IRELAND
Irish Examiner
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
The Bishop of Cork and Ross has distanced himself from comments made by a priest who asked mourners at a funeral to pray that former lord mayor of Cork, John Murray, would be found not guilty of sex assault charges.
By Eoin English
Irish Examiner Reporter
Dr John Buckley described the comments as “offensive and entirely inappropriate”.
“The diocese fully respects the independence of the DPP and the Courts Service and regards it as entirely inappropriate that a funeral Mass should be used in such a manner,” he said.
Murray, 83, of Gregg Rd, Cork, was found guilty by a jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court last Friday of sexually assaulting a teenager in 1996. The former Labour city councillor is due to be sentenced by Judge Sean Ó Donnabháin next Monday.
However, it has emerged a visiting Augustinian priest who was celebrating a funeral Mass in a church on the southside of Cork City last Thursday asked mourners during the prayers of intercession to pray that Murray would be found not guilty. The priest knew the deceased and it is also understood he is a friend of the Murray family.
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