SOUTH AFRICA
IOL
Tania Broughton
August 25 2005 at 08:58AM
An elderly Roman Catholic priest, who is accused of raping a child more than 25 years ago, will know in October whether or not he will have to stand trial.
And should the trial proceed, there were indications on Wednesday that one of the witnesses could be Cardinal Wilfrid Napier himself.
The Durban priest, 76, who cannot be named until he formally pleads to the rape charges, made an application in the Durban magistrate's court more than a year ago for a stay of prosecution, arguing prejudice should he be forced to answer to the charges.
The application, made by advocate Rob Mossop, has been postponed several times because the priest has been too ill to come to court. It is believed he recently had heart surgery.