I congratulate you, brother Flannery

I read that the Irish redemptorist priest Tony Flannery has definitely stood before the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith presided by the cardinal Luis Ladaria SJ. Congratulations, Brother Tony, as you are choosing life with its glory and cross!

Tony Flannery was suspended from the clerical priesthood and condemned to the most absolute silence in 2012, for his defence of the priestly ordination of women and its opposition to the sexual morality of the Vatican magisterium. Last July, the Holy See –without having talked to him– proposed as the only solution the solemn signature of the following statement:

“I, P. Tony Flannery, C.Ss.R, submit myself to all the above doctrinal propositions by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith regarding the teaching of the church about: 1. Reservation of the holy priesthood to men; 2. The moral legality of homosexual practices; 3. The legal recognition of same-sex marriage; and 4. The gender theory.

The form is terrible. As for the content, totally ridiculous and out of time. Here is the hierarchy that submits and the letter that kills. Here is where the good news of Jesus comes in in a world full of pandemics. This is the spring of Pope Francis, that is going into his seventh year of pontificate without changing anything essential.

Tony Flannery has refused to sign for powerful theological reasons and above all for dignity, freedom and life. “I couldn’t live with myself if I signed this document”, he declared.

A huge hug, brother Tony, may you be comforted by the company of countless men and women who wish to live today the creative fidelity to the gospel of Jesus. May you continue to feel in the darkest days the freedom and the breath, the freshness and the smile of the Spirit of life. The blessed Spirit of all the genesis, exodus and pentecost in all the universes.