Fr Bill Kemmy (back) with parishioners The ill-judged intervention strengthens the ‘Yes’ side, writes Fr Bill Kemmy
It is not possible to let the recent media statement issued by the leadership of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) on the upcoming referendum on the Eight Amendment to go unchallenged. Very briefly, I want to focus on the content and the impact of this statement.
It is hard to know where to start in regard to the content. Their statement makes less sense each time you read it. However, the vanity of their humility is hard to miss. Their statement fails to do justice to Church teaching about an informed conscience. It fails to acknowledge the outright distortions that have surrounded this referendum. (This was again demonstrated when Dr Peter Boylan could invoke the case of Savita Halappanavar recently on the Late Late Show – when the actual facts of that tragic case are about medical failures.) Most crucially, their statement fails to address what would follow a ‘Yes’ vote as clearly set out already by the Government.
On demand
To speak bluntly, this referendum is about introducing abortion on demand and well beyond 12 weeks. Everyone should be aware that in the UK, at least 97% of abortions do not come under what have been termed the ‘hard cases’ (rape, incest, life-limiting conditions).
This is the abortion on-demand culture where one in five pregnancies are aborted.
It is staggering that the ACP statement is wilfully ambivalent about the possibility of abortion provision that is 30 times wider than the ‘hard cases’. This is not Church teaching.
My final point is about the impact of the statement in the media. Quite simply hearing the media reports has wounded people who are actively supporting a ‘No’ vote.
The net effect of this statement has given support to the ‘Yes’ vote. This was entirely predictable. Whether the leadership of the ACP want to hear that or not, that is the truth. Their ill-judged and ill-timed intervention could have no other outcome. It was the wrong message at the wrong time.
I do not use the term ‘hard cases’ lightly. Like most priests, I have pastoral experiences in this area which were painful, beautiful and unforgettable.
Fr Bill Kemmy is a priest of the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin and Director of www.iCatholic.ie