By Ralph Riegel
Thursday September 06 2012
FRESH concerns emerged over how church dioceses share information after a report revealed that three priests who retired to Ireland had child abuse convictions.
The National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) published its review of child protection practices in the diocese yesterday.
The NBSC focused particular attention on priests who retired to the diocese from overseas, or who spent considerable time here in their retirement .
Three of these were found to have child abuse convictions from overseas. One man has now been removed from the priesthood.
None are the focus of any abuse complaints in relation to the Diocese of Cork and Ross — and none had any involvement with church activities or children’s groups here. But the NBSC said it was crucial that proper information be shared between dioceses.
“Information on the status of these priests was not as forthcoming as it should have been from their home dioceses, which resulted in a lack of awareness of potential risk,” the report added.
Bishop of Cork and Ross Dr John Buckley said: “The clear message here is that we never accept a priest for our diocese from either a religious congregation or a diocese abroad without a statement saying that this priest is in good standing.”
Dr Buckley said that priests felt “very demoralised” by the clerical abuse controversies.
But the bishop once again apologised to all abuse victims.
“We seek forgiveness for what they have suffered . . . they were let down,” Dr Buckley said.
The also report found that the Diocese of Cork and Ross now boasts one of Ireland’s most effective child protection regimes.
The NBSC found that the diocese was in full compliance with 42 of its 47 safety criteria — and is in partial compliance with five other criteria.
Full compliance is expected before Christmas.
The main recommendation is that Dr Buckley now issues a pastoral letter to all 68 parishes, inviting clerical abuse victims to come forward.
Other findings include that abuse allegations were made against 26 diocesan priests since 1975, and were made by 50 individuals.
Of the 26 priests against whom allegations were levelled, eight are now deceased, and 15 have left the ministry. Four priests have been convicted of offences against children in the diocese since 1975.
And three priests were restored to full ministry after being cleared following exhaustive garda, Health Service Executive (HSE) and church investigations.
– Ralph Riegel
Irish Independent
@Raymond:
Guilty of Moral Cowardice then?
BTW, the effects of childhood conditioning (good or bad) more often than not, last a lifetime.
There’s no need for me to replace my memories of my childhood experiences of growing up in the Holy Catholic Ireland of the 1950’s with the horrific experiences of others under other Tyrannies, because my own will never be forgotten. I have no illusions about the Catholic Church or any other organised Ideology.
No-one is ever guilty of Fear.
Even less, of Insanity.
But Ignorance? Now that is another thing altogether, which we can certainly not claim. Over and over again.
If I have to explain, then I feel that argument is lost in advance.
Like I said, please check the following links:
http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/wiesel-transcript.htm
Or Youtube (replace mentally the pictures, with your own Irish images):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RwGmYHyJ0
Hi Raymond,
You wrote (amongst other things):-
“The Irish People is GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY.”
Guilty of what exactly? Ignorance? Fear? Insanity?
Who knows? It could be one or all three of them.
Kind regards,
Martha
Dear Martha.
Thank you for your concern. I am quite alright I assure you. I wasn’t born here, but I’ve had the same kind of life as you describe for yourself, and I could be just a few hundred yards from you. Do I blame the Irish people? Well now Martha, we are years past ANY EXCUSES. ANY EXCUSE WHATSOEVER AT ALL AT ALL. This may be connected to the Famine and the British Empire, but come on now Martha: when we have been presented with MOUNTAINS of IRREFUTABLE EVIDENCE, FACTS and PROOFS, there is NO excuse now, to tolerate these injustices one more minute! This is NOT 1945 anymore. We are well past Nuremberg. It will simply NOT DO, to keep hiding behind our wonderful Irish Creativity, Intelligence, Inventiveness, Wit and Ingenuity. Oh! and the “Craic”. I can only VOTE and choose as I do, and encourage a complete change for the Referendum on the Rights of the Child.
But once again, I will say:
The Irish People is GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY.
Hear now the words of ELIE WIESEL: (Google his speech The Perils of Indifference, given in front of Bill Clinton in 1999, or listen to it on Youtube)
“…Indifference is not a beginning, it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor, never his victim …… Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment….. Why the indifference, on the highest level, to the suffering of the victims?
Is it any wonder that Ireland is in the state we are today?
They are in fantasy world. I had a religious sister tell a lie to my face. She told me “we never imprisoned anybody” when I challenged her to the face about Magdalene Laundries. I told her the truth states otherwise and they will be held account.
Pauline wrote:-
“Any change will have to start in schools.”
With respect Pauline, the EDUCATION of children begins at home, that is, where they are born and raised. You are making the same mistake so many people make, namely confusing Education with Schooling. They are not the same thing. To quote Mark Twain: “I have never let my schooling get in the way of my education”.
