Posted on 10/09/2011 7:02:50 PM PDT by BlackVeil
A priest wrongly accused of raping a teenager in Kenya and fathering her child has been welcomed back home to his parish in Ireland, reports Kerryman.ie.
Father Kevin Reynolds received a standing ovation as he attended Mass in Saint Cuan's Church, Ahascragh, County Galway.
The RTE network has apologised to the cleric, accepting that allegations in its Prime Time Investigative program last May, titled A Mission to Pray, were baseless and without any foundation.
Fr Kevin had been forced to stand down as parish priest and leave his Galway home while investigations were carried out.
At a mass marking his reinstatement, Bishop Christopher Jones, Bishop of Elphin, said all the priests of the diocese were deeply concerned and hurt at what he had endured and were delighted to see him back.
The priest, a Mill Hill Missionary, started defamation proceedings against RTE to vindicate his good name and reputation. Two paternity tests later showed the 65-year-old was not the father of the Kenyan woman.
"Fr Kevin has carried his cross with great dignity," continued Bishop Jones. "He willingly stepped aside from ministry and never expressed anger or impatience of any kind. I believe that his own deep faith and spirituality have been his greatest source of courage and consolation through this most dreadful experience of his life.
Good news. He stood down and made no protest, and was cleared by the DNA evidence.
Now he mentions suing the RTE network. I hope that he carries through on that, for the benefit of his fellow priests who are so often slandered by the media, to support their anti-Catholic agenda. And I’m sure that his Parish and the Diocese could use the money in these difficult times.
There are probably a few more cases out there like this one. I’m not Catholic; however, it just seems to me that there has been a lynching of that Church in the past 15-20 years. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that there has been horrendous sexual abuse but seriously doubt that every case reported has been valid. jimho
If false accusation weren’t a major problem it wouldn’t be covered in the Ten Commandments!
Those who break the Eighth should be dealt with severely.
That filthy little liar should be kicked back to Kenya where she belongs; lowlife trying to ruin a man’s life (a man of the cloth no less) in a country that (stupidly) welcomed her.
The Catholic Church is everyone favorite target.
It seems so. It’s disgusting
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