Published Friday, 23 December 2011
Father Paddy O'Kane, of the Holy Family Parish in Ballymagroarty, welcomed the man into his home after finding him "wringing wet" on his doorstep in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The man left later that day at around 2:30pm and shortly afterwards the priest found that several hundred pounds of parishioners' money had been stolen from an office.
Fr O'Kane said he felt he had to help the man because he believed him to be suffering from depression and had threatened suicide.
"I went to the door and saw a young man who was wringing wet - it was a very wet night - and he told me that he had been walking the streets, he was homeless and he was going to take his own life," he told UTV.
"His phrase was 'I'm going to go to the bridge' - a place where a lot of young Derry men have already taken their lives.
"I took him in and offered him a cup of tea, and over the cup of tea I discovered...I have been a priest for over forty years now, so I am fairly discerning at this stage, and I felt that his story was true.
"I could find no smell of drink, and also I have had depression myself in the past so my heart went out to him - he seemed genuinely a broken man, he looked very pale and I was convinced he was going to do it.
"I said to myself 'how can I live with myself if I hear on the news that another body has been taken from the Foyle?'
He added that he felt it was his duty to help the homeless at Christmas time.
"I had said that I would pray for the homeless at Christmas - here was a case where I had a homeless man who had come to my door.
"I felt that I had no alternative but to offer him accommodation.
"The next day whenever he left, I discovered that the money had been taken."
Police in Londonderry have confirmed a 26-year-old man was arrested following a reported burglary, and had been released on bail.
Fr O'Kane said that although his "trust has been damaged", he has forgiven the thief, but admitted he was angry in the immediate aftermath of the robbery.
"I felt devastated, hurt and abused," he said.
"I felt that my generosity and kindness had been abused.
"That was my first reaction, but as time went on I began to realise that this man is still a broken man - the fact that he could still steal from me in spite of what I did for him was a sign of how low he had gone.
"I have compassion for the man and I forgive him for what he has done.
"I would appeal to him to turn around - he can change his ways and still make something of his life."