Update (July 31) : YouTube, presumably bowing to pressure from the Church, has removed the offending video. The Good News (so to speak) is that it’s still available via Live Leak; you can even download the video if you want…
News of Geoffrey’s resignation and the preceding incident has reached the UK, appearing in an article in The Guardian (Barbara McMahon, Priest suspended over foul-mouthed outburst) and The Observer. The Guardian article contains two errors. One, that the teenagers accuse him of being a paedophile does not, in fact, appear on the video; it is an accusation made later on radio by Monsignor Baron. Two, the video was not posted recently, but over a year ago (July 2006). What is new is the video receiving corporate/state media attention. The video to which The Guardian article links is (at least) the second time it has appeared on YouTube.
Priest suspended
Updated: 17:46, Tuesday July 31, 2007
A Melbourne priest, who was caught on camera screaming abuse at a young group of skateboarders, has been put on official leave by the Catholic Church after a second video surfaced.
The Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, relieved Reverend Geoffrey Baron of his duties, as Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral.
The latest video, believed to have been filmed a month ago, shows the priest using abusive language, in an attempt to disperse a group of skateboarders.
Today, the Monsignor is remaining tight-lipped about the latest incident, refusing to provide any comment.
Yesterday, however, he hit talk-back radio, claiming the initial exchange was a ‘one-off’, and apologised for his actions.
In the first video, the Monsignor is goaded by youths who were skateboarding on the Cathedral grounds, until he explodes with a racist torrent of abuse.
Interesting that the priest’s choice of epithets was so tinged with imputations of gay sex. What’s on this man’s mind that causes him to come up with such things while in company of young boys? Maybe he thought he was seducing them. 😀
Parents of the little children suffered unto St Patrick’s Cathedral are thus well warned, are they not?