Portugese bishops invite nations of the world to be consecrated at Fatima

Father Sean Sheehy / St. Mary’s Listowel/Radio Kerry/YouTube screen shot

Denver, Colo., Nov 2, 2022 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

An Irish bishop apologized for a priest’s homily that described abortion and homosexual acts as examples of sinful behavior. 

Bishop Ray Browne of Kerry published an apology on Nov. 1 for “the deep upset and hurt caused by the contents of the homilies“ given over the weekend by Father Seán Sheehy.

Video of the sermon was shared widely on social media and sparked both strong criticism and support from commentators.

Sheehy, who is retired, had been filling in for a parish priest at St. Mary’s Church in Listowel, a County Kerry town of fewer than 5,000 people. The reprimanded cleric on Wednesday told Irish media the bishop was “muzzling the truth in order to appease people.” 

In his recent sermon, the Irish priest reflected on sin, penitence, sainthood, and God’s forgiveness. 

“You rarely hear about sin, but it’s rampant,” he said. “We see it in the promotion of abortion. We see it for example in this lunatic approach of transgenderism.”

Another example, Sheehy said, was “the promotion of sex between two men and two women. That is sinful. That is a mortal sin and people don’t seem to realize it. It’s a fact, a reality, and we need to listen to God about it because if we don’t, then there is no hope for those people.”

Several of the congregation heckled the priest and some walked out.

“And so God is also telling you and me today, look, you have a responsibility to seek out those who are lost. You have a responsibility to call people to an awareness of the fact that sin is destructive, sin is detrimental, and sin will lead us to hell,” the priest said. 

Then Sheehy reflected that the saints honored in November are former sinners.

“When we honor the saints on the first of this coming month, we honor people who are saints. Why are there saints? Because they’re repented and because they sought forgiveness. As somebody said one time, heaven is full of converted sinners,” he said.

“And so today, God says to us, ‘I have come to call sinners, but if you don’t admit you’re a sinner, then you’re not listening to my call and I can’t do anything for you because it’s a two-way street.’ Now, there are people you see who won’t like to hear what I’m saying, but the day you die, you will find out. 

“What I’m saying is not what I invented, it is not what I came up with, [it] is what God is saying. And the day you die, you will find out that is the truth. Our prayer for people is that you, it won’t be too late for people. But how will people know that God wants to forgive them if we don’t tell them? How will people who are lost be found if we as God’s people don’t call them and say look, God loves you, he has come to call sinners, but he wants you to have life and have it to the full,” he continued.

“That’s what he wants. He wants you to live life to the fullest … we can only live it through, with, and in his grace,” the priest said.

Bishop Browne’s statement regarding “the offending homilies” said that “the views expressed do not represent the Christian position.” 

“The homily at a regular weekend parish Mass is not appropriate for such issues to be spoken of in such terms,” the bishop continued.

“The Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a Gospel of love and ever proclaims the dignity of every human person. It calls on us all to ever have total respect for one another,” Browne added, saying: “This fundamental Christian teaching was beautifully proclaimed” in recent readings at Mass.

Speaking to Radio Kerry, Father Sheehy said the bishop had stopped him from saying Mass. 

“I know myself what I said cannot be disproven by any honest-to-God Christian or Catholic teaching, and that’s the bottom line,” the priest said.

Irish newspapers were quick to report the priest’s controversial past support for a convicted sex offender.

Sheehy was a character witness for Daniel Foley, a former bouncer convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in the parking lot of a nightclub in 2008. He joined dozens of the accused’s supporters in court when the conviction was announced in December 2009 and shook the hand of the then 35-year-old Foley, and made disparaging comments concerning the woman’s status as a single mother, The Irish Examiner reported in 2013.

Then-bishop of Kerry Bill Murphy censured Sheehy, who resigned from his parish in Castlegregory soon after the verdict but continued to support Foley. 

There are about 140,000 people living in the territory of the Diocese of Kerry, the vast majority of whom are Catholic.

[…]

Following his release, Bishop David O’Connell (third from left) joined Father Jean Felicien, Monsignor Thomas N. Gervasio, and Monsignor Sam Sirianni at their hotel in Rome. / Credit: TrentonMonitor.com staff photo

CNA Staff, Jan 9, 2024 / 17:40 pm (CNA).

