Time for a clerical child abuse inquiry in Northern Ireland
Fr Brendan Smyth
Momentum is building for an inquiry into clerical child abuse in Northern Ireland.
With four inquiries now completed south of the border – Ferns, Ryan, Dublin and now Cloyne – northern abuse victims are rightly asking: what about us?
Their calls have now been echoed by SDLP MLA Conall McDevitt and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness:
I absolutely believe there should be the same thorough investigations in the northern dioceses as there have been in previous dioceses in the south.
We cannot north of the border view ourselves as being in the clear from all that happened in the south whenever I think many of us now know instinctively that that’s not the case.
What is this all about? This is about the protection of innocent children and there is a duty and a responsibility on all of us who are in important positions.
There is no doubt that there have been incidents of abuse – and cover-up by the hierarchy – every bit as serious in Northern Ireland as in the Republic. Even today, the very words ‘Fr Brendan Smyth’ send shivers of revulsion and fear down the spines of those who encountered him and others who recount near misses during the paedophile priest’s time in Belfast and elsewhere.
In 2010 Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Seán Brady, admitted that in 1975 he witnessed two boys, aged 10 and 14, sign oaths of silence after testifying in a Church inquiry against Smyth. It is clear that Brady’s actions helped ensure that Smyth was able to continue his prolific rape and abuse of children unabated for another 16 years until his eventual arrest.
With the Executive already committed to the establishment of an inquiry into historic institutional child abuse in Northern Ireland (following a vigorous campaign by survivors) - we should have an announcement on that in the early Autumn – it is now time for political leadership to address the reality of clerical child abuse here. We should also be clear that, in the case of clerical abuse, we are not necessarily simply talking about historic abuses. The Cloyne inquiry covered cases of abuse, and shameful malpractice in failure to report such cases to the authorities, in the diocese as recently as 2008.
Judge Murphy found that in the 12 years between 1996 and 2008, nine out of 15 complaints of abuse which should have been reported to Gardaí, were not reported.
As Minster for Children Frances Fitzgerald put it:
That’s very nearly two thirds of complaints un-reported, un-investigated and un-prosecuted.
For complaints which should have been reported to the health authorities the figures are even more stark; between 1996 and 2008 not one single complaint was reported. Not one.
Of course, while civil law in Northern Ireland may be different to that in the Republic of Ireland, Catholic canon law is not.
The Vatican has responsibility for the governance of dioceses and the oversight of bishops on both sides of the border. The Vatican itself has failed to be properly accountable for its compliance with legally binding obligations as a party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. As reported by Amnesty International, The Holy See was due to report on compliance with the convention in 1997. Fourteen years on, it has still failed to do so.
Until very recently the Vatican has made it clear to bishops that they should not report offending priests to the civil authorities – the Cloyne report tells how the Vatican described Irish church guidelines, which required that cases be so reported, as “a study document”. They made it clear that they did not support or require the prompt reporting of allegations of the rape and abuse of children to the civil authorities. The Newry-born Bishop of Cloyne and his delegate, Msgr Denis O’Callaghan, seem to have taken great comfort from that position and accordingly acted to protect the Church rather than children.
So, have clergy and religious in dioceses in Northern Ireland been in full compliance with the law here or have they been following orders from Rome?
As Taoiseach Enda Kenny put it this week:
The law of the land should not be stopped by a crozier or by a collar.
Is this also true in Northern Ireland? An independent inquiry will help answer that question.
Topic: Government, Society and Culture
Region: Ireland, Northern Ireland
slugger is greenlags posts not worthy of a carding
greenflag
Your opinion would be treated with some respect if you had bothered to read the posts you commented on as it is you have attempted to turn a discussion on clerical child abuse into a anti catholic rant this does the debate no good at all, ranger 1640 and ulsterobserver both made posts that added to the debate even through it I think would be fair to say that they are not fans of the RC church you on the other hand jumped in feet first without checking your facts and when your mistake was pointed out to you it would seem that rather than admit your error you chose to be rude.
By the way the perhaps thing was a politeness to let you apologise without losing too much face but alas you chose another route
SK (profile) says:
19 July 2011 at 9:43 am
“Hang them by their rosary beads.”
the averege set of rosary does not have the needed tensile strenght may i suggest a Imaginative use of a crozier.
I’d hang them by their ballaxi (?)
Mooch
i have reconsidered my crozier ides as you should do the same with your idea there no telling what these creatures regard as fun
Ballockeses.
Ship. Mid Atlantic. Detonate.
