BBC News
March 18, 2010
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/foyle_and_west/8575599.stm
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| Cardinal Sean Brady said he suspended Fr Joseph Quinn |
A priest paid ?45,000 compensation to a woman who made allegations of sexual abuse against him, it has emerged.
Cardinal Sean Brady said he suspended the priest, Father Joseph Quinn, from the Archdiocese of Armagh when the police became involved.
He said he took no part in the compensation agreement.
The allegations against Fr Quinn were made around nine years ago. It is understood they were of a sexual nature and made by two girls aged 17 or 18.
Cardinal Brady, the Catholic primate of all-Ireland, said that the day after the priest was interviewed by the police he suspended him from his duties.
He said that Fr Quinn was tried on one of the allegations in court and was acquitted.
Despite this, the cardinal said he did not reinstate the priest to his former duties.
He said one of the alleged victims then sought compensation and this was settled between her and Fr Quinn.
The cardinal said he did not get involved in the discussions other than to say he would not be a party to any confidentiality agreement between the woman and the priest.
Cardinal Brady said the priest still remained suspended from ministry and is forbidden to wear clerical attire.
The statement said: "The day following the police interview, Cardinal Brady suspended [Fr X] from ministry as a priest, forbidding him to say Mass publicly, to hear confessions and to have unsupervised access to minors."
It added: "Following [Fr X's] acquittal, Cardinal Brady met him again and reinforced that [Fr X] remained suspended on the same terms, in spite of having been acquitted by the court."
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| Dr Seamus Hegarty's name was included in court papers |
The latest development comes as the head of Ireland's Catholics apologised for his role in mishandling a serial child abuser.
As a priest in 1975 Cardinal Brady attended meetings where children signed vows of silence over complaints against paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth.
Smyth was eventually convicted of dozens of offences against children.
But despite allegations being previously investigated by church officials, including Cardinal Brady, it was almost 20 years before he was brought to justice.
'Police told'
Earlier, the Catholic Church in Londonderry said police were told about sex abuse claims against another priest at the centre of an alleged compensation cover-up.
The Bishop of Derry has been accused of being involved in a compensation deal to cover up alleged child sex abuse.
Dr Seamus Hegarty was one of three priests named in a confidential civil settlement after an eight-year-old girl was abused over a decade from 1979.
Spokesman Fr Michael Canny said police were told about the case in the 1990s.
The civil action was settled out of court in December 2000 and was signed by lawyers on behalf of Dr Hegarty, Bishop Edward Daly and the alleged abuser without admission of liability.
In a statement, Bishop Hegarty said the family involved brought it to the attention of the diocese in January 1994 and the police and social services were notified in 1995.
Bishop Hegarty said the priest left parish ministry in 1995.
He said: "A confidentiality agreement was not proposed by the diocese, but was proposed to the diocese by one of the other parties, and, to facilitate a settlement, the diocese agreed."
The Belfast Telegraph reported ?12,000 was paid to the alleged victim, subject to a confidentiality agreement.
Bishop Daly was named in the court papers, but at the time his duties were being carried out by another bishop due to illness.
There was a handwritten letter asking for "some forgiveness" from the alleged abuser in which he offered the family his "deepest apology for any pain I caused you through inappropriate gesture or mistaken signs of affection".
The girl's father said that they had not gone to the police because "it was not the culture" in Derry at the time to do so.
In 2005 Bishop Hegarty disclosed details of the extent of child sex abuse allegations against priests in his diocese, revealing that 26 had been accused in 40 years.
In a possible reference to the case reported on by the Belfast Telegraph the bishop said that one of the cases involved a priest making a personal settlement with a complainant, without admission of liability, and that the priest was not in active ministry.
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