Eurlings, Bos, de katholieke emancipatie en de baboe uit Ferns

Voorstel zet de ex-Maastrichtse burgemeenster van Leers erbij!Niet slechts een bekwaam in een democratie ontredderd teruggefloten bestuurder met verantwoordelijkheidsbesef én een wachtgeldregeling, vooral een vent die over het meer dan noodzakelijke ingredient humor beschikt maar ook de meest deskundige opmerking maakte die ik in Nederland ooit hoorde of las!Hij beschikt bovendien over de gave van tussen neus en lippen door ongevraagd iets te laten vallen.Zoals hij ruim een jaar terug in het NOS journaal demonstreerde mbt. de debatten: wat motten we met die pedo's in de stad.


Hij liet even vallen als middenstandzoon bij de fraters op kostschool te hebben gezeten en hoewel hij wist van het veelvuldig misbruik daar zelf nooit seksueel te zijn misbruikt.Hij had daar een hele duidelijke verklaring voor: ik wist dat ik van mijn ouders zo'n broeder een trap in zijn kruis mocht geven wanneer dat nodig was!


BRUSSEL (RKnieuws.net) - Caritas Internationalis vraagt een betere bescherming van migranten, die in het gastland allerlei vormen van huishoudelijk werk verrichten bij particulieren, zoals dienstmeid, kinderoppas, huisbewaarder, gezinshelper of thuisverzorger. Het gaat hierbij overwegend om vrouwen.
Huispersoneel wordt vaak uitgebuit en beschikt maar zelden over enige vorm van wettelijke bescherming.

Misbruiken zijn moeilijk op te sporen omdat alles zich afspeelt binnen de beslotenheid van privé-woningen.
"Mensen, die huishoudelijk werk verrichten, lopen niet enkel het risico van misbruik, ze hebben daarenboven geen sociale zekerheid, maken lange werkdagen en worden onderbetaald. Velen durven durven geen klacht indienen, uit vrees voor eventuele wraakacties van hun werkgever. Zo blijven ze in stilte verder leven als ’moderne slaven’", zegt Martina Liebsch van Caritas Internationalis.

Daarom roept ze de regeringen en internationale organisaties op om zich te ontfermen over hun lot. Internationale wetgeving in de maak De Internationale Arbeidsorganisatie (IAO), de VN-organisatie voor arbeidsvraagstukken, met hoofdzetel in Genève, bereidt een ontwerp-verdrag voor over de rechten van huishoudpersoneel, dat in juni ter goedkeuring wordt voorgelegd aan de Algemene Vergadering van de VN.

In dat verband dringt Caritas Internationalis aan op speciale maatregelen voor migranten, zodat hun werk- of verblijfsvergunning niet afhankelijk zijn van of geblokkeerd worden door de particuliere werkgever, waarvoor ze huishoudelijk leveren.

In veel landen bestaan er geen legale kanalen voor de toenemende internationale arbeidsmigratie. Caritas Internationalis vraagt dat de kwetsbare categorie van huishoudelijke werkers dezelfde wettelijke rechten heeft als alle andere werknemers. Caritas steunt de plannen van de IAO om in de gastlanden speciale uitzendbureaus op te richten. Die bureaus zouden er dan moeten op toezien dat deze mensen op legale wijze worden ingezet als huispersoneel bij particulieren, en dat de geldende wettelijke arbeidsvoorwaarden en de kwaliteit van het werk worden geëerbiedigd.

Quit now or be fired: final ultimatum to prelates, Archbishop will ask Vatican to act if quartet don't resign

By John Cooney, Ciaran Byrne and Brian McDonald
Saturday December 19 2009
Irish Independent

THE Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin will seek to have four bishops fired by the Vatican if they refuse to step down over the Murphy report into child sex abuse cases in Dublin.

The dramatic development emerged as one of the embattled bishops, Martin Drennan of Galway, accused Dublin's Archbishop Martin of calling his integrity into question.

Bishop Drennan, one of the four former auxiliary bishops who served in Dublin, is under fierce pressure to resign to show "collective responsibility" for the abuse scandals.

The three other bishops facing calls to go are Dublin auxiliaries, Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field, and the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Jim Moriarty, a previous auxiliary in Dublin.

Archbishop Martin last night refused to make a public comment on his tense relations with Bishop Drennan.

But sources told the Irish Independent that if the four bishops -- who say they did no wrong -- do not stand down voluntarily on the principle of collective responsibility, Archbishop Martin will petition the Congregation of Bishops in Rome to fire them.

The prospect of their resignations moved a step closer yesterday after school principals demanded all four should step down as patrons of hundreds of primary schools.

The Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN) also wants the four bishops to be accountable for their actions -- or inactions -- in discharging their child protection responsibilities.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen also waded into the row, firmly backing Archbishop Martin's stance and saying it was "a time for leadership and accountability" from the Catholic Church.

Mr Cowen said: "The resignation of Bishop Murray is a welcome indication that those who are in positions of leadership and responsibility in the Church are facing up to their responsibility in the light of the very clear findings of the Murphy Commission."

Despite the developments, Bishop Drennan mounted a robust defence of his position yesterday, hitting back at a call by Archbishop Martin to take collective responsibility for the report into systematic cover-up of abuse complaints from victims of priests.

Interpreting a letter from Archbishop Martin as seeking his resignation as head of the Galway diocese, Bishop Drennan said his conscience was clear and he had no intention of resigning from office.

Support

Earlier yesterday, he hinted he might quit, telling a local radio station he was "not sure" if he would resign. Later he claimed he had received phone calls of support following the interview.

There was growing speculation last night that the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Dr Jim Moriarty may take the decision to step down in the face of grassroots anger at his handling of sex abuse cases.

Some parents in Co Carlow have suggested they will remove their children from religious sacraments officiated by the bishop, a move that might make his post untenable.

