Car Tourismo Banner
Home » News » Church makes sinister threats over abortion

Church makes sinister threats over abortion

Car Tourismo Banner

It was heartening to see Taoiseach Enda Kenny respond so robustly to the implied threats and pressure of the Catholic hierarchy last week around the forthcoming abortion legislation. There is no doubt that there is a certain amount of political bravery involved in bringing the legislation forward.

 

The Catholic Church is making itself a big presence in the debate and Cardinal Brady’s failure to rule out excommunication is a sinister threat to those of genuine faith who might be faltering between their public duty as legislators and their private religious beliefs.

That the Church would adopt such tactics will be no surprise to anyone who has watched the organisation operate but it must be difficult for those who fear the wrath of the religious institution. Many Fine Gael backbenchers are insisting that the legislation can be altered to suit their personal religious beliefs but, at the time of writing, Labour is still insisting that the legislation should pass as is. It will be interesting to see who will get their way.

Another clear indicator of the kind of pressure being endured by Enda Kenny from within his party was the presence of former party leader John Bruton at the recently held protest vigil in Knock.

To endure, ignore and robustly respond to such pressures is a mark of strength on the part of the Taoiseach and he should be commended for it.

Enda Kenny’s response to the pressures from the Church hierarchy are instructive. He stated that his book is the constitution and that he is the leader of a republic. This is a clear and unambiguous statement of a separation of church and state that has been so lacking historically in Ireland.

It is also clear from the reaction of the Church to this issue that it has still not fully relinquished its thirst to wield power over every aspect of life in Ireland as it did for so long.

Despite the fact that it retains no moral authority, it is insisting on making grandiose claims about evil with regard to the forthcoming legislation which, we should remember, should have been introduced many years ago.

What is particularly unpalatable about the approach of the Church is the implied threats being employed to manipulate politicians. Cardinal Brady has stated that the issue of whether communion should be withheld from politicians who support the legislation has not been discussed with bishops. The Irish Independent quotes him stating in an RTE interview that, “there would be a great reluctance to politicise the Eucharist”.
Of course, by raising the issue at all and making such a statement, the idea is out there and will no doubt weigh heavily on many politicians.

The Church has form with regard to the withholding of communion and indeed, in the past, has had absolutely no problem politicising the Eucharist. In 2004 an Italian newspaper L’Espresso published a secret memo sent to American bishops by the then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. We know him better as the Pope Emeritus. Your Catholic Voice online carries details of what the memo contained. It was advice to American bishops on how to deal with politicians who were pro-abortion and it was unequivocal.

In paragraph two of the memo “Cardinal Ratzinger teaches here the grave and clear obligation for Christians to oppose judicial decisions or civil laws that authorise or promote abortion or euthanasia.”

He goes on to state that a priest must take the final decision about the worthiness of a person to receive and that a sinner, a politician who supports abortion for instance, must be denied.

Certain US priests have stated they cannot simply pick and choose when it comes to moral issues and that if they deny communion to those who support abortion and euthanasia, they will also have to refuse those who support war and the death penalty.

Paragraph three of the memo sets them straight. “Ratzinger explained the Church does not condemn war and the death penalty but does condemn abortion and euthanasia.”

Of course we are all too aware that the Church picks and chooses where a strong moral stand is needed. It now shouts from the rooftops that abortion is wrong and yet it has been responsible for the destruction of more children’s lives through systematic sexual, mental and physical abuse than any other institution on the planet.

I have no doubt having read victims’ testimonies that many of them often wished they had never been born. The institution protected itself, its reputation and the criminal priests who carried out the crimes in what amounted to an act of disdain for the law of the land.

We can see from the current attempts to sabotage abortion legislation that nothing has changed. The Catholic Church has no regard for civil law in Ireland. A Supreme Court decision was taken in the X case and must now be addressed in law. The Catholic Church has no authority to challenge the highest court in the land, especially through the threatening and manipulation of its flock.

The bishop’s statement on the issue contains the line, “the Bill also appears to impose a duty on Catholic hospitals to provide abortions. This would be totally unacceptable and has serious implications for the existing legal and Constitutional arrangements that respect the legitimate autonomy and religious ethos of faith-based institutions.”

Herein lies the next issue that needs to be addressed by government. The stranglehold of the Church on Ireland’s medical and educational institutions must be broken once and for all.

Only when this infrastructural connection is broken can the people feel truly free and Ireland can finally move on as a mature independent republic not one at the mercy of influence and bullying by the Catholic Church.

About News Editor

Check Also

Council accused of a ‘cheap job’ on Hermitage Road

RESIDENTS of one of Ennis’ most historic housing estates have been left “hugely disappointed” with …