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	Pilgrims Carry Floral Tributes to Paedophile Priest's Grave Abbot Speaks on Local Radio of 'Clever Man Who Did Good Work' By John Cooney Irish Independent March 24, 2006 http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1587784&issue_id=13852 PILGRIMS are regularly visiting a monastery to pray and lay flowers at the grave of notorious paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth. The prayers are said by devout Catholics from the north west region even though the word 'Rev' was removed from the headstone, the Prior of Kilnacrott Abbey, Gerard Cusack, has revealed. "There was a request that the word 'Rev' be removed from his headstone," Abbot Cusack said yesterday. "It was erased. It was a corporate decision of our community here at the request of a person." The removal "brought relief to the person who requested this," the Prior added, saying that the dates of Fr Smyth's birth and his ordination remain on the tombstone. Abbot Cusack's revelations were made in response to a massive reaction on the local radio station, Shannonside-Northernside, to the Irish Independent's exclusive report that Dana Rosemary Scallon will perform tonight at a fundraising charity in Crover House Hotel in Co Cavan in aid of Kilnacrott Abbey. Brendan Smyth took sanctuary in Kilnacrott Abbey when he was on the run from the RUC for paedophile crimes committed in the North. Abbot Cusack came on the programme with Joe Finnegan, and described himself as having been a friend and a colleague of the late Fr Smyth. But he went on to speak of another side of Brendan Smyth not portrayed in the media. "There was a compassionate side to this man," he said. "He was a very clever man who did a lot of good work for people in difficulties. Sadly he had this propensity which was shocking." Abbot Cusack suggested that it was not until Smyth was in a Dublin court in the 1990s that his paedophilia disorder had been fully recognised. "We are all Christians and to be a good Christian we must learn to forgive," he said. "We are not praying to him, we are praying for him." Callers from Monaghan and Longford confirmed they visited Smyth's grave and laid flowers there. Accepting that when the media mention "the monster" Brendan Smyth, "we think of evil", he said the Norbertine Orders of Canons, of which Smyth was a member, had apologised.
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