The National Conference of Priests of Ireland (NCPI) has been told there is "an urgent need to dismantle clericalism [where clergy are all powerful]" in the Catholic Church.
Theologian Father Donal Dorr told the NCPI annual general meeting in Dublin last night that this would involve "a radical revision of the Church's authority structures".
He said bishops "should be appointed for a 10-year period and, after that time, they should move out of leadership of the diocese; the same should apply to the pope."
Parishes, dioceses and the Church as a whole needed to adopt a collegial or collaborative style and a model of team ministry, he said. "The Church needs to become far more decentralised. Its central leadership in Rome should get out of administration and focus instead on exercising an animating and monitoring role, such as is exercised by the central leadership of, say, the Dominican Order."
There was a need to think of the Church "more as a movement than as an organisation so the Church could divest itself of a lot of its complex legal system", he said.
"Does canonisation really have to be a legal process? Could it not be left to Christians to decide through their devotion who would be considered a saint? And is it necessary for the Church to have an elaborate legal system governing marriage? Could it be left to the state to make laws about marriage?" he asked.
Speaking on "Evangelisation in Ireland: a way forward", he said Church ministers and the community of practising Christians needed to reach out to the "unchurched" rather than just provide services for regular Church-goers. Church activities and services needed to be tailored to teenagers, older people, people with disabilities, people who are sick or depressed, young married parents, spiritual searchers and a wide variety of other common-interest groups.
Commenting on the meeting's theme, "The Spirit in the Church: Pastoral energy and structure in the Catholic Church in Ireland 40 years after Vatican II", NCPI president Father John Littleton said "if the vision of the council had been properly implemented, the Church would not now be experiencing the loss of credibility that has characterised the last few years".
He said the council "stressed the common dignity of all baptised people, a community model of Church with serious collaboration between clergy and laity, greater participation by everyone in the liturgy and the need for respectful relationships with Christians of other traditions and peoples of other faiths".