SCOTLAND
Scotsman
By STEPHEN MCGINTY
Published on Wednesday 6 March 2013
THE Catholic Church in Scotland arranged for a teenage victim of an abusive priest to be paid £200 and made him sign a legal document promising not to tell anyone.
“Sam Y” told The Scotsman he was made to feel that he was to blame for the assault by Father Desmond Lynagh, who had been moved by the Catholic Church from Blairs Seminary after he abused a 14-year-old to Stirling University, where he served as a chaplain.
Lynagh attempted to kiss and fondle the student while driving him home from a party in October 1983. After complaining to an Edinburgh priest, the 18-year-old student was taken to a meeting in a lawyer’s office in Glasgow, paid £200 for “travel expenses” and ordered by what he believes was a senior figure in the Catholic Church not to tell anyone about the assault.
Sam Y, who came forward after reading about the experiences of “Michael X” in The Scotsman, said he wanted to highlight how the Catholic Church in Scotland lied to him about Lynagh’s abusive past and attempted a cover-up.
He said: “A senior member of the Church told me a story that was utter fiction. The overwhelming thing that has eaten away at me for years and years is that the Church definitely knew about Lynagh at Blairs and, in the full knowledge of that information, they moved him to a university campus.”
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