The summit is to take place Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 15-16, with two working sessions on Monday and one on Tuesday. Those meetings are set to take place inside the Apostolic Palace, with 24 Irish bishops and a host of top Vatican officials, reportedly including Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops; Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy; and Cardinal Franc Rodé, prefect of the Congregation for Religious.
It's not clear at the moment whether Benedict XVI will be present for all three sessions, but he's expected to participate in a good chunk of the meeting. The pope has already announced plans to issue a pastoral letter to the church in Ireland, although sources said that the letter will probably be delayed so that the pope can incorporate whatever he gleans from the summit.
In terms of topics of conversation, most observers expect at least two matters to figure prominently:
•What to do about bishops indentified in the Murphy Report as culpable for failing to react appropriately when allegations of abuse first surfaced. Two Dublin auxiliary bishops cited in the report, Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field, have offered to resign and reportedly will not be attending the summit. On the other hand, Bishop Martin Drennan of Galway, also named in the report, has resisted calls to step down and is expected to be in Rome.
•The possibility of a broad reorganization of the church in Ireland, as suggested recently by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin.
Martin and Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh are expected to hold a press conference on Tuesday in Rome after the summit concludes.
Church watchers in Ireland will be following the event closely, looking among other things for some hint of Vatican reaction to Martin's handling of the crisis. Since the Murphy Report appeared, he has taken a tough public stand in favor of reform. The Irish Catholic, a national Catholic newspaper, has reported that during a recent meeting of priests in Dublin, some criticized Martin as "divisive" for openly calling on other bishops to step down. Other observers, however, say that Martin's aggressive public reaction has been one of the few bright spots for the Irish church in an otherwise bleak period.
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I think it would be great if we could see a cohesive response of the Irish Episcopy emerging following this meeting.
ReplyDeleteWhat would you like to see as the outcome from the Rome visit?
Rob Fuller
ReplyDeleteI would like to see A renwwed semse of unity, commitment and purpose on the part of Bishops, Priests, and Laity.
They will need the prayers of all.