Laity protest: the bishops ignored us

Leading groups 'not consulted' on report
BY PIERS MCGRANDLE AND
JOE jENKINS A LEADING LAY body that provides political advice to the bishops of England and Wales has criticised the Church for failing to consult its members in the preparation of The Common Good, the document published last month to inform Catholic voters in the general election.
The Catholic Union of Great Britain told the Herald this week that it was disappointed not to be consulted when it has been an official consultative body to the Church since the reorganisation of the Bishops' Conference in the early 1980s.
Neither The National Council of Lay Associations nor the National Board of Catholic Women were consulted. Both enjoy a similar consultative role to the Catholic Union.
Philip Daniel, Issues Commission chairman of the Catholic Union, told the Herald:: "We're not saying that the document is gravely wrong, but part of the structure of the Bishops' Conference is its three consultative bodies. Why didn't they have a consultation with the bodies they set up?
"What has happened to dialogue? It is absent here and has been absent in Rome since Vatican II. If they had consultations they may have had some different views.
"What do we exist for? If we are national consultative bodies, why aren't we consulted?
"They didn't consult us. One presumes that they did it all in-house. Now they say we'll have a dialogue. Too late.
"A document of such a kind on such a subject might be the one time when we are supremely needed for consultation. We work at the coalface."
Mr Daniel said that there had been no reference made to standards in public life, the issue investigated by Catholic peer Lord Nolan. He also echoed initial criticisms of the document that said it had not stressed strongly enough the value of the family.
The Catholic Union was set up in 1872 in the wake of the First Vatican Council in response to Cardinal Manning's call for closer supervision of government by Catholics. The Duke of Norfolk is a former president.
Celia Capstick, president of the National Board of Catholic Women, told the Herald that while she warmly welcomed the opportunities arising from The Common Good, it was "sad" that it lacked a "gender dimension".
She said: "We see this as a challenge rather than a problem."
But the response from Church authorities is dismissive of the criticism of the document that was intended to stimulate debate on Church social teaching rather than to be a definitive guide.
A spokeswoman said: "Lots of people were consulted in the document, but it was a very intensive and quicklywritten piece of work.
"There comes a point when you cannot consult any more. Many groups like those concerned with housing and unemployment feel they were not consulted enough. The Catholic Church is huge. You could consult different groups endlessly."
The latest criticism of The Common Good follows attacks on the bishops from the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children and Life, who were annoyed that prolife issues were not given greater prominence in the document, which has sold 30,000 copies to date.