Cathal BarryA spokesman for the bishop has called on UCC to intervene and resolve the issue over student pro-life group
The Diocese of Cork and Ross has waded into a row between University College Cork (UCC) and a student-led pro-life organisation.
The Irish Catholic revealed last week that ‘Love Life’, a group of students advocating prolife views, has been repeatedly denied recognition by the UCC Societies Guild as an official college society.
A spokesman for Bishop John Buckley has now called on the management of UCC to intervene and resolve the issue.
He told The Irish Catholic it would be “unfortunate and regressive” if the refusal of UCC to recognise the society “was perceived to be an exercise in censorship or bias”.
UCC has moved to distance itself from the controversy. In a statement to this newspaper, the university said it was a matter for “student governance”.
The Cork and Ross spokesman, however, said that “ultimately, this was an issue for university management to resolve”.
He said that as he understood it, “a portion of the student fee went towards capitation and that this funded societies”.
Love Life
He added that societies received funding from the university, via the Clubs and Societies Guild, so “it was somewhat surprising that a society called ‘Love Life’ should be persistently denied recognition and, thereby, funding.
“A university should respect and value the lawful views and interests of all its students, particularly given that the modern Irish university is all inclusive,” he said.
Despite the controversy, the spokesman acknowledged that the diocese “enjoyed very good relations” with UCC.
He said “this was manifested through the partnership between Church and university in relation to the Honan Chapel itself, and through the funding by the university, for Catholic chaplaincy”.
Bishop Buckley added that he has always been made to feel welcome in UCC by the president, staff and students.