D'Arcy is Ireland's most popular priest. He is the media's priest. 30 years ago I wrote to him saying he was not a Catholic. He replied that 'we would have to differ.'
Here is his latest diatribe in THE IRISH DAILY MAIL yesterday..
'Sex between a committed gat couple is not a sin, Fr Brian Darcy the celebrity priest said in an interview with 'Hot Press. He feels 'committed love' between two people is rarely wrong.
When asked whether he would see same-sex couples that are in a loving relationship as a sin he said "Did God make each person unique and individual? If your answer to this is yes, well then [did] God make a mistake when He made people gαy and lesbian? Of course He didn't. God doesn't make mistakes. ... Yes sex between committed gαy couples is not a sin. I think sex as recreation between anyone is not right - I don't use the word Sin.''He added that sex in a loving [ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ] relationship "is the closest one can get to prayer."
Fr D'Arcy goes on to say to lesson the possible results of casual sex, which he thinks is wrong, condoms can be a way of preventing 'further evil' and therefore their use is not sinful.
He also believes that in most cases the use of the Pill as a contraceptive is not wrong.
He told the magazine "according to the Church teaching it is, but in the context of choosing a family of healthy relationships etc., etc., it could be a sin but I would think in most cases it is not a sin."
God help Ireland, once the Isle of Saints and Scholars, but now the Isle of Pagans and Ignorant.
D'Arcy's Pastoral life. (Wikipedia)
In September 1962, at the age of 17, D'Arcy became a novice at the Passionist monastery in Enniskillen. A year later he was transferred to Mount Argus in Dublin. He was ordained a priest in December 1969.
In his early years as a priest, D'Arcy became an unofficial chaplain to the showbusiness community in Dublin, visiting dancehalls seven nights a week and hearing confessions from musicians and fans alike. Such was his fame during this period that he reportedly became the inspiration for Dermot Morgan's character, Father Trendy in the TV 'Fr Ted.'.
D'Arcy has publicly opposed the existing disciplinary norms regarding clerical celibacy and has sought the possibility to ordain married priests.
Concerns have been expressed by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about some aspects of D'Arcy's writing; he was warned in April 2012 that he must now submit his writings and broadcasts to an official censor.