So, you are right when you say the Catholic Church (as an organisation) has done terrible damage to children – that’s what ALL organised religions do. Organised religion is a contradictions in terms, because it goes against the grain of Nature, or Evolution itself. But then, there’s “Method in Madness” – so I guess we humans will inevitably see a great reduction in our numbers: 7bilion people on the planet now and most of them want an iPhone? Dear oh dear …
Dear Raymond, I read your post above, and I feel so sorry for you. I understand your anguish, but the fact is, MOST Irish people (not just here in Ireland) are desensitised by their own personal history – which is why they are in mere “Survival Mode”. Do you blame them? I don’t. Nor do I identify with their essentially egotistical mentality. But that’s just me …
By the way, I’m Irish born and bred myself. I’m a mother who happens to live in Dublin, having travelled and lived abroad for many years. So, I reckon my “education” (having ventured out of the RC closet, as it were) helped give me a more objective view of what actually goes on in Irish society.
I often laugh my head off at the farcical way the Irish behave, but I’ve cried a lot about it too. At the end of the day, there’s not much one can do about the Fools and the Mad people …
Any change will have to start in schools. All this just proves that the whole system has gone wrong. In imposing so many priests and nuns in such a small island meant that thay took over things thay know nothing about.how many children couples have. who pays the bills doesnt seem to bother them at all. its not vows that makes anybody happy in thier life.its being healthy. there is too much domination in the catholic method of educating children.but apologies after other apolegies is useless to all. it isint about rites. the way all children have been damaged is terrable. thay are too violent.
Dear Paddy.
I hope you and your family are well. And all your friends and dear visitors to your site.
We don’t speak so often these days, as we used to. In-between Reports.
Except now, just WHEN the Reports come out.
And these days, even THEY don’t have Names anymore:
Ferns,Ryan, Murphy, Cloyne…etc
Now they’re just AUDITS.
And THAT might be alright, if things were changing, if the Victims were getting JUSTICE,
if there were IMPROVEMENTS, and if the CRIMES surrounding ABUSE had stopped.
But sadly, NOTHING HAS CHANGED. And when nothing changes in a static situation, it actually goes BACKWARDS.
We IRISH are in such a state of DENIAL and ALIENATION, that it will take a MIRACLE
from abroad, or from OUTER SPACE, to wake us up and shake us into Life and REALITY.
Today’s AUDIT ! shows that what was awfully terrible, is actually WORSE !!
EVERYBODY is at it: The Politicians. The Police. The Judges and the Courts. The Health System.
The social workers. The entertainers. The voters. And the media.
And a good life and career they get out of it. With legal immunity and great pensions too.
They all get away with it. Now we have the person who has been in-charge of the developed world’s worst prison ( Mountjoy – Dublin) on his own TV show, telling us the poor children must be EDUCATED!
Never mind that the same children have NO RIGHT in Irish Law and Constitution. And we as parents can BEAT THE CRAP out of them, FOR THEIR OWN GOOD. Just because WE still think we know best.
Anyway: it’s not REFERENDUM DAY yet……
The COMMON AMNESIA – DENIAL – is such in Ireland today, that it is nay impossible to see
WHERE will the help come from! It is obviously an IN-SURMOUNTABLE task from within.
So where even from with-OUT of our borders? Europe? in the Court of Human Rights?
IS LOUISE O’KEEFFE OUR BEST HOPE?
Who will SHAME us. FINE us to the rafters. ACCUSE us. And EXPOSE US for the crimes we are committing against Humanity’s MOST VULNERABLE ???
The Truth – ONCE AGAIN – is that, as a proud Nation, as an ENTIRE PEOPLE,
WE – JUST – DON’T – CARE !!!
Our athletes are cleaning up with medals at the London Para-Olympics, yet the Government will strip the very same people
of their most basic entitlements.
The Government is doing so – with much protest from the Politicians themselves – because the Troika says so.
When a Mother seeks help for HERSELF and HER CHILD, none is forthcoming from the people who SHOULD DO SO.
Who SHOULD know better. No answer to her call, until she actually TAKES THE LIFE OF HER CHILD !
This Summer saw a murderous criminal allowed out, WITH HIS PASSPORT. Today he is on the run, stalking his victim, and because Interpol are involved, the Gardai are only NOW responding.
We have the worst of reports on SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN. We have the MOST REPORTS. Consequently, we have the MOST VICTIMS of Sexual Abuse, with probably THE MOST INJURIES IN THE WORLD.
Yet nothing has changed. Nothing is changing.
One solution would be to FREEZE and SEIZE ALL THE ASSETS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN IRELAND: the lands, the churches, the buildings, monasteries, convents, bank accounts…etc. PURSUE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AS A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION. And USE ALL THE ASSETS TO PROVIDE: a) REDRESS and COMPENSATION FOR ALL THE VICTIMS OF ABUSE and b) RETIRE, RETRAIN and RECYCLE…etc, THE GOOD-WILLING MEMBERS OF THIS DISBANDED EVIL ORGANIZATION (meaning that none of these expenses should come out of the State coffers).
The fight for Justice and Redress continues, but for now, dear Paddy, I wish you and your family well, and thank you for this site you offer.
Till the next Audit………