"We have all moved on a lot since 1992," said Justin O'Byrne, chairman of the Woodford-Looscaun pastoral council in Co Galway yesterday, as he fielded a stream of queries over confirmation that his parish's 73-year-old former curate had fathered a child.
"If we were back then, it might have been a very different reaction", Mr O'Byrne said, referring to the revelations almost 14 years ago that former bishop of Galway, Dr Éamon Casey, had a teenage son - and had borrowed more than IR£70,000 from diocesan funds to support him.
"People here are surprised, and saddened, but also supportive. I think we have all moved on a lot - both parishioners and the church - in recent years," Mr O'Byrne said.
Mr O'Byrne emphasised that he was commenting in a personal capacity. The Woodford-Looscaun pastoral council had not met as of yesterday to take a formal position on the situation.
It had been contacted late last week by the Bishop of Clonfert, Dr John Kirby, and he had met the group in the parish at the weekend to inform members of the circumstances surrounding the priest's retirement.
However, the group had not anticipated that it would have become public so quickly. "As a lay person and a parishioner, I am very happy with the way the Catholic Church has handled this", Mr O'Byrne said.
"Dr Kirby told us that he had only been informed himself several days before, and he was pretty upfront from the start."
The bishop had informed them "of all the relevant facts", and told them that he had spoken with the priest and had also met the woman in question. "I am very glad that it hasn't been brushed under the carpet", Mr O'Byrne said.
"What happens now is a personal issue and one for the diocese - rather than for the parish. That lady has to rear her child now and she needs all the support for that."
The priest in question was known as a very popular curate, although he had only been in the parish for 18 months and had been out sick since late last year due to a back injury which required surgery.
"I would like to emphasise that he hasn't done a runner," Mr O'Byrne said.
He was described by several residents in the east Galway area yesterday as the "life and soul of the party", but with "no airs and graces".
He had earned a lot of respect among parishioners when he objected to names being read out in relation to Lenten contributions.
"There is an implication in the newspapers that he has moved out of the parish, but we understand that he had been recuperating from surgery with relatives for some time," Mr O'Byrne said.
"We have lost a priest at a time when there is a shortage of priests, and that is a sad event. But I think the prevailing attitude now is one of sympathy and support in relation to the child," Mr O'Byrne said. "There's certainly no anger - no anger that I can detect."
