The tweet in question by Prof. Kevin O’Higgins SJ A Jesuit philosopher has criticised the founder of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) for voting in favour of abortion.
Referring to a recent blog post by Fr Tony Flannery in which he looked back to the referendum and referred to his own ‘Yes’ vote, Prof. Kevin O’Higgins SJ said on Twitter: “How a Catholic priest can vote to erase right to life of pre-natal babies (or anyone else!) is beyond me!”
Fr Flannery had written that he voted “for freedom of choice for women, knowing full well that some of the choices that would be made would go against some of my fundamental beliefs”.
The Redemptorist – currently suspended from ministry by his order because he rejects fundamental tenets of the Catholic Faith around priesthood and the Eucharist – went on to express the hope that abortions will be rare.
However, Fr O’Higgins rejected Fr Flannery’s logic and insisted “I think he compounds his wrong-headedness by publicising his vote against the right to life on his blog.
“Hard cases should be addressed in terms of balancing competing rights, not by erasing right to life of entire category of human beings,” Fr O’Higgins insisted.