Priests strap on ski boots for friendly competition in Poland

Portsmouth, England, Aug 22, 2018 / 02:44 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Philip Egan of the Diocese of Portsmouth, in southern England, has written to the pope asking him to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Synod of Bishops in the wake of recent sc… […]

Father Sean Sheehy / St. Mary’s Listowel/Radio Kerry/YouTube screen shot

Denver, Colo., Nov 2, 2022 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

An Irish bishop apologized for a priest’s homily that described abortion and homosexual acts as examples of sinful behavior. 

Bishop Ray Browne of Kerry published an apology on Nov. 1 for “the deep upset and hurt caused by the contents of the homilies“ given over the weekend by Father Seán Sheehy.

Video of the sermon was shared widely on social media and sparked both strong criticism and support from commentators.

Sheehy, who is retired, had been filling in for a parish priest at St. Mary’s Church in Listowel, a County Kerry town of fewer than 5,000 people. The reprimanded cleric on Wednesday told Irish media the bishop was “muzzling the truth in order to appease people.” 

In his recent sermon, the Irish priest reflected on sin, penitence, sainthood, and God’s forgiveness. 

“You rarely hear about sin, but it’s rampant,” he said. “We see it in the promotion of abortion. We see it for example in this lunatic approach of transgenderism.”

Another example, Sheehy said, was “the promotion of sex between two men and two women. That is sinful. That is a mortal sin and people don’t seem to realize it. It’s a fact, a reality, and we need to listen to God about it because if we don’t, then there is no hope for those people.”

Several of the congregation heckled the priest and some walked out.

“And so God is also telling you and me today, look, you have a responsibility to seek out those who are lost. You have a responsibility to call people to an awareness of the fact that sin is destructive, sin is detrimental, and sin will lead us to hell,” the priest said. 

Then Sheehy reflected that the saints honored in November are former sinners.

“When we honor the saints on the first of this coming month, we honor people who are saints. Why are there saints? Because they’re repented and because they sought forgiveness. As somebody said one time, heaven is full of converted sinners,” he said.

“And so today, God says to us, ‘I have come to call sinners, but if you don’t admit you’re a sinner, then you’re not listening to my call and I can’t do anything for you because it’s a two-way street.’ Now, there are people you see who won’t like to hear what I’m saying, but the day you die, you will find out. 

“What I’m saying is not what I invented, it is not what I came up with, [it] is what God is saying. And the day you die, you will find out that is the truth. Our prayer for people is that you, it won’t be too late for people. But how will people know that God wants to forgive them if we don’t tell them? How will people who are lost be found if we as God’s people don’t call them and say look, God loves you, he has come to call sinners, but he wants you to have life and have it to the full,” he continued.

“That’s what he wants. He wants you to live life to the fullest … we can only live it through, with, and in his grace,” the priest said.

Bishop Browne’s statement regarding “the offending homilies” said that “the views expressed do not represent the Christian position.” 

“The homily at a regular weekend parish Mass is not appropriate for such issues to be spoken of in such terms,” the bishop continued.

“The Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a Gospel of love and ever proclaims the dignity of every human person. It calls on us all to ever have total respect for one another,” Browne added, saying: “This fundamental Christian teaching was beautifully proclaimed” in recent readings at Mass.

Speaking to Radio Kerry, Father Sheehy said the bishop had stopped him from saying Mass. 

“I know myself what I said cannot be disproven by any honest-to-God Christian or Catholic teaching, and that’s the bottom line,” the priest said.

Irish newspapers were quick to report the priest’s controversial past support for a convicted sex offender.

Sheehy was a character witness for Daniel Foley, a former bouncer convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in the parking lot of a nightclub in 2008. He joined dozens of the accused’s supporters in court when the conviction was announced in December 2009 and shook the hand of the then 35-year-old Foley, and made disparaging comments concerning the woman’s status as a single mother, The Irish Examiner reported in 2013.

Then-bishop of Kerry Bill Murphy censured Sheehy, who resigned from his parish in Castlegregory soon after the verdict but continued to support Foley. 

There are about 140,000 people living in the territory of the Diocese of Kerry, the vast majority of whom are Catholic.

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Children with the Southwark Singing Programme sing the hymn “The Power of the Cross” at St. George’s Cathedral in Southwark, London, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. / Credit: The Archdiocese of Southwark

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Southwark in London released a series of choir videos this week in the hopes of helping to “preserve [the] great tradition” of liturgical music and leading more people to the Catholic Church. 

The archdiocese, centered in central London at St. George’s Cathedral, Southwark, said on its website that the cathedral released the videos “to promote the power of worship through music and song.”

“The Church’s musical tradition is a treasure of inestimable value, and musicians have a duty to preserve this great tradition,” Jonathan Schranz, the director of music for the archdiocese, said in the release.

“In our own way, in Southwark, we are privileged to be able to use our voices to direct hearts and minds upwards on a weekly basis through liturgical singing,” he said.

St. George’s has an extensive choir program featuring singers of multiple ages and skill levels. The church’s Cathedral Choir, which dates back to the 1840s, “is made up of boy and girl choristers aged 7 to 12 along with nine professional singers known as Lay Clerks,” the cathedral’s website says.

The Cathedral Consort, meanwhile, was formed in 2019 and consists of “a select group of teenagers aged 13 and upwards.”

The Southwark Singing Program, meanwhile, was launched in 2022 as “a diocesan music education program which works in partnership with schools and parishes to develop musical provision and sacred singing across the diocese.” 

That program features “whole-class singing sessions in primary and secondary schools on a weekly basis,” which “feed into local after-school choirs which serve parish and school liturgies.”

Archdiocesan spokesman Patrick Kinsella told CNA that the choirs “are always performing and practicing.”

“We put on these sessions to promote the power of worship through music, showcasing the talented choirs,” he said. “By using social media, we hope to reach as many people as possible.” 

“It’s not just people who go to Mass every day or week we want to inspire, but those who haven’t been for a while too,” he said.

“By hearing the beauty of the music, we pray it leads to people returning to church.”

‘A particular joy to work with children’

The performances recently shared by the archdiocese include modern songs such as “10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)” and “The Power of the Cross,” performed by children in the Southwark Singing Programme.

Also featured are more traditional and ancient works such as “O nata lux” and “Tantum ergo,” performed by the Cathedral Consort and the Cathedral Choir.

Also among the musical performances published by the archdiocese is the Gregorian chant “Veni Creator Spiritus” performed by the Lay Clerks. 

Schranz said in the archdiocese’s release that it was “a particular joy to work with children from our archdiocesan schools on these recordings.”

“The passion the children have for singing and music is one we should not only embrace but fervently encourage,” he said. 

On its website St. George’s Cathedral says its original choir “was formed in 1848 when the cathedral was opened.”

The choir sings weekly at Sunday Mass “and on major events of the year, such as Advent, Christmas, Holy Week, and Easter.”

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