UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Dennis Coday | Oct. 21, 2014
Last year, a coalition of Catholic progressive and reform organization sponsored “The Catholic Tipping Point: Conversations,” a 15-city tour featuring Austrian Fr. Helmut Schüller, who gained international attention in 2011 for his “Call to Disobedience.”
This year, the tour is back, and the featured speaker is Redemptorist Fr. Tony Flannery, founder of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland. He has been a popular writer and speaker in Ireland and has publicly questioned official church teaching on celibacy for priests, contraception, homosexuality and women’s ordination.
For most of 2012, Flannery was forbidden to minister as a priest as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reviewed his writing. In January 2013, he said he was threatened with excommunication unless he made a clear and public statement — preapproved by the doctrinal congregation — fully supporting official church teaching.
According to tour organizers: “Fr. Tony will tour the U.S. this fall, from October 22 – November 18, 2014, visiting 18 cities and speaking with Catholic laity and leadership on topics of women in the Church, the future of ministry, the problem with infallibility, and the sexual teachings of the Catholic Church. ”
Visit the website for more details: www.catholictippingpoint.org
Here’s the tour cities in chronological order:
Father Flanner Tour Dates: October 22 – November 18, 2014
Washington, DC * Baltimore * Philadelphia * New York City * Boston * Providence * Syracuse * Cleveland * Detroit * Minneapolis * Memphis * Sarasota * San Antonio * St. Louis * Phoenix * Sacramento * Portland, OR * Seattle
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