Bishop in Northern Ireland apologizes to priest abused as a young adult

LEICESTER, United Kingdom – Abuse by a young adult “is of no less magnitude than the abuse of a minor,” a bishop in Northern Ireland admitted in a statement on August 1.

Bishop Alan McGuckian of Down and Connor was speaking about the abuse suffered by Father Paddy McCafferty, who was sexually abused as a young adult in the 1980s by Father James Martin Donaghy, who was jailed in 2012 for 10 years.

Down and Connor is the diocese which includes Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland.