Bishop orders closure of deacon’s blog

THE CONTROVERSIAL blog “Protect the Pope”, written by a deacon who used it to attack church figures over issues such as sexuality and abortion, will be closed down on the orders of his bishop.

The Bishop of Lancaster, Michael Campbell, has told Nick Donnelly permanently to stop posting on the website, which regularly criticised theologians and church leaders – including Cardinal Vincent Nichols – for allegedly being at odds with church teaching. It was also critical of a number of articles in The Tablet.

The instruction comes after Bishop Campbell asked Mr Donnelly during Lent for what the diocese said was a “voluntary pause” in order to reflect “on the duties involved for ordained bloggers … to truth, charity and unity in the Church”.

Mr Donnelly, vocations director for the permanent diaconate in the Lancaster Diocese, ceased posting, but his wife, Martina, continued to post on the blog. He recently asked Bishop Campbell for permission to resume blogging. But this week, Mrs Donnelly revealed on the Protect the Pope site that the request had been declined and that they had chosen to close the site tomorrow, the Feast of the English Martyrs.

“Protect the Pope” was launched in 2010 as a response to the “Protest the Pope” campaign against Benedict XVI’s UK visit.