Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Archbishop accuses bishops of ‘hiding’ unpublished reports

THE Archbishop of Dublin has accused bishops of "hiding" unpublished child abuse reports rather than making them public.

Referring to three such reports, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said there was no point having documents "that were not published".

"If the bishop feels he is being treated unjustly, publish it and then say this is unjust," he said. "But hiding isn’t helping."

Archbishop Dermot Clifford, who took over the running of Cloyne Diocese after Bishop John Magee stepped down, said he hoped Dr Magee, who has not appeared in public since the report was published, would come forward and "meet a media group representative" to discuss the implications of the Cloyne report.

Archbishop Clifford said an "awful lot will have to be done to make sure it [the abuse] doesn’t happen again", but this was being tackled.

Victims have urged the Vatican to strip both Dr Magee and Monsignor Denis O’Callaghan of their titles for their failure to handle claims of abuse.

Meanwhile, it could be months before gardaí will know if criminal investigations can be launched on the back of the Cloyne report. 

Of the 19 priests named, 10 are dead and one has left the priesthood.

Victim support group One in Four has claimed nine out of 10 of the complaints it made to the HSE about suspected sex offenders were not being followed up.

Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald said the cases needed to be assessed to see if there was any current risk to children, and that the Government would make sure the cases were investigated.