Limerick Bishop: "Discussions on assisted suicide is a step too far"

In his ‘Day of Sick’ homily at mass in University Hospital Limerick today, Bishop Leahy spoke about assisted suicide frightening people when they are most vulnerable.

Bishop Leahy made a particular reference to caring for people for whom the prognosis is not positive and that discussions on assisted suicide is a step too far, in his homily at UHL today. 

The Limerick Bishop said, “The talk of assisted suicide is frightening. It aims at people precisely when they are most vulnerable in their decision-making powers.”

The immense deeds of healthcare workers are not always recognized and should not be drowned out by crises in healthcare, Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy said today, “Expanding pastoral care services in healthcare facilities across this island and ensuring palliative care for those at the end of life, are essential steps in upholding and defending human dignity."

In his homily at mass from University Hospital Limerick today, Bishop Leahy said that we must remember the sick and those who suffer in silence, the lonely, the anxious, and those battling depression or mental illness.

The Bishop of Limerick said, we must equally remember those who dedicate their lives to caring for the sick, especially doctors, nurses, paramedics, chaplains, carers and all working in hospitals, hospices and homes. 

“If we think back to COVID, the courage and bravery of health staff, particularly in the early days when the world was terrified as the death-toll soared, they went to work each and every day not knowing what the impact on their lives would be. If anyone needs reminding, have a look at the St. John’s Hospital ‘House of Courage’ video which gives an insight into just how awfully hard that was. Here at UHL and other healthcare settings around the country, that’s the courage, dedication and care that we see,” he said. 

“What healthcare workers did during COVID should have been the watershed for everyone to never forget just how they truly are frontline heroes caring for the sick. Yet they continue to grapple with inadequate resources but do so unrelenting in their vocation to help others.”

Bishop Leahy said that healthcare workers “always keep the light on”, no matter what the challenge, even when they are themselves exhausted. 

Bishop Leahy said, “So much credit is due to those involved in healthcare. Perhaps we don’t always recognise their great work. Stories about this or that shortage makes big news. We know the phenomenon that one tree falling makes more noise than a whole forest growing."

Speaking about the importance of healthcare in light of Pope Francis' recent health scare, “Healthcare is to be valued. As Pope Francis constantly reminds us, healthcare must not become solely focused on economics and scientific advancements at the expense of the human dignity of the patient."

Michael Shine: One of paedophile surgeon's earliest victims reveals he was abused 60 years ago

ONE OF PAEDOPHILE surgeon Michael Shine’s earliest victims has revealed for the first time how he was abused over 60 years ago.

Tom Ayres, 75, is speaking publicly about being sexually assaulted by the then highly respected consultant just months after he started his position at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in 1964.

Tom insists there were numerous opportunities for authorities to stop the sexual abuse, but instead Shine went on to abuse hundreds of other boys at the Co Louth hospital.

Tom’s allegations, motivated solely by the need for accountability, are believed to be among the earliest known acts of abuse by Shine, who was in his early 30s when he preyed on the then fourteen-year-old.

Tom, a former executive with Siemens GEC Global Alliance, grew up on Peter Street in Drogheda.

He said that he is now waiving his anonymity because he wants accountability from “the system that allowed this to happen”.

Tom told The Journal: “It was the mundanity of it. It was the acceptance of it. It was like it was not unusual. That’s what got me.”

He said that he was brought to see Shine with a suspected broken nose after playing football. But during this consultation, Shine did not examine his nose.

Instead, he brazenly assaulted the schoolboy while the door to the room was left open.

“He just pulled up a chair, sat down and I immediately expected him to start feeling my nose to see if it was broken… if it could be fixed or straightened.

“But straight away he put his hands down my trousers and he said ‘I’m just checking for damage’.

“He continued to fondle me for five to ten minutes and obviously he didn’t get the reaction that he expected or wanted.

“He just abruptly said ‘okay, come back tomorrow, same time.’”

When asked if Shine made any attempt to examine his injury, Tom said: “At no point whatsoever, and he couldn’t but glaringly see I had black eyes, as you would have with a broken nose. My nose was still clogged with blood from the day before.”

On reflection, Tom feels that the assault was “part of an initiation ceremony” and that Shine expected that he would return the next day, like he had instructed him to.

Afterwards, Tom walked back to school, which was just 200 yards away from the hospital, and said nothing to his family or friends.

“I was ashamed. You couldn’t tell anyone. Irish society at the time – people were so subservient to people in authority, especially those with letters after their name.”

Hundreds of victims 

Shine began working as a senior registrar in 1964, quickly rising to consultant in 1968. He remained at the hospital until 1995.

Victims allege that the Medical Missionaries of Mary were aware of the abuse and allowed it to continue for decades.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Dáil this week that he will meet with victims and representatives of the support organisation Dignity4Patients.

The group is calling for a Commission of Investigation to probe claims that authorities knew about the abuse and allowed it to continue for decades.

Hundreds of men claim that they were abused by the former surgeon, now in his nineties, over decades, but in 2025, he is a free man after serving just three years in prison.

In spite of almost 350 victims coming forward, only nine of these men have had successful prosecutions in the criminal courts.

In November 2017, guilty verdicts for Shine on three counts of assaulting two teenage patients on dates between 1974 and 1976 were handed down by a jury. However, he was granted bail pending an appeal against the conviction. 

Theodore McCarrick is dead, and his ghost haunts the Church (Opinion)

I remember the first time I heard about then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick liking to share a bed with young seminarians.

It was 2002, and I was working at the Vatican. 

A co-worker told me of how he took part in a weekend retreat with McCarrick years before, when he was a seminarian and McCarrick was a bishop. 

It was two to a bed in the house, and he got the call to share with McCarrick.

He said McCarrick only put a hand on his shoulder before falling asleep, but he also said he had heard stories of more “intimate” transactions taking place between McCarrick and others in similar circumstances.

It was then I learned McCarrick’s nickname was “Uncle Ted.”

At the time, McCarrick had recently been made a cardinal and was leading the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. Before coming into the capital see of the United States, McCarrick had led the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ. Before that, he had been bishop of Metuchen, NJ. He started his life as a priest and later auxiliary bishop in New York.

These rumors followed him everywhere: Rumors, and rumors of rumors. Several journalists heard these rumors and explored the story, but no one would speak on the record.

Through it all, McCarrick rose through the ranks.

“The allegations against McCarrick had been an open secret for years,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, Co-Director of BishopAccountability.org, in a statement issued Friday on the death of the disgraced former cardinal.

“His fellow cardinals and bishops knew; a cadre of high-ranking Vatican officials knew; Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI knew; and Pope Francis knew or should have known,” Doyle said.

