An association founded to defend priests’ rights has written to every Catholic bishop in the country asking them to set up arbitration panels to address the treatment of priests by some bishops.
he Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) believes their proposal will result in “a simpler, fairer, more effective and less stressful procedure” when difficulties arise.
In their letter to the bishops, the priests call for arbitration panels in each of the Irish Church’s four provinces which would handle difficult issues “responsibly, sensibly and agreeably”.
In January, the association, which represents over 1,000 Irish priests, criticised the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore over his treatment of a recently laicised priest, saying it was “inappropriate, unreasonable and unacceptable”.
Popular parish priest, Fr Richard Geoghegan, had been serving in Carrick-on-Suir in Co Tipperary, and appeared on hotelier and TV personality Francis Brennan’s Grand Tour of Vietnam in 2017 where he entertained audiences with his drag impersonation of singer Shirley Bassey.
However, the performance sparked a backlash among conservative Catholics, with one blog demanding that Bishop Phonsie Cullinan dismiss him from the priesthood.
According to the ACP, the laicisation of Fr Geoghegan left him, at 54 years of age after 28 years of service to the diocese, without an income, accommodation and “dependant on a derisory financial settlement”.
However, Bishop Cullinan said Fr Geoghegan left “of his own accord”.
According to the ACP, the new process the priests are proposing would involve “respectful dialogue” between bishop and priest, supported, if necessary, by professional experts in relevant disciplines.
The Irish Independent understands that these would include mediators, canon lawyers, therapists and at least one woman on every panel.
Last November, the ACP issued a statement highlighting complaints it had received from priests, who were not members of the group, revealing their difficulties with the way some bishops were treating them.
“With most bishops there is a respectful engagement with their priests with whatever concerns they have and whatever difficulties they encounter. But there is a small number of bishops and archbishops who consistently represent the vast majority of complaints being received from priests and who need to be held to account for it,” the ACP said.
The complaints related to priests who are gay being refused permission to work in parishes, priests who have concerns about the demands on their mental or physical health not being allowed to retire until they reach 75, and bishops commenting disparagingly on some priests’ personal appearance and ministry.
The ACP is seeking to have issues dealt with at local level, rather than bishops referring them on to Rome.
They said their experience as a priests’ association was that in many cases a satisfactory compromise could have been found if there was “a structure that facilitated a fair, balanced and reasonable engagement with the issue”.
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