Bishop Moriarty has said he does not consider that there are any grounds on which he should resign. But several parents in one parish had decided not to allow their children to attend a Confirmation ceremony if Bishop Moriarty was officiating at it.

Last night a senior Dublin priest openly sided with Archbishop Martin and said that more resignations of bishops named in the Murphy report were "inevitable."

Fr Joe Mullen, chairman of the Dublin Council of Priests, said: "If they don't resign or if this moment that we're in doesn't move in a way that seems to be fuelled by forgiveness and justice and a sense of recognition of hurt and hope for healing, then maybe we'll all be retiring, if not resigning".

In two interviews yesterday, Bishop Drennan pointed out that nothing negative had been said about him in the Murphy report on clerical sex abuse.

- JOHN COONEY, CIARAN BYRNE and BRIAN McDONALD

All church leaders share in collective failure, One resignation by a negligent bishop will not be enough. The church’s cover-up of crimes is systemic

The Irish Times -
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
THE SCALE and deliberate nature of the cover-up revealed by the Murphy report has left many people outraged and, quite understandably, there have been vociferous calls for accountability. In the white heat of the past week much of the outrage has been directed at Bishop of Limerick Dr Donal Murray, who now seems set to resign, but the responsibility for such a wide and systemic cover-up cannot be limited to one man.

All those who held positions of responsibility in the Archdiocese of Dublin are implicated in this institutional cover-up.

The role of Bishop Eamonn Walsh is significant. He served as secretary to Archbishop McNamara before his appointment as auxiliary bishop in 1990. He was a member of the first Dublin Archdiocese Advisory Panel established by Desmond Connell in 1996 to monitor child protection.

One of the cases considered by the panel in 1997 was that of Fr Noel Reynolds. Cardinal Connell put in place an investigation into complaints about the priest in late 1995, though it appears complaints against Reynolds dated back as far as the 1970s. The panel considered the case in March 1997 and decided that there was no clear evidence of child sexual abuse but that some inappropriate behaviour did happen.

In 1998 a social worker told Bishop Walsh that a client had alleged she had been abused by Reynolds. Bishop Walsh told her to write to the chancellor, Msgr Dolan. He did not tell her to report the case to the Garda, nor did he do so himself. In fact the archdiocese decided that no formal complaint had been made and they therefore didn’t report the case to the Garda or to the health board.

In June 1999, the social worker contacted the archdiocese to inform them that two sisters had contacted the gardaí to make a complaint about Fr Reynolds. Later the same month, the archdiocese finally contacted the Garda and informed them that it had received complaints of sexual abuse by Reynolds in the late 1970s. Reynolds later admitted he sexually assaulted more than 20 children. He told gardaí he had inserted a crucifix into the vagina and anus of one of his victims, even offering the crucifix to gardaí as evidence.

The archdiocese appears to have informed the Garda of the complaints only after it became clear that the victims had themselves reported Reynolds to the Garda.

It is not the only occasion when Bishop Walsh was involved in the delayed passing on of information to the civil authorities. In his role as administrator of the diocese of Ferns, Bishop Walsh was responsible for ensuring that all information about child abuse concerns held on church files was passed to the Ferns inquiry

In the summer of 2005, I was approached by a woman who had been abused in the early 1970s by a priest from the diocese of Ferns. She was certain the diocese had been aware of the complaint for more than 20 years, and in an effort to know what the diocese might have held on file about her, she contacted them in May 2005. She became dissatisfied with the response of the diocese and in July she contacted me at the offices of One in Four

At the request of Pamela, the pseudonym the woman was given in the Ferns report, I wrote to Bishop Walsh on July 14th, 2005, asking that any further contact with her should be routed through One in Four, thus putting the diocese on notice that One in Four was aware of the case. One in Four also arranged for Pamela to attend the inquiry.

Two weeks later, some two months after Pamela first contacted the diocese of Ferns, the diocese sent documents to the Ferns inquiry that made it clear the complaint against the priest had been known to the diocese since the early 1970s. These files had not been disclosed to the inquiry.

The diocese explained that this was due to “a regrettable error” on its part. Following a full review of files held by the diocese, information relating to a further eight priests was found not to have been disclosed as a result of this same “regrettable error”. Five of the eight cases were found to be relevant to the inquiry, but could not be properly investigated as the inquiry had concluded its investigation. Bishop Walsh was fully aware of at least two of these cases, having reviewed both upon his appointment to Ferns in 2002. This review involved meeting both of the priests involved and referring one for assessment. Yet he failed to notify the inquiry of either case for more than three years.

Fr Iota, who abused Pamela, had spent more than 20 years working in São Paolo, Brazil. He remained in ministry there until after Pamela made her complaint, despite the evidence contained in the diocesan files. It is hard to understand how this was possible if Bishop Walsh had properly reviewed all files upon his appointment in 2002.
In late 2006 I went to São Paolo while making the BBC television Panorama film, Sex Crimes and the Vatican. I visited the impoverished community where Fr Iota had lived for two decades. I went to see his house, beneath which was a creche. I interviewed the bishop of the diocese there about the case.

The Ferns report said Bishop Walsh had undertaken to find out if there were any concerns about Fr Iota during his time in São Paolo. I asked the bishop if he had been asked to carry out any such investigation by Bishop Walsh. He replied he had not, and that he had no reason to believe any such investigation was even necessary as Fr Iota had denied the allegations, and that he believed the priest. He said he had limited contact with the diocese of Ferns about the case.

It is certain that the negligence and deceit uncovered in Dublin extend to church leaders across all dioceses. No one resignation will account for their collective failure or make things right.