“Yet until the publicity about the case in 2018,” Doyle said, “not one of these powerful men reported him to law enforcement, alerted the public, or even forced his removal from ministry. The church protected the influential cardinal’s reputation and ignored or discredited his victims.”

“If even one of his brother bishops had called the police,” Doyle continued, “McCarrick might have been prosecuted years or even decades ago.”

The publicity about the case led to McCarrick resigning his red hat in 2018. He was laicized in 2019. The former cardinal died on Thursday at the age of 94.

Why was McCarrick able to carry on the way he did? There are various theories.

For one thing, McCarrick was a prodigious fundraiser for various causes. He was famous as a money machine, and he made friends along the way, both in the United States and in Rome.

“Uncle Ted” also had a lot of priests serving under him, and many of them have risen through the ranks.

For the better part of the last decade, we have heard such figures – many of them now bishops and even cardinals – give detailed statements on how they never knew about the accusations against McCarrick, or if they did hear the accusations, they didn’t find them to be “credible.”

Much like a 29-year-old new employee at Vatican Radio, other Church workers found it easy to adopt the attitude that if “it isn’t my job, it isn’t my problem.”

“Arguably,” Doyle went on to say, “no other case in the history of the abuse crisis exposed the complicity of as many high-level church officials.”

Arguably.

The Rupnik Affair must be a close second, and there is a very great deal reporters have yet to unearth regarding the sordid exploits of Father Marko Rupnik and the churchmen who enabled him or at least failed to stop him for decades.

Rupnik is the disgraced Slovenian celebrity mosaic artist accused of spiritually, psychologically, and sexually abusing dozens of victims, most of them women religious.

A former Jesuit expelled from the order for disobedience after he refused to abide by restrictions imposed on him when his abusive behavior came to light, Rupnik is currently a priest in good standing— still —and awaiting trial.

“The revelations of the crimes of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick changed how the Vatican and Pope Francis publicly respond to the clergy abuse crisis,” Doyle said.

“Without the public pressure this case brought to bear on Rome in 2018, it’s likely that Francis would not have convened his global abuse summit, or enacted his so-called accountability law, Vos Estis Lux Mundi, in 2019,” she added.

Vos Estis Lux Mundi was issued to change this “not my job, not my problem” attitude and create requirements for reporting sexual abuse in the Church, but a law is only as good as its enforcement.

Pope Francis himself has long been dogged by accusations he tends to believe the protestations of innocence from clerics over the accusations of victims. The Rupnik business is not the only high-profile case to touch Pope Francis personally.

Francis took the word of Chilean Bishop Juan Barros – that was in January of 2018, months before the McCarrick case exploded in worldwide scandal – and trusted Argentinian Gustavo Óscar Zanchetta for years over the objections of their victims before letting him resign quietly for “health reasons” and creating a sinecure for Zanchetta in the Vatican government.

Francis eventually reversed course on Barros and Zanchetta, but only after powerful and sustained public outrage informed by staunch reporting both locally and in Rome.

Earlier this year, the Vatican Dicastery for Legislative Texts cautioned against publishing “news” that would harm the reputation of an individual, especially someone who is deceased, when it is about priests accused of abuse and not found guilty in civil or canonical procedures.

Given that such accusations against people who have not yet been found guilty is the main way these clerics accused of abuse have been brought to light – and is in fact how the news business works – there is ample to reason to doubt the Church has learned the needful lessons.

Theodore McCarrick is dead, but his ghost haunts the Church.

Angelus: Pope calls for healthcare systems that prioritise poorest

Pope Francis’ Angelus message for this 5th Sunday of Lent has been released by the Holy See Press Office.

In the text, the Pope focuses on the “finger of God”, with which Jesus writes in the sand in today's Gospel. Jesus writes “a new story” for the woman whom the scribes and Pharisees want to stone to death, the Holy Father stresses.

The “finger of God”

Pope Francis says that throughout his hospitalization, and the past 15 days of convalescence in the Vatican, he has perceived “this finger of God” and its “benevolent caress”.

“On this day of the Jubilee of the Sick and Healthcare Workers, I ask the Lord that this caress of his love might reach those who suffer and encourage those who care for them”, the Pope writes.

Concerned about the working conditions of doctors, nurses and healthcare staff, as well as the assaults to which they are sometimes subjected, the Pope says that their mission “is not easy and must be supported and respected”.

Additionally, he calls on world leaders to invest in treatment and medical research, “so that healthcare systems might be inclusive and attentive to the poorest and most fragile”.

Peace throughout the world

As usual, the Pope asked the faithful to pray for peace in the world, particularly “in tormented Ukraine, hit by attacks that have claimed many civilian victims, many of them children”.

This appeal comes two days after the Holy See's Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, spoke by telephone with the Russian Federation's Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.

The Pope then turned his thoughts to Gaza, “where people are reduced to living in unimaginable conditions, without shelter, without food, without drinking water”, calling for the resumption of dialogue, the release of hostages and for “arms to be silenced”.

“Let us pray for peace throughout the Middle East, in Sudan and South Sudan, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in Burma, hard hit by an earthquake”, he continued. The Pope also paid tribute to the two nuns killed in Haiti, denouncing the violence "raging” in the country.

Moreover, on this World Day of Sport for Peace and Development, the Pope expressed the hope that “sport will be a sign of hope for so many people in need of peace and social inclusion”. Finally, he thanked the inmates of the Rebibbia women's prison for the card he had received from them.

The sickbed as a holy place: Pope Francis reflects on his own illness at Jubilee of Sick

Still recovering from bilateral pneumonia that hospitalized him for nearly 40 days, Pope Francis made a surprise appearance in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday for the Jubilee of the Sick, sharing profound reflections on suffering, care, and the transformative power of illness.

Wearing nasal cannulas that provide supplemental oxygen, Pope Francis arrived in a wheelchair accompanied by a nurse.

In his homily for the Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers, which was read aloud by Archbishop Rino Fisichella as the pope continues his recovery, Francis drew inspiration from the prophet Isaiah and the day’s Gospel reading to explore the spiritual dimensions of illness and healing.

The pontiff said that “the sickbed can become a ‘holy place’ of salvation and redemption, both for the sick and for those who care for them.”

“I have much in common with you at this time of my life, dear brothers and sisters who are sick: the experience of illness, of weakness, of having to depend on others in so many things, and of needing their support,” the pope told his audience.

“This is not always easy, but it is a school in which we learn each day to love and to let ourselves be loved, without being demanding or pushing back, without regrets and without despair, but rather with gratitude to God and to our brothers and sisters for the kindness we receive, looking toward the future with acceptance and trust.”

