By JOYCE ROTHERMEL

This year’s Fall Speakers Series of the Association of Pittsburgh Priests will conclude with Tony Flannery, C.Ss.R. on Wednesday, November 7 at 7 PM at the Kearns Spirituality Center, 9000 Babcock Blvd. in Allison Park. The title of his talk is “Christian Teaching: New Images and Language for Contemporary Believers.”

Tony Flannery is a Redemptorist priest born in County Galway, Ireland. He is a founding member of the Irish Association of Catholic Priests and author of seven books.

In April 2012, Fr. Flannery was silenced by the Vatican for expressing his views on women’s ordination, homosexuality, and contraception. The following year, he rejected the Vatican’s order to remain silent, stating, “I refuse to be terrified into submission.” Since then, Fr. Flannery remains steadfastly active in church reform, contending, “Some Church doctrines are not scripturebased and come from a time when there was a very different understanding of the world and of humanity.” His most recent book, A Question of Conscience, gives a full account of his dealings with the Vatican.

In his talk in Pittsburgh, he will share how his turbulent journey with the Church he loves has convinced him of a pressing need for fresh images, as well as for new language which more accurately reflects reality.

The fee for the final talk is $20. Participants can register at the door the evening of the talks. For more information and questions, contact Fr. John Oesterle at 412-232-7512 or johnoesterle2@ gmail.com You are also invited to visit http://www.associationofpittsburghpriests. com Pre-registrations can be sent to the Association of Pittsburgh Priests, P.O. Box 2106, Pittsburgh, PA 15230.

Spring Speakers

Spring speakers are now scheduled: Monday, March 25, 2019, Jeffrey Sachs, noted economist, will speak at 7 PM on “Poverty Needs a Faith Response: What Can We Do?” and on Sunday, April 14, 2019, Dr. Greer Gordon, a Roman Catholic theologian and author, will speak at 2 PM. Her talk will be entitled: “Truth in the Heart: The Church, Entitlement, and Sexual Crimes.” Please put these dates on your 2019 calendar now.

The Association of Pittsburgh Priests is a diocesan-wide organization of ordained and non-ordained women and men who act on our baptismal call to be priests and prophets. Its mission, rooted in the Gospel and the Spirit of Vatican II, is to carry out a ministry of justice and renewal in ourselves, the Church and the world.

Joyce Rothermel is Chair of the Church Renewal Committee of the Association of Pittsburgh Priests.

Photo: Tony Flannery

(TMC newspaper VOL. 48 No. 9 November 2018. All rights reserved)