IRELAND-RENEWAL Apr-25-2013
By Beth Griffin – Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) — Renewal of the Catholic Church in a “post-Catholic” Ireland depends on a homegrown effort by the laity to overcome clericalism and witness the Christian message in a secular society, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin told a New York audience.

Once considered “one of the world’s most deeply and stably Catholic countries,” Ireland, like other parts of Europe, can now be classified as post-Catholic because of sociological changes and lingering fallout from the child sexual abuse scandals that swept the country in recent years, Archbishop Martin said April 24 in a speech at Fordham University. Continue reading this post…

…from downtown Chicago

Health update Spring 2013

Father Greeley is very much enjoying the beautiful Chicago Spring season. He took services for Easter in-home, and reveled in the family celebration – and of course …Opening Day!

 “He’s generally in very good spirits,” commented a family member, and “In many ways he’s kind of his old self”. His eyes still have that wonderful blue sparkle, and light up when the family visits…and the Cubs win.

 Father Greeley is still interested in technology and spends time every week viewing his e-mails. He has frequent visits from friends and colleagues; and enjoys short excursions around Chicagoland. His family arranges for him to concelebrate Mass in his home on a regular basis.

God Bless Everyone!

Did anyone else see this at the Daily Kos?  Interesting insight with side stories, as relevant today as 1997 when it was first published. If I remember correctly, Cardinal Sins featured the election of Popes John Paul I and II.
By michelewln for Readers and Book Lovers

One thing Father Greeley never shied away from was the honest depiction of sex in his books. Many found his books too steamy but I have always felt he was being honest and true to his characters. Continue reading this post…

Social Climate: By Mahar Mangahas  |   Philippine Daily Inquirer
11:17 pm | Friday, March 15th, 2013

My favorite priest is also a storyteller. I strongly recommend his works of fiction as the most enjoyable way to understand the message of Jesus, and to learn about Christianity and Catholicism—which are not the same—in the world today. I am referring to the fantastically prolific (66 novels), earthy, funny, romantic, and saintly Irish-American priest, Andrew M. Greeley.

Fr. Andrew Greeley, now 85 years of age, is also a brilliant sociologist (PhD, University of Chicago) and university professor, with many of his 79 nonfiction books based on his survey research.  But he doesn’t like being called a hyphenated priest-anything. He says that he is just a priest, and doesn’t telling stories make him a better priest, and didn’t Jesus teach by telling stories?  (The Irish love question marks.)

It’s been my great fortune to have been Father Andrew’s friend since 1990, when I met him in Graz, Austria, at my first meeting of the International Social Survey Program. ISSP had only 12 member-countries then, so survey questions could be crafted around a table in plenary session, with much camaraderie, argumentation, joking, etc. Continue reading this post…