The 88-year-old pontiff invited the faithful to contemplate the Israelites’ situation in exile, as Isaiah described. “It seemed that all was lost,” Francis noted, but added that it was precisely in this moment of trial that “a new people was being born.” He connected this biblical experience to the woman in the day’s Gospel reading who had been condemned and ostracized for her sins.

Her accusers, ready to cast the first stone, were halted by the quiet authority of Jesus, the pope’s homily explained.

In comparing these stories, Pope Francis emphasized that God does not wait for our lives to be perfect before intervening.

“Illness is certainly one of the harshest and most difficult of life’s trials, when we experience in our own flesh our common human frailty. It can make us feel like the people in exile, or like the woman in the Gospel: deprived of hope for the future,” the pontiff’s homily said.

“Yet that is not the case. Even in these times, God does not leave us alone, and if we surrender our lives to him, precisely when our strength fails, we will be able to experience the consolation of his presence. By becoming man, he wanted to share our weakness in everything.”

Pope Francis thanked all health care workers for their service in a particularly moving passage: “Dear doctors, nurses, and health care workers, in caring for your patients, especially the most vulnerable among them, the Lord constantly affords you an opportunity to renew your lives through gratitude, mercy, and hope.”

The pontiff encouraged them to receive every patient as an opportunity to renew their sense of humanity. His words acknowledged the challenges facing medical workers, including inadequate working conditions and even instances of aggression against them.

Bringing his address to a close, the pontiff recalled the encyclical Spe Salvi of Pope Benedict XVI, who reminded the Church that “the true measure of humanity is determined in relation to suffering.” Francis warned, with the words of his predecessor, that “a society unable to accept its suffering members is a cruel and inhuman society.”

The Holy Father urged all present to resist the temptation to marginalize and forget the elderly, ill, or those weighed down by life’s hardships: “Dear friends, let us not exclude from our lives those who are frail, as at times, sadly, a certain mentality does today.”

‘I feel the finger of God’

In his brief Angelus remarks following the Mass, the pope shared his personal experience: “Dear friends, as during my hospitalization, even now in my convalescence I feel the ‘finger of God’ and experience his caring touch.”

The pope also called for prayers for all who suffer and for health care professionals, urging investment in necessary resources for care and research, so that health care systems may be inclusive and attend to the most fragile and poor.

Pope Francis concluded with a plea for peace in conflict zones, including Ukraine, Gaza, the Middle East, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, and Haiti.

The Holy See has not yet commented on whether Pope Francis will participate in Holy Week ceremonies, with the Vatican press office indicating that “it is premature to discuss this” and assuring that further details will be provided later.

Vicar blames church exodus on new cycle lane

A vicar has blamed an "awkward" cycle lane and one-way road for driving his elderly congregation away and leaving his church "completely isolated."

The cycleway was built along Gorsey Lane in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, in 2023, blocking access to the car park at St Margaret's Church for cars turning off the busy A56 Dunham Road.

Reverend David Murray said there had been an exodus of worshippers who "have been getting lost" due to the changes, with average attendances falling from about 100 to 60.

A spokesman for Trafford Council said a consultation had been held on the changes, with signs since put in place to direct people to the church entrance.

The cycle lane's construction and the designation of Gorsey Lane as a one-way street has meant cars on Dunham Road now have to drive an extra half mile to access the church car park.

Rev Murray said the restriction had also hit numbers at Sunday School and the nursery sessions held at the church.

He said: "People have been getting lost and they've said it's too awkward.

"Added to that, the roads around the church are covered with double yellow lines. We feel we are being completely isolated."

Jackie Campbell, a team leader for pastoral care on the St Margaret's parochial church council, said most of the congregation are elderly people who arrive by car.

She said: "They need to get up to the front door by car. It's great to be on a bike, and they wish they could, be on a bike or take public transport, but they can't."

'Disruption'

Phil Eckersley, councillor for the local Bowdon ward, said the changes had "significantly affected access".

He called on the council to "re-evaluate whether the scheme's benefits truly outweigh the disruption it has caused to long-standing community institutions and residents' daily lives."

The council said the work was intended to "make journeys on foot or by bike much easier and more attractive, to help create a more connected and accessible region".

'We are a primary target,' says Irish lawyer priest in US

"We are a primary target, whether we like it or not," said 87-year-old Monsignor James Kelly about his work helping immigrants, as the Trump administration vows mass deportations.

We met at District 3 Immigration Services - a small office on a lively Brooklyn high street from where the Manhattan skyline was just visible in the distance.

An Irish-speaker from Adare, Co Limerick, Fr Kelly first went to Rome and learnt Italian. When he moved to New York in 1960, he was assigned to a mostly Italian-speaking parish.

He then trained - somewhat reluctantly, he said - as a lawyer.

"If you didn't have a law degree, no one would listen to you," he said, gesturing to his framed certificate hanging behind his desk above a picture of the Sacred Heart.

He saw waves of new arrivals from different parts of the world - first from Germany, then Italy, Ireland, Poland and now Latin America - and helped thousands of them become US citizens, picking up multiple languages along the way.

"We teach them English and I would go to court with them," he told RTÉ News, "and help them adjust their status, if they can do it legally," adding, "we won’t do phony papers".

The centre provides legal services at heavily discounted prices. Most of their funding comes from another property leased to the US Department of Education.

Now as President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown sweeps across America, Father Kelly - known locally as Padre Kelly - said services like his could be in the firing line.

"We haven’t been bothered by Trump, thanks be to God," he said, crossing his fingers, "this office has not been raided".

But inside the centre, which sees around 60-70 immigrants every day, many of them undocumented, there was palpable fear it could happen at any moment.

A variety of Catholic posters, photographs of Fr Kelly meeting the Pope and an American flag adorned the yellow painted walls of the waiting area, where half a dozen people sat in a line, some anxiously clutching papers.

Others paced the floor looking out the window onto the busy high street.

Most shrank away from the camera, turning their faces.

Only one agreed to talk - a US citizen who had come to get advice on her father’s expiring green card.

"People are scared," Father Kelly said.

They would still come in for advice, he explained, but had stopped telling him the story of how they got into the United States. The administration said it would deport anyone found to have crossed the border illegally.

"Before Trump we were getting all this information but now, we’re not getting any," he said.

"They don’t know if we’re hooked up with immigration - we’re not, we’re independent - but they are afraid they will lose their jobs, first of all, and secondly that they’ll be deported," he said.

