BishopAccountability.org
	Call for Archbishops Who Knew to Resign By John Manning Fingal Independent December 1, 2009 http://www.fingal-independent.ie/news/call-for-archbishops-who-knew-to-resign-1960022.html ANY living member of the hierarchy who knew of Fr James McNamee's abuses and simply moved him on to another parish or institution should immediately resign, according to one of the paedophile priest's victims. Bernard from Swords, was serially abused by the priest who was originally from Skerries, when Fr McNamee was serving in the parish of Crumlin in the 1970s. The Swords abuse victim said: 'Any bishop or archbishop who knew about priests who were abusing and just moved them on to serial abuse somewhere else, should resign.' 'I know people have asked them to look into their own conscience, but do they have a conscience?' He said that victims and authorities alike had been intimidated into silence over the years. Bernard said: 'It shows the power of the Catholic Church at the time that people were afraid to speak out.' The Swords man who is now 43 years old criticised Taoiseach Brian Cowen TD for failing to call for the resignation of bishops and archbishops named and shamed in the Murphy Report on clerical abuse in Dublin. He said he was worried that the failure of those in authority to call for resignations meant that the 'deference' to the church was still endemic in Irish society. Bernard told the Fingal Independent that it was important for the country's children, that something like this never happens again. He said: ' Going forward, all institutions dealing with children have to know that if they are aware of a scandal they can't do nothing about it.' He said he bore no grudges against Fr McNamee's family and he was still struggling to understand why the priest did what he did. Bernard said: 'He had his own demons that he wasn't able to deal with in the institution he was in. I don't in any way condone what he did but I recognise there was no support for him either.'
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.