Bishop Alan McGuckian (left) with the man he replaced, Bishop Philip Boyce.
Yesterday in Letterkenny Circuit Court, a former priest of the Diocese of Raphoe, was sentenced to two years imprisonment for the sexual abuse of a minor in 1985. He was a priest in the diocese from 1976 and was removed from ministry immediately on reception of the complaint in 1998. The Gardai and HSE/ Tulsa were informed then.
In a statement released last night, the Diocese of Raphoe, Bishop Alan McGuckian said he was deeply saddened that an innocent child had to endure this devastating abuse.
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“It is all the more serious that it involved abuse by someone in a position of sacred trust and power. I apologise sincerely to the man who suffered and to his family. I fully accept that no apology can undo the harm inflicted on an innocent child.