Diarmuid Martin apologises to parish for priest’s absence
Archbishop softens his tone and tells congregation it was ‘praiseworthy’ of Minister Josepha Madigan to step in to lead service
ARCHBISHOP Diarmuid Martin moved to draw a line under a week of unholy controversy by describing Minister Josepha Madigan’s intervention last weekend as ‘praiseworthy’.
In an apparent tempering of his approach to the controversy, the Dublin diocese chief also apologised to a Dublin congregation after a priest failed to celebrate Mass last weekend, which led Culture Minister Josepha Madigan to step in and lead prayers.
Ms Madigan later highlighted, in a media interview, the need for equality within the Church and called for women priests. She referred to a shortage of priests, prompting an angry response from Archbishop Martin, who criticised her for ‘pushing a particular agenda’.
At the Church of St Thérèse in Mount Merrion in Dublin last night, the archbishop apologised for the fact that Fr Edmond Grace, who due to celebrate the Mass on Saturday last, failed to turn up.
‘This was not a planned event but an unfortunate mistake, a mistake that should not have happened,’ he said.
He advised the congregation that if it read his ‘statement carefully’ he ‘never said it was inappropriate in such a situation for the community to gather in prayer – it was indeed praiseworthy’.
He added: ‘Neither did I say that in such a situation the prayer ought not to be led by a woman. This is something that happens in such situations.
‘The fact is that Fr Edmond Grace, who was due to celebrate the Mass on Saturday last, failed to turn up.
‘This was not a planned event, but an unfortunate mistake, but a mistake that should not have happened,’ said Archbishop Martin.
He advised the congregation that if it read his ‘statement carefully, I never said that it was inappropriate elsewhere’.
However, he strongly reiterated his remarks from earlier this week, saying: ‘The situation was not due to the fact of a shortage of priests. A priest had been designated. My concern was that such a situation that was unplanned should have been escalated into something else in the national media.’
He added that while ‘there will be divisions in the Church, these should not lead to hurt’, referencing his earlier comments that the minister’s actions had reputedly ‘hurt’ and caused people ‘considerable distress’.
At that time, he also railed against the view taken that she had ‘said Mass’, which was incorrect.
While Ms Madigan was said to have received applause in the Church last week, the archbishop’s comments were greeted with muted silence and some members of the elderly congregation exchanged quizzical looks.
A sense of normality returned to the church, as the archbishop was joined by Fr Brian O’Reilly, Fr Jerry Maher and Fr Grace – exactly a week after Ms Madigan and two female ministers of the word led the service.
Parishioners, however, were not singing from the same hymn sheet regarding com- ments made by the archbishop and Ms Madigan.
One female parishioner said after the Mass: ‘It was a good homily; he didn’t get personal or anything. He didn’t address Josepha – he couldn’t and he shouldn’t have. It would have been too political and added to the fire.’ After the Mass, a media spokesperson for the archbishop said he would not be answering further questions at this time.
Ms Madigan appears on the Church rota once a month as a minister for the word and previously praised a ‘very moving Mass’ by the archbishop, in support of parish administrator Fr Tony Coote, who has addressed his parishioners on his battle with motor neuron disease.
Outspoken priest Fr Tony Flannery, 71, who was censured by the Vatican, told the Irish Mail on Sunday he was ‘amazed’ at the ‘angry’ reaction of Archbishop Martin earlier this week. The Redemptorist priest, who was suspended from his duties five years ago, said the archbishop ‘lost it a bit’, adding that he is ‘normally astute and political’ in his rhetoric. ‘What Josepha Madigan did happens in churches all around the country, where ministers of the word are careful not to step into areas of the Mass that are confined to the priest. She should have been praised,’ he said. Fr Flannery said he found it galling that the archbishop claimed in a statement that there is no shortage of priests in Dublin. ‘Diarmuid Martin knows that the Dublin diocese will soon be in a disastrous
‘His not turning up was not planned but a mistake’
state. The average age of priests in the Dublin diocese is 70. If that’s not an impending crisis, I don’t know what is.’
Fr Paddy Byrne, of Portlaoise parish, received abuse on Twitter for his support of Ms Madigan, and he has said that the Church needs ‘to move on or die’.
‘Basically we have a crisis in the Catholic Church in Ireland and it’s a vocational crisis. The time is fast approaching when the mostly elderly men who say Mass across the country each weekend will all be dead.
‘Are we supposed to allow the Church to die because we don’t have enough men to lead it?
‘And that’s when we’ll really need women like Josepha Madigan. She did an honourable thing last weekend.’
Meanwhile the son of former president Mary McAleese, has added his voice to those calling for change.
Speaking to MoS, Justin McAleese, who is hoping to be selected on the Fianna Fáil ticket for Dublin-Rathdown in the next election, said: ‘Of course, the Church must introduce women priests. Women aren’t a minority group in Ireland; they are 50%+ of the population and should not and will not be ignored or told to be quiet.’