Michael O’Connor refused to leave the funeral of Fr David Keating – despite being asked to do so by the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Alphonsus Cullinan, in front of hundreds of mourners.
Although dressed in lay clothes, Mr O’Connor was positioned in a group of other priests close to the altar, which clerics were concerned ‘may have given the false impression to the congregation that he was exercising ministry’.
Up to 28 clergy, including Bishop Cullinan, attended the Mass in an official capacity.
The defrocked priest was asked to leave by one of the celebrants, parish priest Fr Liam Power, as he was sitting close to the altar.
In a statement on Tuesday, Bishop Cullinan raised concerns that O’Connor was ‘presenting as a priest’ and pointed out that he was twice asked to leave but ‘declined to do so’.
Bishop Cullinan added: ‘Out of respect for the bereaved family and to avoid creating a scene at a very painful and sensitive funeral, the matter was not taken any further.
‘At the funeral in question, Mr Michael O’Connor, who has been dismissed from the clerical state, attended and sat at the edge of a group of priests who were present and concelebrating the funeral Mass, though not in the sanctuary and not at the altar. We utterly reject his actions on the day. The Diocese does not intend to comment further on this matter.’
In response, Mr O’Connor said he attended the funeral as he knew the late priest, insisted he wore ‘lay clothing’ and said he ‘did not sit on the altar’ but was ’15 yards away from it’.
‘I was asked to move from where I was seated but the church was packed so I had nowhere else to sit, so I stayed where I was,’ he said. ‘I was asked to move by one of the priests and by the bishop. I refused to do so. Both I and the bishop had words.’
Mr O’Connor was dismissed from the priesthood in 2024 following an internal Church inquiry around alleged inappropriate behaviour with a minor, dating back to the early 1970s. O’Connor, who is now in his 80s, was a priest for more than 50 years.
The inquiry around the alleged misconduct of Mr O’Connor – who was president of St John’s College in Waterford city for nine years – was initiated ‘in accordance with Church procedures’, Bishop Cullinan said in a statement at the time.
No criminal proceedings were ever brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions against the defrocked priest.
At the time of the inquiry findings, Bishop Cullinan said Mr O’Connor had been ‘dismissed from the clerical state, and therefore [was] no longer a priest’.
‘This decision is solely based on the outcome of this Church inquiry,’ he noted.
Commissioning the inquiry involved referring the case to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican, which is responsible for defending Catholic doctrine.
It is understood that a number of parishioners have written to Bishop Cullinan and the current Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Luis Mariano Montemayor, to complain about the defrocked priest’s attendance and scenes within the church on the day of the funeral when he was asked to leave.