Priest slams Church for '41 years of hurt' as his 'unrepentant' abuser walks free
The Church finally apologised last week, more than 12 years later for the abuse by Donaghy, who left the priesthood in 2004. The court judge branded him a sexual predator whose victim Fr Paddy was susceptible by virtue of his religious leanings.
A priest who was sexually abused by another cleric has slammed the Church for 41 years of hurt and warned that his attacker remains a dangerous predator. Fr Patrick McCafferty, formerly of Rathmines parish in Dublin and now in Belfast, was abused for 17 years from 1983 when he was a teenager.
His abuser is disgraced ex-priest James Donaghy, whose address in court when he was jailed in 2012 was Lady Wallace Drive, Lisburn, Co Antrim. When Donaghy (65) was sentenced to 10 years in February 2012, his victim Fr Paddy called on the Church to apologise for denying his claims of abuse from 1983 to 2000.
The Church finally apologised last week, more than 12 years later for the abuse by Donaghy, who left the priesthood in 2004. The court judge branded him a sexual predator whose victim Fr Paddy was susceptible by virtue of his religious leanings.
Donaghy was released from prison in 2017 after serving five years of his sentence – and Fr Paddy (61) yesterday warned he remains a danger to society.
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He told the Irish Mirror: “My ordeal started 41 years ago in 1983 and only now do I feel that it is coming to an end. I made the abuse complaint in 2001 and my abuser was not convicted until December 2011 and not sentenced until 2012. That’s 11 years later. That was agony for me. I nearly died, I nearly went under.
“It’s been a long, hard, painful road. My suffering is coming to an end. It has been a horrendous time. Although Donaghy was found guilty and put in jail, I didn’t heal. Things were left unsaid and the record needed to be put right. The Church had unfairly labelled me as a troublemaker, as a nuisance. I think now with the apology, the record is straight. I needed to hear that for a very long time.
“Donaghy would get me on his own and isolate me. There was no-one I could tell. He was a priest and I wasn’t [ordained] at the time. I looked around 12 years of age. I had the body and the build of a teenage boy. He targeted me and attacked me and subjected me to the most vile acts of violation and depravity. He was depraved. He thought that he could do whatever he liked.
"After he was found guilty, that didn’t solve anything for me. I nearly died, literally. He went to jail but I spiralled into a very dark place. It almost cost my life. I clawed my way back. I reported the abuse 23 years ago [in 2001] and I was given the runaround by the Church and I was lied to and pushed aside as if I was the problem. I feel now that a great weight has been lifted from me since the apology.”
Fr Paddy added: “Donaghy lives in Belfast. He should apologise and ask for forgiveness from the people he hurt, but I am not holding my breath. People should beware of him. He is a danger, especially to boys and young adult males. People need to keep an eye on him and monitor him.
“He is a sex offender and is on the register. The police keep an eye on him. He is unrepentant. People like him, who show no sign of being sorry, just don’t care and do not change.”
Bishop of Down and Connor, Alan McGuckian, finally issued a Church apology last Thursday and admitted that Fr Paddy was not “supported by the diocese when he should have been" and he apologised "most sincerely" to him.
Fr Paddy welcomed the apology and revealed that for “decades” after he was “raped and abused” that he “suffered” from Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
He said: “Two and a half years ago, the enormity of what Donaghy inflicted [on me], hit me like a ton of bricks. This is because I was now strong enough to face the horror of what I suffered. I welcome the apology from the bishop. This has been a very long and painful road. It is an important step towards further healing and recovery.”
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