Irish Times
July 14, 2011
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0714/breaking1.html
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| Bishop John Magee in St Colman's Cathedral in the Diocese of Cloyne |
The Vatican's approach to clerical abuse inquiries in Ireland has been branded a disgrace by the Taoiseach today.
In the wake of the report into the Catholic Church's response to allegations of abuse in the diocese of Cloyne, Enda Kenny warned new laws would not be stopped by canon rules.
The Taoiseach said the Government's concerns must now be dealt with. "I think this is absolutely disgraceful that the Vatican took the view that it did in respect of something that's as sensitive and as personal with such long-lasting difficulties for persons involved," he said.
"The law of the land should not be stopped by a collar or a crozier," Mr Kenny said.
Tough new laws to force the disclosure of information on child sexual abuse are to be introduced in response to the Cloyne report. The withholding of information about serious offences against a child will be made a criminal offence, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter announced yesterday following the publication of the report on the handling of sex abuse claims in the diocese of Cloyne.
Further measures, including a statutory child protection code, are to be announced by Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald tomorrow.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore met papal nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza over the findings of the report today.
Speaking after the meeting, Dr Leanza said he was "very grateful" to Mr Gilmore for the meeting. "I think it has been a useful meeting . . . he has given me a copy of the report, and I will bring it immediately to the attention of the Holy See.
"Naturally I am very distressed myself . . . that again [there has] been failures to ensure protection of children within the Church despite all the good work that has been done," the nuncio said.
He reiterated the Catholic Church's "total commitment" to take "all necessary measures" to ensure the protection of children.
Mr Gilmore said the Vatican's intervention in Irish affairs was "absolutely unacceptable" and "inappropriate". He said he had told Dr Leanza that an explanation and response was required as to why the Vatican had told priests and bishops they could undermine Irish rules.
"I want to know why this state, with which we have diplomatic relations, issued a communication, the effect of which was that very serious matter of the abuse of children in this country was not reported to the authorities," he said.
Mr Gilmore said the Vatican had conveyed a message that somehow it was "all right to evade responsibility" for reporting these matters to the Irish authorities.
"What happened here should not have happened. What happened here was a totally inappropriate, unjustified and unacceptable by the Vatican in the reporting arrangements even within the context of the arrangements of the church itself."
The Minister said he felt the archbishop had taken on board his concerns.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said today Bishop John Magee should not be excluded from the prospect of a jail term if he is prosecuted as a result of investigations into the Cloyne report. "No-one should be immune from the full rigours of the law, particularly in terms of endangering the young and vulnerable to harm and to abuse," he told Highland Radio meeting Fianna Fáil members in Donegal. "The full rigours of the law should be applied to everybody irrespective of status of station in life."
Bishop Gerard Clifford, auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Armagh, this morning said evidence in the report showing that the church's standing was prioritised over the victims of abuse was "the great disappointment".
He said there was a new realisation that the problem of abuse is something the church cannot solve by itself and he welcomed Mr Shatter's comments about the introduction of child protection legislation.
"I think that is something the Church was looking for for several years," he told RTÉ radio. "The hope is now that together the Church and State can address this issue and there should be no possible repetition of what we found in the Diocese of Cloyne."
The report found that the Bishop of Cloyne, John Magee, misled the minister for children by claiming the church's guidelines for handling abuse cases were being fully complied with. It also found he falsely told the Health Service Executive (HSE) that allegations of abuse were being reported to gardaí.
In fact, two-thirds of complaints made between 1996 and 2008 were not reported to the Garda and no complaint was passed to the HSE during this period.
The report accuses the Vatican, through its opposition to the Irish bishops' procedures for handling child sexual abuse, of giving comfort to dissenters within the church who did not want to implement them. In a secret letter to the bishops, Rome describes the 1996 rules as "merely a study document" and not official.
Senior Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi issued an emphatic "no comment" when asked about the Cloyne report. He did not rule out making a comment at a later date, by which time the Holy See would have had a chance to assess the report fully.
Mr Shatter said the intervention by the then papal nuncio - whom he described as an ambassador from a foreign state - was unfortunate and unacceptable when the country had been assured the church had implemented new child protection guidelines.
Describing it as a matter of some seriousness, Mr Shatter said it was a matter for the Tánaiste to "have a conversation" with the nuncio. It is understood officials were keen to hold talks as early as today but no date for the meeting has been arranged.
Bishop Magee and the Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady apologised for the church's failures in relation to child protection in the diocese, while Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan apologised to the victims involved in three cases where the report was critical of the approach adopted his officers.
Mr Shatter expressed his "sorrow and profound apology".
The "learning curve" used to excuse the poor handling of complaints in earlier reports does not apply in Cloyne, the report points out. All of the allegations were made after 1996, when new procedures were put in place to deal with complaints.
As Ms Fitzgerald pointed out: "This is not a catalogue of failure from a different era. This is not about an Ireland of 50 years ago. This is about Ireland now."
Bishop Magee is described in the 341-page report as ineffective and faulted for taking little real interest in the implementation of the guidelines on child sexual abuse for 12 years. He assigned responsibility to Msgr Denis O'Callaghan, who was "uncommitted" to the guidelines, frustrated their implementation and acted in what he perceived were the best interests of the church.
"It is truly scandalous that people who presented a public face of concern continued to maintain a private agenda of concealment and evasion," Mr Shatter commented.
President Mary McAleese said the report showed that many lessons still had to be learned in relation to the welfare and protection of children.
Bishop Magee repeated earlier apologies for his failure to ensure abuse victims were fully supported and responded to. While insisting he was fully supportive of the 1996 church guidelines on abuse cases, he admitted he should have taken a much firmer role in ensuring their implementation.
"I am sorry that this happened and I unreservedly apologise to all those who suffered additional hurt because of the flawed implementation of the church procedures, for which I take full responsibility," he said in a statement. Bishop Magee was not in his home yesterday and his whereabouts were unknown.
Bishop Clifford said he believed Bishop Magee should have been on hand for the publication of the report as it highlighted "failures of leadership" while he was at the helm in Cloyne.
"I feel that Bishop Magee should be answerable and should make himself available to the media and other people who want a lot of questions answered," he said.
Msgr O'Callaghan admitted that in some cases he became "emotionally and pastorally drawn to the plight of the accused priest, to the detriment of the pastoral response I intended to make to complainants".
Cardinal Brady apologised and expressed his "shame and sorrow" at what happened in Cloyne.
He said he would not resign because he wanted to continue the work to safeguard children from abuse.
The report describes the handling of "allegations, complaints, suspicions and concerns" about 19 clerics. One of these, and the only person who is named, is Bishop Magee.
He is alleged to have embraced a 17-year-old youth and kissed him on the forehead, which was deemed to be inappropriate but not reportable behaviour.
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