Bishop Buckley complains to UN commission that church breached his rights

Bishop Pat Buckley has lodged a complaint against the Catholic Church with the United Nations Commission for Human Rights.

In a fax and letter sent to the Commission in Geneva on December 10th, the 50th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, he lodged the complaint against "the Roman Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II and the governors of the Roman Catholic Church at the Vatican, Rome, Italy, and their representatives in Ireland".

He alleged that on the basis of Canon Law, the church had "contravened and still contravenes" his human rights.

He said that aged 46 and "a Roman Catholic for 46 years, a priest for 22 years and a bishop for seven months", he had "been sacked from my parish because of my religious views and conscientious activities".

Earlier this year, he continued, the church had said publicly he was "automatically excommunicated". This had happened "without offering me a trial and without presenting any evidence or witnesses against me. I have been sentenced without trial and without being told of the charges against me. The church continues to circulate propaganda against me."

He also complained that neither the Irish nor British governments (Bishop Buckley is an Irish citizen based in Northern Ireland) had acted to defend his human rights. They "stand idly by and allow my human rights be contravened by a `foreign power' - the Vatican - which is a sovereign state exchanging ambassadors with both Dublin and London".

He alleged 14 specific breaches of the Declaration of Human Rights by the church in its dealings with him.

In summary, he alleged the church had denied him freedom of conscience and of religious belief. It had removed his income, and had arbitrarily deprived him of his right to property, " monies and salaries due to me since 1986".

He contended that the church sought to keep him and all other Catholics "in religious slavery and servitude" and "is in more or less total denial of universally recognised precepts of natural justice".

The church, he alleged, had interfered with his privacy and that of his family, and had constantly attacked his honour and reputation. Canon Law forbade his election to public office and deprived him and all other Catholic bishops and priests of the right to marry and found a family.

The church had also deprived him and many other Roman Catholics "of an education that is directed to the full development of my human personality and which respects my human rights and freedoms", while its Canon Law "actively opposes understanding and tolerance between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland and the United Kingdom".

Bishop Buckley told The Irish Times he had prepared his complaint to the UN Commission following legal advice and was com piling a dossier for submission later.