A Donegal priest who was himself cleared of allegations of sexual abuse and reinstated in the diocese, is one of a number who have strongly criticised the handling of the saga by the Church leadership. Fr Edward Kilpatrick, who is parish priest of St Patrick's Church, Murlog, near Lifford, said he felt “shame" at having to face a congregation in the wake of revelations of the Murphy report.
Describing the findings as “extremely damaging to the victims, their families and people's faith as a whole,” he said that the economic downturn and the weather should be turning people to their church for help.
Now, he charged, “they don't have a church because it has been found corrupt.”
Fr Kilpatrick said his parishioners were “finding it difficult” but remained supportive towards him but nonetheless he felt “ashamed at having to face my congregation over the weekend with this going on in the background. Particularly galling for priests on the ground is the ongoing refusal by senior officials within the Catholic church to address the Murphy Report directly.”
He added, “The number of young people caught up in this was simply horrendous, but that is just one aspect - the other is the cover-up by senior church authorities."
Fr Kilpatrick accused the Church leadership of failing to address the matter, saying, “The old Episcopal closed shop is still there and it's very difficult to take in and understand.”
He said he thought it was unlikely the Church would recover from the fall-out of the scandal in his lifetime.
“The salvation of the church will be in priests on the ground and not bishops – they work in offices and come out for things like state occasions and then go home again and aren't out on the ground.”
"The church needs to be less authoritarian and there needs to be more information and consultation with priests on the ground," Fr Kilpatrick added.
Fr Kilpatrick, who is a priest of the Derry diocese, was sensationally cleared of sex abuse allegations in 1997.
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