Celibacy row rages after priest fathers child

THE revelation that a Galway-based priest has resigned after fathering a child by a 31-year-old woman has re-ignited the debate about celibacy in the Church.

Father Maurice Dillane, a curate in the Woodford-Looscaun parish in east Galway, quit the Clonfert diocese after he was confronted by his bishop.

The 73-year-old priest is believed to have first met the 31-year-old mother of his child, a Dublin-based teacher, while serving in the nearby parish of Mullagh and Killoran. The baby was born late last year.