Over the last several weeks, CWI has been monitoring a situation involving a priest in the south of Ireland who was removed from ministry due to a lapse in his promise of celibacy.
We think this is very important to note from the beginning, this man is not in ministry and has not been for some time.
Here at CWI, we
still find ourselves in a position whereas, of yet, we cannot name the
parties involved. This is because, as our investigation into this matter
has continued, we have become ever more amazed at what is going on.
Let's break down the facts and more importantly, the allegations against this man and see what we have so far.
1. This allegation revolves around an allegedly romantic relationship that this man
is alleged to have had with a married woman. This married woman claims
that the priest not only used her emotionally, but promised her a
romantic future and then at a certain point in the relationship, without
reason, he ghosted her.
2. This same said married woman goes on to the point where she accuses said priest of having obtained a sum of money, lodged in his bank account, allegedly
through fraudulent means, more specifically, through frauding an unnamed
benefactor. It is interesting that the woman making this particular
allegation, the same woman as the first, bases this allegation on a
conversation she had with a mutual friend of the priest.
3. This accusation involves the alleged physical and emotional abuse of another
unnamed woman, while a fourth allegation alleges romantic involvement
with another woman.
4. Another false accusation alleges that this man is a somewhat mafia Don style figure,
who orders people to do damage to property and to bully and harass
people into submission.
These
are just some, yes, some of the allegations brought publicly against
this man. They are shocking to say the very least, and if true, suggest a
complete unsuitability for not only ministry but also decent society.
At
this point, CWI would, normally, publish the name of the accused, as a
matter of concern and safety.
However, our difficulty is, that while we
have seen a lot of allegations, we have, to date, seen absolutely zero
by way of evidence to back up these claims.
There is a glaring, and
alarming lack of evidence to support a single claim made.
What we have
seen, speaks to us of a very close friendship, where both parties often
wore their heart on their sleeve in relation to certain topics, but
nothing that could be described as romantic in nature.
However, as we dug deeper, to try and find evidence, we were alarmed to
discover that allegedly, for whatever reason, there was potential
interference in our investigation.
This of course, can never be
tolerated and will be dealt with.
CWI
therefore, will refrain, for a short while from publishing anything
further, but we are not going away.
We are simply going to allow a
space, whereby two things can happen.
Firstly, evidence can be brought
forward to support the claims being made. Evidence sadly is not an
inconvenience but a necessity in these matters.
Secondly, the breathing
space will allow whatever other investigations are being carried out to
be conducted in a spirit of fairness and right judgement.
Our opinion
is that this is a mess for everyone involved and the continuation of the
vicious cycle of hatred is helping nobody.
We will be praying for
peace - on all sides.