On Saturday I had a twenty minute interview on the Marian Finucane Show. But up this occasion it wasn’t Marian; it was Aine Lawlor who was doing the programme. I had never met Aine before, but of course knew her from all her years on Morning Ireland. Morning Ireland is a programme that seems to specialise in aggressive questioning of guests. I don’t particularly like that style of presentation. I find it irritating to listen to, and I don’t see that it achieves anything. Politicians are trained nowadays to counteract it, and my impression is that most of the interviews turn into a game, which does nothing to increase the sum of knowledge.y
Yesterdays interview was very different. The Aine Lawlor that I met was a warm, friendly woman, and I felt completely at home and relaxed the whole time. In the interview I continued the policy I have pursued all through this saga with the Vatican; I talked openly about the current situation, and the result of the meeting I had with my Redemptorist superiors a week ago. I explained that I had been told that there is no way that the Redemptorist will “take on” the CDF, and that the only way for me to get back into ministry is to re-enter the process with the CDF, strictly according to their rules, and give then a further statement. They have resolutely refused to meet me, or in any way to communicate with me directly.
So now I am faced with a simple, and fairly stark, choice. Am I willing to get back into dealing with the CDF, with no guarantee of a timescale or of an end result, in the hope of being allowed back in to ministry.? Or do I refuse to re-engage with a process that I have already on many occasions described as unjust, stay with my work in the reform movement, and accept that I will probably never minister as a priest again?
An interesting position, to put it mildly!!!
