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THE ASSOCIATION OF Catholic Priests has called on the Church to cut ties with Allianz, which is alleged to be helping fund Israel’s war on Palestinians.
It comes after more than 800 current and former GAA players signed an open letter calling on the GAA to end its partnerships with the insurance company as well.
The group says that Allianz has been a “trusted friend” of the Catholic Church for decades, with many Church buildings in Ireland being insured by the company.
The company, among others, was described as an “enabler” of the genocide in Gaza. It was listed in a report of companies published by Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The report said that insurance companies including Allianz have invested large sums in shares and bonds linked to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
The UN has also said that Allianz’s asset management subsidiary Pimco was among a group of companies that purchased bonds to help finance Israel’s war in Gaza.
In a statement released yesterday by the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), members decried the Church’s “connection” to the genocide in Gaza.
“Despite Israel attempting to block media coverage, the truth is to be seen in the images of dying children on the television screens of the world,” it said.
“Like an infection, the Gaza reality is now seeping outside itself and engaging the concerns – social, economic, moral – of those caught in the slipstream of that calamity.”
Archbishop Eamon Martin and his fellow bishops are leading a ‘Day of Prayer and Reflection for Gaza’ in Ireland this Sunday. The Archbishop also issued a pastoral letter in which he called for a renewed commitment by the international community for peace in the Middle East.
Priests say that the Church, as part of its response to the genocide, should cut ties with Allianz.
“Nothing less is acceptable as Irish Catholics will now be conscious of the Allianz connection – albeit by extension – and of our connection with the plight of the children we see on our television screens,” the ACP said.
It also encouraged all Catholic congregations and dioceses to “exercise high levels of due diligence in carefully scrutinizing their investment portfolios” to determine if any part of their investments are helping to sustain the “appalling human rights abuse being inflicted on the Palestinian people”.
Earlier this week, almost 800 GAA players demanded that the organisation dropped Allianz as a sponsor over allegations its investments have ‘bankrolled’ Israeli occupation and genocide in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The German firm is a major sponsor of the national hurling and football leagues and frequently funds events in the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association.
Among the signatories were former player Dr David Hickey, Antrim hurler Neil McManus, Derry Camogie player Aoife Ní Chaiside, pundit Joe Brolly, ex-Dublin footballer Michael Darragh MacAuley and Tyrone star Sorcha Gormley.
Nodlaig Ní Bhrollaigh, a signatory and former Derry footballer, said: “We are not powerless. We can and must refuse to do business with complicit corporates.”
Contains reporting by Muiris Ó Cearbhaill.
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