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Dublin: 11 °C Thursday 20 June, 2013

Cloyne priests to meet… as hundreds more abuse cases set to emerge

A new report on the Donegal diocese of Raphoe is expected to reveal many more assaults on children by priests.

Image: Pier Paolo Cito/AP/Press Association Images

THE ARCHBISHOP OF Cashel has said he will arrange a meeting of all priests in the scandal-hit Cloyne diocese next month to discuss the fallout of a report into child abuse.

A spokesperson for Archbishop Dermot Clifford told Barry Roche of the Irish Times that priests in the area will be free to express their views on the Cloyne Report, which revealed a string of abuse cases and mishandling by senior clergy. The announcement of the meeting comes after a gathering on Tuesday called by the reform lobby group the Association for Catholic Priests.

Fr Tony Flannery, of the Association, told the Belfast Telegraph morale among ordinary priests was very low. “The morale of the priests has been fairly shattered by all of this,” he said.”There is a general sense of a lack of leadership in the church at this very crucial time.”

Meanwhile, it’s emerged a new report from the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church will document hundreds more cases of abuse in the diocese of Raphoe, in Co Donegal. According to the Irish Examiner the report to be published later this month details hundreds of abuses by 20 priests in the diocese over 40 years, and states the Church was “uncooperative, obstructive and misleading when gardaí became involved in a number of investigations”.

A priest in east Cork has called on the former bishop of Cloyne to appear in public and face criticisms in the Cloyne Report that he covered up allegations of clerical child abuse in the diocese. Dr John Magee has not appeared since issuing a statement immediately after the report was published, and a spokesman told journalists his location was “unknown”, RTÉ reports. Father Joe McGuane said Dr Magee should speak to the media before he is tracked down.

The Vatican is yet to respond to the Cloyne report, despite repeated calls on it to do so from the Irish government. Sources in Rome said in July that senior clerics were “crafting” a response, but it is yet to be issued. However, the papal nuncio to Ireland Giuseppe Leanza was withdrawn and transferred to the Czech Republic.

Read more: Full coverage of the Cloyne Report fallout >

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Comments (15 Comments)

  • The amount of damage that can be done by only a few abusers is shocking. A study in the US showed that 232 sex offenders were responsible for 17,000 victims. That’s less than ten offenders per county.

    Reply
  • Hundreds more innocent children raped and I feel great shame and sadness that there is the likelihood nobody will be brought to justice.

    Reply
    • Barry 11/08/11 #

      Agreed, nobody will be brought to jail over this whole afair and only hand full of priests will see jail time.

      The Vatican don’t give a shite, when they are asked for a response they remove the papal nuncio from Ireland and ship him off to another country, they continue to stick there head in the sand and ignore reality.

      The government need to deal with this organisation like they are criminals they need to start start seizing assets to pay the victims.

      Reply
  • Raised catholic the same as everyone I know. Forced to mass, forced to respect the church, forced to say yes father no father , got a black eye from a nun when I was 6 , seen lads bet to a pulp by Marist brothers when I was 12,
    Hate everything about the catholic church won’t step inside a church unless it’s a funeral or wedding.We’d be better off without it.
    Just how I feel.

    Reply
  • Barry 11/08/11 #

    Whilst I commend the priest in east cork for what he has requested I believe it is best at this stage for all right minded priests to speak out and distance themself’s from the Vatican, Bishops involved and any other uncooperative or obstructive party at this time.

    The Vatican’s actions and that of bishops and other priests are destroying any good that the catholic church has done in Ireland over the years, if right minded priests fail to speak out then sadly they are not part of the solution and the catholic church might as well close up shop in Ireland.

    This means that many good priests who have worked in communitys and done good will be marked by the overall failure of actions. These priests need to separate themselves from such a situation and they need to do so quickly.

    If that means these priests need to leave the catholic religion in its current form and form an offshoot of it then so be it for there own good.

    Although I say the above I have no respect for the catholic church as a whole and infact I do not believe in a god, I merely believe its sad for some of the individuals who perhaps are too scared to speak out because of how the church works and what it may do to them.

    Reply
    • Hi Barry!
      It’s one thing to ask the "good" priests, though I believe there is no good in people that hide and protect rapists, to set up shop and continue their work!
      It’s another when we as people will not stand outside churches on a Sunday and have our say…disgusted and all as we are…we are as cowardice as the "good" priests!
      I would love if we asked ourselves to create an off shoot of courageous upstanding people to stand up for those victims and be seen on Sunday’s?
      We can not expect our justice system to work if we as people are not heard because we prefer to text from under rocks!
      I wish we had the balls to stand tall against the people we were bred to fear!
      I appreciate all the texts that deplore the church!!!!!
      The thumbs downers are as cowardice as the people they support

      Reply
    • Barry 11/08/11 #

      Spillinksuz, your completely misunderstanding my comment.

