Apology from the Catholic Church after Belfast priest Father John J Murray was convicted of mistreatment of two children at Short Strand

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The Catholic Church has apologized after a retired priest was sentenced after being convicted of abusing two children following a “trial of facts”.

r John J Murray was to be tried for the abuse of two children, but was found medically unfit to participate in the proceedings due to his dementia.

On Friday, a court ordered new monitoring arrangements.

The 80-year-old veteran priest had served as vicar in St Matthew’s parish in Belfast’s Short Strand neighborhood, where one of his victims had lived with his family.

The offenses allegedly took place between December 31, 1976 and January 1, 1983 in the parish house of St Matthew’s.

Murray had moved to live in the Canary Islands but returned to Belfast in 2019 after the PSNI threatened to initiate extradition proceedings against him.

A few days later, a caregiver guided him to Belfast Magistrates’ Court in a wheelchair for his first appearance.

However, a previous Belfast court ruled that with Murray suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, he was unable to mount a reasonable defense.

Instead of a full criminal hearing, a “fact trial” was held at Dungannon Crown Court, before a jury.

It took less than an hour for the jury to reach a unanimous verdict earlier this month, with sentencing taking place on Friday.

Murray was convicted of two separate counts of indecent assault on two girls.

The two victims were around ten years old at the time of the incident.

A victim told police that Father Murray used to call his class in elementary school to ask if she could be excused from classes because he needed help with issues related to the church, before mistreating her.

She praised the verdict.

The Bishop of Down and Connor, Father Noel Treanor, issued an apology on behalf of the diocese after the case was concluded on Friday.

Father Murray is also expected to be secularized – losing his status as a clergyman – at the end of criminal proceedings.

The pedophile priest escaped jail, but the Crown Court has released new surveillance agreements regarding Father Murray, despite being found unfit to stand a criminal trial.

Bishop Treanor said: “On behalf of the Diocese of Down and Connor, I sincerely regret and apologize with all my heart for all the pain and distress caused to his victims and their families.

“These criminal actions were a total betrayal of trust and the abuses he perpetrated on others are contrary to Christian gospel values.

“These criminal actions leave a lasting and painful legacy of suffering on those he abused and in the community as a whole.

“I pray that the Crown Court judgment will help bring some healing to those affected by these crimes and I reiterate the diocese’s unequivocal commitment to protect children, youth and adults at risk. .

“After the completion of the Crown Court trial, the normal review under Church Safeguarding Policy and Procedures and its own internal process, which had been suspended for the course of the statutory investigation and civil proceedings, will now resume.

“The diocese continues to encourage anyone with a protective concern to contact the PSNI, social services or the designated diocesan safeguard agent (phone 07534 992124). “

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