There was and interesting thing on the wireless this morning, on the Today Programme, a report by Robert Pigott on the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. Apparently one in six of their clergy is either an agnostic or atheist. There was a report earlier this week that Australian apostate priest Peter Kennedy has now said he believes Jesus to be a "fable".
Yesterday I spent a pleasant afternoon with a priest from Ireland, who really could not see anyway forward, except being loyal to Peter and simply carrying on being faithful. That is why I am offering a Novena for the Church in Ireland.
Prayer for the Church in Ireland
God of our fathers,
renew us in the faith which is our life and salvation,
the hope which promises forgiveness and interior renewal,
the charity which purifies and opens our hearts
to love you,and in you,each of our brothers and sisters.
Lord Jesus Christ,
may the Church in Ireland renew her age-old commitment
to the education of our young people in the way of truth and goodness,holiness and generous service to society.
Holy Spirit,comforter, advocate and guide,
inspire a new springtime of holiness and apostolic zeal
for the Church in Ireland.
May our sorrow and our tears,
our sincere effort to redress past wrongs,
and our firm purpose of amendment
bear an abundant harvest of grace
for the deepening of the faith
in our families,parishes,schools and communities,
for the spiritual progress of Irish society,
and the growth of charity ,justice,joy and peace
within the whole human family.
To you,Triune God,
confident in the loving protection of Mary,
Queen of Ireland,our Mother,
and of Saint Patrick,Saint Brigid and all the saints,
do we entrust ourselves,our children,
and the needs of the Church in Ireland.
Amen
11 comments:
Thank you, Father Ray, for drawing this to our attention.
Dear Fr Ray,
Great Post, great idea! Maybe this could include the in England & Wales! Also maybe there could be an: Universal Rosary Crusade for both The Holy Father and The Universal Church!
Thanks and god Bless.
Michael.
Ye Olde Jarra Scribe
(The Jarrow Scriptorium)
Re Peter Kennedy:
The source cited has the following quotation from him:
"But he said he had not believed in Jesus for some time, calling the son of God a "fable" and a "metaphor".
"There is no corroborating evidence for the existence of a person called Jesus," he said."
In other words his disbelief in Christ is not a consequence or after event of the Archbishop removing him but precedes the removal.
In other words, the Archbishop acted rightly in removing him and did Kennedy a favour by removing him.
Well done, Father.
But I am amazed that five out of six protestant clergy in the Netherlands still believe in God.
It would be interesting to know what the proportion is in English Catholic dioceses.
Things do look depressing for the Church, all over the west, but we must still have hope: the world can change very quickly and when we least expect it.
Who knows what will happen when the world economy keels (perhaps sooner than many think)
Shane - Comfortable people who feel safe think they do not need religion.
There were no agnostics in the trenches.
Judging by the huge amounts of money collected in our places of worship for disaster stricken areas the Church is as strong as ever.
As a day of rest Sunday has been abolished,everybody is under so much pressure they do not know which way to turn,you can get the sack for wearing a cross and crucifixes are banned in schools.
With all those obstacles congregations of a quarter of what they were can be seen as very full indeed.
erm...yes there were.
In other words his disbelief in Christ is not a consequence or after event of the Archbishop removing him but precedes the removal.
What a pity that the Abp waited for 20 years to remove him and then only when the letters from the laity to the Abp and Rome finally triggered a response from Rome and the Abp "kicking and screaming" obeyed Rome.
Let us pray for the "little ones" who have left the Church or who have been invalidly baptised because of Kennedy and the inaction of his bishop.
Kennedy, who was supposedly orthodox at some stage, must know of the extra biblical evidence for Jesus.
Thank you Fr Ray for your prayers for the church in ireland. Those who still practice, and there are many, continue to believe and pray despite all the attempts of heretical preaching. There are still many good and holy priests in Ireland who suffer much in the current climate. I do believe that there is hope for us and I have noticed an increase in people attending daily Mass in my parish.
God bless you
Irish reader
I wholeheartedly agree that the Catholic Churc in Ireland needs, and wants, our prayers; but I am also praying for Peter Kennedy. I'm afraid I agree with Terry that the bishops were right to remove him for his good as much as any one else's. How does a man with a calling to do God's work find himself to be that destabilised in the essence of his faith?
The novena is a lovely idea.
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