Paris in the Springtime!

Beautiful weather and long may it last! With Spring here the trees in St Joseph's garden above the church are getting a visit from a tree surgeon. They were pruned and trimmed a few years back and it is time to give them the same again. Also, tomorrow morning the cleaning of the façade of the building begins followed by the replacement of all our windows, front and back. It will be well into Summer before all this is completed. After 30 years since being built, these kinds of works can be expected to arise. Each Lent at St Joseph's the Pastoral Council chooses a project towards which alms-giving in Lent is directed. In recent years we have reached out to places as diverse as Democratic Republic of Congo, West Indies, Belfast, to mention just a few. This year we are supporting three agencies addressing the needs of the many refugees who have arrived in Paris - Foundation Notre Dame, Caritas International and Order of Malta France. These groups have the capacity to effectively help people who due to war and conflicts have been forces to flee their home countries. Last year St Joseph's raised over €30,000 during Lent to assist with the education of displaced students in Iraq and Syria. We reach out as best we can to those of our brothers and sisters who are struggling to survive. The first three weeks of Lent have seen almost €13,000 raised. Our website is operational again following serious disruption and up to date information is available - www.stjoeparis.org     AT

Priests for the Future

Pope Francis has my prayers and admiration as he listens to the Holy Spirit and faces challenges from members of the Vatican household. This is nothing new; after all Peter was challenged by the words of Paul shortly after assuming a service of leadership in the footsteps of Christ. I'm not sure that the challenges of those who are unhappy with Pope Francis are of the same value as those of St Paul.

The mention by Pope Francis in an interview with a German magazine that the possibility of married men of proved virtue being ordained is interesting. There is no doubt that since Pope Benedict XVI welcomed married Anglican priests to Ordination, the clerical landscape has changed. It seems that this development has settled in well in places where priests, married and celibate, minister side by side. Parishioners with whom I have spoken, express happiness with this situation. The Eucharistic celebration ranks of greater importance with people than the personal status of the priest presiding. It is necessary for me to remember that there are wives and family members to be treated sensitively in any discussion of married clergy in the Catholic church or in other denominations.

My question about the proposal to ordain men of proved virtue, to what issue is this offered as a solution? If a male priesthood, married and celebrate, is the only one possible, then in one sense, why not ordain more men to celebrate Mass? But, if the question to be answered is not so much about the shortage of priests and a remedy, but about going to the roots of the church as given by Christ, perhaps another set of issues also need to be addressed.

In an interview published in the Sunday Tribune Newspaper [ceased publication], 24th August 2009, I suggested that recruitment of candidates for the priesthood should be suspended for as long as it takes to get to the roots of the revelations of child abuse by clergy and religious. Since then I would add that there is need to address:

• The treatment of survivors of clerical and religious abuse
• Why people like Marie Collins find it no longer acceptable to stay on the Papal commission
• Criteria for the acceptance and formation of future candidates for priesthood and religious life
• The outcome of the Commission examining having female Deacons (ordained).

Dealing with such serious matters - this is the Body of Christ - new wine will need new wine skins. Patches on the present clothes of the church will tear away quickly. The foundation, Christ, is sound but He has asked us to assist with building the Kingdom.                                               A.T.

St Patrick's Day 2017

The website - www.stjoeparis.org - that offers a link to this blog has been out of action for some time. I apologise for this. It was hacked - the country where it happened is known - and persistent attacks on it has meant that the whole site is being rebuilt. The great work being done by our webmaster is to be applauded and the hope is that it will soon be back to full health!

There is a wonderful initiative under way to form the group, 'The Irish in France', which is well advanced. There have been a number of productive meetings at the Embassy of Ireland and it is hoped that the Statutes will soon be registered, a bank account opened, the website developed, a June Irish in France Ball held, a July Sports Day planned and perhaps next St Patrick's Day, the Parade will be a significant event in the diary not only of Irish people, but all friends and associates of Ireland. It is with sadness that I read last week that our Ambassador, Geraldine, is on the move to New York and will represent Ireland at the United Nations. I can only salute her contribution made during her years here and to wish her, Brian and Alex every blessing as they move on to this next chapter of their lives.

We have had the Stormont Elections recently and now the hard work of bringing together an Executive. It will not be easy. Having learnt a little about the complexity during my time at Holy Cross, I know that there is no quick fix. It will take courage, vision and tolerance to move the peace process forward. Many times while living there before I was moved in 2008, I could see that until there is radical change in the educational systems in place - from nursery, creche, primary and secondary - there will continue to be a divide society. It was my privilege to know people of all outlooks and political views and to realise that if only they knew their neighbours better, we could build a great society. 'Brexit' will not help and personally,I have real fears for what will happen should a 'hard border' be put in place again. I wish I could say more, but I can only hope and pray that the worst will not happen. It is also a time of great opportunity and it also a responsibility of the European Union not to see this as a local issue.

The Tuam and perhaps other locations where babies were buried is heartbreaking. It calls for a Day of National Mourning in which every citizen is asked to pause and remember the past and also to seek to commit to a different way of treating people, especially women. The churches could also consider coming together to have a joint service of repentance for our role in creating this horror. May these little ones rest in peace.

