Tony Flannery

“Who are we to close doors? In the ancient church we had the office of the person opening the doors to let the people in. But there has never been an office of somebody closing the door!”
Pope Francis, morning mass, May 12, 2014

Statement of the Austrian Pastors’ Intitiative on the Excommunication of Martha and Gert Heizer

Vienna, May 26, 2014

We, the Austrian Pastors’ Initiative, are deeply concerned about the actions the Church’s leadership has taken against Martha and Gert Heizer.

Martha Heizer and her husband Gert have been excommunicated by the Church, apparently with the approval, or possibly even the initiative, of Pope Francis.
I attended a Church Reform conference in Austria last autumn where I had the pleasure of meeting Martha. She is head of We Are Church, Germany. By any standards she is an impressive lady, having a deep love for the Church and for the faith. She is also kind, gentle and warm.

Tony Flannery’s book A Question of Conscience, is a riveting description of what it is like to be put on trial by the Vatican. Flannery’s case is one that provokes strong feelings from both sympathisers and critics. Fr. Adrian Egan, the head of Flannery’s order is Limerick, told the Irish Central website that the Vatican’s behaviour evoked ‘the Hoover days in America’ when minor allegations could get passed all the way up the chain of command and result in punitive measures.