An elderly priest who was left with a broken nose after he was attacked by a man asking to have his confession heard, says he forgives his attacker.
Fr Aidan Denny (71) was also bitten by the man who knocked on the door of his parochial house in west Belfast.
But after getting hospital treatment Fr Denny said he was prepared to forgive his attacker.
"I just feel very sorry for that young fellow, he obviously has nothing inside himself," he said.The vicious assault took place when Fr Denny answered a knock at the back doorof the house in New Barnsley Green, near Ballymurphy.The man in his late teens or early 20s asked the priest to hear his confessionand was brought into the house, despite smelling of glue. But once inside, he struck the priest in the face and demanded his car keys.
Fr Denny said: "He took a bite out of my thumb and he punched me on the nose,I think it's broken ... But what could you do, a man coming looking for confession or some sort of spiritual help, what do you do? You just don't chase them."
PA