Today’s Irish Daily Mail
Splutter.
Is there a canon lawyer in the house?
A legal expert told the Irish Daily Mail that the extraordinary situation may have lawyers perplexed because they are not sure exactly how the priest might have come by the money he is alleged to have taken.
For example, if he was given the cash in the form of a gift, prosecuting could be problematic. A senior security source told the Mail: ‘This is a complex case. From a legal point of view, one thing the DPP must be looking at is Canon Law.
‘The last thing the DPP or An Garda Síochána would want is for this priest to be criminally charged only for there to be an issue down the line with Canon Law.’
An Irish legal expert in Canon Law said there ‘might well be an issue’ in relation to Church laws in this instance.
The barrister, who declined to be named as the case is ongoing, said: ‘Criminal law is the code of the State. But, on the basis of what you have explained about this case, an issue could arise in terms of what he was entitled to do with this money. If this priest was given some of the money in the circumstances as a gift, an issue could arise.
‘The question is in what context was the money given? So there could be issues with Canon Law.’
Adding that she did not know all the details of this case, the barrister said: ‘It could boil down to diocesan structures and whether the money was an unconditional gift.
‘On the other side of it, if it is considered straightforward theft, then Canon Law might not be a consideration at all.
‘It is important not to second-guess the DPP before a decision is made. There could be various reasons for the length of time the file is with the DPP.’
Anyone?
*Phones Legal Coffee Drinker*
Will Priest Who Stole €500,000 Avoid Charges (Ali Bracken Irish Daily Mail – unavailable online)
If a crime has been reported and it meets the evidential requirements to be prosecuted as such then the DPP would proceed-don’t see where Canon Law can come in to it.
The more pertinent question seems to be whether the money was stolen or given as a gift- this a point of fact rather than a point of Law methinks.
+1
If a crime was committed, it can and should be prosecuted. End of.
…may not be able to prosecute because of the laws governing the Catholic Church..
Canon law or Sharia law, what’s the difference? And to think this country is rammed with right-wing bigots, screaming about dem muslims…
Nothing a few dozen hail marys wont fix
tax him on it, its undecleared income, so plenty of interest & penalties too
If this is seen as a ‘gift’ are there tax implications? Or can an individual receive separate gifts from, say, two thousand people (parishioners) of €500 (under the threshold for tax) each and not be liable for ANY tax on the million pocketed??
Sweet!
Fair play father. In fairness.
How are crowd-funding proceeds taxed?
its a good question but fairly sure he’s subject to Capital Acquisitions Tax like any of us whatever his job is
think you can have as many disponers as you want (people gifting you) but he has to make an annual return like anyone, he has the same CAT thresholds as anyone (think its 15k thereabouts per annum if its non-relatives) and money over the threshold value is taxed@33%
fair play to him…. handy gig to have all the same.
Give someone a whack with a wooden stick on Grafton Street, and it’s assault. Do it on the pitch of Croke Park on a Sunday and it’s hurling.
That’s a very stupid comment.
It’s the Daily Mail – probably the most unreliable newspaper in these islands.
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Daily_Mail
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Daily_Mail
Canneloni, Canon Law… what’s the difference, it’s all just poo in the end.
Did you write ‘poo’?
I did. I was avoiding gettin’ caught by his/her holiness, the BS censor.
I’m sure the money was just resting in his account
It was only resting in my account.
You honestly could not think of anything else?
I don’t see this. If you can have the Bishop of Bling why can’t you have the Father of a Few Bob Like.
Who reported the “crime”.
:0)
He could be Father of a few Bob’s though.
So long as he can afford it Clampers
I can’t believe nobody has said anything about money resting in his account yet.
I can’t believe you haven’t read all the comments before posting.
You’re right. I’ll get me coat
All the gravy, slurp up all the gravy.
Fair play to him, it’s the Irish way.
Canon Law has no legal jurisdiction whatsoever. It’s like the rules your parents laid down when you were a kid.
It is simply an internal set of regulation for members of the Roman Catholic clergy. It has nothing to do with civilian law under our constitution. Some clergy like to refer to it as if it actually matters outside the parochial house.
It’s bullshit.
It’s not bull. It is the internal rules of the church, as you point out. It has no bearing on state civil or criminal matters – except IF by following the canon law one can claim that the money was his to use all along.
Have the Church Authorities made a formal complaint that
funds or monies have been mis-appropiated by a cleric.
Canon Law has nothing to do with it, or are there tenents
in Canon Law that allow for the mis-appropiation of monies.
What about the 7th Commandment v Canon Law
A “formal complaint”? To whom? What mechanism is there to make one of these “formal complaints”?
Did you ever think that that mechanism might be
Priest: “Hello Garda, I’d like to report a theft”
Garda: “Hello Father. No bother. Hang on till I get a pen”
Any excuse to have a go at the church – nowadays in the Irish media; if there’s bad weather, it’s the evil catholic church’s fault.
Hmm!
Rennes le Chateau?
So the church felt it would be a good idea to have a trial, yet the State doesn’t?
If the DPP think they have a case, off they go. I suspect they couldn’t be bothered.