Derby Telegraph comment: Statements by Cullen victims reveal full scale of suffering, by Derby Telegraph, Derby Telegraph (March 25, 2014)

Derby Telegraph comment: Statements by Cullen victims reveal full scale of suffering

By Derby Telegraph
Derby Telegraph
March 25, 2014

http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Derby-Telegraph-comment-Statements-Cullen-victims/story-20848595-detail/story.html

Disgraced former priest Francis Cullen

'Yours was a calling from the Devil... I hope you get to meet your maker'.

And so say all of us to the sentiment expressed by a victim of former Derby Roman Catholic priest Francis Cullen.

A 15-year prison sentence, imposed at Derby Crown Court yesterday, ought to ensure that Cullen never emerges into society again – though you can never be absolutely sure with our legal procedures and pressure on prison places.

Even after the passage of all these years, it still took courage for those who suffered unimaginably at the hands of this disgrace to the cloth to come forward with statements.

Their descriptions of their ongoing feelings of humiliation and low self-worth, and the damage this did to their own prospects of a happy family life, should dismiss once and for all any suggestion that these are experiences which are easily shrugged off by youngsters.

The allegation that the Roman Catholic Church "turned a blind eye" to allegations against Cullen and a minority of other priests will be very difficult for it to live down.

The damage has been done on a very large scale.