The Diocese of Ferns has admitted negligence and agreed to pay compensation and costs to clerical sex abuse victim Mr Colm O'Gorman, in a settlement worth €300,000.
A statement read in the High Court this morning on behalf of Bishop Eamon Walsh, the apostolic administrator of the Diocese, stated that he "acknowledges and sincerely regrets the distress, trauma and hurt caused to Colm O'Gorman by virtue of the acts of sexual abuse perpetrated on him... by the late Fr Sean Fortune."
|
"He further acknowledges the failure of the Bishop at the time to recognise and act on the threat posed by the late Fr Fortune to Colm O'Gorman... and wishes to apologise unreservedly... for these failures and for the harm suffered," the statement adds.
At an emotional press conference held shortly afterwards, Mr O'Gorman stated that it was "hard to put into words the significance of this day."
Reading a statement on the settlement, he said: "Today I feel the sense of having achieved some real and significant level of justice... for the first time the Catholic Church has finally acknowledged that they were negligent in how they handled and responded to cases of clerical sexual abuse."
"I accept Bishop Walsh's statement in good faith, but the manner in which they have defended themselves in mine and other cases is reprehensible. The Church is completely morally bankrupt of the issue of sexual abuse," he added.
Mr O'Gorman also revealed that he intends to abandon the civil case he had taken against the Papal Nuncio, inter alia the Pope, on the basis of legal advice.
"The Papal Nuncio has indicated that as a diplomat he has legal immunity in any civil action and that he would challenge the jurisdiction of the court and in all likelihood seek to recover costs. The best legal advice available to me has indicated that he would succeed," he said.
"This speaks volumes about the Vatican's continuing failures to respond effectively and meaningfully to the hurts of the Church. It is tantamount to moral abandonment of its own flock," he added.
Mr O'Gorman launched the civil action in 1998, against two named defendants - the Bishop of Ferns and the Papal Nuncio. His abuse later formed the basis of BBC documentary "Suing the Pope", which was aired in April 2002.
Declaring that he had today found himself "in a place I could never have imagined", an emotional Mr O'Gorman spoke at length of the significance of the Bishop's statement both for himself and other victims of clerical sexual abuse.
"Given that fact that Fr Sean Fortune never appeared in court, the fact that this statement has been read into the record of the High Court is significant. For the first time the Church has admitted, in a law court, that it has been negligent in responding to cases of clerical sexual abuse. I hope that it will now deal with such cases in a completely different way," he said.
He also paid an emotional tribute to his late father and sister, who supported him when he first approached Gardaí in 1995 regarding the abuse. He also commended the media for its role in "shining a light into the darkest corners of Irish society".
Mr O'Gorman is currently the director of the One In Four group for victims of sexual abuse.
The full text of the Bishop Walsh's statement, as read in the High Court this morning, is as follows:
"The above matter has been settled on terms that Bishop Eamon Walsh, as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Ferns, admits negligence and agrees to pay Colm O'Gorman compensation and costs.
"He acknowledges and sincerely regrets the distress, trauma and hurt caused to Colm O'Gorman by virtue of the acts of sexual abuse perpetrated on him between 1981 and 1983 by the late Fr Sean Fortune.
"He further acknowledges the failure of the Bishop at the time to recognise and act on the threat posed by the late Fr Fortune to Colm O'Gorman. Bishop Walsh wishes to apologise unreservedly to Colm O'Gorman for these failures and for the harm which he suffered in consequence."