A Happy and Peaceful New Year to you all
AND I SAID TO THE MAN AT THE GATE OF THE YEAR GIVE ME A LIGHT THAT I MAY TREAD SAFELY INTO THE UNKNOWN, AND HE REPLIED, GO OUT INTO THE DARKNESS AND PUT YOUR HAND INTO THE HAND OF...
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December 2009 Archives
The culture of deference has been our national disease
ThePost.ie 27 December 2009 By Vincent Browne In the functional library of the Mater Dei Institute on the afternoon of Thursday, November 26,DiarmuidMartin, the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, had just read his statement of apology and shame following the publication...
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Happy and Peaceful Christmas to you all
From the Alliance Victim Support Group December 2009...
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The bishops' pathological addictions won't save them
Independent.ie By John Cooney Thursday December 24 2009 To avoid such a messy end, Bishops Drennan, Walsh and Field should follow Murray and Moriarty by announcing their intention to go quietly THE clericalist system in the Catholic Church...
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Letters Page - Irish Times
Abuse agency funding question Thu, Dec 24, 2009 Madam, - The Government and the media need to do an indepth investigation into the money given by Catholic orders and dioceses and Government agencies to those who were and claimed to be...
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Resignation letter 'a step forward',
Resignation letter 'a step forward', says victim Acceptance of collusion 'huge' Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin Dr Jim Moriarty. announced yesterday that he had offered his resignation to the Vatican.Photograph: Thomas Nolan GENEVIEVE CARBERY REACTION: BISHOP OF Kildare and Leighlin...
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People facing many difficulties, says Brady
PATSY McGARRY Thu, Dec 24, 2009 CHRISTMAS MESSAGES: MANY PEOPLE in Ireland this Christmas are experiencing the "fullness of difficulties" with the recession, the unprecedented flooding and the "horrendous scandal of child abuse," Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady has...
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Irish church does not feature in papal address
PADDY AGNEW Thu, Dec 24, 2009 NO SPECIAL significance can be attached to the fact that Pope Benedict failed to mention Ireland and the problems of the Irish church in his annual address to the Roman Curia this week,...
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Pressure on three bishops as Moriarty offers resignation
PATSY McGARRY Religious Affairs Correspondent Thu, Dec 24, 2009 THE ANNOUNCEMENT yesterday by Bishop James Moriarty that he has offered his resignation to Pope Benedict will put further pressure on the three other serving bishops also mentioned in the...
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Christmas by Bernard O'Donoghue
Thu, Dec 24, 2009 A poem for Christmas Despite the forecast's promise, It didn't snow that night; But in the morning, flakes began To glide all right. Not enough to cover roads Or even hide the grass; But enough...
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Bishop Moriarty to announce resignation
Ireland Wednesday, 23 December 2009 13:49 The Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Dr James Moriarty, is understood to be about to announce that he will be resigning. A statement is due to be issued this afternoon. On Friday, Dr...
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Cardinal's agony for victims of abuse
Independent.ie By JOHN COONEY Wednesday December 23 2009 THE leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland has spoken of "the agony" felt by bishops, priests and people over clerical child sex abuse. Cardinal Sean Brady's Christmas message to Catholics...
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Second bishop to step down over abuse cover-ups
Independent.ie By John Cooney Wednesday December 23 2009 A SECOND Catholic bishop named in the shocking Murphy Report into cover-ups of clerical child sexual abuse in the archdiocese of Dublin is expected to announce his resignation today. Bishop of...
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Abuse victim's brother stages clerical protest
Pamela Duncan Wed, Dec 23, 2009 The brother of an abuse victim is to stage a Christmas Eve protest outside the Pro-Cathedral tomorrow calling for criminal charges to be brought against clergy members who withheld information on child abuse,...
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Call for probe into abuse groups funding
By Jennifer Hough Wednesday, December 23, 2009 THE head of the Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (SOCA) group has written to Taoiseach Brian Cowen calling for an inquiry into the financing of all survivor groups over the...
