Diocese Cancels Abuse ‘strategy’ Meeting with No Explanation, by Claire O’Sullivan, Irish Examiner, January 18, 2011

Diocese Cancels Abuse ‘strategy’ Meeting with No Explanation

By Claire O’Sullivan
Irish Examiner
January 18, 2011

http://www.examiner.ie/home/diocese-cancels-abuse-strategy-meeting-with-no-explanation-142453.html

THE DIOCESE of Cloyne has refused to disclose why it suddenly cancelled a meeting in Cork aimed at discussing potential "strategies" once the Murphy Commission report into clerical abuse in the diocese is published.

All priests in the North and East Cork diocese were invited to the meeting late last week. However, the night before the gathering was due to take place, priests were informed that the event would not be going ahead.

A spokesman for the diocese refused to tell the Irish Examiner why the meeting was cancelled, describing it as an "internal meeting" and "it would therefore not be appropriate to discuss reasons".

Fr Jim Killeen refused to say if the meeting would be held at another date. There had been fears a Dublin-based survivors’ group could picket the meeting at the Common’s Inn.

Also, victims of clerical abuse in Cloyne had expressed shock at the "insensitivity" of the diocese drafting in a psychologist to help ordinary priests deal with the fallout from the report while it had "never helped" them.

"The best people to inform priests about abuse and its long-term effects are victims. I wish the Archbishop had thought to invite us to that meeting so we could speak of our experiences," one of the women said yesterday.

The Murphy Commission’s report into the handling of clerical abuse in Cloyne is due to be published in the coming months.

Meanwhile, the Labour party has sent a letter to the Department of Justice after a meeting between its justice spokesman, Pat Rabbitte and victims of Father B in Cloyne, seeking the office’s "opinion" on why of the nine cases sent to the DPP’s office, not one has proceeded to prosecution.