Sir, – Patsy McGarry reports that controversial priest Fr Iggy O’Donovan now regrets his 2006 concelebrated Easter Sunday Mass with Church of Ireland rector of Drogheda the Rev Michael Graham (Home News, August 14th).
Fr O’Donovan speaks of the “genuine hurt it caused”, and says that if he had “consulted more widely it would probably never have happened”.
Could it be that if he had consulted more widely he would have found that most lay members of both his church and the Church of Ireland would have supported his ecumenical move. It’s more of what he did, not less, which is called for.
The “hurt” I believe was experienced primarily by his own church authorities who were embarrassed by his taking a lead in this way without their permission.
What is sad now is that Fr O’Donovan feels the need to assure us of his continued good relationships with church authorities, and he says that while in Drogheda his relationship with the cardinal archbishops of Armagh have “always been amicable”.
Is there a danger that a need to remain “amicable” with church authorities may result in a self-imposed silence on issues that matter? – Yours, etc,
DECLAN KELLY,
Whitechurch Road,
Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.