By Eanna O Caollai and Charlie Taylor
The Irish Times
March 16, 2010
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0316/breaking39.html
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| Paedophile priest Brendan Smyth leaving Limavady Courthouse, Co Derry, after extradition proceedings to the Republic in 1997 |
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said information being held by diocese and religious congregations about clerical sex abuse in Ireland should be released, saying “people want the entire truth to come out.”
While he refused to be drawn on whether Cardinal Sean Brady should resign over his role in canonical investigations in 1975 in which victims of paedophile priest Brendan Smyth were asked to swear an oath of secrecy, Archbishop Martin called for accountability.
“I have always said that it is not my job to tell people to resign or to tell people to stay,” the Archbishop said.
“I have never done that. People should be accountable, render account of what they’ve done. Resignations are personal decisions.”
Speaking before attending an ecumenical service at City Quay Church in Dublin city centre, Archbishop Martin emphasised the importance of disclosure.
“What is very important in all of this is that the truth comes out. I am worried about this because you are talking now about information that is there in various places – in diocese – in religious orders. People want the entire truth to come out,“ Archbishop Martin said.
When asked what message he had for victims of Fr Smyth, Dr Martin said:
"All I’ll say is Brendan Smyth should have been stopped from the first time it was known that he abused. I don’t know when that was. Thank God we have measures today which would hopefully have done that. But how a person would have abused and continued to abuse for so long - eighteen years after and God knows how many years before."
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said tonight that Cardinal Brady should consider his position.
Mr McGuinness, who is on a trade and political mission to the US capital for St Patrick’s Day, expressed grave concern about the reports and suggested it was time for the Cardinal to consider stepping down.
“I am a Catholic, I do my best to practise my religion and I think that many Catholics throughout the island of Ireland will be absolutely dismayed at these latest revelations and I do think the Cardinal should consider his position,” he said.
Earlier, the Catholic Communications Office today said the former bishop of Kilmore, Dr Francis McKiernan had advised the Norbertine order should have paedophile priest Brendan Smyth treated by a psychiatrist following an inquiry into allegations of child sexual abuse.
It issued a statement this morning clarifying the role the Catholic primate Sean Brady played in a 1975 canonical inquiry into allegations of child abuse against Smyth. The statement said the cardinal, who at the time was a teacher at St Patrick's College, had been asked to conduct the investigation because he held a doctorate in Canon Law.
Previously, Cardinal Brady has said his role was merely to take notes at meetings held with two abuse victims.
The office stressed today Dr Brady had no decision-making powers regarding the outcome of the inquiry and that it was Dr McKiernan who had ultimate responsibility for the enquiry.
According to the statement, the boys who were questioned by the cardinal during the investigation about the abuse they had experienced "were asked to confirm by oath the truthfulness of their statements and that they would preserve the confidentiality of the interview process."
"The intention of this oath was to avoid potential collusion in the gathering of the inquiry’s evidence and to ensure that the process was robust enough to withstand challenge by the perpetrator, Fr Brendan Smyth," the statement said.
The statement added that eight days after the cardinal passed his findings on to his then bishop, Dr McKiernan reported the findings to Fr Smyth’s religious superior, the Abbot of Kilnacrott, withdrew Smyth’s priestly faculties and advised psychiatric intervention.
A spokesman for the Norbertine order in Ireland was unable to confirm whether Smyth had received psychiatric help as a result of the 1975 inquiry. However, It is known that from 1968 to 1993, the priest was referred by his order for treatment in Belfast, England and Dublin.
Green Party leader John Gormley said today the Government had not made any decision yet about extending the Murphy Commission's remit to other dioceses.
He also said the matter of whether the cardinal should resign was a matter for Dr Brady and the church.
"I suppose in many ways it is a case of evil triumphing while a good man stood back from the situation," said Mr Gormley. "It is a matter for the church authorities themselves and Cardinal Brady's own conscience and he will have to deal with that."
Responding to the Labour Party calls for a garda investigation into the role played by Dr Brady in the canonical inquiry, Mr Gormley added that he did not have a difficulty with such an inquiry.
The cardinal said yesterday he does not intend to resign following the weekend revelations about his involvement in the inquiry.
Dr Brady yesterday denied he had helped to cover up cases of alleged sex abuse of children in the diocese of Kilmore 35 years ago and insisted he would not step down.
The cardinal said he did all that was asked of him by Dr McKiernan in relation to Smyth and denied that the oath of secrecy, which was agreed to by the two young people he interviewed, was for the protection of the church.
Abuse victims and groups supporting those affected by clerical sex abuse have all called on the cardinal to resign.
Support organisations said today they have seen a marked increase in calls from members of the public following the revelations regarding the cardinal's role in the 1975 investigation.
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