Nottingham's Intolerant University

The University of Nottingham has blocked the appointment of Father David Palmer as the institution’s official Roman Catholic chaplain. What did the priest do to so offend the university’s management? There is no suggestion of him having a questionable personal life, or being a glutton or a drunkard, or being a threat to the town’s students who might come to him for counsel. No, the problem is something he Tweeted on social media.

According to Palmer, abortion is "killing the vulnerable." It is also the “slaughter of babies”. That’s right, he is pro-life. Like every Catholic clergyman, from Pope to lowly ordinand, he believes in the sanctity of life, just like all other faithful Catholics. For sharing that belief, the university authorities do not think he is a suitable appointment. His wording is graphic but entirely consistent with his Church’s teachings, and what I myself might write on this site. You see, it’s alright to be a Catholic at the University of Nottingham, but it’s not alight for Catholics to say what they believe. One might even be pro-life, but one must not communicate that. Perhaps if he had chosen blander words, the Nottingham University Thought Police might have turned a blind eye. But to state his views with conviction and passion is a bridge too far. The man must not be appointed. 

Palmer told the Nottingham Post:

"Either be honest and say we don't want Catholic chaplains or say we do want Catholic chaplains and therefore we recognise that they're going to have Catholic beliefs."

I agree. Modern Britain claims to respect religious diversity and tolerance, but peep below the surface, and there is an ugly intolerance worthy of some Third World banana republic or Communist-era polit bureau.