Mass cards firm 'used name of suspended cleric'

A mass card distribution company knowingly used on cards the name of a priest who had been suspended by his bishop, the High Court heard today

Evidence was being heard on the second day of a constitutional challenge to a provision of the Charities Acts which outlaws the sale of mass cards except through an arrangement with the Catholic Church.

The court heard that Mr Thomas McNally used the name of Fr Oskar Mkondana, based in Mangochi in Malawi, on his cards.

However, Fr Mkondana was suspended by his bishop from celebration of Mass and the sacraments on October 23, 2003.

However Mr McNally claims that he was given assurances by both Fr Mkondana and from clerics he spoke to that the African cleric was entitled to say mass in private and comply with the intentions on the cards his company sold to retailers all over Ireland.

Mr McNally, head of Mass card producers MCC, New Street, Co Longford and his sister, Marie Reilly, a card retailer of Ard Na Rí, Ardnacassa, Co Longford have taken proceedings against the State over the Act, which became law in early September.

The Act outlaws sales of Mass cards other than by agreement with a bishop or provincial of an order of priests of the Catholic Church.

It is claimed that a breach of the restriction could lead to a 10-year jail sentence or a fine of up to €300,000.

In his action it is claimed that the Act is unconstitutional and unlawfully confers a monopoly on the sale of Mass cards to clerics of the Catholic Church or to persons approved by them. The State is opposing the application, and argued that the legislation is constitutional.

The court had been told that over the years Mr McNally has entered into arrangements with several priests who agreed to permit him to affix their signature to Mass cards in return for a fee.

Mr McNally accepted that his company sell approximately 120,000 cards to retailers per year at €1.75 per unit, while the average cost of the card to the consumer is around €4.

Today at the High Court Mr McNally, under cross examination from Mr Donal O Donnell SC for the State, said that he was aware of Fr Mkondana's suspension.

He said that as a result of false rumours in the media about Fr Mkondana he brought him to Ireland to deal with the false allegations.

Mr McNally said that he communicated with the priest's bishop in Malawi, Gabriel Malzaire, and said he was further satisfied from consultations with other clerics that the decree suspending him was one that prohibited him from saying mass in public, but not in private

Previously Mr McNally said that since 2007 he his entered into an arrangement whereby the name of a Polish Catholic priest Fr Bernard Latus appears on the mass cards distributed by MCC.

Fr Latus, who the court heard is based in the West Indies, receives €100 to say three masses per month for those for whom the masses are intended.