Outspoken deacon told: stop posting

A deacon who runs a Catholic website that criticised bishops, theologians and lay groups for being out of step with church teaching has been asked to stop posting material.

Deacon Nick Donnelly has been asked by the Bishop of Lancaster to stop posting on his “Protect the Pope” site and undergo a “period of prayer and reflection”.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Lancaster said that Bishop Campbell had asked Mr Donnelly to “voluntarily pause” from publishing to reflect “on the duties involved for ordained bloggers/website administrators to truth, charity and unity in the Church”.

The site, however, continues to be operated by his wife with the latest posting encouraging readers to submit their own articles. Mr Donnelly, who has agreed to his bishop’s request, told The Tablet that he has “no say” over what is posted while his wife is running the site. Protect the Pope, which received 100,000 hits per month, regularly criticised groups and individual bishops – including Cardinal Vincent Nichols – for being at odds with church teaching on issues such as homosexuality, women’s ordination, contraception and abortion. The site also regularly took issue with articles in The Tablet.

It is understood that concerns about the site had been raised with Bishop Campbell by fellow members of the English and Welsh hierarchy.

Mr Donnelly, diocesan vocations director for the permanent diaconate, explained that the site started in 2010 in order to “challenge misrepresentations” about Benedict XVI in the months before his visit to the United Kingdom. Its name was inspired by the secu­larist group Protest the Pope. It successfully campaigned for food chain Pret a Manger to withdraw a brand of “Virgin Mary” crisps.