      Its illogical to assume that EVERY single priest within the church including those that have just joined have no good in them, very clearly there are priests in the church that are actually evil but there is still good people in the church there has to be.

      I’m simply saying that any of these good priests must speak out and if need be leave the church so that they will not be marked by the decisions and actions of others who are evil or just use the excuse that they were following orders (the orders given to them by the Vatican).

      I certainly do not support the catholic church as a whole I merely want the good to get out and continue to do good, if they must leave the church to do this then let that happen.

      Reply
    • @spillinskullz: do you really think that every priest is bad or that the church does no good in the world?do you think that the little old ladies that goe to church every Sunday (probably like your own granny) would try to cover up a child being abused?
      I’m not a supporter of the church or a coward and I gave you a red thumb.

      Reply
    • Barry 11/08/11 #

      Diego Attley, in relation to your little old ladys covering this up.

      I don’t believe little old ladys are necessarily covering things up BUT I have first hand experience talking to such people who believe a number of different things such as:
      1) It didn’t happen and its all made up by the so called victims
      2) The media is attempting to bring down the church by making a big thing out of nothing
      OR
      3] Simple they ignore all the issues and reports and won’t talk about it

      It saddens me that people are in such denial about the reality of the catholic church but it does exist, clearly this doesn’t support Spillinksuz belief that all priests are bad or evil but it does suggest there are issues with some followers of the church as well.

      Its evident other follows have massive issued with the church, they have actually left the church and no longer follow it and others I’ve seen walk out of masses after the reports

      Reply
    • I agree with all your comments there. As I said I’m not a supporter of the church nor do I attend it either (except for weddings, etc). It just gets on my nerves hearing so many people saying your stupid if you have any belief other atheism and that the whole church is evil because of the actions of a few.

      Reply
  • The end is nigh for this little club!

    Reply
  • Here we go again, this time it’s the turn of the Donegal branch of the paedo ring. When are people going to wake up to the facts and see this hideous religion for what it is, a complete con, how many more raped children is it going to take before the brain dead myopic twats who continue to defend and deny the damage that has been done by this evil gang of rapist clergy, their protective bishops and sympathetic politicians. How many more times must we see listen to the shameful hollow apologies from the likes of Brady and his ilk. Irish people need to look in the mirror and ask themselves why even now so many in Ireland still refuse to see the truth about the catholic church, is it some kind of mental illness? is it an inferiority complex, what is the matter with these people? Thousands of innocent children have been raped and buggered by these evil priests, they have been aided and protected by the bishops/vatican who covered it up and by politicians and gardai who turned a blind eye to it, it’s one sick country and only a tiny percentage of priests have even been convicted and jailed, Brady is still in office as are many at the top of the catholic church who have overseen this scandal. As usual in Ireland NO accountability, NO responsibility. Hell, forget Gaybo for the Aras why not just put Gary Glitter in there, that would sum up Ireland’s attitude to child protection and clerical pedophiles especially where their beloved catholic church is involved!

    Reply
  • gmseed 11/08/11 #

    God [if It exists] remained a silent and inert witness throughout all the acts of child sex abuse carried out by It’s Pervert Priests.

    Thus, it follows that God [if It exists] agrees with child abuse and other forms of abuse as detailed in It’s “sacred” and obscene text called the Bible.

    Catholic priests are taught from so-called “sacred” texts such as the Bible, which is one of the most offensive books ever written. It clearly lays out how to abuse people, slaughter people, slaughter innocent animals, hate women, hate homosexuals, and so on. Priests are taught to practice the teaching of this sick text.

    http://www.god-does-not-exist.org

    Reply
  • The Clergy Abuse SCANDAL continues to unfold and pedophilia plague within the Roman Catholic “church” continues to rage. The intense scrutiny their monstrous crimes are receiving by the media, publicly subjecting them to the same humiliation, shame, reproach, and degradation in the eyes of the worldwide community which they themselves imposed upon their innumerable powerless and vulnerable victims whom they callously and mercilessly sexually raped and molested, in what they themselves reckon to be the “Worst Crime”, exacts a kind of poetic justice if nothing else. And while these criminals may well elude real justice here and now, it is certain they will one day be held accountable. They will not escape the Divine Justice that awaits them when they will be summoned to appear before the Highest and Heavenly Court that presides over all the lands. The mask of the NOT SO HOLY Roman Catholic “church” has slipped and she is being seen for what she in truth is. Soon . . in the fullness of time . . the imposter posing as the “bride of Christ” will receive her just reward, when perfect justice will be exacted upon her by the Righteous Judge of all the Earth who will reward her double according to her wicked works.**”Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great wh_ _re that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”***(Rev. 17:1-2; Rev. 18)***”Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Rev. 22:20)

    Reply

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