Former Archbishop takes defamation case against RTÉ over ‘Mission to Prey’

IRELAND
RTE News

A former Catholic archbishop who was based in Nigeria has commenced a defamation case against RTÉ arising out of allegations of paedophilia in the 2011 Prime Time Investigates programme on clerical sexual abuse entitled “A Mission to Prey”.

Opening the case, counsel for Richard Burke, Jack Fitzgerald SC, told the jury that the RTÉ programme had claimed that his client was a paedophile – but he was not.

He said this case was at the extreme level of defamation because the allegation was so serious, and there was nothing worse you could say about anyone.

Mr Fitzgerald acknowledged that Mr Burke was a man who had resigned as Archbishop of the diocese of Benin City in Nigeria in 2010 because he had not complied with his commitments to celibacy as a cleric.

He said for that reason he had let down himself, his family and his church because of his non-compliance with his celibacy commitment.

He said Mr Burke was ashamed, remorseful, humiliated and in pain because of that resignation.

However, he was not a paedophile.

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