Eamon Maher
Search for other papers by Eamon Maher in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Prophetic voices or complicit functionaries?
Irish priests and the unravelling of a culture
Abstract only
Log-in for full text

This chapter takes a number of priests with a public profile and examines the extent to which they are prophetic voices or complicit functionaries. Choosing the French priest-writer Jean Sulivan (1913-1980) as a comparator, Eamon Maher examines the published work of Joseph Dunn, Vincent Twomey, Mark Patrick Hederman and Brendan Hoban, before concluding that they all share the prophetic tendency of raising uncomfortable and often unpopular issues while remaining within the institution. He further argues that being so closely aligned to the Church makes it difficult, and professionally dangerous, for priests to criticise certain practices within the institution. However, while retaining a huge love of, and devotion to, the main tenets of Catholicism, these men nevertheless feel obliged to point out things that are going wrong, even when expressing such views can often involve them in conflict with their superiors at home and in Rome.

  • Collapse
  • Expand

All of MUP's digital content including Open Access books and journals is now available on manchesterhive.

 

Tracing the cultural legacy of Irish Catholicism

From Galway to Cloyne and beyond

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 945 623 166
Full Text Views 54 14 0
PDF Downloads 39 8 0