Order says it will return donations if judge finds against Irish priest

The order of Holy Ghost Fathers has said it will return more than $200,000 in donations from the will of an American woman if a US judge rules that "undue influence" was exercised on her by an Irish priest.

The order was responding to the decision of a jury in a common pleas court in Pittsburgh that Father Patrick Cooke should be removed as executor of the estate of Ms Violet Boquet, who died aged 87 in 1996 leaving him the equivalent of £1.6 million.

Ms Boquet's family is contesting the will, partly on the grounds that the deceased had only known Father Cooke, then the parish priest in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, since 1994. The order said the priest was now terminally ill at a nursing home in Dublin.

The jury in the common pleas court has an advisory role only, and a decision in the case will be made shortly by a judge. The Holy Ghost Fathers said that, as such, they believed they were prevented from commenting on the substance of the case. However, a spokesman said that should a new executor be appointed and request the return of the money, the order would co-operate fully.

He added: "During the years 1996-7, the Holy Ghost Fathers received in good faith donations for its missionary work totalling $204,500 from the estate of the late Violet Boquet. This money was given for the missionary purposes of the province and was accepted for these purposes."

Reports in Pittsburgh said much of the money from Ms Boquet's estate had been used to buy houses and cars for the priest and a former housekeeper, and Ms Boquet's family did not know how much of the money could be recovered. Father Cooke, now aged 70, returned to Ireland this year.