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Please call the Statutory Counselling Services FIRST
Connect The National Adults Counselling Service The Opening Times for Connect, The National Counselling Helpline Service during the Christmas and New Year are as follows: Thursday, 24th December 6.00pm to 10.00pm Friday, 25th December 6.00pm to 10.00pm Saturday, 26th...
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COUNSELLING OVER CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR PERIOD
Please call the Faoiseamh and Connect Helplines FIRST before calling the Alliance Faoiseamh would like to inform you that following requests from Survivor Groups we will extend our opening hours over the Christmas period as follows: Friday 25th...
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HSE withholds funding for abuse survivors' charity
By Jennifer Hough Tuesday, December 22, 2009 NO further funding will be given to a group representing survivors of institutional abuse until its membership proves they can manage public money appropriately, the Health Service Executive has warned. The...
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Response to clerical child abuse report
Tue, Dec 22, 2009 Madam, - Martin Long, Director of the Catholic Communication Office (December 10th), in response to my letter on clerical sex abuse, accused me of making a statement that "was both wrong in fact and a...
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Barry's 'slight' against survivors group was the catalyst for coup
Irish Examiner By Jennifer Hough Monday, December 21, 2009 THE row that broke out between the founder of Right of Place, Noel Barry, and some of its member finally came to a head last month. At an EGM held...
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Bishop's representative has met with survivors over donations
By Jennifer Hough Monday, December 21, 2009 SURVIVORS of institutional abuse have met with a representative of the Bishop of Cork and Ross in relation to donations made to Right of Place. The group, former and current members...
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Resignations and the bishops
Mon, Dec 21, 2009 Madam, - I agree 100 per cent with everything in Mary Rafterys article 'Still far from accepting personal responsibility' (December 18th). The Irish Bishops Conference admitted they were ashamed of what had gone on in...
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Dublin sex abuse victim calls on bishops to resign
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent Mon, Dec 21, 2009 DUBLIN CLERICAL child sex abuse victim Marie Collins has repeated her call for the remaining bishops mentioned in the Murphy report and still holding office to resign. In a letter...
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Criminal justice system fails men with mental illness
By Cormac O'Keeffe Monday, December 21, 2009 THE mental health services and the criminal justice system are "failing young men with severe mental illnesses," according to research. The study found that people with psychoses are disproportionately over-represented...
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Church at a crossroads - Letters Page Sunday Business Post
Church at a crossroadsWhere I live and practise my faith, I have struggled with the good and bad that seemed to go hand in hand .Like many other churchgoers, I have accepted Holy Communion and sought forgiveness in the confessional...
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Vatican guilty of unholy compassion for paedophiles
20 December 2009 By Vincent Browne In 1922, the Vatican promulgated an instruction to do with what it called crimen solicitationis (the crime of solicitation within the confessional) and what it called the ''worst crime'' - the sexual abuse of children....
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Strong public support for woman in Listowel sexual assault case
20 December 2009 By Martha KearnsA national helpline for victims of rape has been inundated with calls of support for the woman at the centre of the Listowel sexual assault case.The chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Ellen O'Malley-Dunlop,...
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State seeks review into sex abuse in all dioceses
Post.ie20 December 2009 By John Burke and Susan MitchellThe government and Church authorities are in discussions about launching an investigation into the handling of allegations of clerical child sexual abuse in all Catholic dioceses.A meeting took place last week between officials...
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WHAT SICK HORRORS ARE YET TO UNFOLD?
Our national shame could soon become an international crime DEMONIZED: Eamon Casey DEMONIZED: Eamon CaseyCAN anyone remember how the church demonized the priests and bishops like Eamon Casey (left) who had consensual sex with adult women. They were shown...
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Fr. Sean Sheehy withdraws from Castlegregory
This morning Fr. Seán Sheehy and Bishop Bill Murphy met. In view of recent events Fr. Seán Sheehy offered to withdraw from his work in the parish of Castlegregory. The Bishop of Kerry accepted his offer which takes effect...
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Martin to make Vatican plea if bishops don't go
Independent.ie Cowen gives backing to archbishop's stance By DANIEL McCONNELL Sunday December 20 2009 THE Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, will petition the Vatican in the new year to have four Irish bishops removed from office...
