BishopAccountability.org
	Details Sought on Ireland, US Clergy Abuse Cases BostonChannel December 28, 2009 http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/22073408/detail.html United States -- Clergy abuse victims are calling on local church leaders and the Irish government to detail known connections between the clergy abuse scandals in the U.S. and Ireland. NewsCenter 5's Kelley Tuthill reported that Helen McGonigle was 6 years old when the Rev. Brendan Smyth moved from Ireland to East Greenwich, R.I. "He molested me and my sister, Kathleen, who sadly succumbed to a fatal overdose on an antidepressant," she said. Smyth lived across the street from Jeff Thomas, who said the Irish priest raped four kids in the neighborhood. "Brendan Smyth was one of the biggest monsters in Catholic history. He was a sick man, but the bigger crime to me was the fact that his superiors knew about his appetite and his sexual desires and still put him in populations of small children to reoffend," Thomas said. Victims said Smyth's order knew since the 1940s that he was a pedophile, but moved him to two U.S. parishes. Smyth died in an Irish prison after pleading guilty to 74 counts of sexually abusing 20 Irish children. "Bishops in Ireland, just like bishops here, have been moving accused priests around even though they know they are dangerous and putting them in populations where they can continue to offend. Unfortunately, the places where they put them include our own back yard," Terry Mckiernan, of bishopaccountability.org. The Web site bishopaccountability.org, which was started at the height of Boston's clergy sex abuse scandal, now has a new section detailing Irish priests in the U.S. accused of sexual misconduct. There are dozens of names listed, along with stories of abuse. But advocates have now written to the Irish prime minister, asking him to extend his investigation of child abuse. The group also wants Cardinal Sean O'Malley to open church files and release any names of priests who moved to Boston after being accused of misconduct in Ireland. "We invite any individual who has been harmed by clergy sexual abuse to contact our Office of Pastoral Support and Outreach for support," the archdiocese said in a statement. "As the news from Ireland continues to unfold, we recognize that the revelations may serve as a painful reminder of the wounds many survivors carry."
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