AN AUGUSTINIAN RC priest who, at a funeral he was conducting in
Cork, prayed publicly that a former mayor of the city, who was on
trial for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenager in 1996, would
be found not guilty, has been condemned by his Provincial, and by
the RC Bishop of Cork & Ross, Dr John Buckley.
Mourners at the funeral were shocked at the prayer, which Dr
Buckley described as offensive and entirely inappropriate. He said
that the visiting priest, who is believed to be a friend of the
accused man's family, does not hold a position in the RC diocese of
Cork & Ross.
The accused, John Murray, who is 83, was found guilty of the
offences the next day by a jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
The Prior Provincial of the Augustinian order in Ireland, Fr
John Hennebry, said that the friar concerned now accepted that his
words had been inappropriate.