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Events in Listowel
Events in Listowel Sat, Dec 19, 2009 THERE IS a sense that Brinsley MacNamara's Valley of the Squinting Windows is still with us. After all of the years of the Celtic Tiger, the dismantling of the urban/rural divide, the advance of...
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Support for sex offender just sickening
Independent.ie "THE courtroom witnessed extraordinary scenes as 50 people, mostly middle-aged and elderly men, queued past the press box to shake the hand of the convicted man, and hug him after he was brought from the cell to the...
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Quit now or be fired: final ultimatum to prelates
Independent.ie Archbishop will ask Vatican to act if quartet don't resign By JOHN COONEY, CIARAN BYRNE and BRIAN McDONALD Saturday December 19 2009 THE Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin will seek to have four bishops fired by the...
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My integrity questioned by Martin's call, says bishop
GENEVIEVE CARBERY and LORNA SIGGINS Sat, Dec 19, 2009 BISHOP'S RESPONSE: BISHOP OF Galway Martin Drennan has urged Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin to drop his name from the list of people who potentially should resign. He said a question...
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'I had never even heard of the concept of mental reservation'
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent Sat, Dec 19, 2009 After previous refusals, Senator Rónán Mullen, formerly spokesman for Cardinal Desmond Connell, partially answers questions on the Murphy report SENATOR RÓNÁN Mullen has refused to answer over half of a...
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Letters Page - Irish Times
Clerical child abuse Sat, Dec 19, 2009 Madam, - I am a 62-year-old ex-pat Irishman living in Australia. As a young child, I was molested by a Catholic priest. I did at one stage approach my local parish priest, who...
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PRESS RELEASE
P R E S S R E L E A S E Friday 18th December 2009 at 1300h The groups representing Survivors of institutional abuse feel that the Department of Education and Science is responsible for pressing ahead with the memorial counter to...
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Bishop of Galway not planning to resign
Ireland Friday, 18 December 2009 14:54 Bishop of Galway Dr Martin Drennan has said his conscience is clear and he currently has no intention of resigning from office, following the publication of the Murphy Report on clerical sexual...
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More prelates must go to restore trust in Church
Bishop Donal Murray decided to resign on December 1, but it took another 16 days for the public to discover this By David Quinn Friday December 18 2009 ONE bishop has gone. How many more will follow?...
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John Cooney: Bishop's long farewell only deepens public's alienation
Independent.ie By John Cooney Friday December 18 2009 IT was inevitable that Donal Murray would become the first episcopal casualty of the Murphy report revealing the scandalous top-level cover-ups of paedophile priests in the Archdiocese of Dublin. But what...
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Letters Page - Irish Times
Bishop Murray's resignation Fri, Dec 18, 2009 Madam, - In the light of the resignation of the Bishop of Limerick, Donal Murray, I wonder why the media has concentrated its attention on pressing for resignations. The Catholic Church is a...
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Timely history of how borstal boy ended up getting 'Letterfrack treatment'
WILLA MURPHY Fri, Dec 18, 2009 Ireland's 'Moral Hospital' The Irish Borstal System 1906-1956 By Conor Reidy Irish Academic Press 256 pp. £45. CONOR REIDY could not have chosen a better time to publish this book. In the media tsunami unleashed by...
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Bishop Murray's resignation
Fri, Dec 18, 2009 THE FALL from grace of the Bishop of Limerick, Donal Murray, is a necessary and inevitable consequence of the Murphy report into the cover-up of child sexual abuse in the Dublin diocese. But it is...
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'WE MUST REFORM'
By Claire O'Sullivan Friday, December 18, 2009 THE Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has called for "radical reform" within the Church and once again urged bishops to take responsibility for their actions following the resignation yesterday of the...
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Two more bishops named in report may resign
PATSY MCGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent Fri, Dec 18, 2009 TWO OTHER bishops named in the Murphy report have acknowledged they may have to step down, following the announcement yesterday by Bishop Donal Murray that he had resigned. Bishop of...
