Ireland: " Transferring Paedophile Priests Was a Mistake," Admits Mgr. Kirby

By Giacomo Galeazzi
Vatican Insider
September 9, 2012

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The Catholic bishop of Clonfert has publicly apologised for moving two priests to another parish after they were accused of committing sexual abuse against minors in the 90's

Moving the two priests on to another parish was "a grave mistake". The decision was completely inadequate given the seriousness of the accusations against him – John Kirby now admits -. "I was not aware at the time of the sinister nature and repeat behaviour of the abuser or of the life-long damage caused to the child," the Irish bishop said.

So it seems the "unfaithful clergy" crisis has not yet come to an end, as Benedict XVI reiterated in his concluding video message for the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.

After a thousand-year-old history of loyalty to the Gospel, Ireland and the Irish Catholic Church have "recently been shaken in an appalling way by the revelation of sins committed by priests and consecrated persons against people entrusted to their care."

The Pope denounced their actions, stating: "Instead of showing them the path towards Christ, towards God, instead of bearing witness to his goodness, they abused people and undermined the credibility of the Church's message." Under Benedict XVI, the Holy See's response to the plague of paedophilia in the Catholic Church of Ireland has been tough.

The Pope wrote a letter to the Catholic faithful in Ireland, expressing his "shame and remorse" for the Irish paedophilia scandal which he defined as an "egregious crime" and a "serious sin." He also condemned the acts of abuse and the bishops' poor handling of these cases, promising more checks, improved training for clergy and seminarians, reporting of guilty parties to the civil authorities and reconciliation with the victims.

Joseph Ratzinger also received Irish bishops in the Vatican for an ad hoc meeting and ordered an apostolic visit to Ireland. He then pushed a number of bishops to hand in their resignations. Out of a total of 26 dioceses, there are still many which remain vacant. A number of bishops left after being accused of cover-ups, including Mgr. John Magee, former personal secretary to Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II.

The first cases were reported on 25 October 2005, when the Irish government published the Fern report on the abuse committed by clerics in the Diocese of Fern.

But the "endemic" dimensions of the island's decade-long paedophilia problem only became apparent on 20 May 2009, when the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, headed by the Judge Sean Ryan, launched a second inquiry known as the Ryan 2 report.

After the Ryan Report (on cases of sexual abuse and violence committed against minors in Catholic-run educational institutions across Ireland), two other government reports were also published: the Murphy Report on 26 November 2009 (drawn up by Judge Yvonne Murphy on paedophilia in the Diocese of Dublin) and the Cloyne Report on 13 July 2011 (on paedophilia in the Diocese of Dublin).

This strong documentation describes thousands of cases of sexual abuse committed by hundreds of priests against minors and goes as far back as the 1930's (the latest cases recorded date back to a decade ago).

The Pope requires any bishops who have in good or bad faith concealed information about paedophile priests, hindering investigations, to resign. Seven bishops have already resigned and some Irish dioceses are being merged in order to reduce prelate numbers and improve the quality of their service.

The report on paedophilia in Irish Catholic churches - that is, the document written at the end of the apostolic visit which began in November 2010 in the Irish Catholic Church, with papal representatives, including U.S. cardinals Sean O'Malley and Timothy Dolan - uncovers all the "failings" of Catholic institutions (parishes, seminars, communities) in Ireland which allowed the spread of paedophilia in recent years. Paedophilia spread in a similar way in the U.S. and other Catholic Churches across Europe, for example Germany, where yet another important bishop was placed under investigation just yesterday, on charges of covering up for seven paedophile priests. "Bishops and religious superiors who are incapable of preventing serious cases of paedophilia among the clergy from spreading." "Failure to carry out checks." "Impunity for guilty parties." "Indifference towards victims." "Shame at the suffering inflicted on young victims."