Priest says Irish lawmakers want priests to become immigration police

Published: 2008-04-09

DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) -- A Dublin archdiocesan priest said the Irish government is attempting to turn priests into immigration police by requiring them to check the residence status of foreign nationals before they are married. Measures included in the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill, currently being debated in the Irish parliament, would require all wedding officiators to check residence permits and refuse to perform marriages without a permit. Officiators could be sentenced to five years in prison and liable to a fine of more than $790,000 if they fail to check the status. "This would effectively turn priests into immigration police and would not under any circumstances be acceptable to me," said Father Kevin Doran, a parish priest in Glendalough and former vocations director for the Dublin Archdiocese. Father Doran is a columnist for Alive!, an Irish Catholic monthly newspaper published by the Dominicans.

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