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Still far from accepting personal responsibility
MARY RAFTERY Fri, Dec 18, 2009 ANALYSIS: Bishop Murray's resignation statement shows he has moved backwards in terms of facing up to his own culpability AN ANALYSIS of the language used by the Bishop of Limerick in his statement yesterday...
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Pope accepts Bishop of Limerick's resignation
The resignation of the Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray has been accepted by Pope Benedict. The bishop is addressing churchgoers at Mass at St John's Cathedral in Limerick. In a statement, Bishop Murray said he "humbly" apologised to...
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Victim became suicidal over sex assaults in church sacristy
Independent.ie By Edel Kennedy Thursday December 17 2009 A PAEDOPHILE priest at the centre of an abuse cover-up scandal was yesterday jailed for two years after admitting sexually assaulting a six-year-old altar boy more than 70 times. The...
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Church didn't protect children -- top bishops
Independent.ie By Ralph Riegel Thursday December 17 2009 TWO of Ireland's most senior bishops acknowledged yesterday that both the Church and Irish society failed to properly protect children. The Bishop of Cork and Ross, Dr John Buckley, and the...
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Four more will resign as Bishop Murray steps down
Independent.ie By John Cooney Religious Affairs Correspondent Thursday December 17 2009 THE resignation of Donal Murray as Bishop of Limerick will be announced this morning. And it is expected that as many as four other bishops will follow suit...
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Bishop Murray resignation to be announced
By Dan Collins, Seán McCárthaigh and Noel Baker Thursday, December 17, 2009 THE Vatican is expected to announce the resignation of the Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray today. Dr Murray was harshly criticised over his handling of sex...
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Victim's brother goes on 7-day fast to protest inaction
By Noel Baker Thursday, December 17, 2009 A CAMPAIGNER against institutional child sex abuse yesterday declared that he was going on a seven-day fast in protest over inaction against sex abusers and those who concealed it. Kevin Flanagan, a...
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Stall memorial, says abuse survivor
Thu, Dec 17, 2009 A MEMORIAL to the victims of institutional abuse, which will cost €500,000, should be shelved until more pressing matters to do with the Ryan report are dealt with,according to an abuse victim and campaigner. Michael...
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Divisions among survivor groups over abuse memorial
By Niall Murray Education Correspondent Thursday, December 17, 2009 SURVIVOR groups are divided over plans to move ahead with a €500,000 memorial to commemorate those who were abused as children in residential institutions. A committee set up by Education...
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Time for Cardinal Connell to do penance for his sins
Independent.ie CARDINAL Desmond Connell, the master-spinner of 'mental reservation' and premier living luminary of the clerical rogues' gallery who covered up for the abusers, has remained bolted in his Dublin northside mansion, cocooned from public outrage. Apart from a...
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Cardinal trying to get away scot-free, says victim
Independent.ie By John Cooney and Patricia McDonagh Wednesday December 16 2009 CARDINAL Desmond Connell was accused last night by an abuse victim of hiding behind retirement "to get away scot-free" for his mishandling and covering-up of priest paedophiles....
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Response to clerical child abuse report
Wed, Dec 16, 2009 Madam, - Mary Raftery (Opinion, December 15th) writes that "as a society, we have chosen to give these bishops enormous and unaccountable power over our education system". This situation would be viewed as farcical if...
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Priests' group's first meeting since report
PATSY McGARRY Religious Affairs Correspondent Wed, Dec 16, 2009 THE COUNCIL of Priests of Dublin's Catholic archdiocese will meet tomorrow for the first time since publication of the Murphy report on November 26th. In attendance will be Archbishop Diarmuid...
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Minister considers new Magdalene evidence
JAMIE SMYTH Wed, Dec 16, 2009 THE GOVERNMENT will consider new evidence detailing State involvement in the referral of women to Magdalene laundries in the 1960s before it decides whether to provide redress to former inmates. The decision yesterday...
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Church will continue to decline while it is run by 'Wal-Mart bishops'
Wednesday, December 16, 2009 I HAD hoped the meeting of Cardinal Seán Brady and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin with the Pope in Rome last Saturday would have been marked by dialogue rather than a series of one-sided recriminations. From initial...
