Irish Government Releases 'Damning' Abuse Report

By Francis X. Rocca
Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY (RNS) A special commission sponsored by the Irish government criticized a bishop for failing to report allegations of clerical sex abuse to police and noted "concerns" about the same bishop's own interactions with a teenage boy.

The commission's report, published on Wednesday (July 13), is based on a two-and-half-year investigation of the Diocese of Cloyne in the wake of sexual abuse allegations made against 19 priests between 1996 and 2009.

Investigators faulted the diocese for failing to inform police about 15 allegations of clerical sex abuse, including two cases in which the alleged victims were still minors at the time the accusations were made.

Speaking before the Irish parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Enda Kenny described the report as "damning."

The Cloyne inquiry is the fourth major probe by the Irish government of clerical sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church since 2003. The investigations have revealed widespread child abuse over several decades by clergy and members of religious orders, leading to the resignations of three bishops.

None of the previous investigations dealt with events as recent as those in Wednesday's report, which occurred after Irish church leaders established child protection policies in 1996. The report concludes that, in the case of Cloyne, those policies were "not fully or consistently implemented."

Bishop John Magee, who served as bishop of Cloyne during the entire period covered by the report, stepped down from active duty in March 2009, and resigned a year later. He publicly asked "forgiveness and pardon" for his failure to prevent sex abuse.

During the investigation, the report said, "concerns were expressed about (Magee's) interaction with a 17-year-old boy" whom the bishop kissed and embraced, an experience that the teenager found "disquieting." But the report concluded that the incident was eventually handled correctly.

Prior to becoming bishop, Magee served as a private secretary to three popes: Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II.

The Vatican launched its own investigation of clerical sex abuse in Ireland last November. It announced last month that the inquiry had finished its "first phase," but said that a published report of its findings might not appear until next year.

Comments

[lillahhassan]

04:30 AM on 07/15/2011

The way it is folks,is that the Irish Government isusing these reports to whip up populist frenzy against the church ,in order to aquire her properties.
It works too.
Look at how George W used 9/11 to ride a coach and four through your Civil Liberties.
You dont have them any more.
As for me and my house,we shall serve the Lord.
Support your parish priest.
Keep schools in parish hands.

[Donncha O Giobuin]

06:43 AM on 07/15/2011

Nonsensical.

[Parade Keegan]

01:23 AM on 07/15/2011

From what has been written (non catholic writings, naturally) about the current pope IMO he's "evil incarnate". Thank goodness I'm not religious.

[TheLibraryOfCodex]

09:33 PM on 07/14/2011

A rotten institution.

The Irish republic needs to cleanse itself of the paedo church

[Connor Alexander]

08:03 PM on 07/14/2011

If I were heading up the Catholic Church, here would be my course of action:

1) Launch an independent commission to not only look into individual cases of abuse, but attempt to find the systemic causes. The commission would have full access to all Vatcian records.

2) Not only order all priests to fully cooperate with law enforcement, but defrock, disavow, and excommunicate every priest found guilty of any abuse or attempts to cover up abuse. Pay out large sums, publicly, to everyone abused and their families. Pay for any and all therapy and counselling. Make repairing the damage done a top priority of the Church.

3) Put into place recommendations from the commission regarding changes that would alleviate future abuse (allowing priests to marry or whatever).

4) Apologize to the families and all congregations for allowing these horrible violations to happen and then step down as a sign of remorse and penance.

[Keyop]

07:53 PM on 07/14/2011

Scary weird dudes with big scary hats and creepy robes touching children's private parts. Scary sick cult.

[Gerry Oates]

06:52 PM on 07/14/2011

Some comments are puerile.This is really a turning point in Irish history,Judge Yvonne Murphy has done a great job and the government has responded swiftly.Eamon Gilmore called in the Vatican
diplomat to present him with the report saying that the Irish Government took a dim view of a foreign state interfering in arrangements which compromised the safety of its children.
A few years ago it was inconceivable that such a stand would be taken concerning the Roman Catholic Church.The bodies trying to support victims of abuse have long called for the State to assert its authority.They will be happy now.
One in four-a prominent charity -says it has a struggle to provide victims with adequate help and
psychotherapy:there is a long waiting list.








































g



ilmore has




some comments

[dennisdelia]

06:09 PM on 07/14/2011

I look forward to reading Archbishop Dolans' and the other bishops from New York who said bigoted homophobic remarks during/since the same-sex marriage debate, comments about this report soon!!

Hello....archbishop are you there???......................................

[617patrick]

04:06 AM on 07/16/2011

Why would he say anything? The quieter they keep it, the fewer Catholics find out the truth.

[LMPE]

05:56 PM on 07/14/2011

Why would anyone take organized religion seriously in this day and age?

[cdhj12000]

01:26 AM on 07/15/2011

Because people are desperate for something to believe in because what they used to trust has let them down. People are looking for something to believe from a book to a pipe to something on t.v. Religions are only as successful as the people who follow them, which doesn't mean they (the people and the religions) are right or wrong, just as anything else.

