Archbishop Diarmuid Martin Warns Catholic Church Not to Regard Murphy Report As Closure
By Patrick Counihan
The current Archbishop of Dublin has warned the Catholic Church not to regard the publication of final chapter of the Murphy Report as closure. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin issued a statement in the wake of the publication of Chapter 20 of the Murphy Report into clerical sex abuse in the Dublin diocese between 1975 and 2004. The Irish Times reports that the Archbishop has warned against drawing a line under a ‘dark period in the history of the church in Dublin’ now that the final chapter of the Murphy report has been published. The Archbishop also revealed that he was ‘aware of allegations against Patrick McCabe by over 30 named persons here and in the United States’. The previously unpublished Chapter 20 of the Murphy Report slams how the McCabe case was handled by three previous Archbishops of Dublin – archbishops Dermot Ryan and Kevin McNamara and Cardinal Desmond Connell. In a statement, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said: “For those abused by Patrick McCabe, the wait for truth has been a long one. They rightly also feel that their fight for justice has been a long one and as I know from my meetings with some of the survivors, justice delayed compounded their suffering. I hope that today, with the publication of the full Chapter 20 of the Murphy Report some of their suffering will ease.” He added: “There are those who think that with the publication of the final chapter of the Murphy Report we can now draw a line under this dark period in the history of the church in Dublin. There are still those who would challenge the work of the Murphy Commission. “I repeat that the Murphy Report represents and remains a true milestone which marks our history. What happened to children in the Church of Jesus Christ in the Archdiocese of Dublin is something that must never be forgotten. It is a part of the history of the Archdiocese and can never be whitewashed away. “The Murphy Report is a document that must continue to guide and inform our protection policies today and into the future. “The Archdiocese of Dublin continues to receive information about allegations and concerns about Patrick McCabe, as about other men who ministered in this diocese and who were serial abusers of children. “Any new information received by the Diocesan Child Safeguarding Service is shared with the civil Authorities and the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church. “The Archdiocese of Dublin is aware of allegations against Patrick McCabe by over 30 named persons here and in the United States. “ Archbishop Martin added: “My concern today is with the victims of Patrick McCabe, those who have come forward to tell their stories and those for whom the pain of telling their story is still too raw. “I think of the parents and the spouses and the children of the victims whose lives have also been damaged by what happened.”
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