The ACP’s comments follow the leaking of Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s report on the Irish College in Rome. It formed part of Pope Benedict’s apostolic visitation of the Irish Church.
The leaked report called for "substantial reform" at the college and said staff "must inspire trust and its programme of formation must engender a vibrant fidelity to Jesus and the teaching and the tradition of the Church... such is now lacking".
Cardinal Dolan’s report focused on the opinions of seminarians who accused four priests of having an "anti-ecclesial bias" in their theological training.
A change in staff at the college was recommended and since then, all four priests have been replaced.
During his visit to the college, seminarians told Cardinal Dolan and his team their teachers were "critical about any emphasis on Rome, tradition, the magisterium, piety or assertive orthodoxy while the students are enthusiastic about these features".
Yesterday, the ACP said it protested "in the strongest possible terms against the methodology and conclusions" of the report.
Fr Brendan Hoban said: "It is unacceptable that a report to the Pope, on a sensitive issue, should be conducted in such an incompetent fashion.
"No court of law would treat people in such a way. Is it too much to expect even minimal rights in law for priests in the Roman Catholic Church?
"The Irish College staff, as clerics, are entitled under Canon Law to their good name. Canon 220 states that no one may unlawfully harm the good reputation which a person enjoys.
"Civil law also protects a person’s good name through the laws of libel.
"It is ironic that it was precisely the failure of Church superiors’ to follow either canon or civil law in abuse cases which led to the apostolic visitation in the first place."
Cardinal Dolan’s report also stated "the college suffers from the reputation of being ‘gay friendly’ however unjust such a reputation might be".
It examined four incidents of "homosexually directed improprieties" at the college.
A draft copy of the four Irish archbishops’ response to the report was also leaked. Archbishops Brady, Martin, Neary, and Clifford said "a deep prejudice appears to have coloured the visitation from the outset and it led to the hostile tone and content of the report".
The ACP backed the archbishops’ comments fully: "The report’s conclusion that ‘the overwhelming majority of the seminarians are committed to a faithful, chaste lifestyle’ does not justify the detailed, even prurient reporting and naming of individuals and accusations. If the accusations were not substantiated, why not just say so? Is this just incompetence or perhaps homophobia?
"A charge of the latter could easily be justified as a result of the ‘coloured’ thinking that produced this report."
The ACP called on the four Irish archbishops and on the bishops of the priests concerned to repudiate the report and support the priests involved in seeking to restore their reputations.
The leaked report called for "substantial reform" at the college and said staff "must inspire trust and its programme of formation must engender a vibrant fidelity to Jesus and the teaching and the tradition of the Church... such is now lacking".
Cardinal Dolan’s report focused on the opinions of seminarians who accused four priests of having an "anti-ecclesial bias" in their theological training.
A change in staff at the college was recommended and since then, all four priests have been replaced.
During his visit to the college, seminarians told Cardinal Dolan and his team their teachers were "critical about any emphasis on Rome, tradition, the magisterium, piety or assertive orthodoxy while the students are enthusiastic about these features".
Yesterday, the ACP said it protested "in the strongest possible terms against the methodology and conclusions" of the report.
Fr Brendan Hoban said: "It is unacceptable that a report to the Pope, on a sensitive issue, should be conducted in such an incompetent fashion.
"No court of law would treat people in such a way. Is it too much to expect even minimal rights in law for priests in the Roman Catholic Church?
"The Irish College staff, as clerics, are entitled under Canon Law to their good name. Canon 220 states that no one may unlawfully harm the good reputation which a person enjoys.
"Civil law also protects a person’s good name through the laws of libel.
"It is ironic that it was precisely the failure of Church superiors’ to follow either canon or civil law in abuse cases which led to the apostolic visitation in the first place."
Cardinal Dolan’s report also stated "the college suffers from the reputation of being ‘gay friendly’ however unjust such a reputation might be".
It examined four incidents of "homosexually directed improprieties" at the college.
A draft copy of the four Irish archbishops’ response to the report was also leaked. Archbishops Brady, Martin, Neary, and Clifford said "a deep prejudice appears to have coloured the visitation from the outset and it led to the hostile tone and content of the report".
The ACP backed the archbishops’ comments fully: "The report’s conclusion that ‘the overwhelming majority of the seminarians are committed to a faithful, chaste lifestyle’ does not justify the detailed, even prurient reporting and naming of individuals and accusations. If the accusations were not substantiated, why not just say so? Is this just incompetence or perhaps homophobia?
"A charge of the latter could easily be justified as a result of the ‘coloured’ thinking that produced this report."
The ACP called on the four Irish archbishops and on the bishops of the priests concerned to repudiate the report and support the priests involved in seeking to restore their reputations.