The former bishop of Galway Eamonn Casey was a serial paedophile who abused his five-year-old niece, a new RTÉ documentary has claimed.
The feature-length documentary, Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets, alleges that there were multiple complaints of child abuse against Casey, who died in 2017 aged 89.
In 1992 The Irish Times revealed that Casey had fathered a child, Peter, with an American woman, Annie Murphy, and paid her IR£70,000 out of the Diocese of Galway’s funds.
It was the first major sexual scandal to affect the Catholic Church in Ireland, but the charges of child abuse that have been made against Casey are far more serious than those that led to his resignation.
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He was removed from public ministry in 2007 by the Vatican after allegations of child abuse had been made against him.
The documentary, to be broadcast on RTÉ One on Monday night, was made with the Mail on Sunday reporter Anne Sheridan.
He thought he could do what he liked, when he liked, how he liked
— Eamonn Casey's niece
Casey’s niece, Patricia Donovan, revealed publicly for the first time that she was raped by him when she was five and that the sexual abuse continued for many years.
She told the programme: “Some of the things he did to me, and where he did them. The horror of being raped by him when I was five, the violence. And it just carried on in that vein.
“He had no fear of being caught. He thought he could do what he liked, when he liked, how he liked.
“He was almost, like, incensed that I would dare fight against him, that I would dare try to hurt him, I would dare try to stop him. It didn’t make any difference.
“I feel so absolutely and completely and utterly betrayed by the church I was brought up in.”
The documentary reveals that the Diocese of Galway, where Casey was bishop from 1976 to 1992, received five complaints of childhood sexual abuse against him.
Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets also reveals how the Limerick Diocese paid more than €100,000 in settlement to one of his accusers after his death.
Without commenting on any specific allegation, I have no reason to disbelieve any of the allegations made
— Bishop of Limerick Dr Brendan Leahy
The current Bishop of Limerick, Dr Brendan Leahy, who has access to documents relating to complaints made in his diocese, says: “I express deep sorrow and regret to anyone who has been wounded by clerical abuse, including the people referred to in this documentary.
“They deserve our respect, belief and support. Without commenting on any specific allegation, I have no reason to disbelieve any of the allegations made.”
The documentary reveals that Casey disobeyed Vatican sanctions and continued to practise as a priest. He was reprimanded for this by the then bishop of Galway Martin Drennan.
That restriction continued for the last 10 years of his life, but was never publicly disclosed in Casey’s lifetime.
In 2006 the Irish bishops announced that Casey was moving back to Ireland from England to retire. By that stage the Vatican had received at least two allegations of child sexual abuse against him, but the DPP decided not to prosecute.
The Vatican told the programme that Casey was “never reinstated... in spite of insistence from him and on his behalf”.
Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets will be broadcast on Monday at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and is available worldwide on the RTÉ Player.
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