Colm OGorman is the founder and former director of One in Four and the author of Beyond Belief. He writes here in a personal capacity. Rite and Reason has been held over

'Regret' as report not published in full

The Irish Times - Thursday, November 26, 2009PATSY McGARRY Religious Affairs Correspondent

THE DUBLIN Archdiocese Commission of Investigation has expressed regret that “due to circumstances outside its control” its report will not be published in full today.

Acknowledging the disappointment this would cause, it said this would also mean that “a full picture is not available” where the actions of some people in church and State authorities were concerned. It also described as “a cause of great regret” the leaking of the report, or parts of it, to a newspaper last weekend.

The report into how allegations of clerical child sex abuse were handled by church and State authorities in Dublin’s Catholic Archdiocese will be published this afternoon by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern and Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews.

In its statement last night, the commission said “as is clear from the judgment . . . issued on November 19th, decisions were made by the DPP after the report was delivered to the Minister and those decisions could not have been taken into account by the commission in its report”.

It realised this would mean that some people “will be disappointed to discover that, because of recent directions of the High Court, the parts of the report relating to them are not being published”. However, it wished to assure those people “such publication will eventually occur as this is a requirement of the legislation” governing all commissions of investigation.

It recognised that complainants concerned “are likely to suffer the greatest disappointment” but went on to note that “there are also people in church and State authorities about whose actions a full picture is not available because of present exclusions”.

Referring to media leaks, the commission pointed out that for three and a half years it had been “in possession of extremely sensitive information which it had guarded well”. It was “a cause of great regret” to it, therefore, that the report, or parts of it, were leaked last weekend.

It said those responsible for the leak clearly took no account of the distress that its partial publication could cause to the complainants and to those whose actions were subjected to scrutiny in the report.

The commission was chaired by Ms Justice Yvonne Murphy and included barrister Ita Mangan and solicitor Hugh O’Neill. Their report is believed to be over 700 pages long and deals with a sample of 46 priests against whom allegations were made.

The commission was set up in March 2006 and its completed report was presented to the Minister for Justice on July 21st. Its investigation covered the period from January 1st, 1975, to April 30th, 2004, though some earlier allegations re-emerged in that period.

It addressed how allegations were dealt with by four archbishops, including the Most Rev John Charles McQuaid, the Most Rev Dermot Ryan, the Most Rev Kevin McNamara and Cardinal Desmond Connell, all of whom were auxiliary bishops of Dublin over the period as well as chancellors of the archdiocese.

Murphy report doesn't have to shock us but it should make an impact

By Padraig O'Morain
Monday November 23 2009
Herald.ie Opinion

Let's not underestimate the importance of Judge Yvonne Murphy's report into clerical child abuse in the Dublin archdiocese, due to be published this week.

Survivors of abuse will be disappointed that legal reasons prevent the naming of priests who committed crimes against children.

They will also be disappointed certain sections of the report will not be published because to do so could jeopardise ongoing or forthcoming prosecutions.

What's really important, though, is the impact the report will have on the behaviour of the Church in the future -- and also on the behaviour of other big organisations that affect the lives of vulnerable people.

That's more important than whether we will be shocked by the contents of the report or whether we will be disappointed by what is left out of this week's publication.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has assured us that we will be shocked by what we read.

Will we though? I doubt it. We have known for a long time that such abuse happened and was covered up.

We have known for a long time that every legalistic obstacle was put in the way of survivors' attempts to get justice.

And we have known for a long time that it was only relentless work by survivors, often with a sympathetic media behind them, that brought us to this point.

Judge Yvonne Murphy's report brings all of this together in a way that will make it impossible for the Church to deny the gravity of what happened.

There is no doubting Archbishop Martin's good will in all this but the church is a big organisation and we know from Ferns and other situations that it is highly resistant to anything it sees as contrary to its own interests.

Big organisations in general, as we know, tend to put their own interests before those of the people they are there to serve. That is why we need constant vigilance.

That, unfortunately, is why the Murphy Report is so important. Without inquiries like this, big organisations go on getting away with bad behaviour and will do it again and again.

And big organisations are very good at concealing what is going on.

They have many hiding places and they can put up many barriers, almost impenetrable to attempts by the media, by survivors and by others to expose what is going on.

The Catholic Church is the biggest and oldest of them all. It acted with a cavalier disregard for the children who were being sexually abused by a small number of rogue priests.

Like other big organisations, this one used to be trusted implicitly by its members. Unlike other big organisations, this one made a major point of attempting to suppress sexual activity by its members and by society in general.

For centuries, school children were warned by this Church that even to enjoy a "bad thought" was enough to get you thrown into hellfire after your death.

Outrageous

This makes it all the more outrageous that the Church was prepared to cover sexual misbehaviour (and that is putting it very mildly indeed) by that small number of rogue priests.

We know all about that breathtaking disregard for duty. What we don't know is what the future holds. But unless we learn the lessons of the past, the sins of the past will be repeated. That's as true of the Catholic Church as it is of any other big organisation.

The Murphy Report is not really about the past. It is really about ensuring those lessons are learned and that vigilance against sexual abuse by trusted people becomes a core and continuing part of how it does its business.

Despite the suppression of chapters and of names for legal reasons, this report will contribute hugely to that. Let us hope we have seen an end to obstacles to its publication.

- Padraig O'Morain

Little children were neglected to uphold the Church's name

Irish Independent
By Michael O'Brien
Monday November 23 2009
It was a cover-up, plain and simple.
Although we don't know exactly what the report has said because we are still waiting for it to be published in its entirety, all indications are that successive archbishops knew about the abuse.

And not only were they aware of it, they knew the extent of it.

They knew which priests were involved, the parishes they served in, and the children who they took advantage of in the most horrific way.

And then they did the only thing which was worse than ignoring it -- they tried to cover it up.

Instead of protecting the children, they tried to protect the Church's good name.

