Mayo religious retreat accused of ’spiritual injury’ by relatives of elderly man

A judge has refused to halt an action by a man who alleges his elderly father was subject to a “spiritual injury” over providing a cheque for €200,000 to a Catholic priest acting as an agent for the House of Prayer in Co Mayo.

A judge has refused to halt an action by a man who alleges his elderly father was subject to a “spiritual injury” over providing a cheque for €200,000 to a Catholic priest acting as an agent for the House of Prayer in Co Mayo, writes Ann O’Loughlin.

The House of Prayer, a retreat founded by Christina Gallagher, a self-proclaimed Marian visionary, denies the claims and contends the late James McCormack and his wife Mary voluntarily donated the cheque in 2005.