He subsequently received his first pastoral assignment, as curate in Finglas West parish, Dublin, before moving to Rome in 1971 to complete further studies in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
[1] Lee returned to Ireland in 1972, where he was appointed professor of philosophy and bursar at St Patrick's College, Thurles, and subsequently as its president between 1987 and 1993.
[5] Following his participation in a meeting between Irish bishops, Pope Benedict XVI and senior members of the Roman Curia from 15 to 16 February 2010 to discuss the publication of the Ryan and Murphy reports in 2009, Lee told The Munster Express that Pope Benedict XVI had described child sexual abuse as "a heinous crime and a grave sin that offended God".
[6] It was reported on 25 March 2010 that he had waited two years in the 1990s before informing Gardaí about complaints made by two people in connection to allegations of child abuse by a priest in the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore.
[7][8] It was announced on 1 October 2013 that Lee had tendered his episcopal resignation on medical grounds to Pope Francis some weeks previously, and that it had been accepted with immediate effect.