Bishop David M. O’Connell of the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, was released from a hospital in Rome on Tuesday, five days after suffering a heart attack, a spokesman for the diocese said. 

He was taken to Santo Spirito hospital last Thursday, where he had surgery to open the completely blocked left anterior descending artery, which is the largest cardiac artery in the body, according to the diocese. The type of heart attack the bishop sustained is known as a “widowmaker.” 

O’Connell, 68, told other diocesan officials by email that he feels “very lucky” to have gotten medical care quickly after the heart attack, according to TrentonMonitor.com, the news website for the diocese, which consists of four counties in central New Jersey.  

“He also gratefully acknowledged that he has received hundreds of get well wishes from throughout the diocese and the wider Church. He again thanked everyone for their support and prayers,” TrentonMonitor.com reported Tuesday. 

O’Connell grew up not far from Philadelphia. He is a member of the Congregation of the Mission, which is more commonly known as the Vincentians, after its founder, St. Vincent de Paul.  

He served as president of The Catholic University of America from 1998 to 2010. He has served as bishop of Trenton since 2010. 

In December 2014, O’Connell had the lower part of his left leg amputated because of recurring infections caused by diabetes. 

The bishop went to Italy recently to lead a pilgrimage of 20 priests and two lay diocesan staff members to holy sites in Rome and Assisi. 

He plans to return to New Jersey later this week with the other pilgrims and there continue his recovery and rehabilitation. 

[…]

Gdansk, Poland, Sep 5, 2018 / 12:00 am (CNA).- Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, has said that the Church must support social and political unity in Europe.

In a Sept. 1 interview with Deutsche Welle, Cardinal Marx discussed a recent visit to Gdnask, Poland, where the cardinal paid tribute to the Polish labor union, Solidarnosc, or “Solidarity,” which played a central role in restoring democracy to Soviet-controlled Poland.

The cardinal said the union is an example “that we can make a difference. That things don’t have to just stay the way they are.”

“We have a reminder of the value of freedom, and we cannot take that for granted,” he added.

“It is always necessary to stand up for individual liberties, for minorities, for respect and for the fundaments of democracy – for what it takes for a free and open society to function with stability,” the cardinal said.  

“It is a kind of symbiosis that requires constant work. And if you turn away for just a second, you’ll soon find out. The dangers [of neglect] become apparent very quickly.”

The cardinal said that in his view, protecting rights in the European Union depends upon “making progress towards a social Europe.”

We are interconnected with each other through various forms of solidarity,” he said.

“Through the European Union, for example, through treaties, through parliament, through guiding principles. We can’t do this without each other. We are staring down the barrel of Brexit right now. Our interconnectedness necessitates that we stand up for each other so that something positive can be the outcome.”

Asked about popular movements in Poland and other eastern European nations that seem to represent a shift toward “non-liberal democracy,” the cardinal said that “dialogue is necessary and takes place within the framework of the EU. There are cornerstones on which the various constitutions are based. But there are differences in Europe. And they are legitimate.”  
 
A critical factor, Marx said, is that “a political majority does not reflect the whole population,” he said. “The population includes everyone, including minorities. An incumbent party cannot say: We are ‘the people’ to justify turning things upside down and no longer taking other positions and minorities into account.”

“People should be free to choose a political party, for – or against – a religion. In any case, I would like to live in a society in which freedom of opinion, conscience, and religion prevail – even a society where people do not agree with me or my religious convictions.”

Marx discussed the challenge of the European refugee crisis.

“The issue of migration is a common challenge. It is a wide field that we must tackle together, and I hope that this will happen. It is essential to move forward now and to develop common guidelines for a refugee and migration policy in Europe. It is about solidarity within Europe, but also with the countries from where refugees and migrants come.”

The cardinal said that the Church should work to counter European trends toward nationalism, which he called “one of the biggest causes of war.”

“Europe does not run by itself. I believe that the Church must never cease working or doing something for the unity of Europe,” he said.

“As a church, we should stand up for a society of responsible freedom. That is why democracy is the mode of governance to be sought,” he added.

[…]