It is intellectually dishonest of Church to silence opposing opinion

In the light of centuries of misogyny and patriarchy exhibited by the Christian churches, especially but not uniquely the Roman Catholic Church, under the guise of divine command, it is disappointing to read Margaret Hickey’s defence (Irish Examiner, 31 August 31) of banning Fr Tony Flannery from speaking on ‘Church property’.

Her attempt at defence raises a lot more questions than she is even willing to address. There was a time, not that long ago, when censorship was thought to be the way to go in shutting up ‘unwelcome’ voices — witness Pius IX ‘Syllabus of Errors’ and the attempted silencing of over 100 leading theologians by John Paul II.

This will no longer do for one reason — the censorship approach demands deep intellectual dishonesty and no appeal to authority can extricate a person from this dilemma especially with people who are educated, scientifically and psychologically literate, and committed to democratic values.