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	Catholic Church in Ireland Rocked by New Sexual Abuse Scandal Monsters and Critics July 13, 2011 http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1650973.php/Catholic-Church-in-Ireland-rocked-by-new-sexual-abuse-scandal [Cover (PDF - 597KB)] [Introductory Pages (PDF - 574KB)] [Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Diocese of Cloyne (PDF - 1.8MB)] [Background of the Cloyne Report] http://www.bishop-accountability.org/reports/2011_07_13_Cloyne_Report/ The Catholic Church in Ireland was engulfed in further scandal Wednesday as a report detailing the cover-up of sexual abuse by priests was published. The handling of allegations and complaints in the south-western Cork county diocese of Clyone was 'inadequate and inappropriate,' according to the report by the government's Commission of Inquiry into Sexual Abuse. The report is highly critical of former Bishop John Magee and Monsignor Denis O'Callaghan, the two men responsible for dealing with abuse allegations in the diocese between 1996 and 2009. Magee had 'misled' the authorities about the handling of abuse, according to the report, which looked at a sample of sexual abuse complaints made against 19 priests in the Cloyne diocese. According to the report, Magee 'falsely told the Irish government' and the health authorities that the diocese 'was reporting all allegations of clerical child sexual abuse to the civil authorities.' It also found he had deliberately misled people by creating two different accounts of a meeting with an accused priest. The commission of inquiry also said that 'despite police assurances' there was 'no evidence of a police investigation into two allegations of abuse against one priest.' The commission said it was 'concerned' and did not accept there was a proper investigation into the complaints against the priest named as Father Corin. The report also states that the former bishop allegedly embraced an 18-year-old youth and kissed him on the forehead in behaviour deemed inappropriate but not reportable. The inquiry presided over by Judge Yvonne Murphy was ordered by the government in 2009, following revelations that child protection practices in the Cloyne diocese were inadequate and in some respects 'dangerous.' Murphy was also responsible for the Murphy Report into sexual abuse in the Dublin diocese from 1975 to 2004. The report, released in 2009, uncovered widespread abuse of children amid repeated cover-ups within the church in Dublin. The report was preceded by the Ryan Report, which unveiled horrific and systemic abuse in industrial schools controlled by Catholic religious orders from the 1930s to the 1970s. When the commission was beginning its work in Cloyne, Magee announced he was stepping aside to devote himself to assisting it. But 11 months later he resigned, leading to speculation that the findings would be extremely damaging to him. The report was initially submitted to government in December, but legal complexities meant the report was not approved for publication by cabinet until now. In April, the High Court asked counsel for the state and for a priest, who is before the courts and who is mentioned in the report, to agree on the deletion of excerpts that might prejudice the priest's trial.
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