Amnesty faces ban in Northern Irelands Catholic schools
BELFAST, 18 September: The Catholic church in Northern Ireland has started to instruct schools to disband Amnesty International support groups because of the human rights organisations new pro-abortion stance.
One of the Churchs grammar schools in Greater Belfast had been advised to wind up its Amnesty group. The Irish bishops will meet next month to discuss the presence of Amnesty in all Catholic schools.
Amnestys policy that rape and incest victims should be entitled to abortions has led to calls from senior members of the Catholic church in Britain and Rome for a withdrawal of support from the organisation.
One English cleric, the Catholic Bishop of East Anglia, Michael Evans, has resigned from Amnesty. Evans, who was a founding member of Amnesty, said he regretted leaving it but had no choice as a Catholic.
Other Catholic bishops in Britain were more forthright in their condemnation of Amnestys decision. The Scottish Catholic archbishop, Keith O’Brien, whose diocese (stift) is Edinburgh and St Andrews, said that in the light of the decision no Catholic should remain a member of Amnesty International.
Amnesty has said the issue of abortion arose over the mass rape of women in war zones such as Darfur in Sudan and in the DR Congo.
The Vatican denounced the pro-choice policy, claiming Amnesty “has betrayed its mission”. Globally, the Catholic church has withdrawn funding for Amnesty.
Kilde: The Push Journal
