The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Desmond Connell, is understood to have declined to provide a recommendation for the proprietors operating the Aadam's Women's Centre, which was the subject of criticism by the High Court for having unlawful custody of Baby A.
The Irish Times has learned that earlier this year the two principals gave Dr Connell's name, as a person supporting the Aadam's centre, to social workers investigating their custody of the two babies at the centre of the controversy.
The High Court last week found that custody of Baby A by the founder of the centre and his wife was "at all times unlawful".
The court heard that the couple had custody of another infant known as Baby B until the end of June. The case against the couple was taken by the Eastern Health Board.
The two principals of the agency are understood to have met Dr Connell in the middle of last year. They were seeking financial support and his personal backing for their crisis pregnancy counselling agency.
A spokesman for the Archbishop last night said Dr Connell "is not and never was a patron of the centre and no financial support has ever been given".
It is understood Dr Connell agreed to meet the principals of the centre after they sought a meeting with him. A church source said last night that the Archbishop declined to provide them with any support as he "was not sufficiently impressed by the people he met".
It is believed the Archbishop receives numerous requests from anti-abortion groups for financial and personal backing.
A diocesan source said: "The church is always very careful about who it gives support to."
The Dublin archdiocese provides ongoing support for two crisis pregnancy agencies Cura and Life.
Meanwhile, the Labour spokeswoman on health, Ms Liz McManus TD, has called on the Minister to introduce regulations to ensure that agencies offering counselling to pregnant women operate to an acceptable standard.
In particular, the regulations should ensure that the advertisements for such agencies were honest and truthful, she said.
The National Women's Council of Ireland has blamed the State for allowing agencies like this to exist. "Successive governments have displayed a lack of responsible leadership in pandering to the so-called pro-life movement," said Ms Noreen Byrne, chairwoman of the NWCI.