Amnesty mission creep and Catholic schools

Guardian Unlimited: Faith schools should not be tax-funded, and here’s why

This is a reaction by a feminist to the decision by the Catholic church in Ireland to tell schools to shut down their Amnesty International groups (as one school in Belfast has already done) on account of the organisation’s move to support women’s “right” to abortion. I opposed this at the time, not only because it could cost the organisation support for its core work – freeing prisoners of conscience – but because it simply has nothing to do with that core work; it is a distraction from it.

However, for the Catholic church to tell schools not to support Amnesty anymore is reprehensible – it gives the impression that the Catholic church, or that section of it, is so concerned with opposing abortion that it is willing to stop those under its control from helping other innocent people. I fail to see why such groups cannot continue to work with AI on the issues in which they were previously involved, which is presumably the bulk of ordinary supporters’ work, such as writing letters to governments telling them to free prisoners of conscience. I don’t agree that it justifies ending state-funded faith schools, but it’s a sad reflection on the attitudes of some religious people.