Tag Archives: Vatican

CLARE’S first crematorium is on the verge of completion at Illaunmanagh in Shannon. An open day will be held at the new facility, which is adjacent to Illaunmanagh Cemetery, on May 28 with the public welcome to view the development for a few hours. Developer Jim Cranwell said this week that things are nearly ready. “Everything is going very well. I’m down in Shannon at the moment and everything looks perfect.” He added, “All the equipment is in. The construction of the pathway and the roads and everything is being done. We’re nearly there alright but building always takes a while. We should be testing by May 20.” Mr Cranwell expects the first cremations in Clare will take place within a month. At the moment, one in six people in Ireland are cremated, with the figure having risen very significantly in the last 10 years. However, it is far below the rate in the UK, where almost 75% of bodies …

Following the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican, which voted 118 to 62 against expressing ‘welcome’ to gay people in the Catholic Church, Ennis-born Fr Bernárd Lynch has said lying about one’s sexuality within the Church is more acceptable than telling the truth. “If I did lie, if I did pretend, I’d have a job. I could even have a lover on the side,” said Fr Lynch, who publicly came out as a gay man in 1986, when he was ministering in New York. The London-based psychotherapist, who is chair of the Camden Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Forum, said, “Straight or gay, truth and honesty in the Catholic Church, as far as sexuality and relationships are concerned, is punished by dismissal. Whereas lies and hypocrisy are rewarded, as much in Ireland as the UK or the US. Again, you wonder are these people really serious about the Gospel.” Fr Lynch claims the Church’s attitude to homosexuality is intrinsically linked …