Article by Irish Journalist John Cooney about Prominent Irish Priest-Scholar: Fr. Iggy O Donovan/ Saga with Vatican Inquisitors

"The scrambling in the undergrowth of terrified rebel theologians fleeing from the censorious clutches of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and its zealous agent in Ireland, Papal Nuncio Charles J. Brown, nearly hit the front pages of the national dailies on the August Bank Holiday week-end.

The Irish Independent, stung by the Irish Times interview with Peter Casey and lavish coverage of a TV3 documentary on the son of American divorcee Annie Murphy was planning to splash on its front page what it was billing as the biggest internal Irish Church scandal since the 1992 flight of Bishop Eamonn Casey.

Indo’s new editor Claire Grady was prepared to launch war against Rome’s intellectual persecution of liberal clerics especially the Augustinian monk, Iggy O’Donovan.

The congenial Iggy came to national prominence when it was belatedly reported at Easter 2006 that he and several other Augustinian monks had concelebrated Mass in Drogheda, Co Louth, with the local Church of Ireland the Rev Malcolm Graham as a gesture of reconciliation on the ninetieth anniversary of the Easter Rising.

For his troubles, Iggy was reprimanded by Cardinal Sean Brady, whose diocese of Armagh extends to Drogeda, and worse still, he was removed from a Theology lecturing course in Rome and had to publicly apologise to the Church Authorities. Iggy was under strict orders to step back into line and avoid any more public controversies.

Early last month the Indo-owned Drogheda Independent reported that Iggy was being removed from his prestigious position as Prior of the Augustinian Church in Drogheda’s city centre. This report was dismissed as “jumping the gun” and the dailies went back to sleep.

However, the rumblings returned at the funeral of Trinity College theologian and former Mayo priest, Sean Freyne, when a senior figure in the Association of Catholic priests spread the word that Iggy was in fact vacating the priorship and was being sent on a year long sabbatical, both at the behest of the CDF and the New York-born Archbishop Brown, himself a former official in the Old Roman Inquisition.

This prompted Brendan Butler, the spokesperson of the ‘We Are Church’ lay organization to issue a press release expressing shock at learning that Fr. Iggy O’Donovan O.S.A. had been removed as Prior and was offered a year’s leave of absence from his priestly duties which he accepted.
Butler condemned this silencing by the Vatican against another “outstanding” Irish priest and called upon Pope Francis “to immediately rescind this unjust action against Fr. Iggy as well as withdrawing the silencing of Fathers Tony Flannery, Owen O’Sullivan, Sean Fagan, Brian D’Arcy, Gerry Moloney and others.”
Butler’s press release galvanized Irish Times Religious Affairs Correspondent Patsy McGarry as well as the Indo to contact Iggy who assured them that he was due a move after serving two terms as Prior and that he had not been suspended by Rome. Iggy who plans to spend his sabbatical year in Limerick where he hopes to do pastoral work also spoke to Butler who withdrew his statement.
Iggy’s story was buried but the saga does not end there, because he was due to speak at the Humbert International Summer School later this month, and its fiery director John Cooney reluctantly had to accept Iggy’s withdrawal from the Ballina-based School. But Cooney may yet be the beneficiary of the loss of Iggy – he promptly replaced Iggy with the Rebel Redemptorist theologian, Tony Flannery who has no fear of Rome and Brown. "
John Cooney, Irish journalist

Bridget Mary's Response:
When will Vatican officials ever learn? They keep pushing more and more of the mainstream to the margins, so that now the margins are growing and becoming the new mainstream!
 Fr. Iggy will become another major figure in the ongoing saga with Rebel Priests Take on Vatican Oppressors! His books will become best sellers and his name will become world-known! Fr. Iggy, you are in for a bonanza moment here! Look at what happened to Elisabeth Johnson. When the U.S. bishops condemend Quest for the Living God, it became a best-seller on Amazon.com.
 This is why I call the CDF/Vatican inquistors
 "the gift that keeps on giving" Their theme song could go something like this:"Will they ever learn, NO, they will never learn!" Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org