'We acknowledge the pain': Parish priest delivers Easter message after arrest of curate

A parish priest in County Donegal has spoken to parishioners about the “alarming” allegations which the local curate is facing following his arrest late last week.

Fr Michael McCaughey told Easter Sunday Mass-goers at St Patrick’s Church in Murlog, Lifford that he wanted to acknowledge the feelings in the parish following the arrest and charge of Fr Edward Gallagher.

The parish priest of Leckpatrick, Camus and Clonleigh was speaking just 24 hours after his colleague, Fr Gallagher, was remanded in custody having been charged with attempted sexual communication with a child. 

Fr Gallagher (58), who is suspended from ministry, appeared before a special sitting of Derry Magistrates’ Court, sitting at Dungannon Magistrates’ Court. He will remain in custody until his next court date, on May 1, and possibly beyond with a legal representative indicating that there will be no bail application made at the next appearance.  

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Fr McCaughey was the celebrant for Easter Sunday Mass in Murlog and said he wished to read a statement from himself and priest-in-residence Fr Declan Boland.

“We acknowledge the pain, the hurt and the disappointment of the past 48 or 72 hours,” Fr McCaughey said. 

“This is difficult. This is alarming. It’s is unnerving. It’s disturbing.”

Fr McCaughey, who also read a statement from the Diocese of Derry acknowledging the charge against Fr Gallagher and his suspension, told his congregation that he believed that the Church and its priests had “moved on” from such happenings.

He said: “This is so disturbing for people, for parishioners of all ages and it is so difficult for priests. I can say that very honestly.

“I left the back door of the church in Strabane this morning to begin the quarter-to-ten Mass. As I walked up the aisle, it struck me of what a few days it has been, from Holy Thursday afternoon to this morning (Easter Sunday).

“What has been remarkable is the spirit of support and of kindness, the solidarity and care of yourselves.”

Fr McCaughey said he felt “a remarkable sense of the spirit of kindness and of care and of solidarity” in the Church since Thursday when Fr Gallagher was arrested by PSNI officers after being apprehended by a group of people from a group called Justice Reborn, who confronted the cleric with allegations.

Fr McCaughey said: “I just want to assure you of my prayers this morning and I assure you of our sense of journeying together as a parish community in acknowledging, on both of our parts, the shame and the hurt, and the disappointment that people have been experiencing at this time.

“We do so in the spirit of praying together, journeying together and praying for each other. Above all, I just want to say thank you for the presence of those people here last night, today and through the days past.”