Church refuses to comment on reports …

NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Church refuses to comment on reports priest has been suspended after woman’s affair claims

BY NEVIN FARRELL – 23 MARCH 2015

Catholic Church officials have refused to confirm or deny reports that a priest at the centre of a storm over allegations he had a sexual relationship with a woman and made her pregnant has been suspended.

Some Mass-goers at St Peter’s Cathedral in Belfast last night said they believed Fr Ciaran Dallat (53), the assistant priest in the parish, had been suspended amid an investigation by Church bosses.

The woman who claimed she had an affair with Fr Dallat said she miscarried his child in July 2013 after a five-week pregnancy.

She also said she had showered him with £20,000 worth of gifts.

However, when asked about the alleged suspension, a spokesman for the Diocese of Down and Connor said: “The only statement is that provided earlier.”

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.