Fr Kelly agreed there wasn’t enough control on immigration in the first few years of the Biden administration which is why, he said, Mr Trump’s policies gained popular support.

"It's better for us if they’re controlling it because we work within the legal system - we have no problems with that," he said.

People sit in a line, some anxiously clutching papers, in Fr Kelly's waiting room

The problem is the uncertainty.

He didn’t know how to advise clients, he said, many of whom had been living and working here for years. Several have cases pending in the immigration courts.

"What’s Trump going to do with all these people?" he said.

Although officially retired, Fr Kelly is still a regular fixture in the office. He now walks with a cane, following a health scare and brief hospitalisation last year.

But the day-to-day operation is carried out by 26-year-old Princess Reinoso - someone with an excellent "legal mind," according to Fr Kelly.

Born in the United States, Ms Reinoso grew up in an Ecuadorian community in Brooklyn.

There have been positive aspects to Mr Trump’s stricter policies on immigration, she told RTÉ News.

While most people came to America in search of a better life, others brought "guns and violence," she said and her local community began to feel less safe.

"I’ve been to Ecuador, and I’ve seen what happens there," she said, "and I was like - uh-oh, is this becoming Ecuador too?"

The fear of being deported forced some people to "fix up their act," she said.

But fear gripped everyone else too.

The administration has publicised deportations of immigrants charged with or convicted of crimes, but people without criminal records have also been swept up.

Many people stopped going to church or sending their kids to school, Ms Reinoso said, for fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. 

Others chose to leave the US altogether.

Images of criminals often "have a Latino face" to them, she said, which led to a certain demonisation of Latin American immigrants by the government and in the media. People even began to see her differently.

"Because I’m not white and blonde, they don’t look at me as a US citizen," she said.

The best hope for the undocumented, who are already integrated into US society with jobs and children in schools, was some kind of amnesty, she said - but that wasn’t going to happen in the current climate.

The Trump administration has moved to revoke the birthright citizenship enshrined in the US Constitution and last month invoked the wartime Alien Enemies Act in an attempt to speed up deportations.

In his 65 years in the job, Fr Kelly said this is the worst atmosphere he had known for undocumented immigrants.

"When the Italians come in 1968, they were very benign to them," he said, "because they were victims of an earthquake".

It was easy to adjust their status he said, as it was with the Irish.

Following the recent publication of an article about him in the New York Times, Fr Kelly said he was contacted by several people he had helped naturalise years ago, who had gone on to be "very successful" in law or medicine.

"I didn’t know you were still doing this work," he said they told him. Some sent cheque donations.

His alma mater - St John’s University in New York - also called to offer him an honour.

"I’ve been here since 1960 don’t forget," he said, "I’ve known all these kids and their fathers and grandfathers before them".

Fr Kelly enjoys celebrity status in the neighbourhood, Ms Reinoso said.

"It’s funny because if you walk down the street with him, people call out: Padre Kelly!" she said.

As he looked back on his long experience working with immigrants in New York City, what did he think the future held?

"Only God knows," he said. "God," he added, "and Mr Trump".

A seminal moment in our church's history (Opinion)

People of my vintage will remember a time in Ireland when priests were so plentiful that in very busy parishes with teeming congregations, multiple priests were needed to assist with the distribution of Holy Communion. 

Or in places like Enniscrone during the busy summer months, the length of Masses was extended when one priest had to spend between 20 to 30 minutes distributing Holy Communion.

A few years before lay ministers were introduced around 1975, Fr Mark Diamond, who was then curate in Enniscrone, asked Bishop McDonnell for permission to bring forward the change on the grounds that he (Fr Mark) found the distribution of Communion a particular ordeal as he had an ongoing problem with his sight. 

The bishop agreed but on reflection – in case he was accused of jumping the gun in the liturgy stakes – changed his mind and suggested that the nuns in Enniscrone could help out instead. 

The bishop’s reluctance to change anything, even his mind, was underlined by his repetition of a favourite riposte to retain the status quo – ‘From time immemorial’.

Now that change in the Catholic Church has less of a sense of panic attached to it and is more and more an obligatory imperative, almost everything in life is now driven by necessary and inevitable revision.

Even though the Catholic Church is tortuously slow in moving with the times, some get a strange pleasure out of impeding any reform by consigning it to a distant future on the basis that the Church only moves in centuries. 

Some thought that, with the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the reforms of the Second Vatican Council had been successfully deferred to a future century but to their horror Francis has given them a second wind, making their delayed implementation irresistible despite some clerical opposition.

Now we live not just in changing times but in historic times and even though the pace of change is inadequately and unnecessarily ponderous, suddenly reform is the order of the day – albeit on a slow boat to China.

At the moment, the dioceses of Tuam and Killala are in the process of merging into one union – an historic break from boundaries delineated over 900 years ago in the Synods of Rathbrazil (1111 a.d.) and Kells (1152). 

It is a mammoth task organising the complex process of joining two distinct pastoral and legal entities with separate histories, traditions as well as conditions of employment and it has been entrusted to Archbishop Francis Duffy who, in less than a dozen years, moved from his native Kilmore diocese to Ardagh and Clonmacnoise to Tuam and has now landed in Killala.

But that’s not all. The recent synod, albeit not delivering the pace of change that creates momentum, has designated Parish Pastoral and other Councils as mandatory – no longer optional or at the whim of a clerical veto. 

Synodality, what Francis has defined as ‘the (only) way of being Church in the new millennium’, carries with it in simple terms the promise of a People‘s Church (as Vatican Two had intended).

Now too we’re beginning to see the development of lay ministries not just because priest numbers are declining precipitously but primarily to facilitate the rights of all the baptised to use the gifts God has given them in the service of their church. 

The focus now is on accepting, facilitating and respecting the rights of the baptised.

In Killala diocese, that change is particularly obvious and will within the next few weeks receive an historic impetus when 62 lay women and men will be commissioned as part of a drive to enhance the pastoral care of parishes. 

The lay ministries include the Ministry of Reader, Minister of the Eucharist (distribution of Holy Communion) and Funeral Ministers (who will co-lead with priests) all of the standard funeral services with the exception of the Funeral Mass. 

Funeral Ministers will accompany the priest to the wake house or funeral home; they will co-lead the prayers for the Rite of Reception at the church; they will co-lead the Final Commendation at the end of the funeral liturgy; and they will co-lead the Rite of Committal.

The 62 women and men have just completed a Certificate in Lay Leadership: Theology, Culture and Ministry, designed and delivered by the Newman Institute, Ballina. 

