The Bishop of Cork and Ross has distanced himself from comments made by a priest who asked mourners at a funeral to pray that former lord mayor of Cork, John Murray (above), would be found not guilty of sex assault charges.
Murray, 83, of Gregg Rd, Cork, was found guilty by a jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court last Friday of sexually assaulting a teenager in 1996. The former Labour city councillor is due to be sentenced by Judge Sean Ó Donnabháin next Monday.
However, it has emerged a visiting Augustinian priest who was celebrating a funeral Mass in a church on the southside of Cork City last Thursday asked mourners during the prayers of intercession to pray that Murray would be found not guilty. The priest knew the deceased and it is also understood he is a friend of the Murray family.
Bishop: Friar’s comments on former lord mayor Murray ‘inappropriate’ (Eoin English, Irish Examiner)