A
PRIEST who considered banning the sale of a Catholic newspaper from his
church has said he will not do so, despite his disapproval of some of
the content.
Fr Gerard Deighan – administrator of St Kevin’s
parish, in Dublin 8, where the Latin Mass chaplaincy is based – said his
threat to ban The Irish Catholic from his church was "a reaction to
other peoples’ anger" in relation to a headline and some of the material
in it.
"I was perhaps swayed by that. I did question the
appropriateness of a headline and I did threaten not to sell the
newspaper this week, but I have decided it will not be banned," Fr
Deighan said.
Earlier yesterday The Irish Catholic issued a
statement saying the Tridentine Mass priest had banned the publication
because it had printed findings of research showing that Catholic women
do not feel appreciated by the Church.
The findings were based
on a study carried out by Trinity College Dublin (TCD) which found that
while almost three quarters of Catholic women felt their Church did not
appreciate them, just over 6% of Protestant women felt similarly.
On foot of this content, Fr Deighan rang the newspaper’s accounts
department to say that he was banning the paper for its "inappropriate
headline and editorial". The paper sells 25 copies a week in his church.
Irish Catholic editor Garry O’Sullivan said he wasn’t
surprised by Fr Deighan’s move: "He tried to ban the paper before and
what this is about is censorship. He didn’t mind his picture in the week
before but if we mention that women might have a right to be heard in a
Church in which they are a majority, he tries to stifle that debate."
Mr O’Sullivan said The Irish Catholic regarded it as the "role of the
Catholic press" to highlight problems in the Catholic church and his
publication had been to the forefront in doing so.
"We’ve
never baulked at giving the Latin Mass coverage, it’s a beautiful
liturgy, but we’re not going back to the bad old days of clerical
control and censorship even if Fr Deighan wants to," Mr O’Sullivan said.
SIC: IE/IE