Irish Church accused of abuse cover-up

[Modbert]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8381119.stm

A damning report into child abuse in the Dublin archdiocese has criticised the Catholic Church hierarchy for covering up the abuse.

The report investigated how Church and state authorities handled allegations of child abuse against 46 priests

It found that the Church placed its own reputation above the protection of children in its care.

It also said that state authorities facilitated the cover-up by allowing the Church to operate outside the law.

The report stated: "The Dublin archdiocese's pre-occupations in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse, at least until the mid 1990s, were the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the Church, and the preservation of its assets."

It also said that the archdiocese "did its best to avoid any application of the law of the state".

It found that four archbishops - John Charles McQuaid who died in 1973, Dermot Ryan who died in 1984, Kevin McNamara who died in 1987, and retired Cardinal Desmond Connell - did not hand over information on abusers.

The report states that senior members of the force regarded priests as being outside their remit and it claims some police officers reported abuse complaints to Church authorities instead of carrying out their own investigation.

The commissioner of the Irish police, Fachtna Murphy, said it made for "difficult and disturbing reading, detailing as it does many instances of sexual abuse and failure on the part of both Church and State authorities to protect victims".

Disgusting, but not surprising.

Thoughts?

 

[uscitizen]

The "church" just keeps hoping all this abuse annoyment would go away.

 

[Modbert]

The "church" just keeps hoping all this abuse annoyment would go away.

To be honest, if this is the level of cases that have come out, I can't imagine are still in the dark and will be there forever.

 

[JenyEliza]

As an American Catholic of Irish descent, I say this is damning, shameful and absolutely positively unacceptable.

I hope the Church cleans house and makes all culprits accoutable for their behavior under the law--once due process has been followed.

I hope the victims are properly taken care of by the Church--financially, emotionally and spiritually.

Bet you're surprised I feel this way, eh, Doggiebreath?

 

[Modbert]

As an American Catholic of Irish descent, I say this is damning, shameful and absolutely positively unacceptable.

I hope the Church cleans house and makes all culprits accoutable for their behavior under the law--once due process has been followed.

I hope the victims are properly taken care of by the Church--financially, emotionally and spiritually.

Bet you're surprised I feel this way, eh, Doggiebreath?

Nope.

 

[Diuretic]

Many organisations cover up wrongdoing by their employees. It's why a lot of corporations won't call the cops when they discover internal fraud or if they suspect it they bring in discreet private investigators. When the evidence has been found they get rid of the offender quietly, that way no scandal.

But the Catholic Church has form for this - by the way at least here so do the Anglicans (I think in the US they're Episcopalians?).

The state in Ireland has to break free of the influence of the Catholic Church, it is a very powerful influence and for mine it has a lot to answer for. But then the Irish themselves have to come to grips with that too, they have allowed the Church to develop that level of influence. The state has to tell the Church that it is subordinate, not superordinate.

 

[Modbert]

Many organisations cover up wrongdoing by their employees. It's why a lot of corporations won't call the cops when they discover internal fraud or if they suspect it they bring in discreet private investigators. When the evidence has been found they get rid of the offender quietly, that way no scandal.

But the Catholic Church has form for this - by the way at least here so do the Anglicans (I think in the US they're Episcopalians?).

The state in Ireland has to break free of the influence of the Catholic Church, it is a very powerful influence and for mine it has a lot to answer for. But then the Irish themselves have to come to grips with that too, they have allowed the Church to develop that level of influence. The state has to tell the Church that it is subordinate, not superordinate.

Well said.

 

[Freeman]

I try to imagine the abuse of children by african churches and latin american clergy !

 

[JW Frogen]

It is pretty bad when you go to confession and you have to ask the priest to confess first.

 

[Diuretic]

It is pretty bad when you go to confession and you have to ask the priest to confess first.

Absolution is a power trip, victims are not permitted to absolve.

 

[JW Frogen]

Absolution is a power trip, victims are not permitted to absolve.

See, I do not get this Catholic theology, every since I was a kid I have told my imaginary freind what to do, not the other way around.

Still, my imaginary freind permits me to disolve.

 

[Diuretic]

Absolution is a power trip, victims are not permitted to absolve.

See, I do not get this Catholic theology, every since I was a kid I have told my imaginary freind what to do, not the other way around.

Still, my imaginary freind permits me to disolve.

Your imaginary friend is probably more of a help to you

 

[Avatar4321]

So the real question here is whether this is an actual abuse scandal or whether some people have decided that they should go after the deep pockets of the Church with a false accusastion.

 

[California Girl]

As an American Catholic of Irish descent, I say this is damning, shameful and absolutely positively unacceptable.

I hope the Church cleans house and makes all culprits accoutable for their behavior under the law--once due process has been followed.

I hope the victims are properly taken care of by the Church--financially, emotionally and spiritually.

Bet you're surprised I feel this way, eh, Doggiebreath?

As someone of a similar background (how scary is that??!!!), I agree with you.

Having said that, it would be kind of cool if the idiots who tar every Catholic priest with the same label would knock off that off.

 

[Diuretic]

As an American Catholic of Irish descent, I say this is damning, shameful and absolutely positively unacceptable.

I hope the Church cleans house and makes all culprits accoutable for their behavior under the law--once due process has been followed.

I hope the victims are properly taken care of by the Church--financially, emotionally and spiritually.

Bet you're surprised I feel this way, eh, Doggiebreath?

As someone of a similar background (how scary is that??!!!), I agree with you.

