A victim of paedophile priest Eugene Greene has slammed the Catholic Church after he heard about his abuser’s death on local radio.
Martin Gallagher told RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta that the way that he found out about Greene’s death has greatly angered him, and has shown yet again the lack of respect of the church for the victims of abuse.
In an interview today on Barrscéalta on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, Mr Gallagher condemned the way the story was handled by the church, and said there was no excuse for the way the victims found out about Greene’s death.
He said “It wasn’t right the way I found out … I was sitting at home on my own in the house when I heard it on Nuacht a hAon on RTÉ RnaG. That’s the Catholic Church again, what were they thinking of, that this would come out in the media and that the victims wouldn’t know that this man was dead … that I had to find out through the media, along with the rest of the world. They didn’t even bother to send us word.”
“I feel as small as I ever did, that they didn’t think enough of me to pick up the phone, or write a few lines, to tell us the situation so that we’d be ready to hear the story, that would’ve been fair enough. But they didn’t even think enough of us to do that, and they’re saying they’re sorry.”
“If they’re sorry, why can’t they do something good (by contacting the victims), so that you could say well at least they tried to do the right thing.”
Gallagher told interviewer Áine Ní Churráin that it was cold solace that Greene was now dead.
“There’s no reprieve in my heart today that this man is dead. And I’m so angry and upset at the way it was all handled … It makes no difference to us (victims) if this man is alive or dead, we have to endure the same pain every day.”
Bishop of Raphoe, Alan Mac Eochagáin, was also on the programme and said that the Church authorities had intended to get in touch with Greene’s victims this week, but that events overtook them. He said that they had unconfirmed reports on Tuesday of last week that Greene was dead, and that it was only confirmed on Friday.
Speaking earlier on Adhmhaidin on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, retired Garda detective Martin Ridge, who was heavily involved in bringing Greene to justice, was scathing in his assessment of the Church’s contribution to the situation.
“This story is far deeper than Eugene Greene. Eugene Greene is the biggest criminal in the northwest … but the full truth has never come out in the diocese until this day from either priest or Bishop and that must be addressed immediately. There are lots of accidents in this corner of the world (Donegal) that cause heartbreak, but this was no accident, that the Catholic Church kept this horror under wraps. It’s the perpetrators of these sex crimes who were offered protection and care in this diocese.”
Ridge praised the victims, and said that he understood this would be a very difficult time for them.
“Nothing would have come to light about this without the victims who came forward … these are the people who saved other children from going through it.”
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