Priests demand Irish Catholic Church sever ties with Allianz over Israel links

Priests have called on the Catholic Church to end its long-standing relationship with Allianz due to its connection with Israel. Photograph: iStock

The Catholic Church in Ireland has been called on to immediately sever its long-standing relationship with Allianz insurance because of the multinational’s connection with Israel.

In a statement on Thursday, the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) said that last June, a report published on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UN alleged Allianz helped “to sustain and pay for Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories”.

The UN report, led by the special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, found that asset management firms including Pimco, which is owned by German-based financial services company Allianz, was a significant buyer of Israeli treasury bonds.

These bonds, the report argued, play a “critical role in funding the ongoing assault on Gaza”.

The ACP pointed out that “for decades, Allianz has been the trusted friend of the Catholic Church – even to the extent of enjoying representation on the Allianz board – with Catholic Church properties in Ireland including places of worship, schools, cars, etc almost all being insured by Allianz as a matter of course.”

It said that “outrage” in the church at events in Gaza would be increased exponentially by “the revelation of the Irish Catholic Church’s connection with Allianz and Allianz’s connection with the state of Israel”.

“We ask that the response of the Irish Catholic Church should be immediate and far-reaching in cutting our links with Allianz,” it said.

“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.”

It noted how “coincidentally” next Sunday, Catholic Primate Archbishop Eamon Martin, “together with his fellow bishops”, was “leading a ‘Day of Prayer and Reflection for Gaza’ in the parishes and dioceses of Ireland”. The Archbishop, it said, had issued a pastoral letter calling for “renewed commitment by the international community for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East”.

It also encouraged Catholic religious congregations and dioceses to exercise high levels of due diligence in scrutinising investment portfolios to determine whether they were helping to sustain the “appalling human rights abuse being inflicted on the Palestinian people”.

The ACP noted, too, a petition by GAA members which had brought attention to the Allianz-GAA relationship and demands that it be ended. The association felt “a similar demand is likely to emerge when the long and close commercial relationship of Allianz and the Catholic Church in Ireland becomes clear”.

Almost 800 football, hurling and camogie players have signed an open letter asking the GAA to end its relationship with Allianz, claiming its financial ties were “enabling the genocide of the Palestinian people”.

The letter was delivered to Tom Ryan, director general of the GAA, at a protest outside Croke Park on Wednesday. Allianz is a sponsor of the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship, the Allianz Leagues, the Camogie Association and Cumann na mBunscol.

In a response to the GAA petition, Allianz said: “Our long-standing partnership with the GAA is about supporting Irish sport and communities.

“Allianz Ireland is part of a global group and, while the wider group operates internationally across insurance and investment, as a matter of principle we do not comment on individual customers or business matters. What we can say is that all Allianz business decisions are guided by strict legal standards and world-leading ESG principles.”

A spokesman for Allianz declined to comment on the ACP statement.

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