Voice of the Faithful ®

A Catholic priest filed suit Wednesday (Jan. 11) against his former diocese, saying that the bishop pushed him aside and lied about him because he called law enforcement after another priest showed child pornography to a teenage boy and cooperated with the investigation.

“Father John Gallagher said that Bishop Gerald Barbarito of the Palm Beach Diocese forced him from the church where he worked and publicly called him a liar after he refused to cover up for the other priest. Joseph Palimattom was convicted of showing obscene material to a minor, spent six months in jail and was deported home to India.

“Gallagher told The Associated Press that his case shows the church has not reformed as promised after it became public knowledge that church leaders had covered up sexual abuse by priests for decades around the world.

“‘Any priest could be in this situation,’ Gallagher said. ‘Any priest in this situation should know that if it happened to them, they will not get the support of the church. You will be ostracized.'”

By Terry Spencer, Associated Press, on Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this story.