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	Catholic Hierarchy Was Granted Police Immunity over Decades of Sex Abuse Cases Involving Priests Yorkshire Post November 27, 2009 http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Catholic-hierarchy-was-granted-police.5864436.jp Paedophile priests got away with decades of abuse because the Catholic hierarchy in Ireland was granted police immunity, a devastating report has revealed. Four archbishops, obsessed with secrecy and avoiding scandal, protected abusers and reputations at all costs and, in some cases, with the blessing of senior law enforcers. Hundreds of crimes from the 1960s to the 1990s were not reported while police treated clergy as though they were above the law. Details of a three-year investigation identified senior gardai (police) who turned a blind eye. Some who also felt priests were outside their remit. Justice Minister Dermot Ahern vowed to bring paedophile priests to justice. "The persons who committed these dreadful crimes – no matter when they happened – will continue to be pursued. He said yesterday: "They must come to know that there is no hiding place. That justice – even where it may have been delayed – will not be denied." Among the cases uncovered was that of an abusive priest known as Fr Edmondus who was not investigated in spite of the opportunity for photographic evidence after attacks on sick children in hospital. Ordained in 1957, he abused several young people when chaplain in Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in the late 1950s and early 1960s. A photography firm in Britain raised concerns after receiving a roll of 26 images of girls aged 10 and 11 in sexual poses. Scotland Yard was called in and told Garda Commissioner Daniel Costigan – but there is no evidence of a formal investigation. Fr Edmondus was finally charged in 1997 and pleaded guilty to offences against two girls. He was jailed for nine months and defrocked. Last night, Cardinal Sean Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, said: "I am deeply sorry and I am ashamed. No-one is above the law in this country. "Every Catholic should comply fully with their obligations to the civil law and co-operate with the gardai in the reporting and investigation of any crime." Victims are calling for all those involved to be prosecuted. Andrew Madden said: "Those who turn a blind eye to these offences are as much a part of the problem as those who actually commit them." Maeve Lewis, of support group One In Four, said:" "A criminal investigation should be launched against all of these people."
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