Bishop Accused of Lying, by Mary Regan, Irish Examiner, January 8, 2009

Bishop Accused of Lying

By Mary Regan
Irish Examiner
January 8, 2009

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=ireland -qqqm=ireland-qqqa=ireland-qqqid=81488-qqqx=1.asp

BISHOP of Cloyne John Magee has been accused of lying about how the diocese dealt with allegations of child abuse.

Adding further pressure on the bishop to resign, Minister for Children, Barry Andrews, said Bishop Magee "did not faithfully report" to a Health Service Executive (HSE) audit into child protection measures published yesterday.

Because of the "discrepancies" between accounts given by Bishop Magee to the HSE and actual practices in the diocese, he said allegations of sex abuse in Cloyne will be referred to the Commission of Investigation into Clerical Abuse at the Dublin Archdiocese.

Mr Andrews stopped short of using the term "lying", but gave two examples of where the bishop was not truthful and open with the HSE audit. This included concealing the fact that the diocese was handling a child abuse complaint two years ago, while at the same time filling out a questionnaire as part of the HSE audit saying all cases of abuse are notified to the HSE and gardaí.

Mr Andrews also referred to statements from Bishop Magee that child protection guidelines "are fully in place and being fully complied with". He said the HSE report found the diocese did not adhere to either church or state established guidelines for notifying the gardaí and the HSE of allegations of clerical sex abuse.

Yesterday's HSE report said referring the allegations to the abuse commission was "not warranted" because of the co-operation now being provided by the diocese. But Mr Andrews said in a post-Ferns environment it is unacceptable that full and faithful reporting of allegations did not take place.

Bishop Magee is continuing to refuse demands that he stand down but said in a statement last night that he "wishes to again sincerely apologise to all victims of abuse by priests of the Diocese of Cloyne".

Mr Andrews said it is a matter for the Church and Bishop Magee to decide if he should retain his position. But the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady said these events "have also brought into question the efforts of thousands of volunteers and trained personnel who are fully committed to implementing best practice in safeguarding children within the Church. I realise the extent to which many people feel let down and angry".

Bishop Magee pledged to co-operate with the inquiry which will investigate how allegations were handled dating back to 1996. Mr Andrews said the commission will "obtain information that perhaps the HSE wasn't able to do".

Labour TD for Cork East, Sean Sherlock, said the HSE report was "bizarre" because "it did not see fit to refer the matter to the commission of investigation" and raised questions about the auditing procedure.

Mr Andrews said some bishops did not provide information to one section of the HSE audit because they claimed it would amount to so-called "soft information" which would cause legal difficulties. He said legislation will be introduced to the Dáil in the next six months to allow for the use of such information.