Only ideological media would ‘muzzle’ Church leaders – claim

The Irish priest who leads the Church’s lobbying campaign at the European Union (EU) has warned that only the most “ideologically driven” politicians or media outlets attempt to silence Church leaders from speaking publically.

Fr Patrick Daly, General Secretary of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the EU (COMECE), insisted Catholic bishops “have a right to expect a receptive and courteous hearing of their views in public debate in countries of the EU and only the most ideologically driven of politicians or newspapers would seek to muzzle them or prevent their voice being heard by those disposed to listen to them”.

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Writing in The Furrow, Fr Daly said the right of a bishop to speak publically “is unassailable and flows from the rightful place which religion enjoys with consensual support in society”.

The Dublin-born priest warned, however, that the entitlement of a bishop to address society at large “can no longer be taken for granted and is increasingly a matter of debate”.

He said bishops “feel they are entitled” to speak publically but that “many in contemporary society this sense of entitlement is disturbingly self-referent”, adding that it is “important that bishops earn their place in the public square through the integrity of the positions they seek to defend and the rational base on which their arguments draw”.

“Theirs is a tough assignment,” he said, noting that while “bishops often face a deferential, polite but cursory acknowledgement” of their views, “frequently they are stonewalled or contradicted, more frequently they are ignored”.

Fr Daly insisted that the Church is “part of the fabric of a large number of societies across the globe”, adding that it is “natural therefore that the designated Church leaders, in their representative function alone, be accepted too as leaders of opinion in the fashioning of society for all”.

photo: CNS