Seamus Ahearne thinks about all the changes we are now faced with as a result of the pandemic.
"We will adjust our thinking to a new way of being,  as we consider a new way forward.  There is no option."
"Many decisions that should have been taken years ago in terms of planning, are now being forced on us.  Our mentality has to change drastically."

Fr. Pat Rogers remains in hospital but is much improved and we hope and pray now on the road to a full recovery.
It has been a difficult time and he and his family are very grateful for your continued prayers and good wishes.

ACP Helpline

Seamus Ahearne emerges from lockdown "taken back myself at how old I had got and how I had deserved the cocooning!" 
"It is a humbling reflection to glance backwards towards 14/15th March and since.
The world lived without us. Lived without Church. Lived without Mass. No Holy Week. No Easter. No Baptisms. No First Communion. No Confirmations. No house visits. No Schools. No full Funerals. No shopping. No hospital visiting or visits to the sick.
Somehow the sky didn’t fall in.  We can’t go back to how we were."

Chris McDonnell thinks about one thing that has been missed in recent weeks - "the exchange of touch between each other in recent weeks for without words our hands speak of our emotions, our cares and our suffering."
"It is with our hands that we take and give, share and consume. What could be more practical than we receive the gift of the Christ in the same manner?"

Revised: Armagh were incorrectly reported and their revised score is now 30.

We Are Church Ireland publish their 'Transparency Table' for irish dioceses.
The Transperancy Scores are calculated based on 10 criteria developed by Voice of the Faithful in the USA. The criteria include the availability on websites of Annual Accounts; details of the Finance Committee; Search functions to quickly find information; financial guidelines.

Soline Humbert questions why our bishops don't publish their ad limina reports, considering that in other places they do exactly that.

Seamus Ahearne's riverside reflections lead him to conclude that "Like Jeremiah this weekend; we all have to speak up and speak out.... I call on our leaders and our ministers to speak up and to speak out. With a new vision of parish, church, priesthood and sacrament.    There is a new place for God and the Word,  to be heard.”

STATEMENT FROM ASSOCIATION OF CATHOLIC PRIESTS
ON RE-INTRODUCING PUBLIC MASSES

UPDATED - to include Document from Western Bishops - Tuam, Achonry, Clonfert, Elphin, Galway, Killala
Nothing Can Separate Us From the Love of God

Brendan Hoban wonders why Pope Francis' agenda is not gaining traction in the Irish church; the agenda "to rediscover and implement the insights of the Second Vatican Council.... to focus on protecting planet earth, to place the poor at the centre of our concerns, to breathe new life into the concept of mercy, to emphasise a synodal (or group)  approach to decision-making and to find new ways of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ."