AN IRISH missionary leader has said “it appears now that it is acceptable for media to pronounce any individual as guilty without the necessity of going through any form of judicial procedure”.
Fr Eamonn Aylward said: “You are guilty until you are proven innocent seems to be the norm of the day. This cannot be good for the evolution of our society as a respecter of the basic human rights of all our citizens.”
While abuse of children was “to be absolutely deplored in all its forms, we cannot remain blind to the possible innocence of some of the accused in the RTÉ programme”, he said.
This was a reference to the Prime Time Investigatesprogramme A Mission to Prey, broadcast on May 23rd last.
Executive secretary of the Irish Missionary Union (IMU), Fr Aylward made the comments in the IMU Newsletter for June.
"It is now over a month since RTÉ Prime Timebroadcast the programme on alleged abuse by a number of Irish missionaries in Kenya, Sth (sic) Africa and Nigeria. Just last week a BBC 1 documentary reported on abuse by English missionaries in a school in Tanzania." Fr Aylward was referring to the documentary Abused: Breaking the Silence,broadcast on BBC 1 on June 21st last.
The two programmes were “a further reminder to all of us of the horrific suffering endured by children and adults at the hands of missionaries who have abused their position of trust”, he said. Children had suffered “and the IMU is pledged in doing all that is possible to bring that suffering to light”.
