Suspended Irish priest Tony Flannery cites Cardinal Louis Ladaria, prefect of the Church for the Doctrine of the Faith (Photo), Defamation case. “There has been no direct communication,” the Redemptorist said at an online seminar for church-critical groups last week. News portal “Novina News” Reported Monday. The webinar with Flannery, who was barred from public service as a priest in 2012, was mainly hosted by the VR Church of Ireland, Voice of Faith and the Catholic Women’s Council.

“Ladaria was completely wrong, it discredited me because they wanted to allow me to exercise my office again and I was not cooperating,” Flannery continued. The priest was referring to a statement made by Ladaria in September. The Church for the Doctrine of the Faith did “everything possible” to lift its suspension. “It really made me angry,” Flannery said. Communication took place exclusively through the Superior General of the Redemptorist Order, not personally with Flannery.

Three Vatican officials in Flannery’s case

The Church for the Doctrine of the Faith put the leadership of the Order in a difficult position. If Superior General Michael Braille had refused to suspend him, “the Vatican would have removed the Superior General and replaced him with someone of his choice,” Flannery said. He accused the church of exercising its authority in a “dictatorial or very stubborn” way for the teaching of the faith. His personal case is “very serious” because, in addition to the Church for the Doctrine of the Faith, the decastaries and priests responsible for the ordinances are involved.

Flannery believes that someone very “high in the Irish Church” was reported to the Vatican. The leadership of his order also shared this understanding. The controversy over his views “into the midst of a power struggle that the Vatican finds itself in”. “On one side are Francis and his followers, and on the other are the orthodox, of whom the Church plays an important role in the teaching of the faith.”

In September, the long-running feud over Flannery reached a new height when the priest refused to take an oath to allow the Vatican to resume his office. Flannery declined to comment, citing the contents: “This document is far from where I am now, and was written in such a way as not to allow any kind of conversation.” In 2019, the film “Defender of the Faith” was also said by religious people to be a critical reference to Benedict XVI’s Pontificate. Grapples. (Rome)