[mtcolleen]

05:54 PM on 07/14/2011

I really hate being in a position where it is necessary to defend the Church since the level of abuse is sickmaking and the lack of accountability equally so. But, whenever an article of this sort is published, all the bigots come out to play. They don't let the truth stand in the way of the hateful vitriol. This applies to most of the posts I have read here. Its a pity that you don't understand that by using the opportunity to vent all your bigotry you lose credibility. The Church deserves to be condemned for what has happened but stick to the point. And the poster who made reference to the Inquisition, read your history. It wasn't just the Church who engaged in torture and murder: The number of Protestants who engaged in it are smaller only because their numbers were far fewer.

It is the sign of a very immature mind to be unable to focus on the issue at hand and based on that, the people posting here are about 2 years old.

[saskatoonie]

06:51 PM on 07/14/2011

Bigotry, really? More like volcanic anger! You honestly expected a cerebral discussion about religion and those who abuse their power within it?

[mtcolleen]

07:36 PM on 07/14/2011

I don't know what I expected but it would be nice if people could stick to the issue at hand and not allow their bigotry to dictate their ideas.

[GregHooper]

09:24 PM on 07/14/2011

12 yrs of parochial school with sadistic nuns

2 summer camps at a semenary with sick seminaririans who had a club in the crypt under the alter stocked with porn

My cousin the priest who got caught up in the scandal with 4 other priests He was exonerated but the others went to jail

My cousin had the gall to ask me at my uncles funeral when I was going to come back to the church

I told him the Catholic church lost all moral athority when it backed Cardinal Law If my aunt had not been sitting next to him ~sleazy trick if there ever was one~ I would have grabbed him by the throat and asked him where was he when that boy was being raped by his brothers

The Catholic church is not about saving souls its about saving it's own A$$

Its a disgusting hypocritical institution and I for one am glad to be beyond its influence

The pedophiles and their enablers need to be locked up and you should stop making excuses for this corrupt illigitimate self serving institution

[mtcolleen]

10:28 PM on 07/14/2011

I am so sorry for your pain. The difference between your post and those of many others here is that you addressed the issue at hand and you know what youre talking about. You have credibility.

I, too grew up in the Church- Catholic schools and all. (I would not classify all the nuns that taught me as sadistic- some were actually good people) . I went my first two years of college to a womens Catholic college before transferring to a state university.

I married in the Church and raised my children in it. I recently left the Church and cannot imagine going back. As bad as all the pedophilia is, the last straw came after a priest who had been a spiritual adviser throughout my divorce made his intentions toward me clear. Although mine in no way measures up to what children have been subjected to, the betrayal was overwhelming to me.

The aforementioned was the last straw for me. But my point was never to justify the Church. I do care about accuracy and it bothers me that there are people whose hatred of the Church pre-dated the outing of pedophilia and its cover-up.

For all the years I was a practicing Catholic, the Mass meant something to me. I grew up in the shadow of Vatican Two and was taught about love one another as yourself, etc. The lessons I learned about love will stay with me but the institutional Church will probably not.

[brokerallen]

02:32 PM on 07/14/2011

I'm not sure the Roman Catholic Church can get past this. How can anyone take them seriously.

[Retrofuturistic]

02:24 PM on 07/14/2011

The Catholic Church has enabled fascism, abused countless children, initiated the Inquisition and the Albigensian Crusade (which accounted for about nine million deaths), opposed science, rewritten history, and kept women in a subservient position for millenia.

[Donncha O Giobuin]

06:40 AM on 07/15/2011

I'm no defender of the church but can you cite evidence of the death toll of the Albigensian crusade. 9 million doesn't seem accurate.

[Hypocrites are Watching]

02:04 PM on 07/14/2011

Hummmmm! Is anyone surprised.

[JOHNSPEAKS]

01:40 PM on 07/14/2011

Since pedophile and homosexuality have a number of things in common, one, these type of people can't stop their perversions because it is inbread (Genetic) and they are not responsible for their mental illness? Psychologist for years have tried to stop these perversions but with little success and now these perversions are main stream and accepted by society as normal???

[KCM7]

02:27 PM on 07/14/2011

John can speak.

Think? Not so much.

[Gudrun]

04:30 PM on 07/14/2011

No one thinks sexual abuse of minor children is normal.

[duxguts]

01:04 PM on 07/14/2011

Suffer the litte children. Again.

[Aikaterina]

12:15 PM on 07/14/2011

Corruption, abuse of power, and ensuring the protection of culprits (to elude consequences of wrong-doing) is not unusual. It happens in politics, business and sadly, even in places where morality, theology, and faith are to be found (the church).

So a bishop, also suspected of abusing children, concealed allegations (complaints) of abuses by other priests in his diocese. Quite obviously, he was protecting himself, since had he turned over those allegations, enabled law enforcement to interview victims, he would have likely been included in such a criminal investigation.

Perhaps the Irish government can charge the diocese and particularly Bishop Magee for obstruction of justice and rape. Even if child-protection policies weren't implemented on the part of the Roman Catholic Church prior to 1996, sexual abuse (rape and pedophilia) as well as withholding evidence (obstruction of justice) of crimes were illegal per Irish laws way back when Magee et al began their sprees.