This is despite the fact that these people -- people we looked up to -- were passing on child after child to each other to be abused.

It is time for the Church and State to carry out an investigation in every diocese across the country. If it was being covered up in one diocese, we can be sure it was happening in every other one.

The question is, how can we save vulnerable children from being abused if it is continuously being swept under the carpet?

No young girl should be allowed to be raped, or young boy buggered, because someone in authority doesn't want the truth to be revealed.

Now that this report will be out in the public domain and people realise the full extent of what was going on, we can hope that something is going to happen, something will change.

But even now things are too slow.

Last May a group of victims, including myself, met with the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen. We wanted him to go to the religious orders, to talk to them on our behalf. But we haven't heard a single word since.

We're also waiting to hear back from the bishops about a committee they've set up to meet with victims and their support groups.

Justice
We want them to subscribe to the redress of all people who have been abused in institutions but we're still being kept away.

The fact of the matter is that even now a child could go into a home at the age of six and be there until they're 16.

But if you commit a crime, a stabbing, or sell drugs, you could be out in six years or even six months. Where's the justice in that?

Right now we have Archbishop Diarmuid Martin at the helm and he seems to be the first one to have grasped things by the mettle and to have done a good job.

But it's time that happened all over Ireland, in every diocese and every parish. As an abuse victim my heart goes out to all those who have been abused and who are reading now that this was covered up by so many for so long.

I can't ask them to get over it but I'm with them in spirit. There should be no more talk of indemnity -- we must never hear that word again. And we must collectively say: Never again on our watch.

Michael O'Brien is a survivor of clerical abuse and a member of the group Right to Peace.
- Michael O'Brien

Child sex abuse report won't be made public for several weeks

Irish Independant

22-10-2009

...

Lawyers acting for Justice Minister Dermot Ahern yesterday asked High Court judge Mr Justice Paul Gilligan to consider a new issue, which had not been brought to his attention when he heard the main case regarding publication of the report earlier this month.

The new issue is believed to concern potential criminal proceedings that could yet result from a current garda investigation, amid fears that elements in the report might jeopardise a possible prosecution.

Last week, Judge Gilligan ruled that all but one chapter, and 21 other references in the report relating to a particular priest, were to be excluded from publication in case it prejudiced criminal proceedings.

The ruling paved the way for the imminent publication of the vast bulk of the report.

But yesterday's intervention by Mr Ahern, following late night discussions on Tuesday with the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions and justice officials, will further delay publication of the long-awaited report.

The new matter had not been brought to Judge Gilligan's attention when he was asked, last July, for directions on whether the report could be published. The issue was also not raised at the three most recent hearings on the report.

Publication will point the way forward -- Martin

Irish Independant

22-10-2009

The archbishop said he did not know when the report would be released, but added: "It's very interesting, this question was brought to the courts on September 8 and we are now six weeks on.

"It just goes to show that there is a very difficult balance that needs to be attained. My hope is, and I've said this on many occasions, the sooner the report comes out the better."

Survivors of sexual abuse urged to reach out for help

By Evelyn Ring

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

SUPPORT agencies are urging survivors of sexual abuse to reach out for help when the Dublin Archdiocese Report is published.

After the Ryan Report was published last May thousands of people contacted counselling and advocacy services for help.

According to a joint statement issued by Connect, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Faoiseamh and One in Four, there were a number of suicides associated with the period after the Ryan Report was published.

The agencies have asked relatives and friends of people affected by the soon to be published Dublin Archdiocese Report to be supportive.

It also wants doctors, nurses and other professionals working in hospitals and the community to be aware of the challenges facing survivors at this difficult time.

...rest artikel plus

Ruling on Dublin child sex abuse report ready

Irish Times
October 14, 2009
PATSY McGARRY
Religious Affairs Correspondent

THE HIGH Court is to deliver its reserved judgment tomorrow morning on what content of the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation report may be published at this time.

The judgment will be delivered in public and follows in camera proceedings on the matter that took place on October 1st and 2nd last.

The report followed an investigation by the commission into how clerical child sex abuse allegations involving a sample of 46 priests were handled by Catholic Church authorities in Dublin between January 1st, 1975, and April 30th, 2004. Some of the cases involve men facing child-abuse charges.

Under section 38 of the the Commission of Investigation Act 2004, the Minister for Justice must seek directions from the High Court if it is felt publication of a commission report might prejudice criminal proceedings, pending or in progress.

On receipt of the report last July, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern referred it to the Attorney General who, in turn, advised that it be referred to the High Court. In doing so the Minister said that he was anxious the matters it dealt with were “put into the public domain as quickly as possible”.

He expressed concern that nothing should be done that would harm the prospects of perpetrators of abuse being brought to justice.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin said last week his “personal preference would be for the report to come out quickly and in its integrity because, reading it in its integrity, the question emerges better”.

Cloyne: Women claim clerical sex abuse

Last December, the chief executive of the National Board for Safeguarding Children, Ian Elliott, criticised child-protection practices in the Diocese of Cloyne as inadequate and dangerous in that they potentially exposed vulnerable children to further harm.

Mr Elliott said meetings held by the diocesan authorities to examine allegations of sexual abuse by five people against two priests in the diocese in 2004 and 2005 appeared to be more “focused on the needs of the accused priest” than addressing the needs of the children.

Saturday, October 10, 2009
Irish Times
Two complaints of assaults by Cork priests in 1980s were reported to Gardaí this year, writes Southern Correspondent, BARRY ROCHE

GARDAÍ IN Co Cork have sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) following an investigation into complaints of clerical sexual abuse against two priests in the Diocese of Cloyne more than 20 years ago.

Two women in their 40s came forward independently this year and complained that they were sexually assaulted by two priests in the diocese in the late 1980s when they were both aged 17.

