Irish Examiner
July 13, 2011
http://www.examiner.ie/breakingnews/ireland/shatter-offers-profound-apology-at-launch-of-cloyne-report-512654.html
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Justice Minister Alan Shatter expresses "sorrow and profound apology" to any child in Cloyne failed by the State.
The long-awaited report into clerical child sex abuse in the Catholic diocese of Cloyne has found the handling of allegations and complaints was "inadequate and inappropriate".
The report, which runs to over 400 pages, has made a damning assessment of Bishop John Magee, for failing to prevent or persue allegations of clerical child sex abuse in the Diocese.
It has also singled out Monsignor Denis O’Callaghan, who assisted Bishop Magee in the running of the diocese.
The Commission of Investigation, led by Judge Yvonne Murphy, focused on complaints made against 19 priests who were working in Cloyne, between 1996 and 2009.
Mr Shatter said that a small number of cases where the Garda handling of allegations has been called into question have been handed over to the Garda Ombudsman.
On the inquiry, he said: “Many of its findings are for others to account for. But for any failings on the part of the State through the years, we express our profound sorrow.
“This report is about just some of those who, as children, were abused by people they respected as arbiters of right and wrong – whose complaints were handled atrociously – and who now find that some of the promises that were made that other children would be kept safe were empty.”
The Government said it will set up a vetting bureau, with new laws enacted in the autumn to allow the sharing of soft information on people wishing to work with children.
There are also plans to bring in laws making it an offence to withhold information on crimes against children and vulnerable adults.
The Archbishop of Cashel and Emly Dermot Clifford, has said he accepts the findings of the report and "humbly apologises".
Archbishop Clifford said: "I humbly apologise on my own behalf as administrator of the Diocese, and on behalf of its clergy, to all who suffered and their families. I am appalled by the depth of damage and suffering caused by a minority of clergy in the Diocese, as outlined in this report.
"Great pain was also caused to the families of those abused, whose strong relationship with the Catholic Church was, in a number of cases, damaged or destroyed.
The report finds that the Diocese of Cloyne did not implement the procedures set out in the Church protocols for dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse in the period concerned.
He said: "It appalls me that, up to 2008, 13 years after these procedures were put in place, they were still not being implemented in the Diocese of Cloyne. This means that the Church authorities in Cloyne failed some of those who were abused by not adhering to their commitments when dealing with complaints.
"I note that in their statements issued today both the now retired Bishop John Magee and Mgr Denis O’Callaghan have accepted full responsibility and apologised for their failures in the implementation of the Church procedures, as outlined in the Report.
The Archbishop was appointed as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Cloyne in March 2009, to ensure that proper procedures are being followed in each and every complaint of child sexual abuse.
Archbishop Clifford said: "Our child safeguarding team has been working with the assistance of the National Board on many of these improvements. Indeed it was through the National Board’s intervention that the failures in the implementation of Church procedures in Cloyne first came to light. I wish to take this opportunity of apologising to the National Board for the fact that it was provided with incomplete information when conducting its Review.
"It is a very sad day for all the priests and people in the Diocese of Cloyne. We sincerely hope that our responses to complaints and the ongoing efforts in safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults in the Diocese will go some of the way to atone for the grave failures of the past. Such failures must never be permitted to happen again."
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