For two years and three months, course participants have engaged with the main theological subjects of Sacred Scripture, Pastoral Theology, Liturgy, Moral Theology, Catholic Social Teaching, Faith and Culture, Encountering Jesus of Nazareth, Church History and Diocesan History, Canon Law and the administration of parishes. 

Safeguarding training and Pastoral Reflection evenings were also key parts of the course. 

Pastoral placements were undertaken in six host parishes over the two-year period. In the coming weeks, the lay leaders will commence their ministries in a voluntary capacity in their parishes.

Last Friday (March 28) in St Muredach’s Cathedral, the total group of 64 (62 lay people and two priests) celebrated their Graduation Ceremony and in Holy Week as part of the Mass of Chrism on Tuesday, April 15th at 6.30pm, our 62 lay leaders will be commissioned by Archbishop Francis Duffy. 

At a time when the commitment of parishioners to their Church is declining, the response of the participants has been nothing short of extraordinary.

An additional reason for hope is that we are now, it would appear, at a seminal moment in church history.

From his bed on the tenth floor of the Gemelli Hospital in Rome, at a time when his doctor has indicated that he was close to death, Francis has personally approved and supported a surprise letter to the world’s bishops by Cardinal Grech with two key messages: (i) that no bishop or priest can opt out of the process of embedding synodality in the future life of the Church – in other words, that everyone has to grasp the fact that synodality, like Francis, haven’t gone away, you know, and (ii) that from 2025 to 2028, there will be a three-year period galvanising the Church at every level across the globe through a process ‘of accompaniment and implementation’.

After a long winter of discontent, we are now on the verge of a new spring and, in Killala diocese, with the added providential benefit of 62 women and men willing and able to commit to putting their hands to the plough. 

That we have reached this point is a joy unconfined.

Indonesian Cardinal Supports Trans Activist Jailed for “Hate Speech”

After Ratu Thalisa, an Indonesian transgender activist, was sentenced to almost threeyears in prison for posting what was alleged to be “hate speech” against Christianity, she found an unlikely defender: Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of the Archdiocese of Jakarta.

Two days after Thalisa made joking comments about Jesus’ hair on TikTok on October 2, 2024, five Protestant Christian groups filed a complaint to the police accusing her of blasphemy, which is a crime in Indonesia.

After her conviction in mid-March, Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo called for her release, saying that “to live out our religion, we have to have a sense of humor.”  The cardinal proposed that even “Jesus would laugh” at the joke Thalisa made.

In an interview with Crux, he continued explaining his comment:

“In my opinion as a follower of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church is actually not at all tarnished and does not feel insulted by the actions and words of Ratu Thalisa through her/his Tiktok ‘asking Jesus to cut ‘her’ hair.’ The Catholic Church upholds the principle of freedom and therefore opens up space for all forms of expression, including Ratu Thalisa’s freedom to express her opinions.

“We among interfaith close friends used to make jokes about our own and other religion. And these kinds of jokes make us closer to each other.

He continued:

“It seems that only people who are unable to celebrate diversity feel disturbed by this, which cannot be generalized as the universal Church. Throughout the history of the Catholic Church, the dynamics of Christian life have been colored by thorns and various insults and even persecution.”

Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo also referenced Jesus’s lesson to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, as well as speaking out against the nation’s blasphemy law:

 “The use of all forms of blasphemy law and its derivatives is fundamentally dangerous, because it gives the state the opportunity to exercise theological understanding – doing theology –something that should be avoided, because it is not its domain.”

He said he hoped Thalisa would appeal, and said he urged “the high court to correct the Medan District Court’s Decision and acquit Ratu Thalisa.” He explained:

Theologically, the principle of Christian faith that prioritizes forgiveness may indeed be inconsistent with the socio-juridical principles of civil [law].”

The cardinal also reflected on the church’s history to put this incident into perspective:

“Once again, the Catholic Church has never felt demeaned or insulted even when it had to endure martyrdom. Instead of legally processing cases of blasphemy like this, the state and its apparatus must be more assertive in dealing with intolerant attitudes that hinder and/or prevent people from worshiping and expressing their faith properly and correctly. Punishing people who are considered to have insulted the Lord Jesus Christ is not in line with the law of love taught by the Lord Jesus Himself.”

Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director of New Ways Ministry commented:

“How refreshing to see a church leader who does not take offense at comments that were obviously made in jest, and which produced no harm to the faith or to the church.  The LGBTQ+ community has a long history of using humor to defuse pain and oppression. The church was not harmed by Thalisa’s joke.  There is no reason that religious groups needed to make a big incident of it.”

Abbey of Aubazine, Coco Chanel’s Historical Refuge, Soon to Be Restored

Aubazine Abbey, a jewel of medieval Cistercian heritage nestled in the heart of Corrèze (Nouvelle-Aquitaine region), is about to be restored to its original splendor. 

The famous Chanel fashion house, renowned for its timeless elegance, recently pledged to finance a major part of the restoration of this historic 12th-century monument.

This gesture has deep symbolic significance, as the history of the abbey is intimately linked to that of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, who is said to have spent part of her childhood there.

A timeless witness to the golden age of the Middle Ages, with its austere stone walls and the light filtering through its ancient stained-glass, the monument is now run by nuns of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the last Melkite nuns in Europe.

Chanel and Aubazine

The nature of the historical links between Aubazine and the Parisian fashion icon remain shrouded in mystery. Many biographies claim that Chanel was sent to the orphanage sheltered by the abbey at the age of 12, after the death of her mother in 1895, and that it was there that she learned to sew.

There is no definitive proof of this story to date, but several clues suggest a deep connection between Chanel and Aubazine, as Cyril Lecointe, curator of the abbey, told the Register: “She certainly knew the abbey very well. When she built her second home, the Villa La Pausa in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, she asked the architect to use emblematic architectural elements of Aubazine.

Chanel had the dormitory staircase leading to the abbey’s church recreated in the entrance hall of her villa, faithfully maintaining its distinctive broken angle. She also had a cloister built, inspired by the abbey’s columns. Furthermore, when furnishing La Pausa, she acquired two antique cabinets, which she had joined together to resemble an iconic 12th-century armoire still present at Aubazine.

In the rare personal accounts of her childhood found in her biographies, Chanel described an austere environment, marked by silence and strict discipline — all elements supporting the theory of her years spent in the Cistercian monastery.

The geometric motifs of Aubazine’s stained-glass windows, in particular the intertwined lines and crosses, reappear in Chanel’s iconic creations. In particular, some believe that the famous interlocking double-C Chanel logo was inspired by the motifs of the abbey’s stained-glass windows. It’s a compelling hypothesis, but one that Lecointe addresses with nuance: “I think it's a symbol that she encountered several times in her life, including in Aubazine. It certainly left its mark on her, and she may have unconsciously incorporated it into her logo,” he said.

