The past year had been designated by Pope Benedict XVI as the “Year of the Priest,” an opportunity to celebrate the service provided by the thousands of dedicated men to the global Church. Unfortunately, it has been the year that the clergy sexual abuse scandal was revealed to be happening in Ireland, and Europe. Now the British press, including the BBC, has been reporting that one of the suspected IRA planners of the 1972 Claudy bombing, one of the worst acts of terror during Northern Ireland’s Troubles; was a Catholic priest. Not only that, but a government investigation also revealed that the British officials of that time, with Catholic Church officials hushed the matter up, and transferred the priest, Father James Chesney, to the Republic of Ireland. He would die there in 1980.
Now there have been cases throughout history, where priests have been more warriors than shepherds of their churches, but that a priest could be involved in act of terror is mind boggling. And the story of Father Chesney is another scandal that the priesthood and the Church could have done without.
Now there have been cases throughout history, where priests have been more warriors than shepherds of their churches, but that a priest could be involved in act of terror is mind boggling. And the story of Father Chesney is another scandal that the priesthood and the Church could have done without.
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