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	Bishop Must Not Become Fall-guy for Lax Politicians Irish Independent January 11, 2009 http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/bishop-must-not-become-fallguy-for-lax-politicians-1598169.html Do not let the Government off the hook of child abuse. Bishop John Magee of Cloyne should step down. But he must not become a convenient fall- guy for the continuing failures of ministers and other bishops. You might think, by this stage, that the Government and hierarchy would have done everything possible to establish the extent of child abuse and to guard against it. But you would be wrong. And the Garda and Health Service Executive have questions to answer too. More than three years after an official report into child abuse in the diocese of Ferns was published, the Government has failed to pass new laws that were identified in that report as being necessary for the proper reporting of child abuse. Last week, the junior minister responsible for children, Barry Andrews, could only plead that the outline of new legislation would "perhaps" be unveiled within six months. Or perhaps not. He could not say when it will be passed by the Oireachtas. Bishops throughout Ireland have now used the Government's failure as their excuse not to provide some basic details of sex abuse complaints to an official 'audit' by the HSE. The bishops in general have refused to answer the most important part of the questionnaire sent to them by the HSE, which sought information of a non-confidential nature about cases of sex abuse. And the HSE let them away with it. The HSE, although it was refused that essential information, concluded that the various procedures that bishops employ to deal with complaints of abuse were more or less fine. The fact that it has now transpired that there were at least two mishandled cases in the Cloyne diocese that were not revealed to the HSE makes the HSE's conclusion that "there is no prima fascie [sic] case of serious non-compliance with the Ferns Report recommendations" seem insubstantial. What else does the HSE not know? And then there is An Garda Siochana. Gardai knew of at least one case of abuse in the Cloyne diocese that Bishop Magee failed to report to the HSE. But they did not tell the HSE, or check if the HSE already knew. How could the Garda possibly fail to do so after all that has happened in relation to child abuse? And then there is the fact that the Government appears to be relying on the Catholic Church's own investigative body for hard data on child protection within the Catholic Church. Had it not been for the fact that the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church recently expressed itself so bluntly about Bishop Magee's way of doing business, then junior minister Barry Andrews last week might not have felt free to refer some aspects of that diocese of Cloyne's procedures to an official State enquiry. Why is the Irish State depending on the Catholic Church to police itself? The whole sorry shambles heightens the urgency of questions now being asked about the nature of this republic in the light of recent financial scandals and ineptitude. In whose interest is Ireland being governed? After years of horrible news about child abuse besmirching Ireland's reputation, why are politicians, gardai, bishops and others at this stage still sputtering on about "putting procedures in place" and "getting it right" and sorting out "complicated" matters? Ministers and officials are well paid to sort out complicated matters promptly. Where there's a will, there's a way. A particular case that has undone Bishop Magee and yet again shamed the Government is described in some detail in a document circulated with the HSE 'audit' last week. The case makes unpleasant reading. In 2004 a man (let us call him John, not his real name). told Bishop Magee how a priest of the diocese had abused him during 1982 and 1983. The diocese funded counselling for John but it was nine months before he met with a monsignor to make a statement, and John says that he was then dissatisfied with the manner in which the monsignor handled that meeting. Shortly afterwards, John met Bishop Magee "and he was angry with the bishop that the priest was still in ministry". Magee is said to have subsequently met the priest, who "admitted the allegations" (of criminal offences) and resigned his position. Only when the priest admitted the offences was John asked if he wanted the Garda informed, and when he said that he could not face it at that time, the matter was dropped. But first the monsignor dealing with the case got John to sign a document to say that he did not want the offences pursued with the Garda. That way the diocese covered its ass, as its legal advisers might not quite have put it. The bishop had informed neither the Garda nor the HSE. John changed his mind the following month, after the publication of the Ferns Report. And what do you know? When he went to inform the monsignor, John was told that the diocese was just about to get back to him "in light of the Ferns Report". The Garda eventually became involved but it was later decided by the DPP not to press charges. The HSE's North Cork Child Care and Protection Team received neither formal nor informal notification of the case. Last week, in explaining his decision to refer the diocese of Cloyne for further investigation, the minister used a striking word to describe Bishop Magee's behaviour. It was the word "faithfully", and it seems especially pointed when used to reproach a church authority. Mr Andrews said that he believes that "there is evidence that points to the fact that Bishop Magee, as the responsible person, did not faithfully report" what had occurred in respect of John's case and other matters. Cardinal Brady says that many people working to protect children within his church feel "let down and angry" by what happened in Cloyne. But it is not just Bishop Magee who has failed to disclose details of sex abuse. We still do not know how many complaints of abuse have been made to bishops. Individual bishops have been refusing to provide basic data to the HSE even since the Ferns Report, claiming that there are "insurmountable difficulties in relation to confidentiality given that the appropriate legal arrangements had not been put in place". Almost two years ago, Professor Brendan Drumm, head of the HSE, told Brian Lenihan, the then Minister for Children, that, "whilst not explicitly saying so, the similarities in the Bishops' individual correspondence implied that their stance was based on collective legal advice". On Friday, the bishops confirmed to me that they had indeed taken collective legal advice on the HSE audit, but declined to publish that advice. It is another example of the 'now you see it, now you don't' tactics of the hierarchy, a body that seems to work well enough as a unit when it suits bishops but then insists on the independence of individual bishops when called upon to enforce standards. Drumm's letter also shows that the Government was, in May 2007, strongly reminded of its failure to amend the law in line with the Ferns Inquiry recommendations. But it continued to hide behind legal 'complexities' and to kick the matter into touch by means of an Oireachtas committee. The bishops are right to point out that the Government has failed to introduce legal arrangements that were identified more than three years ago in paragraphs G2 and G12 of the Ferns Report as being necessary for the best system of reporting child protection. But, with due respect to the bishops and their lawyers, much of the actual information sought for the HSE audit involved nothing of a confidential nature and was largely statistical. It is a pity that the hierarchy hid behind lawyers and failed to deliver at least the information that was not confidential. The bishops should explain how they choose their various advisers, who sometimes seem to be part of a select inner circle of ultra-conservative lay people. Bishop Magee should resign. But what minister will likewise take responsibility for the Government's failure to implement recommendations of the Ferns Inquiry in 2005? That failure is not only in respect of reporting procedures but also concerns other important matters such as vetting, social services and training. The failure is the Irish State's latest abdication of responsibility to our children. Meanwhile, governments continue to outsource childcare. Where once the Catholic Church was favoured, today it is private companies that are extremely well paid to take care of children in need. This is part and parcel of the privatisation of health and social services that Mary Harney, the senior minister at Barry Andrews' department, favours. How confident can we be of the standards and value for money of such private services when the Government is unable even to implement basic recommendations in the Ferns Report? And why is no minister held responsible for that failure, not least given all of the heartache, disgrace, trouble and expense that the sexual abuse of children has caused Ireland?
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