One woman alleged she was sexually assaulted by both priests while visiting the parochial house that the two men shared; the second woman alleged she was assaulted by one of the priests while visiting the same house.

The complaint made by one woman against one of the priests – who is now in his 70s and retired – brings to six the number of complaints that have been made against him by six different women over the last four years.

The first five of these complaints were investigated by gardaí and five separate files were prepared and sent to the DPP. However, in all five cases the DPP directed that there should be no prosecution.

The priest, who had attended voluntarily at a Garda station in Co Cork for interview in relation to some of the earlier complaints, again attended at the station voluntarily last month and was questioned about the most recent complaints.

The second priest, who is in his 50s, had not been the subject of complaints previously, and he stood down from pastoral duties this year when he learned that allegations of sexual assault had been made against him.

This priest also attended voluntarily at the same Garda station last month for interview by detectives, who questioned him about the complaints of sexual assault against him by the two women.

The Diocese of Cloyne issued a statement at the time he stood down saying he had agreed to go on administrative leave.

The diocese stressed in its statement that its focus was on child protection, and the complaint was being dealt with “in accordance with the standards and guidance document Safeguarding Children of the National Board for Safeguarding Children”.

Last December, the chief executive of the National Board for Safeguarding Children, Ian Elliott, criticised child-protection practices in the Diocese of Cloyne as inadequate and dangerous in that they potentially exposed vulnerable children to further harm.

Mr Elliott said meetings held by the diocesan authorities to examine allegations of sexual abuse by five people against two priests in the diocese in 2004 and 2005 appeared to be more “focused on the needs of the accused priest” than addressing the needs of the children.

Mr Elliott’s criticism was based on an examination of how the diocese handled complaints of sexual abuse made against two priests whom he identified as Fr A, who was accused of abusing a young boy; and Fr B, who was separately accused of abusing three young girls.

Release date of abuse report is delayed

Suspect priests were shielded, report reveals

Irish Independant

THE long-awaited report on how Cardinal Desmond Connell and other members of the Catholic hierarchy in Dublin handled child sex abuse allegations has shocked senior officials in the Department of Justice.

Officials who have seen it say it is "damning" and "doesn't pull punches" as it documents how suspect priests were moved from one parish to the next, shielded from the rigours of the law, according to sources.

The report on child abuse in the Dublin archdiocese was submitted to the Minister for Justice last week but a publication date is uncertain. The Government has asked the Attorney General for legal advice on publishing the report because it names at least two priests who face prosecution on child abuse offences.

There are fears their trials may be prejudiced.

"The report is pretty damning of the Catholic hierarchy," said the source.
Dermot Ahern, the Minister for Justice, is believed to be studying the report this weekend, now that his controversial Criminal Justice Amendment Act has been signed into law.

"The minister wants the report to be published as soon as possible. There is a legal process in place and the last thing the minister wants to see is a trial being prejudiced because of premature publication of the report," said a spokesman for Mr Ahern.

The Commission of Inquiry into the Dublin archdiocese examined the responses of 19 bishops to the alleged sexual abuse of 450 children by Catholic priests.

There were so many cases of alleged child abuse that the commission focussed on a representative sample of 46 priests, investigating in detail how they were handled by church superiors.

Dr Diarmuid Martin, the Archbishop of Dublin, has warned that the report will shock and horrify the public once the contents become known. He has said that since 1940 more than 400 children had been abused by at least 152 priests in the Dublin area.

"It is likely that thousands of young people across Ireland were abused by priests in the period under investigation and the horror of that abuse was not recognised for what it is," he said.

The commission of inquiry was established in 2006 and was chaired by Circuit Court Judge Yvonne Murphy. The overall cost of the Commission of Investigation to date is €3.6m, a figure which covers administration, staffing costs and legal fees.



July 26, 2009
By John Burke

The report into clerical sex abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese will not be published before the end of August at the earliest, The Sunday Business Post has learned.

The report is understood to detail the widespread cover-up of child abuse in the archdiocese, with a number of abusers moved from one ministry to another after church figures were informed of complaints by parents and victims.

However, it is understood that the Commission of Investigation was surprised by the relatively small number of people who presented themselves for interview to the inquiry team during its investigations.

One source who has viewed sections of the report in a preliminary form described it as ‘‘harrowing’’, but said it was unlikely to have the same impact on the public as the Ryan report into clerical abuse in industrial schools and detention centres.

The inquiry team, headed by Judge Yvonne Murphy, sent copies of the report to Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern, Attorney General Paul Gallagher and Minister for Children Barry Andrews last week.

Ahern will not decide what action he may take in relation to publishing the report until he receives advice from Gallagher.

Two advocacy groups, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and One In Four, have written to Ahern asking him to delay publication of the report due to the pressure on their help services following the release of the Ryan report.

The Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation was set up in March 2006. It has investigated how child sex abuse allegations against a representative sample of 46 priests were handled by 19 bishops in Dublin between January 1, 1975, and April 30, 2004.

The report contains separate chapters on each of the 46 clerics. Three chapters of the report relate to three clerics against whom criminal charges have been brought recently.

The three criminal cases are not expected to be concluded before early next year.

Among the government’s options are to obscure the names of the clerics and their parishes; to give them pseudonyms; or to publish 43 chapters of the report and delay the final three for later publication after the men’s cases have been processed through the courts.

Ahern has said he is anxious that the matters dealt with in the report ‘‘are put into the public domain as quickly as possible’’.

't Moet toch werkelijk niet gekker worden.
Nog effe, krijgen we het bericht dat de regering de moed niet op kan brengen die Diarmuid Martin had...
Wat een politicus.


En Here God, wat stinkt het!
Fernando Lugo had er zijn stage moeten gaan lopen...

Als het niet zo diep en diep tragisch was zou je in een onbedaarlijke rolling gaan:
de Kerk trapt de Staat de Kerk uit. En grijpt de macht. Over het onderwijs.
Nog iemand peultjes?

Niet eerder vertoond: Priests back archbishop over crisis. Vaticaan overweegt tijdelijke opheffing kloonverbod!

Priests in the archdiocese of Dublin have rallied to the support of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin for his "courage" in tackling the grave problem of clerical sexual abuse of children.
The vote of confidence in Archbishop Martin's "clear-thinking" leadership came as priests anxiously await publication either in full or in part of the report which was given on Tuesday to Justice Minister Dermot Ahern.

The council of priests which acts as an advisory body to Archbishop Martin has voiced its appreciation of his victim-centred approach to abuse complaints.

"The priests are delighted to have such a clear-thinking, courageous bishop in charge," said Fr Joe Mullan, the chairman of the council.
Fr Mullan recognised that some "individual priests may have personal issues with the archbishop, but as a body we are firmly behind him".
- John Cooney

God, wat ben ik hier blij mee!

Wat begon met die krankzinnige nacht met het uitkomen van het Fernsrapport, zo pal na de destructie van het Philadelphia rapport, de domino dagen erop volgend; het kom uit je vergadering en kijk bij Ceauşescu en het weet je nog toen de Muur viel verbleekte.

Heer, dank U voor mijn eigenwijze snuffert waardoor ook ik mee mocht kijken!

Til je hoofd van tafel, Tutu, já het kan!

Gardai to probe 100 new cases of abuse Wave of calls to hotline in the wake of Ryan report horrors

July 22 2009
GARDAI investigating allegations against clerical child abusers are now pursuing almost 100 fresh complaints.
The new lines of inquiry emerged from the telephone "hotline" set up by gardai in the wake of the publication of the Ryan report in May.

The breakthrough in the garda study of the Ryan findings was revealed last night as Justice Minister Dermot Ahern received a copy of the report on child abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese.
That report contains around 450 cases of abuse and will be referred by the minister to Attorney General Paul Gallagher for his advice on publication.

The dedicated Ryan contact line was established for anyone who wanted to provide information arising out of the findings.
So far, the special garda team has received about 140 calls. Some of the callers wanted details of the progress made on complaints that had already been filed.

But senior officers disclosed last night that in almost 100 other cases, they had opened new lines of inquiry and those complaints were now being actively followed up.

An estimated 60pc of the fresh complaints involve sexual abuse of children by members of religious orders while the rest refer to physical assaults.

Gardai will prepare a file on each individual investigation for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who will determine if criminal charges should be brought against the alleged abuser. Some of the clerics named in allegations received on the "hotline" are now dead.

Officers said they were conscious of the historic nature of many of the allegations and were anxious to complete their inquiries as quickly as possible. They hope to have sent files to the DPP on a substantial percentage of their inquiries by the late autumn.

The decision to set up the "hotline" was made by Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy following discussions with Justice Minister Dermot Ahern.

The phone number is 01 6663612 and is being manned during office hours from Mondays to Fridays. Interested persons can also write to the Offices of the Assistant Commissioner, National Support Services, Harcourt Square, Dublin 2, marking the envelopes, "Ryan report".

Meanwhile, Mr Ahern indicated yesterday evening that the Dublin Archdiocese report was likely to be referred to the High Court. "It will be up to the court to decide whether to refer it to the DPP, the Garda Commissioner, or anyone else. That's laid out in the legislation," the minister said.

Prejudicial
He pointed out that if it were possible to publish the entire report without lessening its contents, it would be sent automatically to the gardai.
But under the legislation he had to follow certain procedures as the report might contain material prejudicial to criminal proceedings.

"If there is anything of that nature in it, I would obviously have to discuss it with the Attorney General, and if there is anything prejudicial, we would have to ask the High Court for a direction, pending publication," he added.

It was his desire to publish the report as soon as possible but he did not want to do anything that "would cause people to get off, if they were supposed to be brought before the courts".

One of the most notorious serial priest paedophiles expected to be named in the Dublin Archdiocese report is the late Fr Noel Reynolds, who abused more than 100 children.

He had access to generations of children since 1967 when he was appointed secretary of the Diocesan Commission on Religious Instruction in Vocational Schools, and later as a Diocesan Inspector of Primary Schools.

He was appointed administrator on Inishbofin island, off the Galway coast, in 1984. Serious complaints about his behaviour with children go back to 1995 when he was parish priest in Glendalough, Co Wicklow, but he was not removed from there until two years later when he was appointed chaplain to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire.

After the 'Prime Time' programme, 'The Sins of the Cardinal', Cardinal Desmond Connell, apologised to the hospital for not informing the authorities there of previous complaints.

- Tom Brady, Senan Molony and John Cooney

Number of clerical abuse victims could be 10 times higher than report shows

22 July 2009

The true number of victims of clerical sex abuse within the Dublin archdiocese is likely to number in the thousands — not the 450 cited in a new report drawn up by the Irish Government-appointed Commission of Investigation, it was claimed last night.

“We believe there's a large number of people who were abused in the Dublin diocese who haven't come forward,” the executive director of victims’ group One in Four Maeve Lewis said.

One in Four and other support groups for victims of clerical sex abuse are now urging the Dublin government to delay publication of the report to prepare for the anticipated onslaught of victims who will be coming to terms with its explosive findings. The Commission of Investigation into the handling of clerical sex abuse in the diocese was expected to hand over its long-awaited report to the Republic’s Justice Minister Dermot Ahern yesterday.

However, victims' support groups — including One in Four, The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and Survivors of Child Abuse (SOCA) — are all urging the minister to hold off on making the findings public until the autumn, when they have sufficient resources in place to cope with the flood of calls they expect the report will generate.
....
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has warned that the revelations by some 450 victims will be both “shocking and horrific”.
....
But independent support groups say they are already inundated with the unprecedented number of victims who came forward since the publication of the Ryan Report into clerical abuse at church-run schools, which was published in May.
Ms Lewis said One in Four has been inundated with 700 new contacts following the Ryan report.
She fears the latest report by Judge Yvonne Murphy will open up the floodgates for victims who have not disclosed their abuse before and will be in need of emergency counselling to cope with the trauma.
.....

't is er. Op naar Cloyne. Ho ho ho

The Australian
July 21, 2009

A shocking new report has identified hundreds of victims of child sex abuse by Irish Catholic priests, officials said Tuesday, two months after a landmark study found "endemic" mistreatment.
A government-appointed commission of investigation headed by a judge has been probing allegations of abuse by priests in the archdiocese of Dublin -- the country's biggest -- since March 2006.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has warned that the report -- presented to Justice Minister Dermot Ahern on Tuesday -- would "shock us all."

It is the first time the state has investigated how the once-powerful Church in mainly Catholic Ireland has run its affairs.

It probed whether the Church reported abuse allegations or attempted to "obstruct, prevent or interfere with the proper investigation" of complaints.

A spokeswoman for the archdiocese said the Church authorities had identified between 400 and 450 people that allege they were abused by one of 152 Dublin priests since 1940.

"I would like to stress that that is a very conservative estimate and is likely to rise," she told AFP.

Ahern said he was anxious to make the findings public "as quickly as possible."

He added: "Equally, I am concerned that nothing should be done which would harm the prospects of the perpetrators of these horrific acts of depravity against children being brought to the justice they deserve."

Ahern is required to apply to the High Court for directions if he considers the report's publication might prejudice any criminal prosecution of clerics.

He is to seek the advice of Attorney General Paul Gallagher.

In May Ireland was rocked by a landmark report that concluded sexual, physical and emotional abuse was "endemic" in Church-run industrial and reformatory schools, orphanages and other childcare institutions dating back to the 1930s.

Prime Minister Brian Cowen said it contained a "shattering litany of abuse of children in care in this country over many decades."

He told parliament the report was the gravest in the history of the country and contained "such horrific stories that it is difficult to know where to begin in talking about it."

Article from: Agence France-Presse

What Went Wrong? How Will We Fix It?”. Archbishop warns against State control of education

DEAGLÁN de BRÉADÚN, Political Correspondent in Glenties
Irish Times
Monday, July 20, 2009

THE STATE would be on “dodgy ground” if it took over the entire health and education system from the church, the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Most Rev Diarmuid Martin, has said.

Addressing the opening session of the 29th MacGill Summer School and Arts Week in Glenties, Co Donegal last night, he said: “A State which simply delegated a wide part of its social responsibilities to a church had gotten it wrong. A State which takes over the entire package is on equally dodgy ground.”

The archbishop was speaking on the theme “The Irish Economy – What Went Wrong? How Will We Fix It?”.

rest artikel


En die flauwe kul die er op RK Nieuwsnet staat?

email aan RKNieuwsnet
ter informatie
nav "Aartsbisdom Dublin publiceert rapport seksueel misbruik door priesters."
Door de onwaarschijnlijke onzin hierin, RK Nieuwsnet onwaardig, spreekt uit dit artikel een dermate minachting dat het bijzonder schokkend is.

Zo eenvoudig is het bedonderen van publiek dus.

Maar je kunt altijd nog zeggen dat Verwegistan héél ver weg was:
Wir haben es nicht gewusst.
Goed katholieke traditie gebleken.
Blijkt uit de rapporten. En de berichtgeving.

Maar da's dan wel een traditie die óók de Kerk om zeep brengt.

Door het goede nieuws niet te willen zien!

Gebrek aan verantwoordelijkheid. Angst en minachting.

Ongelooflijke onzin! En nog in strijd met het Credo ook.

bron RK Nieuwsnet

Dublinreport: Abuse of trust; dat zij betrouwbaar mogen zijn, Heer wij bidden U verhoor ons.

Tues 16th June 21:00
The shocking story of what really happened behind the scenes in the Archdiocese of Dublin.

Een aantal jaren geleden schokte een priester mij met zijn gebed dat dwars door mij heen ging. Ik heb hem er regelmatig om vervloekt, onderweg.

Het waren niet zijn woorden, die waren eigenlijk vrij standaard en ik wist, goddank!, nog maar een fractie van waar die woorden voor zouden blijken te staan, die diepe criminaliteit van de rkk.

Voor de leiders van onze kerk, dat zij betrouwbaar mogen zijn, Heer wij bidden U verhoor ons.

Alleen wanneer je onbetrouwbarheid kent, kun je die toon hebben in je voorbede.

In Ierland werd gister de weg alweer vrijgemaakt voor de volgende ronde: het misbruik van priesters in het aartsbisdom Dublin, resultaat van het Ferns onderzoek.

The documentary highlights the willingness of church authorities to move paedophile priests around the country from parish to parish in the full knowledge that complaints had been made against them.

The Dublin diocese provided 60,000 documents to the Commission of Investigation led by Justice Yvonne Murphy. It is due to publish what will be a devastating report within weeks.

Klik

Ireland abuse inquiry report due; Is maith an scéalaí an aimsir. Dank jullie wel!

BBC news
Yvonne Murray
17 May 2009

Inquiries into alleged child abuse by Catholic orders in the Irish Republic are due to publish their findings.
The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, which was set up in 1999 after a TV documentary, reports on Wednesday.

A second report, to be published later this summer, is expected to criticise the handling of sex abuse complaints in cases involving up to 500 priests.
The commission has heard testimony from the residents of the state institutions where Ireland's poorest children, as well as the infants of unmarried mothers, were sent.

