Cardinal Cahal Daly and three bishops have disputed claims that they were approached by senior seminarians at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, in 1983-'84 with complaints about the sexual harassment of junior seminarians there by a senior clerical academic.
As reported in The Irish Times last Saturday, a group of six senior seminarians, three of whom are now priests, claim to have approached nine named bishops at the time with their complaints.
In a letter to this newspaper, Cardinal Daly, the retired archbishop of Tuam, Dr Joseph Cassidy, the retired bishop of Derry, Dr Edward Daly, and the Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, Dr Colm O'Reilly, who were among the bishops approached by the senior seminarians, said the complaints were about the "extravagant" lifestyle of a member of the academic staff, but there had never been an allegation of sexual harassment of junior seminarians.
However, members of the group of six have repeated to The Irish Times that they made it explicit to the bishops then that their complaints were about the sexual harassment of their junior colleagues at the college.
According to a member of the group, now a priest, when they were ignored by the bishops they sought the protection of the senior dean at St Patrick's College, fearing for their clerical futures. The priest recalled that the senior dean took up their concerns. However, shortly afterwards the senior dean himself was removed from his post at the seminary and went on sabbatical. He was subsequently appointed to a much more junior post in his own diocese. He was, the priest recalled, "a man of immense ability".
The man at the centre of the seminarians' complaints was later promoted by the bishops to a position of authority which had direct implications for the six. He attempted to use this authority to damage some of them, they claim. Years afterwards he was removed from his position by the bishops, following allegations of sexual abuse.
Where the representations in 1983-'84 were concerned, the six became convinced that, once the bishops investigated their complaints, "they didn't want to know". Such a contradiction on the part of the bishops was an affront to the Gospels, the priest said. It also meant that some "great people" left, embittered.
In their letter today the four bishops also complain that such "a serious and damaging accusation" could be made in a national newspaper without reference to them. However, repeated queries directed at the bishops, and concerning the individual at the centre of these allegations, by The Irish Times over the past two months, have met with no response from the church authorities.
A spokesman for Cardinal Connell, who was a trustee at St Patrick's College when the man concerned was removed by the bishops, and remains a trustee there, referred all queries on the matter to the Catholic Communications Office at Maynooth. A spokesman there said all such queries should be referred to Monsignor Dermot Farrell, president at St Patrick's College.
Monsignor Farrell asked that the queries be put in writing. This was done, twice, when a secretary said the first email had been sent to a wrong address. Despite subsequent calls to Monsignor Farrell he has not responded to the queries since they were last submitted on April 29th. Further queries to Cardinal Connell's office were again referred to the Catholic Communications Office in Maynooth, who again referred them to Monsignor Farrell.