Fr. Tony Flannery: Envisioning a more Christ-like church
Dawn Morais describes meeting Fr Tony:
Perhaps this is what church is meant to be: people drawn together, not by the obligations of Sunday attendance but by the call of the Gospels to build a better world. That is what it felt like as we listened to Fr. Tony Flannery in the vibrant art and aspiration-filled space of Viva Bookstore in San Antonio , Texas, the evening of Wednesday Nov 12, 2014.
Honolulu, unfortunately for us, was not among the 18 cities this very pastoral priest, Fr. Flannery is visiting on the US speaking tour organized by Catholic Tipping Point.
So we embarked on a family excursion, flying from Honolulu, HI to Austin, TX to first join our daughter in Texas and then make the trip to San Antonio together. We were well-primed, having read about Fr. Flannery, “one of the best-known and most-valued priests in Ireland, a man regarded with respect and affection by so many Catholics.” We had also heard from another family member who spoke enthusiastically about attending the talk by this populist priest in Washington D.C.
We were richly rewarded for our trek. We found ourselves in a room full of people who all seemed to want to help Pope Francis shake the cobwebs out of the rafters.