The Bishop of Derry has issued a public apology for the way he handled the diocesan contributions to the Stewardship Trust, a fund set up by the Catholic Church in Ireland from which compensation is paid to people who were sexually abused by priests.
Dr Séamus Hegarty, in a letter read out at all Masses in the 53 parishes of the Derry diocese yesterday, accepted that he was wrong in imposing a 3 per cent levy on church collections to contribute to the trust, without having consulted the diocesan laity.
Bishop Hegarty has committed the diocese to paying £1 million to the trust over the next five years, but he cancelled the levy following a recommendation to do so from an emergency meeting of 80 of his priests in Derry last Friday afternoon. He also agreed with his priests that all monies already paid to the trust would be refunded to the contributing parishes.
In his letter, Bishop Hegarty stated that last November he and his priests met to consider ways to meet their obligations to the victims of child sexual abuse by way of contributing to the Stewardship Trust.
"It was decided that the best way of sourcing funding was by means of a levy on parishes. At that meeting I promised to issue a letter to parishes informing you of this decision in advance of your parish forwarding money to the Stewardship Trust.
"In the event, I asked parishes for payment of the levy before I did so. With hindsight, I accept that this was not the correct decision.
"For that I apologise. You have a right to know where your money goes. Furthermore, I am sorry for giving the impression of presuming on your generosity and consent", the letter stated.