Chanel’s signature monochrome palette — the brand’s emblematic black and white — also seems to echo the visual simplicity of monastic habits. Could it be that the designer’s iconic, timeless “little black dress” found its roots in these austere influences?

The No. 5, a symbol of balance and perfection in Christian tradition, was omnipresent at Aubazine, appearing frequently in the monastery’s geometric motifs. This may also have left a lasting impression on Chanel, who later made it a key element of her brand, most notably with her legendary perfume.

Whether she actually lived there or not, the aesthetic and spiritual imprint of Aubazine on Chanel’s work is undeniable. Her preference for clean lines, minimalism and the rejection of excess resonates deeply with the Cistercian architecture of the monastery.

Rescuing an Endangered Heritage

But time has left its mark on the abbey, which requires a thorough renovation every 150 years to ensure its preservation. The stone walls, stained glass and wooden framework have suffered the ravages of time. In some areas, the roof is at risk of collapsing, and moisture threatens the foundations.

Given the urgency of the situation, the House of Chanel, which has maintained a close relationship with the abbey over the decades, decided to intervene, recognizing the site’s historical value and its intimate link to the brand’s founder.

The restoration project will focus on strengthening the structures and preserving the original Cistercian elements, according to Lecointe. Chanel has funded the vast majority of the work, which will amount to several million euros. The renovations are set to begin this autumn and are expected to continue over the next five years.

“The House has communicated very little about this,” Lecointe said. “This is less about publicity and more about preserving a heritage to which Gabrielle Chanel was deeply connected.”

The Last Melkite Nuns in Europe

Aubazine’s modern history began in the 19th century when a wealthy heiress purchased the abbey and decided to turn it into an orphanage. She entrusted this mission to the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary, known for their gentleness and maternal care. The orphanage remained active until the 1960s, after which the site was passed on to a community of Melkite nuns that follow the Byzantine Rite.

The last two remaining nuns, who continue to safeguard a centuries-old monastic heritage, are also the last Melkite sisters in Europe. Now aged 78 and 92, they reside in a small monastery of Greek architectural style about 330 feet from the abbey, as the historic monument itself is no longer habitable. They occasionally welcome visitors — around 8,000 per year — but their primary focus remains prayer and contemplation.

Outside of visiting hours, another resident keeps watch over the site: a ginger cat named Chachanel, an obvious nod to the founder of the fashion house (a play on the French word for “cat,” chat). A guardian and mascot of the abbey, the little feline roams the cloister’s stones and seems to have adopted the monastery’s tranquil rhythm. “He owns the place,” joked the abbey’s curator.

The story of Aubazine Abbey and Coco Chanel is woven with mystery and profound echoes. This discreet yet decisive restoration effort will ensure the preservation of a heritage and culture that have contributed to Europe’s lasting influence over the centuries. And in the silence of the Cistercian stones, under the watchful gaze of Chachanel, Chanel’s memory will continue to permeate the walls.

New access to St Peter's Square opened

Rail travellers can now reach the Vatican without conflicting with car traffic. 

In Rome, a path for pedestrians was opened on Saturday at San Pietro station that leads to St Peter's Square without crossing the road.

The "Passeggiata del Gelsomino " (Jasmine Crossing) begins at the Italian Vatican railway station and leads over an old railway bridge with a spectacular view of St Peter's Basilica directly to the Vatican walls. 

You then walk along them to St Peter's Square. 

The cost of the remodelling, which also involved planting more than a thousand greenery, amounted to 2.6 million euros, according to the city administration.

New path almost one kilometre long

The entire route, which has been extended for pedestrians and wheelchair users, is just under one kilometre long. 

At one point, it leads past the back of the Santa Marta guest house, where Pope Francis lives , separated from the Vatican wall.

On the Italian side, a number of car parking spaces have been replaced by new green areas, benches and bicycle stands. 

At the opening on Saturday, Rome's mayor Roberto Gualtieri praised the flyover as a successful example of cooperation between the Vatican State, the Italian Republic and the city of Rome.

Italy's Church endeavours to limit damage after scandal

The failure of a planned final document of the synodal reform process of the Catholic Church in Italy has triggered a broad response in the country's media. 

The daily newspaper "Il Messaggero" spoke at the weekend of a "humiliation", while the "Repubblica" spoke of an "open conflict over women and homosexuals". 

Meanwhile, church media are endeavouring to limit the damage and take a different view of the events that led to a surprising adjournment of the meeting on Thursday. 

For the first time, Catholic laypeople were in the majority among the thousand or so participants in the synod.

The daily newspaper "Avvenire", which is supported by the bishops and is available in many Italian parish churches at the weekend, published voices from synod participants on Saturday. Delegate Laura Lamma from the diocese of Carpi explained: "The participants fearlessly expressed their rejection because they were accompanied by the Holy Spirit." 

However, this was not about their own ideas, but about the fact that the results of a long process of listening had not been sufficiently taken into account in the proposed final text.

Cardinal Zuppi found the emergency exit

Lamma expressly praised the reaction of the synod leadership to the massive opposition of the participants. 

The postponement surprisingly requested by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, President of the Bishops' Conference, was ultimately approved by a majority of 98 per cent.

The clergyman Calogero Di Leo from the diocese of Perugia is quoted by "Avvenire" as saying: "Nobody had expected the earthquake that the Spirit has triggered." 

The debate in the plenary assembly and in the working groups was free, open and transparent. 

There had been "moments of tension", but these had been dealt with constructively.

The decisive factor was that the bishops "understood the signs of the times with healthy realism and humility and then announced that the path of decision must be extended". 

The clergyman Marco Pascarella from Capua explained that the planned test had been "cold" and that the assembly had known exactly what it wanted. 

The postponement until October was a strong signal for the entire Church in Italy.

Homily of Fr Seán Jones for the Funeral Mass of Michael (Micko) O’Dwyer RIP

Homily of Father Seán Jones, Parish Priest of Dromod/Waterville in the Diocese of Kerry, for the Funeral Mass of Michael (Micko) O’Dwyer. 

This Mass was celebrated today at 11.00am in Saint Finian’s Church, Waterville.

Homily

I welcome everyone here with a desire to connect with this space and place, to find a peace that can penetrate the emotions in the heart.

I am aware that in each of your hearts, be it here in the church, those gathered outside or watching from elsewhere, that it is in your heart that I want to acknowledge your pain… because I know that death affects us all, in various ways and degrees, most especially the death of one who became the very fabric of our lives as we grew up. I pray that the through the power of gathering, our Mass, that the gifts of peace and consolation be given to each one of you.

It was such a beautiful gathering yesterday evening at the removal, and after, when friends and family began to disperse, I found myself in those moments of locking up witnessing a person walking into the church up to Micko’s coffin, respectfully bowing his head, blessing himself, and in the silence offering his personal prayer. After, in our brief exchange, he told me that he never had the opportunity to meet Micko during his life, but had the desire to drive here to be with him. It was striking that for one who didn’t know him, this person felt very much part of Micko’s story.

So for those who did know Micko, who loved him, today we can cherish the deep and special moments that we shared, the experiences of life, those good memories that flow so easily into hearts and minds.

It would be remiss of me not to make some reference to Micko’s credentials, to his achievements, successes, and to try to attempt to break open his working mind, his philosophy of participation, his pedagogy of sport, of management and leadership. Perhaps this legacy is best captured in a phrase that I heard in recent days among the countless beautiful testimonies, and it was shared by RTÉ commentator Marty Morrissey, who said that Micko always had the desire to spread the ‘Gospel of the Game’, and he did so in spades.

It is often said that we may be the only Gospel that someone may read during their day. In other words, that our very lives may be the encouragement, the very example, needed for one to discover something of themselves, to instil in them a worth, a value, a dignity, a God-given talent. Yesterday we witnessed this when we saw the young girls and boys of Waterville and Dromod GAA standing proudly in a guard of honour by Micko’s statue here in the village, these young people having been inspired by Micko and they are, in fact, the fruit of Micko’s missionary work … Son and Holy Spirit.

Let us not forget that at the young age of 79, Micko brought Waterville/Dromod U14 to win Kerry County League Division 8 title, and a win is certainly a win to those young players, now young ambassadors of the game, giving our young players that inspiration … yes spreading the Gospel of the Game to countless generations to come.

How significant it is then that we mark on this day – 5 April 456 AD – another missionary who came amongst us, namely our national patron Saint Patrick. Tradition tells us that Patrick returned to our shores to spread the Gospel of the Life, the life of Faith, in Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Readings 

In our first reading today , read by Micko’s son Karl, God speaking through the Prophet Isaiah, encouraging his people in vulnerability, of suffering … words that were spoken then, are spoken here and now … spoken to all of you … words that could have a made a half-time manager’s team talk make all the difference…

Strengthen all weary hands, steady all trembling knees, and say at all faint hearted: ‘Courage! Do not be afraid’

I say to you: have courage … do not be afraid … do not be afraid … have no fear over what Micko’s passing has brought, have no fear over death … why? Because we are gathered here ultimately because of one man. A man loved by many, scorned by others. A man known for great controversy, and for great compassion. That man, of course, is Jesus of Nazareth.

That Jesus – whom I had the privilege of witnessing Micko pray to during our pastoral visits – is the Jesus that would have been here in his moment of departure from this earth …
And as you, Cathal, read for us in the second reading, that our homeland is in Heaven, and from Heaven comes the Saviour that we are waiting for … the journey of Micko’s soul, a soul that has begun its journey to eternal life, it is by our presence, our prayers, our sentiments that we will accompany him: ón riocht go Ríocht na bhflaitheas (from this Kingdom to the Kingdom of Heaven).

My dear brothers and sisters, today is a sad day for us here in the Parish of Waterville, and indeed for all who have come to Micko in life, our native son, who achieved so much, who has given so much.

I finish with a prayer, a prayer for Gaelic footballers, a prayer perhaps that for all of us who play the beautiful game of life and faith, a prayer that echoes the heart of the man that we remember and pray for today. 

So, Micko, I pray:

Give me o Lord a footballer’s skill
With strength of arm and speed of limb
Unerring eye for the flying ball
And courage to match them whatever we befall
May my aim be steady – my kick be true
My actions brave – my misses few
And no matter what way the game may go
May I part in friendship with every foe
When the final whistle for me is blown
And I stand at last at God’s Judgement Throne
May the great Referee say when he calls my name:
‘You played like a man – You play the game’

Amen.

‘We try to assist the seed of belief’: Pope’s deal with Communist party in China draws criticism from some Catholics

The archbishop processed up the aisle behind a group of priests, deacons and altar servers, one of them swinging a thurifer as it pumped out thick gusts of incense. 

Behind them, a great organ thundered from the loft, as one of the cathedral’s 10 choirs led the congregation in an introductory hymn.

This was high Mass at Beijing’s North Cathedral, a late 19th-century church near the city’s financial district built in the French Gothic style in the shape of a cross with an elaborate grey marble facade. 

There are holy water stoups inside each entrance, stations of the cross on the pillars lining the nave, votive statues in alcoves and side altars, and confessionals and a baptismal font at the back of the church.

The church sits in a large compound and the courtyard outside features two gold-roofed pavilions and other Chinese architectural features including 60 carved lions. The stained glass windows show scenes from the history of the Catholic Church in China and one of the most popular shrines inside features a Chinese Madonna and child.

“It’s a combination of the West and the East, the Catholic Church and the Chinese culture,” said Fr Simon Zhu, who has been a priest at the cathedral since 2014.

“We feel very blessed to have such a design. Even 100 years ago, the missionaries already started inculturation or Sinicization, the combination of Catholic culture and Chinese culture, Catholic thinking, plus Chinese thinking, and combining the two together.”

The principle of inculturation, adapting Christian teachings to local cultures, has a long tradition in the Catholic Church and the Jesuit Matteo Ricci blended Catholic faith with Chinese thinking in the 17th century. But the word Sinicization also refers to Xi Jinping’s policy that “religions in China must be Chinese in orientation”, incorporated into socialist society and independent of foreign influence.

The archbishop of Beijing, Joseph Li Shan, is also the president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA), the representative body for Catholics officially recognised by the Chinese Communist Party. Most of China’s roughly 10 million Catholics attend officially sanctioned churches such as the North Cathedral but a substantial minority belong to the so-called “underground church”, attending masses in unapproved venues and private homes.

Under Pope Francis, the Vatican entered into an agreement with China in 2018 aimed at ending the division between the two Catholic communities by regularising the appointment of bishops. But the agreement, which was renewed last October for four years, has drawn criticism from some Catholics who fear it cedes too much influence to the Communist Party.

The liturgy at high Mass at the cathedral was indistinguishable from that in any Catholic church in Europe and the archbishop’s sermon focused on the importance of faith and repentance. His only reference to any political issue was at the start of Mass when he said he hoped that China and the Vatican would soon establish diplomatic relations.

