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	Pressure Builds on Bishop after Damning Report By Ralph Riegel Irish Independent December 21, 2008 http://www.independent.ie/national-news/pressure-builds-on-bishop-after-damning-report-1582420.html PRESSURE is mounting on the Bishop of Cloyne Dr John Magee to "review his position" in light of damning criticisms in a Catholic Church watchdog report over childcare protection systems in his diocese. The bishop -- a former secretary to Pope John Paul 11 -- has privately told friends and colleagues that he has no intention of retiring. He wants to personally ensure that the report's recommendations are fully implemented. "There can be no place in the Church, or in wider society, for those who have perpetrated such vile acts and who have betrayed the sacred trust placed in them," the bishop declared. The report by the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) was ordered earlier this year into how two cases of alleged clerical sex abuse were dealt with by the Diocese of Cloyne. There were two clerics involved -- Priest A, who was alleged to have sexually abused a young boy working as an altar server, and Father B, who was alleged to have abused two girls and two boys. One of the girls claimed she was abused during Confession on a youth retreat. In the case of Priest A, gardai were only informed by the diocese of the alleged abuser's identity six months after the initial complaint. In the case of Father B, the report found that the policy of the diocese in its subsequent contacts with the gardai was to give "minimal" information" and that "no information was to be volunteered in respect of any previous complaints involving this priest". Diocesan officials are now awaiting a decision by Children's Minister Barry Andrews on the publication of a separate but related report by the Health Service Executive. "Bishop Magee now has to seriously consider his position and decide whether or not he can retain the confidence of the people of Cloyne in the light of these disclosures," said Cork Labour TD Sean Sherlock. He said the report on childcare procedures in Cloyne was damning and warned that diocesan policy appeared to be to offer minimal information to the gardai about one of the clerics involved while the bishop himself didn't seem to appreciate that the ultimate responsibility for protection rested with him.
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