Former bishop of Galway Dr Eamon Casey is still awaiting clearance from the Vatican to return to full priestly ministry, four months after the Director of Public Prosecutions said no charges would be brought against him arising from child sex abuse allegations.
The 79-year old former bishop did not concelebrate Christmas Mass this week in Shanaglish parish church in south Galway, pending permission by Rome to return to full priestly ministry. It is understood that Dr Casey did say Mass privately in the village where he has been living since last February.
Last August, when the DPP said there would be no charges, Dr Casey spoke of his "utter and absolute relief" at the outcome. At that stage, it was anticipated that a separate internal inquiry by the Catholic Church would take a matter of weeks.
The DPP's decision had come three weeks after Dr Casey was questioned by gardaí in relation to allegations made by a woman, now living in Britain, in November 2005. The 13 allegations concerned incidents which the woman claimed had taken place in Ireland more than 30 years ago. The woman had made similar unproven claims against others in the past, and was reported to have suffered ill health in recent years.
Following her claims, Dr Casey was asked to stand aside from public ministry at Staplefield parish church, west Sussex, in the diocese of Arundel and Brighton. Parishioners were informed of the decision on November 27th last year, and they were told he had moved elsewhere, pending a return to Ireland to deal with the allegations which were then under investigation by gardaí in Limerick.
Dr Casey had been working as chaplain in the diocese after a six-year period in South America. He had served as a missionary in Ecuador after his resignation in 1992 over revelations that he had fathered a son, Peter, and had used diocesan funds to make financial payments to the boy's mother, Annie Murphy.
Dr Casey returned to live in Shanaglish 11 months ago on the invitation of the Bishop of Galway, Dr Martin Drennan, but he was unable to participate in any public ministry, in accordance with church policy on such investigations. The village in the parish of Beagh, near Gort, lost its priest, Fr Patrick Healy, almost three years ago when he was killed in an accident at a rail crossing. The parish has been served by Fr Paddy Callanan, also priest at Kilbeacanty.
