IRELAND
Irish Independent
We have a blind spot concerning the privileged position of the Roman Catholic Church, writes Carol Hunt
Last week’s RTE documentary showed a bemused rather than embittered Edna O’Brien explain how an anonymous letter was sent — presumably by a concerned citizen — to her mother. It’s moral mission?
To inform the woman that her daughter was living with a (ex) married man who was also a communist. No doubt the sender persuaded themselves they were performing a civic and moral duty.
It reminded me of those anonymous complaints we now know were sent to Rome about good clerics like Fr Tony Flannery and Fr Brian D’Arcy, who were deemed not to be toeing the Vatican line. The senders obviously believe they are acting in the best interests of the Catholic Church and its hierarchy.
On the other hand there are clerics such as Jesuit theologian Fr Gerry O’Hanlon, who previously said: “It will not do any more for priests, bishops, cardinals, the Pope to simply tell us what to think, what to do. People rightly want a say.”
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