Having said that, it would be kind of cool if the idiots who tar every Catholic priest with the same label would knock off that off.

Yes, the collective guilt thing is ridiculous. But the Church has protected paedophile priests and for mine that should result in criminal charges.

 

[Anguille]

The state in Ireland has to break free of the influence of the Catholic Church, it is a very powerful influence and for mine it has a lot to answer for. But then the Irish themselves have to come to grips with that too, they have allowed the Church to develop that level of influence. The state has to tell the Church that it is subordinate, not superordinate.

They would but then they'd all get excommunicated.

 

[Valerie]

A damning report into child abuse in the Dublin archdiocese has criticised the Catholic Church hierarchy for covering up the abuse.

The report investigated how Church and state authorities handled allegations of child abuse against 46 priests

It found that the Church placed its own reputation above the protection of children in its care.

It also said that state authorities facilitated the cover-up by allowing the Church to operate outside the law.

The report stated: "The Dublin archdiocese's pre-occupations in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse, at least until the mid 1990s, were the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the Church, and the preservation of its assets."

It also said that the archdiocese "did its best to avoid any application of the law of the state".

It found that four archbishops - John Charles McQuaid who died in 1973, Dermot Ryan who died in 1984, Kevin McNamara who died in 1987, and retired Cardinal Desmond Connell - did not hand over information on abusers.

The report states that senior members of the force regarded priests as being outside their remit and it claims some police officers reported abuse complaints to Church authorities instead of carrying out their own investigation.

The commissioner of the Irish police, Fachtna Murphy, said it made for "difficult and disturbing reading, detailing as it does many instances of sexual abuse and failure on the part of both Church and State authorities to protect victims".

Disgusting, but not surprising.

Thoughts?

Robert, is there a link to the story you're quoting here?

 

[Valerie]

A damning report into child abuse in the Dublin archdiocese has criticised the Catholic Church hierarchy for covering up the abuse.

The report investigated how Church and state authorities handled allegations of child abuse against 46 priests

The report states that senior members of the force regarded priests as being outside their remit and it claims some police officers reported abuse complaints to Church authorities instead of carrying out their own investigation.

The commissioner of the Irish police, Fachtna Murphy, said it made for "difficult and disturbing reading, detailing as it does many instances of sexual abuse and failure on the part of both Church and State authorities to protect victims".

Disgusting, but not surprising.

Thoughts?

Robert, is there a link to the story you're quoting here?

>

Irish church apologises for abuse cover-up

November 28, 2009 LONDON: Three bishops, a cardinal and hundreds of Irish priests have been accused of conspiring for decades to cover up the abuse of children in a concerted bid to protect the reputation of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

A new report by the Irish Government has revealed that police also treated the priests as if they were beyond the law, allowing hundreds of children to suffer sexual attacks over a period of more than 30 years.

The Commission to Inquire into the Dublin Archdiocese - which is home to about a quarter of Ireland's Catholics - published its 700-page report into allegations of systemic abuse on Thursday.

The Irish Government, which has apologised for the state's failure to pursue church authorities and force them to submit to the law, said the investigation showed clearly that a ''systemic, calculated perversion of power and trust was visited on helpless and innocent children in the archdiocese''.

''The perpetrators must continue to be brought to justice and the people of Ireland must know that this can never happen again.''

According to the commission, the three-year investigation found a cover-up built by the Catholic Church and sustained by a ''don't ask and don't tell'' approach that also was aided by church rules.

This was helped along by state authorities who facilitated secrecy by not ''fulfilling their responsibilities to ensure that the law was applied equally to all''.

The church was allowed to ''be beyond the reach of the normal law enforcement processes''. The welfare of children ''was not even a factor to be considered in the early stages''.

The report said the focus instead was on ''the avoidance of scandal and the preservation of the good name, status and assets of the institution and … its most important members, the priests''.

The investigation revealed that the first details of allegations were shown to Cardinal Desmond Connell 14 years ago, when he was an archbishop. He was shown to have complaints against 28 priests in his files at the time.

Nor did the archbishops, three of whom have since died, hand on claims against priests or files alleging abuse.

The report did not uncover details of an organised pedophile ring. But the connections between the 46 priests found guilty of abuse and used as a representative sample of 102 priests under the auspices of the inquiry is uncovered in full.

In several cases where priests were accused of just one crime, they admitted to multiple abuses. One priest admitted fortnightly attacks on a child during his 25-year tenure of a parish. Another admitted abuse of more than 100 children. And in another case two priests had abused the same child.

The commission was scathing about the length of time it took to prosecute priests and singled out one police commissioner who in the 1960s believed priests to be beyond the law.

''There are some examples of gardai [police] actually reporting complaints to the archdiocese instead of investigating them,'' the report found.

At a news conference following the publication of the report, the current Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said he was shamed by its findings and offered an apology to survivors.

''The sexual abuse of a child is and always was a crime in civil law; it is and always was a crime in canon law; it is and always was grievously sinful.''

http://www.smh.com.au/world/irish-church-apologises-for-abuse-coverup-20091127-jwx6.html

 

[Modbert]

Sorry Val, added the BBC link. I must of accidentally deleted it when I was fixing the quotations.

 

[Father Time]

So the real question here is whether this is an actual abuse scandal or whether some people have decided that they should go after the deep pockets of the Church with a false accusastion.

If you read the article and would stop blindly defending the church as if you're their PR team you would see they have real problems with how they handle abuse allegations, it doesn't matter if they be true or not you do not put yourself and your reputation ahead of trying to find out the truth.