THE CATHOLIC priest at the centre of a dispute over gay pornographic images has been granted a sabbatical from his parish in Co Tyrone.
Fr Martin McVeigh has been caught up in controversy since the images flashed up on a screen during a presentation to parents in Pomeroy on March 26th – at which a child was also present – in preparation for First Communion.
The priest said he “deeply regretted” the incident and his failure to check the presentation in advance.
He said he had no idea how the images came to be on the memory stick he was using and that others had access to the stick. Fr McVeigh said the last month had been “the most difficult of my life”.
An inquiry by the diocese has been carried out. One laptop has been reported to the PSNI as stolen from the parochial house since March 26th.
Fr McVeigh had already been granted temporary leave by Cardinal Seán Brady, but in a statement read to parishioners in Pomeroy at Mass yesterday, it was revealed he would be taking a longer break.
It also noted that the priest “deeply regretted my failure to check, in advance, my presentation” as he had no knowledge of offensive images.
“After the images were inadvertently shown, I immediately removed the memory stick from the laptop. In my shock and upset and in my concern to ensure that the images would never be shown again, I destroyed it later that evening.”
Fr McVeigh apologised unreservedly for the hurt caused and asked parishioners to accept his innocence. “The memory of this awful episode will remain with me for the rest of my life,” he added.
Cardinal Brady said the computer equipment removed from parish property had been “forensically examined by an independent technical expert and no inappropriate imagery had been found”.
He said: “I agree with the parishioners of Pomeroy that this offensive incident has caused anger and genuine concern . . . I join with Father McVeigh in expressing sorrow and regret.”
The cardinal said the diocese would work to ensure that procedures were put in place for the proper monitoring of computers.