Tony Flannery

The story of the effort by the bishop of Killaloe, Kieran O’Reilly, to introduce the permanent diaconate in his diocese continues to break new ground, and set an example for other places
The latest development is that the bishop has decided to put the decision on hold while further discussion takes place. He deserves great credit for making this decision. How often have we seen Church authorities stubbornly stick with decisions even when they were obviously wrong, because they felt they could not publicly admit that they made a mistake.

Two Irish bishops are in the spotlight at the moment, and it is hard to say that either of them is handling it well.
First we have Kieran O’Reilly, bishop of Killaloe for the past three years. I suppose it could be said that he took on a difficult assignment, coming in after Willie Walsh, who was by far the most popular bishop in Ireland. So much so that the Vatican rapidly accepted his resignation when he came to the proscribed age.

I have just been listening to three women talking on ClareFM (Fri.9.15am) about the proposed introduction of the permanent diaconate in Killaloe diocese.
What happened in Killaloe diocese is interesting. When Kieran O’Reilly became bishop he began a listening process right around the diocese. He got Gerry O’Hanlon to direct it. It was done really well, and their was a high level of participation. A report was drawn up, which summed up the issues that were raised during the process.