Priest def ies ban on preaching in Catholic church
A CENSURED Irish priest incurred the wrath of a prominent American archbishop after defying his order not to preach his mission of reform in a Catholic church.
Fr Tony Flannery, the founding member of the Association of Catholic Priests, was forbidden to minister as a priest two years ago because of his disagreement
‘There’s a real problem
with the Archbishop’
with the church on doctrinal issues.
But the defiant 67-year-old, who has been a member of the Redemptorist Congregation for more than 50 years, has been pushing for reform over the past weeks on an 18-date speaking tour across the US.
A row broke out earlier this week after church authorities discovered the Galway priest had been invited to speak in a Catholic church for the first time during his visit, namely St Frances Cabrini Church in south Minneapolis.
Fr Mike Tegeder, the church’s liberal parish priest, was summoned to meet his superior, Archbishop John Nienstedt, to explain why he had invited the ‘silenced’ cleric to give a talk in the church last Wednesday.
Fr Tegeder refused to back down, saying: ‘We didn’t have a meeting of the minds. He [Nienstedt] listened to me and I’m thankful for that. But I pounded the table, as I’m prone to do, and said this is non-negotiable.
‘I told him, “You can throw my ass right out of here, but I’m throwing myself on your mercy”.’ In subsequent correspondence to Fr Tegeder, Archbishop Nienstedt requested that Fr Flannery’s visit not be presented in any way as being sponsored by the Catholic Church.
Fr Flannery wrote on his blog that the talk went ahead and was the most successful to date of his tour. He said: ‘It was my first time in a Catholic church on this tour and the controversy between the pastor and the archbishop certainly helped to gather the crowd.
‘The church was overflowing and the basement hall was also used to fit the crowd, with a speaker installed.’
He added: ‘There is a real problem here with the archbishop. People feel angry and hurt with the way he is behaving and that came through the discussion.’
Before embarking on the speaking tour last month, Fr Flannery said he expected his words to be closely monitored by traditionalists in the Vatican.
He said: ‘I’ve absolutely no doubt that people will be sent out from the Vatican to watch me and keep a close eye on exactly what I have to say.
‘Everything I say and do will get back to them.’