Church Would Do Well to Remember Compassion

Irish Independent
October 11, 2012

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/editorial/church-would-do-well-to-remember-compassion-3255909.html

Public relations should never become central to how the Catholic Church goes about its business.

What it believes and espouses should always come before how its spins or delivers its message.

But there are obvious presentational pitfalls that it should avoid and the badgering of an ageing liberal priest has to be questioned.

The silenced Redemptorist and Association of Catholic Priests founder, Fr Tony Flannery, has come under increased scrutiny and pressure from the new head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

It emerged earlier this year that Fr Flannery was silenced by the Vatican and investigated for his stance on women's ordination.

Now it appears Fr Flannery has received further correspondence from the Vatican, which is seeking retraction of certain of his views.

This is appallingly bad public relations at a time when the church is battling for hearts and minds among a weary and wary faithful.

But it also raises more important moral issues.

Where is the compassion of Christ in this sort of campaign and where is the forgiveness, if indeed there is anything to forgive?

It has been suggested that Fr Flannery has been singled out because of his support for Taoiseach Enda Kenny's now infamous post-Cloyne Report speech in the Dail.

If that is so, we can add the sin of pettiness to the list of wrongs visited upon Fr Flannery.