Tony Flannery

Since I am now retired from my leadership role in the Association of Catholic Priests I can stand back a little and observe things for some bit of distance. One of the most extraordinary things for me is the difficulty of having any sort of real discussion with Church authorities. After five years in existence, and representing a very large body of priests, the few meetings that have taken place with bishops’ representatives have been very unsatisfactory, with no real or meaningful discussion happening at them, and there has been no contact of any nature with the Papal Nuncio.

“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.