Bishop John McAreavey

CONCERNS that paedophile priest Malachy Finegan may have been a police informer were raised by former Bishop of Dromore John McAreavey last year.

FORMER Bishop of Dromore John McAreavey has backed calls for an independent public inquiry into alleged child abuse by Fr Malachy Finegan.

BISHOP of Derry Donal McKeown has been appointed the new chairman of the the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS).

A RETIRED priest has criticised the selection of Philip Boyce as interim Bishop of Dromore.

A nephew of Bishop John McAreavey has said his uncle has "always acted with people's best intentions at heart" and that to see him "vilified in recent times.

IN an interview with Bishop John McAreavey carried out by Martin O'Brien for The Irish Catholic newspaper, five 'missed opportunities' were identified when he could have put abuse allegations against Malachy Finegan into the public domain: * September 1999, on becoming Bishop of Dromore: "It pains me yet that I didn't, but what I effectively did was to accept the arrangements in place when I came [to be bishop],” Dr McAreavey said.

THE surprise announcement which came on Thursday evening from Bishop John McAreavey was highly unusual and a break from the convention of the Catholic Church.

POLICE have set up a dedicated team to investigate abuse allegations against Co Down priest and school principal Malachy Finegan.

ONE of the north’s most high-profile bishops has resigned amid controversy that he celebrated Mass alongside a paedophile priest.

In January, Kincora abuse survivor Clint Massey called for the implementation of the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry report, revealing that he was in poor health and had been given just months to live.