April 2026 - Birmingham Archdiocese Demotes Priests in all Aspects of Its Work

Eyebrows were raised when the archdiocese achieved its target of zero leadership roles being filled by ordained priests.

Our reporter, Tegan Short, walked into the office of the new leader of the Birmingham Diocesan Education Service, asking for an interview.

 ____________

Tegan (T) Thank you for seeing me without an appointment.

You are welcome.

(T) You are?

Mrs Connemara Cassidy. Most people call me Connie.

(T) Are you in charge of the whole educational outfit for the diocese?

            I am.

(T) But you aren’t a priest.

            What makes you say that?

(T) No clerical collar and black clothes.

            I am not an ordained priest, but I exercise a priestly role by leading this part of the Church in the diocese.

(T) How can a woman be a priest in the Catholic church?

We are called by God, like any other form of priesthood. Priests can be male, female, LGBT, married, single, full time or part time. We are all called to serve God in the particular ministry he decides is most beneficial to his Church on earth. Pope Francis said recently, “The woman of God’s holy and faithful people is a reflection of the Church. The Church is feminine, she is a wife, she is a mother.” He gives us a place.

(T) How can you be a priest if you are not ordained?

            Pope Francis opened the meaning of the word priest to include all those who serve the Church in a leadership role.

(T) So, you have no priests in charge of anything in the diocese?

Not ordained priests, no. Why would we ask them to be in charge of everything when it would impede them in fulfilling their true vocation? The people of God in this diocese are led by the best leaders, ordained or not, to deal with all aspects of what makes the Church vibrant and successful in preaching God’s message of salvation.

(T) Is your expertise and experience in education?

All my working life and ten years as head in a large Primary.

(T) Who is above you? Who do you report to?

            The archbishop.

(T) No Monseigneur, no hidden official to pull your strings?  

            Connie shook her head.

(T) So, the Arch is your immediate boss?

            I wouldn’t say ‘my boss’, as such. But I see why you would think that. He is more like the queen bee in a hive. We all exist in the Church to support him, keep him alive, healthy and productive as Christ’s representative here on earth. He is the centre and the heart of our faith community in the Birmingham archdiocese.

He is the only one among us who embodies the direct descent of our gospel mission from the Apostles. He authenticates our witness to the actual presence of the Son of God on earth.

He guarantees the continuity of links that goes back to those who experienced the incarnation of the Son of God.

On top of that, he calls down the Spirit to infuse new Catholics when they are ready to serve God’s Church on earth. No one else can do that. ‘The giver of the Spirit’ - what an awesome gift to have. That alone makes him special to us.

(T) Where do your priests fit in?

            The ordained ones?

(T) Aha.

            Work out their specialism and you have your answer. They are the expert practitioners of spirituality in all its aspects. And don’t we have a desperate need for spirituality in our society and in Catholic circles?

These ordained priests structure the spiritual life of the groups they serve.

The central service they manage is what we could call the sacramental spine of Church activities. That activity attends to every key aspect of life from birth to death, showing the hidden depths of life and how God’s love permeates all we are and all we do.

The ordained priests are especially good at taking spirituality into hospitals, prisons, care homes, being with dying people and broken families. Can you imagine how good they have to be at spirituality to sit and pray with a family that has no food and is about to be made homeless? They are well placed to give positive links to other Catholic services that deal with those problems.

(T) You are losing me with your different types of priests. Can we talk about your vision of Catholic schools?

            I’ll do better than that. I’ll give you a copy of the archbishop’s statement of vision for Catholic schools.

Putting it simply, our schools aim to be the best at education delivered by and in a faith community.

They live by the gospel message in every aspect of what they do. That commitment to the gospel message is what drives them and makes them successful. We have done away with the false duality of describing what the school does as an exam factory, and the Catholic bit of a few prayers and a pious motto tacked on.

Our schools are hot beds of success and growth in learning, across academic, personal and faith growth. When I first started teaching, we said our school was a “hall of learning and a seat of wisdom in a faith community”. I like that phrase. It shows who we are.

Catholic schools are open to all, those of other faiths, no faith and our own baptised Catholic children including those whose families are no longer active members of the Church.

We work closely with parents who are the first educators of their children and combine with our local parishes to preach and show the gospel message.

Look at what some of our schools did when they were named a “School of Sanctuary”. That gives you an idea of where we are going.

Our schools serve the genuine needs of the communities where they are and are moving into new areas in which they have never been active before.

We pay particular attention to those youngsters we call the KNEWs - Kids Nobody Else Wants.

We are bidding to take over the most neglected and failing schools, just like the Oasis and other Trusts who take on schools and KNEWs.

(T) What about your existing Academies?

            Useful in some situations, but some have been counterproductive. We no longer think one size fits all. We select where and what type we will use.

We are interested in sussing out alternative forms of Academy in terms of purpose and appropriate response to pupils and students in need – educationally challenged, in neglected areas, socially deprived situations, school refusers.

We are especially concerned with the rising tide of home-schooled youngsters who are lost to the system when withdrawn from schools where they have some protection. We are starting an outreach programme to such young people as part of our Academy programme, along the lines the Plymouth Brethren have been doing for years.

(T) Will the Govt approve?

            We don’t bother with what politicians think. They impede educators. We understand what pupils of today and adults of tomorrow will need in their changing world. We have the imagination, the creativity and the technology to respond successfully.

The government and the teaching unions want us to go back to where we were before Covid, Brexit and the rise of right-wing dictators and oppressors in many parts of the world. They expect us to ignore the learning and the inventiveness we showed during Covid.

What we do is based on research and evidence-based considerations instead of ideology or traditions that worked well when the world was so different.

The old paradigm of what schools are for cannot be brought back. Teachers tell politicians as much when so many walk out to work in supermarkets. Pupils say it when so many stay away because school offers them nothing.

Technology and creative responses to real need in our local communities allow us to do better than what we used to do. We are going there.

Take the stupidity over mobile phones. Imagine a Secretary of State getting hot and bothered about mobile phones in schools. Has she nothing better to do? We insist on all students having a mobile because we make them a positive educational tool. Each student is given a phone if their parents cannot afford one. We put the students in charge of regulating them and policing their use. They know more about phones than we do. We insist they should not be used in lessons unless it is part of the lesson and under the direction of the teacher. We don’t have any bother with mobiles. Our students, parents and staff are happy with the situation.

(T) You have a laissez-faire approach to education.

            There is nothing laissez-faire about serving the mission of preaching the gospel as part of the essential work of the archdiocese. That is the centre of all we do. We take it seriously and wholeheartedly. It is part of who we are.

(T) And not a priest in sight.

            You still don’t get it. We are everywhere.

Ted Dunphy

Disclaimer

I am not connected in any way with the Birmingham Diocesan Education Service or the Catholic Education Service. The views expressed here are my own and are based on experience, research and evidence. 

The experience comes from teaching in and working with Catholic schools around England over many years.

The research is based on the past few years investigating Catholic school websites in countries around the world, but especially in England.

An evidence-based approach challenges and refines the learning from the experience and the research.

I strongly support Pope Francis’ concept of synodality as a way of finding truth. I welcome you to have your say.

© Ted Dunphy

edwarddunphy1@mac.com

Tel: 44 (0) 1527 894659

Mobile: 44 (0) 7891 179180

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