Pope Francis considering the ordination of 'vir probati' will be the subject of my next post.          AT

Silence Broken

Title reminds me of SILENCE, the movie. I would recommend it to anyone interested in Japan and the work of Missionaries. What a great mixture of emotions. There are good crowds seeing it in Paris.

I'm so sorry that our website - WWW.STJOEPARIS.ORG - has been hacked once again. 'Spammers 'are putting 1,000 demands every minute and so the site was closed down. Our wonderful web master is working flat out to get it up and running again. He did this last week and within a few minutes the 'spammers' were back at wrecking our site again. We know now what country this is coming from and it is hoped that it may be possible to block this country from hitting our site. I hate excluding any person or group but at present we have no option. It is my hope that in due course we can restore viewing of our site to this country.

It seems on the Late Late Show on Friday night a priest spoke about what a difference being married would have made to him and others. I didn't see it as that time it is quite late for me in Paris, especially  when I have an early start the next morning. 

What I don't understand is the constant talk about whether any of us priests would have been better in serving the Kingdom of God if we had married. I don't know the answer to that in my life but the choice not to marry I freely made. Personally, I would love to have married but I freely chose not -some girl was saved from putting up with me. Irrespective of age, when the time comes when I become convinced that celibacy is not for me, I will walk! I know I am too old and too ugly to even contemplate a relationship. But, by staying on as a priest when convinced that I would have been better off married, it is not fair to the God who called me and to the people I am privileged to serve. But I can speak for no other priest but me. 

Finally, a priest in a religious congregation or order, over and above celibacy of the priesthood, voluntarily takes a vow of chastity. So, when the day comes for Catholic priests to be free to marry, as are Protestant clergy ordained as priests when entering the Catholic Church, this will not affect priests who have vowed to live without giving or receiving the Sacrament of Marriage.

What I would have liked to have seen on the Late Late would have been an interview with the Priest who serves as a chaplain to the Gardai. He can attend Gardai graduations at Templemore. The chaplains to the Gardai have served well since their establishment. It amazes me that the Garda chaplain or some spokesperson has not, to my knowledge, offered one public word on the controversy surrounding the treatment of Sergant Maurice McCabe and other whistleblowers. I know only what I get from the huge media coverage, but serious moral issues of justice and truth are raised.

The danger for the Catholic Church is that our silence on justice issues could be construed as cowardice or worse still indifference to such alleged treatment. My own experience of being involved is seeking justice for children when stationed at Holy Cross in 2000's was that to this day, no superior has ever spoken to me except by way of criticism of my time there. But that is for another day. 

The Passionist Congregation to which I belong, has as our Founder, St Paul of the Cross, who asks us to stand up for 'crucified people' who are the contemporary incarnation of the 'Crucified Christ'. 

Life in Paris has a breath of Spring these days and it is most welcome after some cold weather.  A.T.

Christmas Day

Greetings for a truly peaceful and happy Christmas.

Here at St Joseph's we had three Christmas Masses on 24th December and one this morning - all full to overflowing. Despite, or maybe because of, recent tragic events, families with children, visitors and regular parishioners make a special effort at Christmas to get to church. Lovely stories emerge in chatting - a daughter, for various reasons, had not seen her Dad for over 30 years. This morning he arrived from overseas and his grandchildren met their grandfather for the first time. Young people back to family in Paris from college and employment in other countries.  Then, too, people keenly feel the loss of loved ones who have died in the past year. Still, all in all, I love Christmas. Tomorrow I go to Ireland for a few days.    A.T

Christmas 2016

Really sad about what happened at the Christmas Market in Berlin. May those who died rest in peace. Over the past few weeks, I have enjoyed the occasional visit to the Paris Christmas Market on the Champs Elysée. It is so good to see people mingling in a happy atmosphere. Please God all people will be safe this Christmas. A young parishioner from Aleppo has shared with me something of his pain as he watches daily the news coming from a city where he was born, that he loves and that one day he would love to go back to Syria. He and other displaced people are shining examples to me and to others, of true courage.

Since the closure of the Calais camp, the number of families with young children sleeping on the streets of Paris is heart-breaking. Young people from St Joseph's and teachers and families from a school go out on Saturdays with food and drink in an attempt to reach out to people in desperate need. Some parishioners recieve 'restuarant tickets' as part of their salary and donate books of these tickets to St Joseph's to be given to those on the streets in desperate need. Already, one book of these tickets I have been able to give to families so that they can buy food in supermarkets or go to eat in a restaurant. The gratitude expressed by these people is truly moving.

There are four Christmas Masses and it will be great to welcome parishioners and visitors alike.

For those who check in from time to time with my blog, I wish you a great Christmass filled with happiness and peace.                                                                                                      A.T.

Christmas almost upon us

I have been a bit lazy with keeping going with the blog. No real excuse, I'm afraid. Into the final stretch for Christmas and it is a time I love. The great contradiction to the arrival of the Prince of Peace are the awful scenes coming out of Aleppo. It is heartbreaking to see whole families and especially children, losing their lives and those who survive being subjected to inhumane treatment. Whole families sleeping on the streets of Paris is on the increase. Feeding these people is possible and is being done as well as possible but the longer term education of the children and health care is a great challenge to us all.

 I promise to try to do better with updates of the blog in the coming days.                             A.T.