Monday, February 13, 2012

Abuse victims hit back after priest claims ‘vendetta’ against him

Victims of Father Ronat, the Cloyne priest who is to go before a canonical tribunal that can recommend he be defrocked, have reminded him they have letters of apology from the diocese for the abuse they suffered.

Eleven complaints were made to gardaí about the priest, who used to minister in North Cork.

In comments made to a newspaper this week, the priest claimed a "deliberate vendetta" had been waged against him, that victims had harassed him and that he had received "vulgar and distressing" texts and calls from the women.

Fr Ronat also said he will argue in the upcoming Church tribunal that there were significant contradictions in victim accounts made to inquiries and to the media.

The victims have described his comments as "pathetic" and "hurtful".

The diocese’s handling of complaints against Fr Ronat was investigated by the Church’s National Board for Safeguarding Children and by Judge Yvonne Murphy as part of the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation. He has never been convicted in court.

One victim, Fennella, last night said: "Let him do whatever he wants to do. Let him question my letter of apology. I don’t have to paint myself as a victim and I have never painted myself as a victim."

In a direct response to Fr Ronat, she said: "Bring on the tribunal. I’m not afraid of you. We’re not giving up the fight."

Another victim described the priest as "pathetic and clearly demented".

"The Church didn’t compensate us to find him not guilty," she added.

Last night, a spokesman for Cloyne’s Apostolic administrator Archbishop Dermot Clifford said he would not comment as there "was a process under way at the moment".

A canonical tribunal against Fr Ronat was started by the diocese in 2009 but was suspended when Barry Andrews, the former children’s minister, requested that Judge Murphy investigate the handling of abuse complaints in the diocese.

While the wider report was published last summer, the chapter pertaining to Fr Ronat was not published in full until December due to earlier court proceedings.

In the aftermath of the publication of chapter 9, the victims have been offered further counselling by Towards Healing.