Irish archbishop settles defamation lawsuit against TV network; no financial damages paid
July 02, 2015
An Irish archbishop has settled his defamation lawsuit against the RTE television network, which had aired a statement reporting that he had sexual relations with a 14-year-old girl.
Archbishop Richard Burke, an Irish missionary, resigned his post as Archbishop of Benin City, Nigeria, in 2005, admitting that he had been “unfaithful to my oath of celibacy.” But he heatedly denied a report, aired by RTE, that he had begun an affair with a Nigerian woman when she was 14.
In settling the archbishop’s claim, RTE issued a statement acknowledging that it had wrongly said that he declined to be interviewed for the controversial report. The network also conceded that the archbishop denied the charge that he had an affair with a 14-year-old women. However, the network said.
RTE did not pay any financial damages to Archbishop Burke in the settlement, the network said. A lawyer for the archbishop said that his complaint had been “compromised to his satisfaction.”
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Further information:
- Ex-archbishop settles case against RTÉ over Mission to Prey (Irish Times)
- Irish archbishop files defamation case against TV network for portraying him as a pedophile (CWN 6/25)
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