IRELAND
The Association of Catholic Priests
When the white smoke went up and a voice announced “Habemus papam, Cardinalem Josephum – – – ” my heart sank because I knew that the next word would be “Ratzinger”. And so did many other hearts sink.
I had come to know of Cardinal Ratzinger as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that in 1985 silenced the Franciscan Leonardo Boff. Boff was a leading figure in Liberation Theology which drew on the Gospels to articulate indignation at the plight of poor, disposed people in South America. He was critical of the role of the Catholic hierarchy in that part of the world because of their affiliation to oppressive regimes and he was a trenchant critic of American foreign policy. He continues today in the same vein as a professor in the fields of theology, ethics and philosophy and author of more than 100 books.
What was most disturbing about the CDF’s attempt to silence Boff was not that it took issue with some of his views, including his support for some Communist regimes and elements of Marxism, but the sheer ruthlessness of the procedures and the disregard for anything approaching due process or respect for basic human rights. So when I read that Fr. Seán Fagan had been silenced up to two years ago on foot of an anonymous complaint about him and with the warning that he would be defrocked if the media reported what had happened, I was shocked. According to Justine McCarthy in the Sunday Times (15th April), all available copies of a theology book written by Fr. Fagan have been bought up by his religious order, the Marists, much to their discredit. He is 84 years of age, partially blind and in poor health and he was told he would stand trial if he did not undertake to stop writing.
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