Probe Likely after Revelation That Church Didn't Tell Gardai
By Michael Brennan
Irish Independent [Ireland]
January 20, 2007
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1759777&issue_id=15150
A priest was allowed free access to children over a 14-year period despite having a serious allegation of child abuse made against him.
The Irish Independent has also learned the Catholic Church failed to notify the HSE or the gardai about the allegation against the retired elderly priest - who now lives in a diocese in the West of Ireland - until last month.
This is despite the fact that the Bishop of Elphin, Dr Christopher Jones, was aware there was an allegation as far back as 1993 and had told some of his parish priests about it.
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The allegation only came to light when a newly-appointed parish priest warned the principal of the local national school that the elderly priest should not be given access to children.
One in Four, which represents the victims of sexual abuse, last night said Bishop Jones had breached the Church's 1996 and 2005 child protection guidelines by failing to notify the authorities about the abuse allegation.
Its advocacy director, Deirdre Fitzpatrick, said they would ask Health Minister Mary Harney to examine the case so she could refer it to the Commission of Investigation into Clerical Abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese.
Ms Fitzpatrick said it raised serious questions about whether the Church had made any progress since the Ferns report into clerical sex abuse 15 months ago.
The elderly priest was ordained more than 50 years ago and spent his career in a diocese abroad.
After retiring in the 1980s, he returned to live in Ireland, but in 1988 he was informed that a woman from his previous diocese had alleged she was abused by him 25 years earlier.
The foreign diocese failed to investigate the allegation in 1988, or in 1993, when the woman made an official complaint to the bishop of the diocese.
Bishop Jones said he learnt of the allegation from his predecessor Bishop Dominic Conway (now deceased) in 1993.
The allegation against the elderly priest remained hidden until 2002, when a wave of worldwide scandals about clerical sex abuse forced the foreign diocese to open its files to the civil authorities.
The local police force carried out an investigation into the allegation, but no charges were taken against the priest. Bishop Jones said neither he nor the elderly priest were aware such an investigation had taken place until last week.
He said he only found out last month that the elderly priest had trained sports teams in the local school and said Mass in the parish.
"Had I known of this I would have sought to find out what was known by the [foreign] diocese at an earlier time.
"I would also have asked the priest to abstain from ministry whilst the position was clarified and whilst consultation took place with the HSE."
Bishop Jones said he had notified the HSE and the gardai after receiving the fuller information from the US diocese.
The elderly priest, through his lawyer, said he strenuously denied the allegation.
Bishop Jones also said he only recently became aware that the elderly priest had moved to another diocese. Last month he notified the bishop of that diocese.
That bishop said the elderly priest had not been visiting any of the local schools and he had instructed the parish priest to prevent him from doing so.
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