Fr. Brian D’arcy Is 6th Irish Priest ‘silenced’ by Vatican

By Ciaran Hanna
Inside Ireland
April 26, 2012

http://insideireland.ie/2012/04/26/fr-brian-darcy-is-6th-irish-priest-silenced-by-vatican-67722/

A British Catholic weekly journal has reported that six Irish Catholic priests are being silenced by the Vatican.

The Tablet newspaper, which has been published since 1840, is reporting that five Priests have been censured from speaking to the Press.

The Vatican based Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, CDF, has warned Fr Tony Flannery, one of the leaders of the Association of Catholic Press,to stop writing for a magazine while the paper’s editor, Fr Gerard Moloney, is being investigated by the CDF.

The other priests include Fr Sean Fagan.

A supporter of Fr. Fagan wrote in a blog:

“ The silencing of Sean, after a lifetime of service to the Church, was even more painful because if any word of this action demanded by the CDF got into the media, he would be immediately be prohibited from exercising his priestly faculties.”

The 84-year-old priest, who, the Tablet reports, is in poor health, has made no public statement.

The newspaper has also reported that the latest cleric to fall under the ban is well-known broadcaster and writer, Fr. Brian D’Arcy, who has been outspoken in the Catholic Church’s handling of the sexual abuse scandal.