Priests slam religious show as vehicle for Browne attack

TV3’s religious show has been slammed by the Association of Catholic Priests as a vehicle for Vincent Browne to “coax a series of likely suspects into a studio and attack them for their beliefs”.

ACP founder Fr Brendan Hoban likened Mr Browne to “a janitor in Beaumont Hospital explaining to a panel of brain surgeons they were off the mark”.

“Even though Browne imagines he has a fascination with religion, almost every time he opens his mouth he demonstrates how little he knows,” said Fr Hoban.

“In the first programme, Browne accused [renowned theologian James Mackey] of being ‘a condescending twit’. You really couldn’t make this up. Mackey has studied religion all his life; he knows the ins and outs of his subject; he has written and lectured widely.”

Fr Hoban said Mr Browne’s claim that the show is an “examination” of how religion informs our culture “is no more and no less than convenient justification". He said “the place for a programme examining issues of theology” is within “a public service remit”.

Commercial stations do not have any interest in such shows, he said, as they “attract a much smaller but more in-tune audience”.

“Challenging God is no more than a vehicle for Vincent Browne to do what he does best — coax a series of likely suspects, theologians, biblical scholars, clergy, into a studio and attack them for their beliefs,” he said.

“Or go on an unintelligible rant and air a series of predictable prejudices. All of this in the hope that people will watch this form of modern blood-sport and advertisements will sell.”

Last night, a TV3 spokeswoman said: “If the ACP thinks TV3 is doing a series on theology to generate advertising revenue, it is seriously bonkers.

“Challenging God is a series Vincent Browne proposed to TV3 because of his interest in religion.”