That exchange between carlmarx and thewierdtroll would have raised the hairs on manys a peoples neck and even more so because of a complete lack of punctuation
Carl…
good point well made
Humour me please I suggest a straw poll on the way to deal with this problem, i will put forward a few ideas on tactics for the authorities to use to handle this bag of crap
1 Each and every case of abuse investigated b a team such as het with abusers and those who enabled being charged
2 a corporate case being taken against the catholic church to compensate the victim’s
3 all government departments involve in handing children over to these people investigated to find out if they knew what was happening and those who did charged with the appropriate crimes
Please add to these as you see fit or point out the failings of all or any
wee buns
I apologise for my poor grammar (left school when i was 14 no excuse i know but there u have it) I would ask you to judge my post’s on their content not there grammar.
left school at 16 myself and not judging your posts on that but what a scary combination the nil punctuation like a runaway train crashes into the whole brook clinics issue how pathetic is that girls sex education gets dragged into clerical abuse and women being the biggest abusers according to defensive catholic trollface well that obviously unsubstantiated bullship but im beginning to wonder why everyone doesnt opt to write this way as its free-er but well done carlmarx for holding the ground of common sense and thats important genuinely meant
‘you on the other hand jumped in feet first without checking your facts ‘
The facts surrounding the RC Church hierarchy’s manipulation and continuing failure to protect children under it’s care and instead to protect the abusers are well known and the Cloyne Report is just one of many in Ireland and hundreds worldwide which make clear the utter criminality of the RC Church Hierarchy in defending the indefensible .
As for anti catholic rant . I’ll confess to being anti RC Church hierarchy and not solely anti catholic . As an atheist I don’t differentiate much between the various denominations save to note that I’ve never met a man of the cloth of any denomination that did’nt look more than a trifle well fed , housed comfortably and with a housekeeper or servant /servants to command – Shure yer man in Drumcondra lives in a palace .
Fraudsters one and all for the most part and they get away with it because they can and because they scare the bejayzus out of little children from the earliest age with lurid promises of hell fire and damnation if they don’t become good Catholics and give the Church regular donations of cash to keep these parasites in the manner to which they have become accustomed .
good evening Herr Maskey
You’ll yet win an Oscar for multiple personality disorders 
Greenflag
do me a favour read my post’s and then come back to me if you think i was on the side of the abuser’s
I did’nt state you were on the side of the abusers .
Greenflag
i agree with all your saying, i am annoyed that you’re lumping me with those other two fools without even bothering reading what i said
Greenflag
this is from your post
RC church apologists above such as taoiseach, carl marks, and hfmmccloy are the usual ‘diversionists’ formerly under different names.
now show me were i acted as a apologist for the rc church
The thread title is ‘Time for a clerical abuse enquiry in Northern Ireland ‘ and it’s imo past time . Of course child abuse everywhere is not restricted to those of the RC Church clergy persuasion but then those others who do committ such abuse if found and convicted suffer the consequences under the civil law .
The issue is why were so many clergy able to get away with their crimes and what role the RC Church hierarchy played in that evil . An enquiry in NI will not reveal much of anything new but it will reinforce the will of both governments to stand up to the hierarchical bullies .
Don’t be annoyed -remember old Chinese saying – Touch black paint -have black fingers.
I’ll read your future comments with more precision . But try and be consistent in your use of spell checker or grammar correction as widely different appearing posts under the same name are liable to be seen as the work of a ‘troll ‘ even a deeply embedded or sleeper troll .
BTW -the other unfailing signal is that ‘trolls of a feather troll together ‘ the old good cop -bad cop routine -which confuses the thread and can divert comments into cul de sacs of little or no relevance to the subject matter of the thread .
Greenflag
ill take that as a apology
even if this bit seems strange
Don’t be annoyed -remember old Chinese saying – Touch black paint -have black fingers.
I’ll read your future comments with more precision . But try and be consistent in your use of spell checker or grammar correction as widely different appearing posts under the same name are liable to be seen as the work of a ‘troll ‘ even a deeply embedded or sleeper troll .
but i wll take your advice about spell and grammer checker.
strange?
Touch black paint -have black fingers or in sluggerese -beware of trolls.
‘but i wll take your advice about spell and grammer checker.’
Indeed and I see you have got off to a great start
Any word on the inquiry here?
Will Brady be around to deal with it?
What I am wondering, would the BBC, the Nolan show, & all other media be so ganged up to force Brady to resign had he stayed a simple priest instead of becoming the head of the RC church in Ireland. It would be interesting to know how many practicing Catholics in the whole Island would want the Cardinal’s resignation because its obvious that he is still controlled by Papal infallibility and will only fall on his sword if requested to do so by Rome.