The Primate of All Ireland has said the Church is a long-standing customer of Allianz but is not represented on the company’s board, after the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) called on the Church to cut its ties with the insurance giant over alleged links to Israel.
Responding to a statement last week by the ACP, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh told The Irish Catholic that he is “concerned” about the allegations made against Allianz and refuted claims that the Church has representation on its board.
The ACP said a June 2024 report published on the website of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) listed companies alleged to be involved in sustaining Israel’s activities in the Palestinian territories. The ACP said Allianz, headquartered in Munich and one of the largest financial services companies in the world, was named in the report and that it helped “to sustain and pay for Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories”.
The ACP said: “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,” the ACP said.
Responding to the statement, Archbishop Martin said: “Like many individuals, businesses and organisations all across Ireland, the Church is a customer of Allianz, and I would say a long-standing customer of Allianz and its predecessors, in order to find insurance services for a whole range of places within the Church. And in doing that, the Church joined together because, as you know, it’s easier for a group to get insurance than it is for individuals. You get more value for money and a more appropriate insurance offer – if you’re able to work together. So that has been our association with Allianz.”
He rejected the claim that the Church has a seat on the company’s board. “One thing I noticed as an inaccuracy is the Church is not on the board of Allianz. We are customers of Allianz like many, many other people in Ireland and indeed throughout the world…”, he said.
Previously the archbishop called for a national ‘Day of Prayer and Reflection for Gaza’ in parishes and dioceses across Ireland on Sunday. In a statement beforehand he said: “The Catholic Bishops of Ireland dedicated the month of June to prayer for, and solidarity with, the suffering people of Gaza. Heartbreakingly, since then, the situation has deteriorated further. Innocent lives continue to be lost, many of them children and families while hunger, violence and devastation tighten their grip on a people caught in the crossfire.”
He said that Ireland’s bishops “have condemned, in the strongest terms, the genocidal acts being carried out with the sanction of the Israeli government, actions that have led to the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians”.
When asked by The Irish Catholic for comment on the ACP’s statement, Allianz Ireland said on August 26 that it was declining to comment.
