RTE News
March 14, 2010
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0314/abuse.html
IRELAND -- Cardinal Séan Brady has indicated he will not be resigning after his admission he was present at meetings where victims swore not to reveal the Church was investigating Fr Brendan Smyth.
Campaigner for victims of clerical child abuse Colm O'Gorman has said the Catholic Primate must resign.
Cardinal Brady last night confirmed he represented his Church at such meetings.
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| Cardinal Seán Brady - Present when the victims signed undertakings |
On RTÉ Radio's This Week programme, Mr O'Gorman said the harm done by the oath of secrecy victims were forced to take was very significant and Cardinal Brady's position was now impossible because he lacked credibility.
In a statement, the Cardinal's spokesman says Dr Brady was investigating the victims' complaints in 1975 in his capacity as part-time secretary to the then Bishop of Kilmore, Dr Francis McKiernan.
He said there was no effort on the Cardinal's part to cover-up for the late Fr Smyth.
Fr Smyth was based in Kilnacrott Abbey, Co Cavan, which is in the diocese of Kilmore.
The Cardinal's spokesman said, under instructions from the Bishop, Dr Brady was present when the victims 'signed undertakings, on oath, to respect the confidentiality of the (Church's) information-gathering process'.
The spokesman said he presumed that the Church proposed the undertakings should be signed.
He said at one of the meetings, in Dundalk, Dr Brady acted as recording secretary and at the second, in Ballyjamesduff, he asked the questions and recorded the answers given.
The spokesman said, as instructed, and as a matter of urgency, Dr Brady passed both reports to his Bishop for his immediate action.
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