Bishop reprimanded over controversial views

Bishop of Killaloe Willie Walsh has admitted he was reprimanded by senior church officials in Rome on a number of occasions over controversial statements he made questioning church teaching on social and moral issues.
However, Bishop Walsh has insisted he was never subjected to a dressing down from Pope Benedict or his predecessor about comments he made on a variety of issues.
The 75 year-old cleric revealed he previously had his knuckles rapped by church authorities in Rome over issues such as people in second unions being excluded from the sacraments, questions about family planning and contraception, the role of women in the church and the exclusion of women from ordained ministry.
A few months after his ordination as bishop in October 1994, the bishop raised a few eyebrows when he stated in a Catholic magazine, The Furrow, that the Catholic Church’s teaching on pre-marital sex, contraception and homosexuality was widely rejected in Ireland. He also called for a debate on clerical celibacy.
“Church authorities would have said this is the teaching of the church and, as bishop, it is your duty to uphold this teaching and not to be questioning it. They said I was casting doubt in peoples’ minds and upsetting their faith.
“I don’t think I ever said that church’s teaching was wrong. I feel that would be arrogant of me. I always felt I upheld the church’s teaching and I asked questions rather than expressing a view or a criticism.
“When I was ordained a bishop I pledged loyalty to the church and I take that very seriously. I do feel that I have to be true to myself. All of us have to deal with a tension within us,” he said.
“What parent doesn’t experience tension between the ideal and the practical situation. So many parents find themselves trying to live by a certain set of values but their children don’t accept these values.
Because their children take a different view this doesn’t mean the parents withdraw their love for their children.
“If some people are not living in accordance with church teaching, I don’t think the church should withdraw respect and love for them,” he added.
The bishop acknowledged he had probably upset some people as a result of statements on certain issues even though it was never his intention or desire to do so.