Child sex abuse activists to picket five cathedrals

Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (SOCA) will hold "silent" protests outside cathedrals in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Armagh…

Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (SOCA) will hold "silent" protests outside cathedrals in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Armagh next Sunday. Leaflets will be handed out asking people attending Masses not to contribute at collections.

The leaflets will begin: "This Sunday, before you put money into the collection plate, ask yourself the following questions: Do I want my donation to pay for luxury apartments for paedophiles like Ivan Payne? Do I want my donation to pay for legal expenses for paedophiles like Brother Ambrose?"

Mr John Kelly, co-ordinator of Irish SOCA, said last night they would be insisting that "all people going to church must be allowed to worship in peace and not be molested in any way whatsoever".

What he and other protesters hoped to achieve was to alert congregations to how the money they contributed at collections was being spent by the church on legal fees etc surrounding the issue of clerical child sex abuse.

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People would be asked to stop and think how their money was being spent by the church, and without any say by them, he said.

As in Boston, he said, their slogan for Sunday would be "No representation, no donation".

There would be no intimidation or interference with parishioners in any way, and no shouting. Any abusive behaviour towards parishioners would not be tolerated, he said.