Catholic priests complain about ill-treatment inflicted by some bishops, archbishops in Ireland

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The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has thrown the gauntlet at some Irish bishops and archbishops “who do not take up their responsibility as bishops which is to be shepherds to their priests as well as to their people”.

A small number of bishops and archbishops in Ireland were to be held accountable for how they treat their priests, he said.

In an unprecedented statement on Monday, he said he had received “an increase in the number of complaints about the way some bishops treat certain priests”. A small number of bishops and archbishops consistently made up the vast majority of complaints he had received from priests and these bishops and archbishops had to “be held accountable,” he said.

The ACP, he stressed, was “founded to represent, and if necessary defend, our fellow priests”.

He stressed, however, that “with most bishops there is a respectful engagement with their priests, whatever their concerns and whatever difficulties they encounter. Which we note and accept.

But some bishops “if they” lose a battle “with a priest, will later vindictively ensure that they” win the war, “” while some men “have been forced out of the priesthood, on the basis of of a bishop’s decision that he is’ the ‘best thing’ for them.

There were priests “whose bishops made derogatory comments on their personal appearance and active ministry and who, as a result, saw their confidence shaken and their pastoral effectiveness diminished” and others who felt “incapable of defending themselves and themselves. were in inadequate housing and lacking a level of support enjoyed by other priests in the diocese.

Homosexual priests “have been denied permission to work in parishes while in other dioceses they are treated as equal and valued members of the priesthood.” Some priests had “concerns about the demands on their mental or physical health to remain in full-time priestly work and not to be allowed to retire until they are 75”.

There were also “priests whose bishops insist on appointing them against their will in parishes, for which, by mutual agreement, they are totally unfit”.

Some priests who had taken some time were not “then allowed to resume active ministry.” Some have been coerced and intimidated into leaving the priesthood against their will while others have been coerced into making an inappropriate public confession conditional on continued ministry.

The ACP noted that Pope Francis had declared that “human dignity is the same for all human beings: when I trample on the dignity of another, I trample on mine”.

This abuse of priests by bishops and archbishops is to be discussed at the CAP’s annual general meeting at the Radison Blu Hotel in Athlone on Wednesday, November 10.

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