The annual meeting of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland this week heard that six of their members had faced sanctions for their views.

Among their number is the Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery.

Fr Gerry O'Hanlon, who raised the issue, was highly critical of the manner in which Fr Flannery had been treated.

He suggested the Year of Mercy, which begins on December 8, would offer an opportunity for the Church to return the priests to full ministry.

One priest queried the possible perception that the priests were in some way seeking forgiveness.

"If anything it should happen the other way," he said.

"That maybe Rome and so on should be asking forgiveness for how they have treated people. The issue of justice is very important."

However, Fr O'Hanlon said a resolution on the matter was drafted in the hope it "might be a door you can walk through without admission".

The resolution on the matter was put before the meeting of over 100 members of the association.

It was unanimously passed by members of the ACP.

The meeting also heard bishops being appointed appeared out of sync with the realities of life in Ireland today.

Fr Brendan Hoban told the meeting "the same men that were being appointed 40, 50 years ago are still being appointed".

In recent times the appointment of bishops from far away dioceses has been adopted from the American practice, he explained.

This, he said, had "unmasked" any pretence of consultation.

ACP members also expressed concern at the treatment of priests who are the subjects of allegations of sexual abuse.

Sources

• Irish Times
• Irish Times
• Image: Smalbany New York

This is much less than half the story and the other side needs to be aired also.

When Western nations impose sanctions on other nations, they do not usually advertise the fact that these sanctions, which are generally imposed by men, have, by far, their most harmful effects on mothers and children, innocent victims of this self- righteous imposition.

Part of sanctions always includes cessation of the financial aid, which, in a round-about way, enables thousands of women to be employed in a kaleidoscopic variation of employments, thus supporting their families - especially if their men are without employment.

So the main effect of sanctions, such as those imposed on Russia because of the Ukraine incursions, is to make family life, over vast swathes of the population, very difficult.

Women lose their jobs, their ability to support their families, are reduced to poverty or worse, while we, in the West, congratulate ourselves on our upholding of important principles.

Once again, all this is usually done by men, who feel empowered to make fundamental decisions which affect the health and family life of the other half of the population.

In the West, we have the greatest difficulty in recognising that our culture is only that - it is only our culture. It is not shared by billions of people living according to other norms.

There is nothing sacred or set in stone about our culture - our worship of democracy does not even stop to consider the travesty of democracy lived by countries which are nowhere near ready for this style of government.

We cannot conceive of women living totally different lifestyles from our women and being happy living that way.

So we express wonder that people do not have the common sense to view the world as we view it, and do not see that we are imposing sanctions only for their good.

In time they will learn to follow the path of true righteousness which we are showing them.

• Michael Mahoney is a Marist priest in charge of the Parish of South Westland, in the Diocese of Christchurch, New Zealand.

The destruction has caused an outcry from anti-poverty campaigners who say the food should have been given to the poor

A petition against the action on change.org has already attracted more than 300,000 signatures.

Moscow banned many Western food imports last year in retaliation for sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and others during the confrontation over Ukraine.

The change.org petition states: "Sanctions have led to a major growth in food prices on Russian shelves. Russian pensioners, veterans, large families, the disabled and other needy social groups were forced to greatly restrict their diets, right up to starvation."

"If you can just eat these products, why destroy it?"

Russia's food safety watchdog said officials seized 436 tonnes of various food products on August 6 and destroyed more than 320 tonnes.

A huge pile of Western-produced cheese was destroyed in front of television camera.

One priest from the Russian Orthodox Church, which enjoys close ties with the Kremlin, expressed his anger.

"My grandmother always told me that throwing away food is a sin," the cleric, Alexey Uminsky, said.

He was quoted by the website 'Orthodoxy and the World' as saying: "This idea is insane, stupid and vile."

"Such an idea can only appear with a man who has been in no need for anything in recent decades and is ready to do something like that for populism and quasi-patriotism," he added.

Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week the situation should be not blown out of proportion.

"The primary goal is to stop the contraband . . . Second, to protect economic interests of the country hurt by the contraband. Third, and in fact the most important thing, is safeguarding the health of citizens," he told reporters.

While Peskov said the Kremlin was keeping an eye on the change.org petition, he said banned food was arriving without necessary certificates and could therefore pose health risks.

Sources

• Daily Mail
• Vatican Radio
• Image: Sydney Morning Herald

Commodore Bainimarama, who seized power in a 2006 coup, said the new constitution would enshrine principles of one-person-one-vote, an independent judiciary and transparent governance.

According to a media report, Mr McCully said Wellington saw the consultation as a step in the right direction for Fiji, and it was keeping an open mind about post-coup sanctions.

"We've never ruled out looking at the sanctions," he said.