The Rev Stephen Neill, rector of the Cloughjordan and Borrisokane group of churches, said Cardinal Connell's criticisms were setting back interchurch relations years. The cardinal has criticised the Church of Ireland practice of inviting all baptised Christians to take Holy Communion at its Eucharist services.
Nobody seems to have been prepared to state publicly their dissatisfaction.
It is almost a conspiracy of silence if you like. Certainly it will take a brave person. It is not a tradition to speak out because of the tradition of the theology distilling down through the church. I think that there are many within the Hierarchy of the Irish Roman Catholic Church that feel pained and embarrassed about what has happened. I am convinced of that, and I would love to see them finding a voice because I think that it could certainly make a difference in the long term.