The Association of Catholic Priests has decided not to make a recommendation for or against the proposal in the upcoming marriage referendum on May 22.

The prior provincial of the Augustinian community in Ireland, Fr John Hennebry has insisted Fr Iggy O’Donovan is “not under any penalty or punishment”, as he begins a year-long sabbatical in Limerick.

An outspoken priest has hit out at intolerant and extreme right-wingers in the Church and questioned why priests like Fr Tony Flannery were being “persecuted with a zeal that is as pathological as the paranoia that feeds it”.

YOU reported (August 24) the suggestion by Fr Iggy O’Donovan OSA that the 30th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Ireland should be marked by a day of atonement and that “it would be inappropriate for the day to be one of celebration because of all that was happening in institutions at the time of the papal visit”.

YOUR editorial (Irish Examiner, April 20) refers to “the controversy raging following the concelebration of Easter Mass by Catholic priests and a Church of Ireland clergyman in Drogheda”.