FLORIDA
Irish Independent
Greg Harkin
PUBLISHED
11/01/2017
An Irish priest is suing his diocese in the United States in a row over paedophile priests.
Fr John Gallagher appeared at a press conference in Florida on Wednesday alongside his lawyer after filing a defamation case against the Palm Beach Diocese.
The priest alleged his diocese cut off communication with him two years ago for notifying police when he learned a visiting priest from India had been showing child porn to a teenage boy.
Fr Jose Palimatton was arrested, convicted and jailed.
Fr Gallagher said the diocese demoted him, removed his belongings from the rectory and changed the locks so he couldn’t get back in.
Asked by reporters at the press conference what he hoped to achieve with the lawsuit, Fr Gallagher responded: “Vindication and clearing of my name. I did what was right. I upheld the law and I followed their law. And this is how I’ve been treated.”
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