ONE of Ireland's favourite saints is the subject of a gripe to the agency that deals with media wrongdoings.The Catholic Church has sent an official petition to the Office of the Press Ombudsman after a newspaper referred to revered saint Padre Pio as "an opportunistic con artist".
The description of the vastly popular Capuchin friar not only hurt the sensitivities of Catholics, but also the Church itself, according to Church management.
So the Catholic Communications Office (CCO) sent a complaint to the Ombudsman, Professor John Horgan, citing the article as "offensive".
CCO spokesman Martin Long said that he wanted a chance to address the opinion of columnist Liam Fay in the Sunday Times newspaper.
Mr Fay referred to Padre Pio as "a con artist" and an "opportunistic mystic".
Padre Pio is a hugely popular saint, credited with performing at least 1,000 miracle cures and famed for his stigmata markings. His birthplace in Italy attracts seven million pilgrims a year from all over the world.
Mr Long said he contacted the Sunday Times to request that it publish a letter of protest, but it refused to do so.
Mr Long pointed out that the paper did publish readers' letters critical of the article, but he felt that an official letter from the CCO should have been given precedence.
It is a matter of course in letters to the editor that official bodies are given their chance to speak up.
Mr Long said that, as a result, the "inaccurate and offensive article remains both on the record and unchallenged by an official Catholic Church source".
A spokesman for the Sunday Times said he was "not aware Mr Long made a complaint to the Press Ombudsman" and claimed to have had no contact from the Ombudsman in relation to any such complaint.
Mr Long wrote the letter to the paper on behalf of the CCO and the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference.
He is now awaiting a response from the Ombudsman on the matter.
The Ombudsman will decide whether or not the complaint from the CCO will be upheld or rejected.
Either decision can be subject to appeal by the complainant or the newspaper in question. If it is appealed, the case will be sent onto the Press Council of Ireland (PCI) for review. A source in the PCI said: "The first step by the complainant is to make contact with the editor. If there is no progress there, then the complainant can write to the Press Ombudsman.
"If the complaint is not upheld, it can be referred on to the PCI. It's taken very seriously, like the Press Complaints Commission in Britain. It has to be seen to be working."
The PCC in the UK was set up in 2006 to address complaints from the public about editorial content in newspapers.That year, it received 3,325 complaints, two-thirds in relation to accuracy of reporting and one-fifth complaining about intrusion of privacy.
When an Irish newspaper is found to be lacking, it is instructed to publish the official PCI remonstration.
The PCI has 13 members, six from the newspaper industry and seven laymen.
The newspaper industry is represented by Martin Fitzpatrick of the NUJ; Frank Mulrennan of Regional Newspapers and Printers Association; Michael Denieffe of Independent Newspapers; Michael McNiffe of the Irish Sun; Rosemary Delaney of Women Mean Business magazine, and Eoin McVeigh of the Irish Times.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce