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	Irish Bishop Reiterates Apology, Offers to Meet with Abuse Victims By Cian Molloy Catholic News Service August 23, 2011 http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1103352.htm DUBLIN (CNS) -- Six weeks after a government report found that his diocese had failed to implement the Irish hierarchy's child protection guidelines and had covered up allegations of clerical child abuse, retired Bishop John Magee of Cloyne reiterated his apology and offered to meet with the victims. "I feel there is nothing I can say now which will ease the pain and distress for victims," said Bishop Magee, who served as personal secretary to three popes before being named to Cloyne. "I fully understand why they are angry -- I let them down, by not fully implementing the guidelines which were available to me. I deeply, deeply regret not ensuring that the guidelines, which were my responsibility to implement, were complied with, and I ask for forgiveness for the way in which I have carried out this critically important aspect of my work." Bishop Magee said he also let down the priests of Cloyne. "So many priests do such good work and, by not addressing the issues which confronted me, I made their important work more difficult. I also want to apologize to the people of the diocese for not managing this important work more effectively." He asked for privacy since he is retired and living in a church-provided house in Mitchelstown. The Cloyne Report, published July 13, found that Bishop Magee paid "little or no attention" to the church's child safeguarding measures as recently as 2008. It said he falsely told the government that his diocese was reporting all allegations of clerical child sexual abuse to the civil authorities. It also found that the bishop deliberately misled another inquiry and his own advisers by creating two different accounts -- one for the Vatican and the other for diocesan files -- of a meeting with a priest-suspect.
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