Priest says free speech 'has gone too far'

A Catholic priest whose church crib display was vandalised has laid the blame squarely at the door of... comedians.

Father Michael Daley said stand-ups like Jimmy Carr cracked jokes that fostered a lack of respect for religion, which ultimately led to such attacks.

‘There’s nothing wrong with free speech but sometimes it goes too far,’ he said.

Father Michael pointed to comment Carr made on Channel 4’s Big Fat Quiz Of The Year about people ‘going off to midnight mass to worship an invisible man’.

‘He’s a comedian but there doesn’t seem to be any sensitivity to people’s beliefs nowadays – it’s offensive,’ he said. ‘He might think it’s amusing to vilify the Christian faith but it permeates into the consciousness of people.

‘I’m not saying he has anything to do with the crib scene but it creates a consciousness.’

The priest spoke out to the Islington Gazette after vandals smashed the front of the glass box of the display outside Our Lady and St Joseph Catholic Church, in Kingsland, East London, and stole the figure of St Joseph.

‘Why they focused on St Joseph, I have no idea,’ said Father Michael.

Published: 10 Jan 2013