'Church would be stronger if its assets were stripped'

An Athlone priest has said that the Catholic church displayed "extraordinary arrogance" over the years and that it could benefit from having its property and assets stripped after the recent abuse revelations. Fr Shay Casey, the chaplain at Athlone IT, said that "something radical has to be done" following the revelations contained in the report investigating clerical child abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese. He said some people were fearful of what the future might bring for the Catholic church but that "it can't be any worse" than what has already happened. Fr Casey was speaking on the 'Breakfast with Bernard and Keith' programme on i105107 radio last Thursday morning. Co-host Bernard O'Shea stated that he felt the church needed to be stripped of its assets as they represented its financial power. Fr Casey replied, "I think the church, if it was cleansed like that, probably would be a lot stronger. It would be a lot closer to what it was originally intended for. The Gospel said you don't need a second coat. And if you have it, give it away. So, at its essence, it doesn't need this stuff." The local priest said: "People are seriously pissed off with what's going on, and what has gone on (in the church). There seems to be a total disconnect about how we deal with the situation. It wasn't dealt with at the time, it was allowed to fester. These people were allowed to run riot. Nobody took responsibility for them and then years on it comes back to haunt us." He stated that he worked "on the fringe" of a church which had become akin to a political party. "It's like another State that you have loyalty to. I never could buy into that," he said.