Fr. 'Iggy' - Again!

From The Irish Catholic 19^th October, 2006

Fr Iggy goes pop – again!

Controversial cleric Fr Iggy O’Donovan has once again waded into the public sphere with controversial comments insisting that priests should be allowed to get married.

Fr O’Donovan also suggested that divorced Catholics should be allowed to enter second relationships and that condoms should be used “to control AIDS”.

It’s the latest outburst from the Drogheda-based priest who was censured by the Church earlier this year after he concelebrated a Mass with a minister from the Church of Ireland. The controversial Mass won Fr Iggy a strong reprimand from Archbishop Sean Brady, and led to his being sacked from his post teaching theology in Rome.

However, clearly unbowed by the earlier controversy, Fr Iggy told parishioners in Drogheda last weekend that the Church had misinterpreted Scriptures when it comes to priestly celibacy.

Quoting from the Book of Genesis that “man should not be alone”, he said that “priests should have the option to get married.

“For the first 1,000 years [of the Church’s history] priests were allowed to marry and there was only mandatory celibacy for monks,” he said.

Fr Iggy, whose Easter Sunday ecumenical Mass was also criticised by the Vatican, told members of the congregation that “nearly all of my friends who have left the priesthood have done so to get married.

“I think if you asked most people on the street they would be positive about priests being given the option of marriage,” he said.

Referring to Christ’s teaching on divorce, he accused the Church of selectively interpreting Jesus’ words.

“The Gospel says there should be no divorce but it also says man should not be alone. The Church has interpreted both of them very differently. It’s selective interpretation,” he insisted.

“Put it this way I wouldn’t have mandatory celibacy,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fr Iggy also said that divorced Catholics should be allowed to enter a second relationship.

“Quite frankly when I’m talking to people about relationships I feel out of my depth as they have a lot more experience than me.

“When somebody enters into a marriage they are full of idealism and hope but sometimes it doesn’t work out,” he said.

He added that “there is proof that a second relationship can work after divorce.”

Fr Iggy went on to describe how when he joined the priesthood in 1975 “you couldn’t even buy contraception.

"Now contraception is freely available and it's very much a health issue to control AIDS."