IRELAND
Catholic Herald (UK)
Bishop Emeritus of Kerry said to be very shaken by the incident
Bishop Emeritus Bill Murphy of Kerry was punched in the face last month by a drunken passenger angry about the Church’s handling of sex abuse claims, according to the Irish Times.
The retired bishop, aged 79, had been travelling on a train from Killarney to Dublin with his brother, Archdeacon Michael Murphy.
Archdeacon Murphy told the newspaper that a man recognised him and came over to them. “He had quite a lot [of drink] on him. He spoke about being ill. The bishop was reading his office.”
The man left but a short time later returned. “He started giving out about problems in the diocese, and punched him [Bishop Murphy] in the face. He got a shock. But we continued on our way,” Archdeacon Murphy said.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.