‘Humble plea for atonement must be answered’

It was Christopher Heaphy’s quiet dignity and his simple message that will resonate with the 100 or so people gathered at 11am Mass in Aglish Church yesterday.

You could have heard a pin drop as he slowly walked up to the pulpit in the small West Waterford church. Behind him he placed the five tomes that made up Judge Sean Ryan’s commission to inquire into abuse.

He also placed Pope Benedict’s pastoral letter alongside it and the pastoral response from the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference.