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	Six Bishops Irish Times December 18, 2010 http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1218/1224285835079.html WHILE THE report is critical of Catholic Church inaction in relation to Tony Walsh's abuse, it says archbishop Desmond Connell acted decisively once be became archbishop. Dr Connell, who was archbishop from 1988 to 2004, was one of the first bishops in the modern world to initiate canonical trials, it says. His initiative to personally petition the pope to have Walsh dismissed was "a novel one that created a precedent". In 1995, he wrote that Walsh was a confirmed paedophile who was abusing minors even before his ordination. The report says he worked to have Walsh laicised in spite of "interference of his judicial vicar and the Roman rota". Months after becoming archbishop, Dr Connell sent Walsh to the UK for treatment in 1988. However, this was 10 years after the first complaint received by the archdiocese. Walsh was required to give undertakings not to go near children or to visit Ballyfermot, where much of his early abuse took place. But in 1989 Dr Connell gave him permission to solemnise a wedding in Ballyfermot. He refused Walsh permission to go on a UK tour with the "Holy Show". In 1990, Dr Connell ended Walsh's ministry and gave him a choice between voluntary laicisation or dismissal. Walsh was later given a year's leave to allow him prepare for a lay life. The dismissal process began in 1992 and he was dismissed a year later. However, Walsh appealed this decision to Rome, which allowed him remain as a priest. In 1995, Dr Connell made sure people who made complaints knew Walsh was facing criminal charges and empowered them to make complaints to the Garda. In November that year, he petitioned pope John Paul II successfully to dismiss Walsh "in the interests of the wellbeing of the church". After Walsh was convicted, Dr Connell said he had betrayed his mission and expressed his deep sorrow and regret for the suffering endured by his victims. ARCHBISHOP KEVIN McNAMARA The Dublin archdiocese knew Tony Walsh was a serial abuser by 1985, when archbishop Kevin McNamara transferred him to a new parish. It was aware of four specific complaints and Walsh had admitted to the abuse of three children. The report says his transfer was clearly an attempt to avoid further scandal in his first parish in Ballyfermot. Even though he was a danger to children, their welfare was not considered, it says. It was difficult to understand how the seriousness of the situation was not appreciated. Archbishop McNamara even wrote to Walsh on his transfer thanking him for his "dedicated work" in Ballyfermot. BISHOP EAMONN WALSH In 1990, Bishop Eamonn Walsh suggested at a meeting of Dublin bishops that archbishop Desmond Connell should tell the "civil authorities about Walshs homosexual orientation, according to former chancellor msgr Gerard Sheehy, who had intervened on the priests behalf. This was the first time someone had proposed reporting to the Garda but the report says it was clear that his suggestion did not get very far. Bishop Walsh, who did not contact the Garda himself, later told the commission his concern related to Walshs paedophilia and not his sexuality in general. BISHOP JAMES KAVANAGH ONE OF Tony Walsh's earliest victims complained to the archdiocese about the inadequate response of bishop James Kavanagh to his complaints in 1979. Further abuses could have been avoided, he said, if a more robust response had been taken at the time. BISHOP WILLIE WALSH Fr Willie Walsh, later appointed bishop of Killaloe, was the presiding judge in the Church's penal process, which ultimately resulted in the dismissal of Tony Walsh. In 1991, he called to Whitehall Garda station, which was investigating an incident involving Walsh. A garda gave him details of the incident, but the file states he did not make any report of a criminal nature. At the process, Tony Walsh admitted to abusing 15 children. The mother of the original complainant was one of those who gave evidence, but told the commission later the process was not explained to her and nobody contacted her after her evidence. Fr Willie Walsh later apologised to the woman. ARCHBISHOP DERMOT RYAN Archbishop Dermot Ryan was informed of the first complaint against Tony Walsh, which occurred within days of Walsh's appointment to Ballyfermot parish in 1978. He asked a vicar general, msgr Richard Glennon, to investigate. Walsh denied the allegation and nothing further was done. The archdiocese made no response to the parents of the boy involved. In 1984, Dr Ryan gave what the new parish priest in Ballyfermot described as a "veiled warning" about Walsh, without saying exactly what his concerns were. The report says this suggests he wasn't entirely convinced by the 1978 report and denial or had heard other reports which concerned him.
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