A well-known Belfast priest, Fr Paddy McCafferty, has responded to the latest criticism of the Catholic Church by former President Mary McAleese who claimed that the Church needed to provide freedom of speech for its members.
In a letter published in the Irish Catholic, Fr McCafferty said that McAleese has “absolutely no right to […] attempt to impose her ideologies upon the Catholic Church, or “demand” changes to Church teachings to suit her views”.
The outspoken Fr McCafferty, who is parish priest of Corpus Christi parish in Ballymurphy, west Belfast, is well known and much-admired for his courageous witness for people abused in the Church, and for his outspoken advocacy on behalf of the families affected by the Ballymurphy massacre.
McAleese’s comments were made when she spoke from Rome via zoom call to the lay-led ‘Root and Branch’ Synod, held in Bristol from the 5th-12th September. On its website, the British Church reform movement describes itself as “a Synod that starts with women and doesn’t end there” and asserts that “reform [in the Catholic Church] is needed”.
McAleese was the Synod’s keynote speaker. In her 45-minute address on Friday 10th September, she said that Church law “must acknowledge intellectual rights such as equality and freedom of thought”, calling on the Church to remove the “padlock” on its members’ human rights
She complained that Catholics, by their baptismal promises are deemed to have accepted the Church’s right to impose limitations on members’ freedom of expression and opinion.
“It says it can legitimately do so because of personal promises we made at baptism which imposed on us compulsory, life-long obligations of Church membership.”
“In my view, this understanding of magisterial control over Church members is no longer sustainable,” McAleese told the international audience, which was gathered both in person and online.
She said the Catholic Church had arrived at a “watershed” where, before it could move forward, it had to reform these presumptions which “limit our fundamental God-given faculties and freedoms to make up our own minds, speak with our own voices, and inform our own consciences”.
In response to her remarks, Fr McCafferty wrote:
“Former President, Mary McAleese, already has the “freedom of speech” she is lecturing about and she makes use of it often, which is her right.”
“What she has absolutely no right to do is attempt to impose her ideologies upon the Catholic Church, or “demand” changes to Church teachings to suit her views.”
“Given her stated opinions on such matters as abortion, Mrs McAleese is far from being a voice of authentic Catholicity. She has adopted stances which are irreconcilable with the Catholic Faith.”
“She and others like her, are perfectly free to dissent from the teachings of the Church if they so wish. No one is forcing anyone to remain in the Church who does not want to be there.”
“Nevertheless, if we seek to be part of the Church of Christ, we must “accept and submit” to the Word of God and to the truths of the Faith (James 1:21). The Church can neither change, alter, nor dilute her teachings to suit this current era – absolutely not.
“Even if the whole world rejects the saving truths of Christ’s message, we Catholics must be faithful to it and insist upon it, welcome or unwelcome (II Timothy 4:2).”
“Any synod or synodal path, must lead us to deeper fidelity to Christ and His Gospel – not further away. Mary McAleese and others of her views, must not be permitted to try and dictate terms. Worldly ideologies that are the very antithesis of our Faith have no place among the People of God,” he said.
Many praised the Belfast priest for his clear-cut remarks challenging McAleese, with one social media user calling him “a guiding light”.
“Glad you have spoken up Father, sick of [McAleese] constantly knocking and [being] critical of the church,” another person wrote.
“Well said Father, I sometimes despair when I see and hear what is happening in Ireland,” someone else penned, while another user expressed their thanks to the forthright parish priest: “Thank you Fr McCafferty, glad someone has the courage to tell the truth.”
At the conference, Mrs McAleese also doubled down on her criticism of Pope Francis, blasting the pontiff as an “ultra conservative” leader who is blessed with enemies who make him appear more liberal than he is. McAleese lamented the fact she did not see Francis as a great liberal reformer, nor did she see him as courageous.
McAleese cited the March document from the Vatican’s doctrinal office banning priests from blessing same-sex unions, on the grounds that God “cannot bless sin.”
“This was a document that never had to be written, but it was, and he authorized it. That tells me just how ultra conservative he really is,” she told participants.