The Church’s hierarchy in Ireland continued to conceal abuse by clergy even after it introduced rules in the mid-1990s to protect minors, an Irish government-sponsored report said, according to a Reuters report in the West Australian.

The judicial report into the handling of allegations of child sexual abuse against clerics in the Diocese of Cloyne has concluded that the church’s own guidelines were “not fully or consistently implemented” in the diocese as recently as 2008, adds the Catholic News Service.

“This is not a catalogue of failure from a different era. This is not about an Ireland of 50 years ago. This is about Ireland now,” Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald told a news conference, Reuters said.

The report, released this week, also said Cloyne Bishop John Magee admitted to what has been described as inappropriate behaviour with a young man, according to the Catholic News Service. It said the bishop embraced him, kissed him and told the young aspirant for the priesthood that he loved him.

The withholding of information about serious offences against a child will be made a criminal offence, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has announced following the publication of the report, according to the Irish Times.

Further measures, including a statutory child protection code, are set to be announced by Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald.

Meanwhile, the Independent.ie reports that a senior officer has been appointed by Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan to examine the Cloyne Report and determine whether further action can be taken against clerical abusers in the findings.

The move was announced as Mr Callinan apologised to the victims in three cases identified in the report where the proper procedures were not adopted by the police.

The new 400-page report was prepared by a commission charged with investigating the handling of allegations made against 19 priests from 1996 – when the church in Ireland first implemented child protection procedures – to 2009. The commission found that “the primary responsibility for the failure to implement the agreed procedures lies with Bishop Magee”, reports the Catholic News Service.

It accuses the Vatican of being “entirely unhelpful” to bishops who wanted to fully implement the agreed guidelines.

In particular, the report referred to a letter from the apostolic nuncio to Ireland a year after the 1996 guidelines were introduced in which he informed bishops that the Holy See was refusing to grant the document Vatican approval. The Congregation for Clergy, the letter noted, insisted the guidelines were not in conformity with canon law.

“This effectively gave individual Irish bishops the freedom to ignore the procedures which they had agreed and gave comfort and support to those who … dissented from the stated official Irish church position.”

In a July 13 statement, Cardinal Brady welcomed the report and said it represented “another dark day in the history of the response of church leaders to the cry of children abused by church personnel.” He said the report’s findings “confirm that grave errors of judgment were made and serious failures of leadership occurred. This is deplorable and totally unacceptable.”

FULL STORY

Irish Catholic Church concealed child abuse in 1990s (The West Australian/Reuters)

Irish report records problems, abuse, disagreements in Cloyne Diocese (Catholic News Service)

‘Inappropriate. Ineffective. Entirely unhelpful.’ (IrishTimes.com)

Commissioner appoints top officer to examine findings (Independent.ie)

FULL REPORT

Introductory Pages

Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Diocese of Cloyne

RELATED COVERAGE

Gilmore seeking Vatican abuse talks (Belfast Telegraph)

Vatican’s approach ‘not helpful’ (Kerryman.ie)

Ex-bishop blamed over child abuse (Kerryman.ie)

They don’t get it, says raped woman (Kerryman.ie)

Cloyne report: A detailed guide (BBC)

Church scandals: a catalogue of shame (Independent.ie)

PHOTO CREDIT

www.cloynediocese.ie