The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland has warned TDs they have a "solemn duty" to oppose laws that attack the sacredness of life.
In a strongly worded intervention yesterday in the abortion debate, Primate of All-Ireland Cardinal Seán Brady said legislators had an obligation to oppose laws that attack something so fundamental as the right to life.
The failure by the Government to allow institutions to opt out of carrying out terminations on conscientious objection grounds amounted to a denial of fundamental religious freedoms and thought, he said.
Owned in trust
The Government's Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill had "potentially menacing implications" for all Catholic institutions and expression of religious freedoms, he said.
The chairman of the board of governors of the National Maternity Hospital is, by a law passed in the 1930s, the current Archbishop of Dublin. However, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has never attended and takes no part in the running of the hospital.
Dr Peter Boylan, former master of the hospital, said Holles Street was not a Catholic hospital and the church had never interfered in or been involved in the running of the hospital since he was master in the 1990s. He said it was a voluntary institution owned in trust by its governors.
Current master Dr Rhona Mahony said the archbishop’s position was a historical titular inheritance granted by King Edward VII at the time of the grant of a royal charter. “The Catholic hierarchy have no active role in the policy of the hospital nor to my knowledge have they sought such a role.”
Cardinal Brady said he hoped a referendum would be held and he signalled a possible legal challenge to the Bill as one of the options open to the church unless the legislation was changed.
He was speaking on RTÉ Radio after the release by the bishops of a statement describing the Bill as unnecessary and morally unacceptable.
The Irish healthcare system must ensure “complete respect for the sacredness of the life both of the mother and her unborn baby”, stated the bishops. However, the Bill would make the “direct and intentional killing of unborn children” lawful in Ireland.
“Accordingly, at this crucial time, it is essential that all who share these beliefs make them clear to their legislators.”
The bishops urged attendance of “all who cherish life” at a vigil for mothers and their unborn babies, which takes place in Knock today.
