Ill Only Quit If the Pope Himself Asks Me — Bishop Magee, by Kevin Doyle, Herald, January 8, 2009

I'll Only Quit If the Pope Himself Asks Me — Bishop Magee

By Kevin Doyle
Herald
January 8, 2009

http://www.herald.ie/national-news/ill-only-quit-if-the-pope-himself -asks-me—bishop-magee-1595607.html

Bishop John Magee is determined to remain in place unless the Pope seeks his resignation.

The people of Cloyne will now have to wait at least another six months before getting definitive answers about who is to blame for not adequately dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse.

But it seems that at least one church leader has taken notice of public opinion with Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin saying he would "kill somebody" if they sexually abused a friend's child.

Bishop of Cloyne John Magee

Government Ministers yesterday rejected a HSE report into activities in the diocese of Cloyne, which controversially found no further action was warranted.

Instead, they have asked the Commission of Investigation into Clerical Abuse at the Dublin Archdiocese to take a fresh look at the Cloyne case.

While Minister for Children Barry Andrews stopped short of calling on Bishop Magee to resign, he laid down a gauntlet to the embattled cleric saying: "I believe that there is evidence that points to the fact that Bishop Magee, as the responsible person, did not faithfully report actual compliance with child protection procedures, and the manner in which clerical sexual abuse allegations have been dealt with."

Failures

Mr Andrews gave two examples of where the Bishop had failed to be up front with the HSE during their investigation.

He said that the Bishop had concealed the fact that the diocese was handling a child abuse complaint two years ago, while simultaneously filling out a questionnaire for the HSE in which he stated that all allegations of abuse had been notified to the HSE and gardai.

The HSE report also found that, despite Bishop Magee's assertion that child protection guidelines "are fully in place and being fully complied with", this was not the case.

In a third statement on the controversy last night, Bishop Magee indicted he still has no intention of resigning, noting that the HSE report confirmed that he had "engaged fully" with their investigation last year.

The release came as further allegations of clerical abuse surfaced in Cloyne.

Victim support group One in Four has confirmed that it has now received another 10 complaints in recent weeks.

One in Four executive director Maeve Lewis said that the investigations to date have only touched on the "tip of the iceberg".