FORMER LIBYAN dictator Muammar Gadafy was prayed for at Mass in a Donegal church, it has emerged.
The prayers were said on Sunday in St Eunan’s Church, Raphoe, by parish priest Fr Dinny McGettigan (72).
The popular priest surprised parishioners when he was praying for local people who had recently died.
The last name he read out was that of Muammar Gadafy.
Asked by the Donegal News,afterwards why he had prayed for the ruthless dictator who had earned the nickname "Mad Dog".
“I would pray for anyone, so I have no problem whatsoever praying for Muammar Gadafy,” Fr McGettigan said.
Asked if he thought it was all right to pray for the soul of a man who murdered, maimed and oppressed Libyan citizens for four decades, Fr McGettigan said. “That’s all the more reason to pray for him. They all need our prayers no matter who they are.”
One parishioner, who did not wish to be named, told the Donegal News: “It bothered no one. Fr Dinny is a very Christian man and would pray for anyone. He was stabbed during a break-in at the parochial house 10 years ago. When the matter went to court, Fr McGettigan stood up and pleaded with the judge not to send the man to jail. That’s just the kind of person he is.”