The cathedral parish has five priests and one deacon, and in a convent behind the church live 50 nuns from the Congregation of St Joseph, a French order that has been in Beijing for more than 150 years. Although the Beijing diocese is more than 700 years old, created by an Italian Franciscan missionary in 1307, Fr Zhu describes the Catholic Church in China as a developing church.

“We would challenge our ministers, our church servers to watch how the developed church does things. Of course, number one, the standard for the Catholic Church, that’s Rome. So do whatever Rome does,” he said.

A small Chinese flag on Fr Zhu’s desk was the only symbol of the state I saw at the North Cathedral and his conversation was peppered with references to the pope and his guidance to parishes. The cathedral has three groups undergoing the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults the official Catholic process for joining the Church.

“Anybody can come here and say, I would like to learn more about becoming a Catholic and we just assist. To be a Catholic or to be a Christian in this country is also God’s calling. We just try to assist to make the seed of faith, the seed of belief, grow toward maturity,” Fr Zhu said.

The Chinese Communist Party is officially atheist, forbidding its 99 million members from practising religion and the early years of the People’s Republic of China saw the exile of foreign missionaries and the arrest of priests and bishops. After the foundation of the CCPA in 1957, Pope Pius XXII said anyone who took part in the consecration of bishops without the Vatican’s approval would be excommunicated.

Chinese Catholics who remained loyal to Rome formed the underground church but after 1966 the Cultural Revolution saw the systematic suppression and destruction of all religion.

Deng Xiaoping’s liberalisation brought a lighter touch to the regulation of religion and from 1981 Catholics were no longer obliged to pledge independence from the Pope and the Holy See. Restrictions tightened again in 1994 when all places of worship had to be registered with the government, opening the way for the arrest and prosecution of priests and bishops in the underground church for violating the regulation.

Meanwhile, bishops consecrated in the patriotic church without papal approval were not recognised by the Holy See while bishops in the underground church were seen by the Chinese authorities as illegitimate. The 2018 Provisional Agreement on the Appointment of Bishops, the text of which has never been published, was designed to regularise the status of bishops with an agreed system for approving them.

This meant that bishops would be nominated by the Chinese authorities but the Vatican would have a veto over their appointment. Pope Francis immediately readmitted to “full, ecclesial communion” eight bishops from the patriotic church who had been appointed without Vatican approval and some bishops from the underground church were recognised by the Chinese authorities.

Ten bishops have been appointed under the new system since 2018 and the Vatican has yet to object formally to anyone nominated by the Chinese authorities. After the agreement’s renewal last year, the Pope said “the results are positive, and we are working with goodwill”, adding that he was pleased with the Vatican’s dialogue with China.

Sergio Ticozzi is a Hong Kong-based Italian priest and an expert on the church in China whose books include China and the Catholic Church: Through Mutual Eyes. He believes the agreement is a very positive and effective channel for communication and dialogue, if both parties have a clear mutual understanding of what they are talking about but that China and the Vatican have different understandings of the terms at the heart of the agreement: bishops and appointment.

“For the Chinese authorities bishops are considered just public state officials, to be ‘democratically’ elected, while for the Vatican, they should be religious heads of a diocese or local church with a ‘sacred’ or divine authority. Consequently, the choice of the episcopal candidates by Chinese authorities is based mainly upon being a politically reliable person and obedient to the government/party, while for the Vatican they should have moral, doctrinal and pastoral qualifications,” he said.

“As far as the ‘appointment’ is concerned, the Vatican understands it as the handing down to the candidate of God’s authority upon a diocese, but for the Chinese side it simply means Vatican’s ‘agreement or approval’ of the elected candidate.”

Both the official church of the majority of Chinese Catholics and the underground church are in full communion with Rome and the agreement’s supporters hope that it will help to bring the two communities together. The Holy See has told priests in the underground church that they should not be forced to register with the Chinese authorities but Fr Ticozzi says that they are under great pressure to do so.

“The Chinese authorities want clearly to eliminate this section of the church, and exploit the ambiguous and silent attitude of the Vatican to achieve their objective. They openly make use of the Sino-Vatican agreement for this purpose: they do not show great concern about providing bishops for the more than 30 vacant dioceses, but prefer to propose their own episcopal candidate for dioceses which already have unofficial bishops, in order to force the Vatican to order the latter to accept the government solution, which can be rather unjust,” he said.

The Vatican is one of only a handful of states in the world that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan rather than with the People’s Republic of China and Beijing would like to change that. Some in the Vatican see the establishment of diplomatic relations with Beijing as a desirable next step in the process of normalisation of which the 2018 agreement was a part.

Fr Ticozzi is pessimistic about the future of the church in China, noting a dimming of religious fervour among younger generations and a lack of spiritual guidance from above.

“The official emphasis will be on formal appearances, on external show of ceremonies, on the political interpretation and role of the clergy, since bishops and communities are required first to obey the government’s orders,” he said.

“The official reports speak about various religious celebrations, construction of new churches, ordination of new priests and religious profession of new nuns, spiritual retreats and pilgrimages, religious symposia and study meetings. Several priests and sisters are truly very committed. But, the number of baptisms of adults is not high, bishops are kept busy by the authorities in political meetings, tours and banquets, lay people often are left by themselves without a solid catechesis and spiritual formation.”

Cindy Yik-Yi Chu, a historian at Hong Kong Baptist University and the author of a number of books on the Catholic Church in modern China, is more upbeat. She believes the fact that there are no longer any illicit bishops in the Chinese church is a big step forward that will enable more dialogue.

“It’s very slow. But I think the Pope wants it very much and wants to have dialogue. Even before he became pope he wanted to have dialogue with the Chinese church,” she said.

“I think that he was interested in working with the Chinese people because it’s a large population and there had be so many conflicts along the way. I think that’s the reason. It’s not something diplomatic or something like that. I think it’s just out of sincerity.”

Prof Chu acknowledges the sense of being abandoned felt by some in the underground church but argues that, since the pope still accepts them as Catholics, they have not been forgotten. And she rejects the argument that the church should not engage with the Communist Party.

“Should we just continue to hate them? That doesn’t do any good for the people,” she said.

Back in the North Cathedral, Fr Zhu was feeling optimistic too, noting that the convent has six new novices this year and that vocations for the priesthood are increasing steadily. When he returned from the Philippines in 2014, he was one of only a handful of priests in the diocese but now there are 91 and he says the change is visible.

“Every year, we get around two priests in the diocese of Beijing. An increase of two priests per year, that’s pretty good,” he said.

“I think there are some good signs. Maybe God really works in a very mysterious way.”