Legion of Mary accused of homophobia

The suspension of a Legion of Mary group at an Irish university is being investigated after students reported leaflets distributed by the Catholic group as homophobic, writes Sarah Mac Donald.

The leaflets distributed at the National University of Ireland in Galway (NUI Galway) were published by the Courage Community. They encourage those with a same-sex ­attraction to “move beyond the confines of the homosexual label” and develop “an interior life of chastity”. Elsewhere the leaflet urges gays to affirm, “I’m a child of God, don’t call me gay.”

In a statement, NUI Galway said it has a pluralist ethos and will not condone the production and dissemination of any material by students which discriminates against other students. A spokesman for the university added that NUI Galway said the university had received a “huge” number of complaints about the leaflets and the group had been suspended as a college society.

He added that the group had apologised and that members would be afforded an opportunity to make their case to the college authorities, perhaps as early as next week.

However, the Legion of Mary’s vice ­president, Aileen O’Donoghue, told The Tablet that it had no information about the matter and had had no communication from the university. She said the national office had no plans to meet members of the university group.