A CULTURE of denial and a cover-up of clerical child sex abuse continues to exist within the Catholic hierarchy, on the basis of a report issued yesterday by Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews. What is even more depressing is an apparent acceptance by Government and the Health Service Executive (HSE) of this reality, along with a reluctance to take firm action to establish the State’s authority, protect children and enforce the law of the land.
It has taken more than three years for the HSE to produce a desperately inadequate document. The agency was asked to ensure the recommendations of the 2005 Ferns report – under which representatives of a diocese, the HSE and An Garda Síochána should exchange “soft information” and consider all child abuse allegations – were being implemented. This has not happened. And the HSE was unable to verify to what extent child protection procedures were being implemented. But the report found there was “no prima facie case of serious non-compliance” by the bishops.
It gets worse. The HSE conducted its inquiry on the basis of a simple questionnaire, which bishops were asked to complete. There were no follow-up interviews. An attempt to establish the incidence of child abuse through diocesan records, in terms of allegations, investigations and outcomes, was rejected out of hand by the bishops on the basis that it presented “insurmountable difficulties”. Numbers, not names, were sought. The result is that the public may never know how widespread child sexual abuse had become and the horrendous failure of various bishops in responding to this serious crime.
The inadequacy of the HSE inquiry was underlined by the findings of the Catholic Church’s own National Board for Safeguarding Children. Last month it found Bishop John Magee of Cloyne had mishandled cases of alleged sexual abuse, even as he claimed to be in compliance with agreed child protection procedures. And while Cloyne and its practices will now be investigated, the incident begs the question of how many other bishops provided misleading information.
The Catholic Church in Ireland has a sorry record of defending the clerical abuser, instead of shielding and protecting the victim. Later this month, the findings of an inquiry into the Dublin diocese will make for shocking reading. We know that because Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has confirmed that at least 400 cases of sexual abuse, involving an estimated 140 priests, have come to light. It happened because he released diocesan records, in spite of a “gagging” High Court action by Archbishop Desmond Connell. That is the only way to deal with these dreadful crimes: openness and transparency and the establishment of clear and effective child protection procedures in every diocese. That did not happen in Cloyne. Bishop Magee withheld information from the Garda concerning serious crimes. Saying sorry is not enough. When bishops lose their moral authority, what remains is a shell of personal ambition. He should resign as soon as possible.