IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests
On Wednesday, February 20, 2013, about 250 priests members of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) met in Athlone to discuss the challenges faced by priests in Ireland today.
During a discussion on the rights of priests, the meeting was reminded that the 1971 Synod on Justice produced the document, the Practice of Justice, which emphasised that the Catholic Church must act justly towards all its members, if it to have credibility in preaching on Justice.
The Synod document stressed that everyone has a right to suitable freedom of expression and thought and affirms that in any form of judicial procedure the accused should have the right to know his accusers and also the right to a proper defence.
Seán McDonagh proposed the following motion:
In the light of the above teaching from the Synod of Bishop in 1971, we the undersigned ask the Irish Bishops¹ Conference to meet, as soon as possible, with those Irish priests who have been censured by the Vatican in recent year.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.