunday’s event commented on the sadness of the occasion, given that those “with power and pomp” had prevented Fr Flannery from saying Mass for the previous five years.

But Tony Flannery didn’t look sad. In fact, he radiated happiness. This was a celebration.

The Mass featured a reading from the prophet Isaiah, while Matthew’s Gospel spoke of how “the people living in darkness have seen a great light”.

Some in the congregation nodded.

Mostly middle aged and older, and with many from the local area, they didn’t look like revolutionaries.

Respectable people, they were there to support a popular priest, whose message resonates.

See full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune.