British Catholic Action Group lodges complaint with daily over misrepresentation of the Church

Essex, England, Jan 20, 2005 / 22:00 pm

The British Catholic Action Group today issued a formal complaint with England’s Daily Mail regarding what they call “an unbalanced article” regarding the support of English Bishops to an alleged statement of the Church in Spain in favor of condom use.

The Spanish statement was misinterpreted to be in support of condom use as a means for fighting Aids.

The Spanish bishops however, in a statement issued Friday maintain that, “it is not true that the teaching of the Church on condoms has changed.”

The Mail’s article quotes an unnamed spokesman for the Church in England and Wales who states that they would support the Spanish Church’s alleged acceptance of condom use to prevent Aids.

Catholic Action Group remarked that the paper “never quoted a source on this very sensitive issue, which tries to undermine Catholic Doctrine and causes scandal among the faithful.”

They likewise stated that, “unless your source was an official spokesperson for the English Bishops, speaking with their full written authority, it is not valid and only the opinion of an ill-informed Catholic.”

The group pointed out that they had contacted the Catholic Media Office “who strongly deny the substance of [the] article and will be issuing a statement forthwith.”

Unless the Daily Mail corrects what Catholic Action Group calls a “blunder” they have threatened to take the paper to the Press Complaints commission.