It was established following the airing of a documentary for Irish television on industrial schools, produced by Mary Raftery.
"There was widespread sexual abuse, particularly in the boys' institutions," she said.

"Extremely vicious and sadistic physical abuse, way off the scale, and horrific emotional abuse, designed to break the children.

"We had people talk to us about hearing screams... the screams of children in the night coming from these buildings and really not knowing what to do.

They didn't know to whom they could complain because the power in the town was the religious order running the institution."

The Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, who is seen as a reformer, used his homily on Holy Thursday to warn the gathering of Ireland's senior clergymen that the report would "shock us all".
He said: "It is likely that thousands of children or young people across Ireland were abused by priests in the period under investigation and the horror of that abuse was not recognised for what it is."
Andrew Madden, who was the first victim of a paedophile priest to come forward, said he was angry the state inquiry had taken so long.

'Too much power'


He said: "It is 14 years since I first went public about this practice the Catholic Church had of moving priests with a record of child abuse on to another parish which would give them further access to children.

"Only now is the state ready to publish a report into that practice... and then look at what it needs to do to change it."
Hele artikel

Maar hoe zeg je in godesnaam Dank je wel tegen die mensen, al die duizenden?
Door ze wijsheid en rust te wensen de komende weken?
Wees a.u.b. goed voor en dus voorzichtg met jezelf de komende tijden?

Of misschien wel Go bhfága Dia do shláinte agat.

May love and laughter light your days,and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures.
May life's passing seasons bring the best to you and yours!


Dank je wel!!
Voor wat zovelen ver buiten Ierland , voor wat ik én mijn kinderen, van en door jullie kreeg.

Is maith an scéalaí an aimsir.

More to do with Bishop Magee

The Irish Times
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
THE APPOINTMENT by Pope Benedict of an Apostolic Administrator to Cloyne diocese is to be welcomed and Archbishop Dermot Clifford is deserving of support as he undertakes that role. But his appointment is an incomplete exercise. Bishop John Magee should have resigned on December 19th following the publication of a National Board for Safeguarding Children report on child protection practices in his diocese. His continued presence as Bishop of Cloyne, even if in name only, is a constant reminder of this latest conspicuous failure by an Irish Catholic bishop to address appropriately the issue of clerical child sex abuse.

Bishop Magee ignored State guidelines, Vatican directives and guidelines of the Catholic Church prepared at the instigation – among others – of the Irish Bishops’ Conference of which he remains a member. His flawed judgment has been further reflected in his refusal to step down despite the entreaties of abuse victims, their families, some fellow bishops and an unusual consensus both within and without the church.

Just as remarkable as Bishop Magee’s obstinancy was the public support he received from three of the four Irish Catholic archbishops. Whether this backing from Cardinal Seán Brady of Armagh, Archbishop Clifford of Cashel and Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam was, in part, strategy to allow Bishop Magee space to consider standing aside has to be allowed for. But the optics presented by such apparent collegiality in the circumstances indicated a circling of the wagons around a fellow bishop under pressure which further damaged the credibility of the church. If so, it was an exercise in playing with fire where the tattered reputation of the church is concerned.

That said, it must be acknowledged that the great majority of bishops, as well as of leaders of religious congregations and missionary societies, are now thoroughly sickened at having their repeated, genuine, public protestations of commitment to best child protection practices undermined by the irregular eruptions of scandals such as Cloyne. It has created an impatience among them which can only be of benefit where the implementation of such best practice is concerned.

Likewise, there are those who have come through this self-inflicted debacle with their reputations enhanced. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin held his ground, maintaining the strong, unequivocal and consistent approach to this issue which has been a feature of his episcopacy since he became Archbishop of Dublin in 2004. Indeed, his very isolation from the seeming club of three other archbishops, where Bishop Magee was concerned, became something of a badge of honour.

There is also the National Board for Safeguarding Children and in particular its chief executive Ian Elliott whose gritty integrity and willingness to call it as he sees it without softening the edges has become something of a blessing to all involved. Such an approach is the rock on which the Irish Catholic Church may yet rebuild its reputation and regain the respect of its people.

Irish bishop, aide to popes, quits in sex inquiry

Sat Mar 7, 2009
DUBLIN (Reuters) - An Irish bishop who served as a private secretary to three popes has quit his daily duties to deal with a sex-abuse inquiry in his diocese, the Roman Catholic Church said on Saturday.

John Magee, bishop of Cloyne in the south of Ireland since 1987, has been under fire for his handling of reports of sexual abuse in his diocese.

The church's moral authority in overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Ireland has been eroded in recent years following a string of clerical sex abuse scandals, many of them involving priests molesting young boys.

The church has been faulted in large part for appearing to cover up the scandals, often by transferring priests to different parishes after complaints were made.

Magee had faced calls to resign since a commission set up by the church found last year his diocese had exposed children to risk by not responding appropriately to abuse allegations.

Magee will keep his title as bishop but Pope Benedict has appointed Archbishop Dermot Clifford as apostolic administrator to run the diocese, the church said.

"The decision of the Holy Father to grant that request is an indication of the importance which the Church gives to safeguarding children and caring for the needs of victims," Cardinal Sean Brady, archbishop of Armagh and primate of All Ireland, said in a statement.
Magee, born in 1936 in Northern Ireland, welcomed Clifford's appointment.

"This appointment will enable Bishop Magee to devote the necessary time and energy to cooperating fully with the government Commission of Inquiry into child protection practices and procedures in the Diocese of Cloyne, as he has already committed himself to do," the diocese quoted Magee as saying on its website.

Magee served as private secretary to popes Paul VI, Pope John Paul I and Pope John Paul II and in 1982 he was appointed Master of Pontifical Ceremonies.