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IRISH POLITICAL PARTIES often carry out church gate collections – but a bishop has now issued a stern new directive telling them to go elsewhere.
Bishop Kevin Doran of the Diocese of Elphin has said that political parties, while legally entitled to hold collections, were showing a lack of “respect for people’s faith” as they did so, according to the Irish Independent.
While collections don’t happen on church grounds, they often take place right outside. Labour senator John Whelan said it was “coercive on a captive audience”.
What do you think?
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I’d be more appalled at the people who donate than the politicians
It’s not ok, but not just outside churches. I’d extend that to “it’s not ok to collect money *anywhere*!”
And how exactly are Parties then supposed to fund their activities – unless you want Denis O’Brein to bankroll them altogether?
He does that already to his anointed which is most of the FG party.
It’s not ok. There are a lot more deserving causes for help than the two faced politicians.
onlyregistered charity’s should be allowed collect outside church’s
these political parties get enough public money..if they want to run for office they should pay fot it themselves..these political parties are only in it for to line their own pockets not for to line their own pockets and that of their cronies.the day of collecting funds outside churches should be stopped with their big wages and disgusting expenses let them pay out of their pockets for a change
No collections of any kind outside a church. People should be allowed visit their church
And they can, just walk past them. I don’t see the problem, do we need to remove all obstacles from people who are so weak willed that they just can’t resist the lure of political donation boxs?
If you’re prepared to give it to the eejits inside then you may as well give it to the eejits outside!
Well this is awkward.
politicians should fund their own parties from their salaries after all they spend it on anything else
Leave them accept donations wherever; it’s the muppets donating I’d be worried about. No-one forced you to put your hand in your pocket. I wouldn’t give an Irish political party the steam of my piss, never mind a donation, regardless of where I was asked to do so.
FG were collecting outside Ballyhea Church a little while ago as the ‘Ballyhea Says No’ group marched by…….the guys collecting had red faces and hid the FG signs under the little table on which they had their collection buckets.
The FG party faithful with blind allegiance to the liars who said not a penny more to the banks……FG sheeple.
Ballyshannon Muppets :)
Ballyhea Muppets … :) (Autocorrect)
I think Bishop Doran is going about this the wrong way. Once said politicians are collecting outside church grounds,it is not his place to tell them not to. However what he should do, and is fully entitled to do, is inform his flock, in no uncertain terms, that as catholics they should not fund certain parties especially those with anti catholic policies. which is pretty much all of them! He could encourage his flock to give them grief as well, in lieu of money!
Like the anti-Catholic policies of covering up child sex abuse,money-laundering and child-trafficking? Oh wait…
You are correct. But on the same note, the state should not be funding the church which goes against human rights and the right to an education despite your perent/s denomination.
The concerns of the Church should be paying back the €700+ million they owe the tax payer after we paid for their underage sex sessions for the last 4 decades. Maybe they should focus on that.
‘Justice for Galileo’
Sign the petition today.
You mean justice for the victims of clerical sex abuse and the tax payers burdened to pay.
No it’s not OK.
Fcuk off.
Render unto Caesar somewhere else.
If I see a politician outside my Church I’ll overturn the table and chase them up the street.
For what it’s worth, Bishop Kevin Doran is the man who compared homosexuality with Down’s Syndrome. Let that sink in for a second.
They don’t know where the church is when they are pushing anti family laws but when they want a few bob
anti family laws?
I’d say separating children from their mothers,selling them to abusive families in the U.S. and incarcerating those mothers is about as anti-family as you can get,but do carry on with your lifelong devotion to hypocrisy.
Yeah dick agreed, this coming from the same crowd who stuck those ‘mothers love’ posters up all over the country during the equality referendum, its time this medieval scam was disbanded.
The Catholic Church owes the state €700 million.
And you use the present tense, why?
They overpaid, have lottery level pensions, and claim expenses for everything. They’re forcefully taking huge sums off us with their direct, indirect, double, triple and stealth taxes and then they expect us to give more in the church collection!!!
