FLORIDA
Palm Beach Post
By Joe Capozzi – Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
PALM BEACH GARDENS —
About 15 people picketed in front of the Diocese of Palm Beach headquarters today, urging Catholic leaders to return Father John Gallagher to Holy Name of Jesus Christ Catholic Church in West Palm Beach.
The protestors, including three people who said they were abused by priests when they were kids, also called on the diocese to hold a public meeting to answer questions about Gallagher’s case and to post the names and photos of predator priests in parish bulletins and church websites.
“Father John Gallagher has been, in his words, locked out, ostracized and run out by the local diocese. We want to know why because he actually did the right thing. He reported a sexual predator,” said David Pittman, a local leader for the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests.
The diocese did not attend the rally and had no immediate comment on the demands of the protestors, who included parishoners from Holy Name who spoke glowingly about Gallagher.
On Monday, the diocese denied Gallagher’s claims that church leaders punished him for alerting law-enforcement authorites about a fellow Holy Name priest who had shown pornographic material to a 14-year-old parishoner after mass on day in January 2015.
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.