“You should consider coming to confession.”
The Bishop of Elphin, Kevin Doran, has said that any Catholic that voted Yes in the recent referendum on the Eighth Amendment has sinned and that they should go to confession.
The Bishop made this claim during an interview with RTÉ’s Today Sean O’Rourke to discuss the outcome of the referendum.
He said that any Catholic that: “voted Yes, knowing and intending that abortion would be the outcome, then you should consider coming to confession, where you would be received with the same compassion that is shown to any other penitent.”
During the interview, Bishop Doran stated that he was unsure which way the referendum result would go, but that he’s surprised by the outcome.
“I do find it quite surprising that people voted for this. I was conscious that there seemed to be a silent vote, we didn’t know what way it was going to go,” he said.
With regards to the 11% of voters that felt that their religious views had played a part in their decision, Bishop Doran said that “religion has become divorced from faith.”
Here’s his interview in full.
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