It will be a bit hypocritical telling them to shove their buckets up their arses, especially after taken holy communion. Oh well!
Not to mention the hypocrisy of the Church offering Holy Communion!
Look, I’ll level with you. I only go for the free bread and whatever I can pocket out of the basket when it comes around so they can go and sh!te if they think that I am going to hand it over to them at the door.
They should be outside giving us money to pay for their sins. Bloody politicians, some neck
Kneecap a politican or two outside the church, problem solved!
Appaled at those who would donate too but frankly why countries dont tax their churches is baffling to me.
Germans actually do the opposite Sean, the state collects taxes from the people to fund the church. You can opt out of course but don’t expect the church to offer any services if you do. Church and state should be separate in all issues, clergy should not support politicians and vice versa.
I agree that church and state should be entirely seperate and didnt mean to suggest any different
Do these people go to mass before the start collecting
I dont care what they do outside churches, it has nothing to do with me so carry on.
Might be better off outside a shopping centre on a Sunday. There would be more people going in than at churches.
Our local parish voted a few years back to ban all church gate collections. Personally I think they should have one once a month for local or deserving charities.
should fund themselves. plus they only use this money to pay the hotel for their annual love in.be a clown to donate to any political party when you see their tds pay.
Neanderthal bearded religious antedeluvian reactionary latter day time freezer parachute bishops are just what our congested diocese/Nth West frontier needs.
Basil Hume Cardinal stated that the laity should involve themselves in their world social concerns and politics and act according to their conscience and choose political allegiance but may come to different conclusions while sharing many Christian values
Wrong century buddy,try the 19th,they’ll love that talk back there. How are things in Renua these days?
@Frank.
Eminently reasonable viewpoint.
Politicians are doing this because they need to pay for my PR/Consultancy service which teaches them to:
1) Use emotional rhetoric which contains no commitments to do anything about anything.
2) Evade any question that doesn’t allow them to immediately respond with self-justification.
3) Deny they said or did what they just said or did (although they’ll say and do it again moments later)
4) Insert “This can be a great little country….” when in trouble.
5) Use any piece of information out of context for blatantly self-serving purposes
6) Frustrate any discussion until the next general election campaign when suddenly they will make commitments if re-elected.
7) Claim they inherited the problem from the other party and can’t do anything because of legal/constitutional/international fund manager issues.
8) Claim whatever they are doing is ‘prudent’ and that any alternatives are ‘dangerous’.
I’ve been doing brisk business, as you can tell from any recent interview/comments from FF/FG/Labour/SF.
I totally agree with Bishop Kevin Doran. …..sometimes I disagree with what he has to say….but I FULLY SUPPORT HIS RIGHT TO SAY WHAT HE SAYS AND I ADMIRE HIS CLARITY OF MESSAGE COURAGE OF HIS CONVICTIOS (rare quality these days)HE IS FORTHRIGHT IN HIS MESSAGES….God bless him. One Sunday a while ago I experienced 7 collections at my Sunday Mass. 1.There was a lady begging at the church door on the way into Mass.2.We had the 2 usual collections during Mass.4.A priest from the foreign missions made an appeal for money from the altar….After Holy Communion. 5.There was a cake sale for Medjugreje in the Parish Centre on the way out from Mass.6. Right outside the church door on the way to the cake sale was a collection for Fr Peter Mc Vary homeless boys. 7.Then on the road exactly outside the church grounds was a collection for the local Lions club….After all that there was a van selling the Sunday Papers…..it was an expensive day at Mass. To top off all that our family have a monthly direct debit into the church for the past 35 years…….phew. Bishop Kevin Doran is right the Catholic Congragation are like fish in a fish bowl…..no other collection should be facilitated at or after Mass on Church grounds except the 2 Mass collections.Everybody else go sling your hooks elsewhere…..bet these collectors don’t even go to Mass…..exploitation……Bishop Kevin Doran please continue to stand up for your FLOCK.THANK YOU.
I taught them collection boxes was for the church if I’d known it was for ploticians I would of never of gave it thanks for the info journal
This week is the brown envelope collection lol.
have your say