Funding the Pope’s Visit
Posted on 01. Mar, 2018, in Christian Values, Church Teachings, CommunityComments Off on Funding the Pope’s Visit
We are Church recently released as statement saying that while Pope Francis’ visit to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families was welcome, that it should not be paid for by the Irish State. Outside of covering the basic security needs of any invited dignitary, they say that the Pope’s visit should not be paid for by the Church especially as all families are not included. They said they were amazed to discover that the World Meeting of Families (WMoF) had reprinted their main booklet, deleting all photos which showed two members of the same gender together, stating that the main objections to these photos came from extreme right wing groups in the USA. The booklet makes no reference whatsoever to LGBT, single parent families, divorced and remarried or cohabiting couples – all of which are important parts of society in Ireland, and all possible traces of them were deleted. Phil Dunne, spokesperson for We Are Church, said that the organisers should recognise that Ireland voted by a large majority in favour of marriage equality in 2015 and that it would have been a good opportunity to be inclusive of all our different family units. She says that the lack of inclusivity means that the Church must pay its own way for the visit as is doesn’t represent the population as a whole. She explains more to Miriam Gormally.