PRIESTS GROUP REJECTS BISHOP’S VIEWS
THE Association of Catholic Priests has urged a bishop to withdraw his ‘dangerous’ claims that the HPV vaccine causes promiscuity among teenage girls.
Their call comes after the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinan, made cutting remarks about the vaccine, which protects against cervical cancer.
Last Thursday he told Waterford’s WLR radio station that getting the vaccine ‘could’ make young girls promiscuous as it ‘changes the mentality’ and that ‘the vaccine gets people to think they are fully protected against cervical cancer when they are not’. He had also claimed the vaccine was not fully safe – despite detailed authoritative research showing otherwise – and that ‘more sexual activity means an increased risk of infection and therefore an increased risk of serious health’.
The bishop was heavily criticised by Health Minister Simon Harris, who yesterday described the remarks as ‘somewhat ignorant’.
And the Association of Catholic Priests, which has more than 1,000 members, urged the bishop to ‘withdraw his comments on the safety of the HPV vaccine protecting women from cervical cancer’.
The priests said that parents following the bishop’s advice could put their children ‘at risk’.
In a statement, the ACP said: ‘While his comments could be considered idiosyncratic, they are ill-informed and dangerous. Parents who may be convinced that he enjoys some competence in this area could follow his advice and unwittingly put their children at risk.
‘Sadly, his comments also bring the Irish Catholic Church into further disrepute suggesting a nonchalance about women’s health and an obsession with sexuality.’
Yesterday, Minister Harris repeated his criticisms of Bishop Cullinan on RTÉ Radio’s This Week programme.
‘I think we’ve spent far too long taking about a bishop as if they are a medical expert,’ he said.
‘I think the comments were unhelpful, misguided, misinformed and somewhat ignorant. People should get their medical advice from their doctors and nobody else.’
The Irish Daily Mail has requested a comment from the Bishops Conference.
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