A group that will be set up by conservative Catholic Anthony Murphy is to push for more orthodox Catholic teachings in the church and Irish politics

Anthony Murphy, who has received public criticism for pressuring a lesbian married couple to drop out of their church choir roles, has set up a Catholic group with the intention of furthering orthodox Catholic teachings in both Irish politics and the Church.

Anthony Murphy, an Athy resident who also publishes Catholic Voice, has been “emboldened” by support he received following support from right-wing Catholic groups and will create the Lumen Fidei Institute, (The Light of Faith Institute).

“The church was always involved in politics,” Murphy told The Times.

“Lay people were always called to political action. If the bishops of Ireland are too timid to do that, then the lay people must come together to stand with Christ.”

Regret & Shame

After the influx of support from a liberal Ireland, the lesbian couple returned to the church, and Murphy was allegedly threatened and told by Gardaí that he should avoid Sunday mass for his own safety.

Murphy told American news site Life Site News that the ‘curate’ (presumably Canon Frank McEvoy, who the couple told KFM had been supportive of them) told him “he now regrets being part of the Mass and he feels ashamed of standing by and allowing it to happen.”

“He said the anger is just so open and raw that it wouldn’t be safe for you to come to Mass … even if they didn’t attack you personally, they’d find some way of disrupting the Mass because we’re dealing with a big sort of infiltration of LGBT people who are trying to hijack and take oner the local parish.”

Murphy intends to launch the Lumen Fidei Institute in a few weeks “when the heat has died down” from what Murphy has called a “vitriolic campaign of hate” against him.

Not Homophobia

Murphy insists that his stance on the lesbian couple’s involvement in the church choir and as Ministers of the Eucharist “isn’t anything to do with homophobia, it’s not even to do with their sexual orientation.”

“It’s simply a matter of, if you’re going to take leadership positions within the Church, don’t give these very public signs of contradictions.”