IRELAND
Irish Central

By
ANTOINETTE KELLY,
IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Tuesday, April 10, 2012

In a remarkable development, the 800-strong Association of Irish Priests told the Vatican they were deeply disturbed over the recent decision by the Holy See to silence one its members for his liberal views.

The Irish group said in a statement: ‘At this critical juncture in our history, the ACP believes that this form of intervention – what Archbishop Diarmuid Martin recently called ‘heresy-hunting’ – is of no service to the Irish Catholic Church and may have the unintended effect of exacerbating a growing perception of a significant ‘disconnect’ between the Irish Church and Rome.’

Alongside his well known opposition to the Church’s ban on contraception and women priests, Father Flannery has also backed Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s unprecedented criticism of the Catholic hierarchy in the aftermath of the Cloyne Report, an…