Three Priests Still Working in Galway Because Child Sex Abuse Allegations 'Insufficient'

By Caroline Crawford
Irish Independent
April 24, 2013

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/three-priests-still-working-in-galway-because-child-sex-abuse-allegations-insufficient-to-remove-them-29219403.html

[with pdf]

THREE priests against whom allegations were made remain in ministry in the Galway diocese.

Galway Bishop, Martin Drennan said the three men where not removed from ministry because the concerns expressed were “not of a sufficient nature” to warrant their removal from ministry.

“The HSE and the gardai advised us that what was being done was sufficient in terms of monitoring,” he told Galway Bay fm.

The review of the Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora covers files from 1975 up to 2010. It was carried out in January of this year and took three months to complete.

It revealed that allegations were made against 14 priests between the dates covered. The dioceses had reviewed 38 allegations over that period. No priests have been named in the report.

A total of 27 allegations were reported to gardai and the HSE. Only one priest in the Dioceses has been convicted of having committed an offence against a child or young person since 1975.

Seven priests against whom allegations were made were are still members of the Dioceses. Only three of these are still in ministry. Two priests have since retired and two remain out of ministry.

The report revealed that two priests against whom allegations were made have left the priesthood. A further five priests against whom an allegation was made have since died.

The reviewers examined the case management records of 19 priests. This included 12 diocesan priests, nine of whom are alive, four priests from religious orders and four priests from other dioceses but who had a connection with Galway.

It found that while historically there had been delays in notifying gardai and HSE of  allegations in cases during the 1990s and early 2000, more recently there was “very prompt reporting of all cases”.

Other concerns highlighted in the audit was that more records should have been kept by the diocese.

The report reviewed seven standards in total.

Reviewing the management of allegations, the report found the diocese fully met five of the seven criteria. It had only paritially met the criteria for dealing with complaints made by adults and children about unacceptable behaviour towards children, with clear timescales for resolving the complaint.

It has also failed to fully meet the criteria regarding guidance on confidentiality and information sharing which makes clear that the protection of the child is the most important consideration.

Commenting on the dioceses written policy on keeping children safe which has been in place since 2010, the audit found it had met almost all of the criteria with the exception of stating how those individuals who pose a risk to children are managed. This was only partially met.

In its recommendations the review said Bishop Drennan should review all cases of living priests who are on administrative leave and out of ministry to ensure that formal written precepts have been issued and shared with the accused priest, and a copy retained on file.

The Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora consists of 39 parishes, serving communities living in parts of counties Galway, Clare and Mayo. There are 48 diocesan priests working in the diocese and 15 religious order priests making a total of 63 priests in ministry in the diocese.

In his opening remarks to the document, Bishop Drennan acknowledged the past mistakes and failures in the care and protection of children and young people, according to the audit.

Speaking to Galway Bay fm this morning Bishop Drennan said implementing guidelines to deal with allegations of child abuse had take so long because the area had been a learning curve.

“It's a whole learning curve, even the expert people in psychology admit they knew very little about child abuse back in the late 1980s, 1990s, until the late 1990s. It's been a whole learning curve of understanding the problem, understanding perpetrators, understanding the effects of abuse and then working out policies to respond as effectively as we could. That's been a huge learning curve and that's why it's taken so much time and it's still being refined,” he said.