IRELAND
Irish Examiner
Saturday, March 02, 2013
A priest has accused RTÉ of imbalance and inappropriateness after he became embroiled in a blazing radio row on sex abuse in the Catholic Church on the day Pope Benedict XVI resigned
By Caroline O’Doherty
Fr Joe McDonald says RTÉ should have taken a decision to “lay off the Church scandals” on the day and he wants the makers of the Late Debate programme to respond to his criticisms.
The Thursday edition of the late night RTÉ 1 current affairs show became increasingly heated after Fr McDonald, of St Matthew’s Parish, Ballyfermot, and senator Ronan Mullen complained they were not being allowed raise the positive points of Pope Benedict’s reign.
They questioned the right of journalist and former rape crisis counsellor Susan McKay to be on the panel as she was a declared atheist, and they took issue with abuse survivor and long-time campaigner, Marie Collins’ view that the Church’s leaders still failed to grasp the severity of the problem.
Ms Collins, a devout Catholic who exposed the failings of Cardinal Desmond Connell on the abuse scandal, tweeted afterwards she was “shattered” by the encounter.
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