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Church trial of 'abuse cleric' stalled ahead of new report
Independent.ie By John Cooney Tuesday December 15 2009 Preparations for the Church trial of at least one priest have been suspended until a new report by the Murphy commission is delivered. This new investigation, into the Diocese of Cloyne,...
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Response to clerical child abuse report
Tue, Dec 15, 2009 Madam, - One point regarding the Murphy commission of investigation bears emphasis. It is that the Dublin Diocese did not receive (or indeed seek) the kind of elaborate constitutional justice with which we have become...
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Most priest abusers had free rein in schools
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin's ringed hand as he addresses a news conference about the Dublin diocesan report on the sexual abuse of children.Photograph: Reuters ANALYSIS: SINCE ITS publication, it is clear that the Murphy report has accentuated...
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Priests accuse church of bad, dishonest leadership
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent Tue, Dec 15, 2009 TWO DUBLIN Catholic priests, themselves directly affected by the cover-up of clerical child sex abuse by the church leadership, have separately called for a radical "reconceptualisation of what it means...
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Vatican response falls short
Independent.ie COULD it be that we are about to see real action from the Vatican about clerical sexual abuse, rather than impassioned rhetoric? There is to be a major reorganisation of the Catholic Church in Ireland, according to...
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Curate says first Mass and admits it's a 'difficult time' to be a priest
Fr Brian Nolan says his first Mass in the Redemptorist Church, Mount St Alphonsus, Limerick, yesterday. He was one of three Redemptorist priests ordained by Cardinal Sean Brady in Dundalk, Co Louth, last weekend. Photo: Press 22 By...
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Priest's appeal in rape case dismissed
Monday, 14 December 2009 12:03 The Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed a Donegal priest's bid to have his appeal against his conviction for raping a teenage parishioner in a church sacristy more than twenty years ago determined by...
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Religious orders' spending challenged
13 December 2009 By John Burke Public Affairs CorrespondentA panel set up by the government to review the finances of Catholic congregations has challenged the spending practices of several of the state's major religious orders.The panel, which is headed by...
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Clerical abuse report - Letters Page Irish Times
Mon, Dec 14, 2009 Madam, - The letters of the past week or so regarding the Murphy report have seen a level of hysteria that I have never seen before in all my days reading the Letters page. So...
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Scandals could undermine the church's foundations
ARCHBISHOP Diarmuid Martin Mon, Dec 14, 2009 ANALYSIS: FOR ARCHBISHOP Diarmuid Martin, whose brother Seamus was a correspondent in Moscow during the years of perestroika, there are lessons to be learned from Mikhail Gorbachev's doomed tenure in office, writes THEO...
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Withhold church donations, says US clerical abuse survivor
RONAN McGREEVY Mon, Dec 14, 2009 A PROMINENT survivor of clerical sex abuse in the United States has urged Irish Catholics to withhold their financial contributions from the church. Barbara Blaine broke off a family holiday to hand out...
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Five prelates who are still in the line of fire
Independent.ie By John Cooney Monday December 14 2009 Eamonn Walsh: Insisted that if he had done anything wrong in not protecting children he would have gone by now. Ray Field: Said he had not known full extent of abuse....
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Pope will consider documents as Murray awaits fate
Independent.ie By John Cooney Monday December 14 2009 POPE Benedict XVI will study a crucial report on the future of the embattled Bishop of Limerick, as pressure continues to mount on five Irish bishops to resign. Bishop Donal Murray,...
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Pope as guilty as bishops, say abuse groups
By Ann Cahill and Jennifer Hough Saturday, December 12, 2009 THE Pope's failure to accept accountability for the role of the Catholic Church in recklessly endangering children makes him just as guilty as the Irish bishops who...
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Bishop under fire
Murray facing pressure to resign after intervention by Cardinal Seán Brady John Downes, News Investigations Correspondent --> Archbishops Diarmuid Martin and Donal Murray: there is speculation Murray may announce his resignation today Embattled Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray was...
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Church needs a change of mentality to truly reform
Independent.ie New structures will count for nothing unless the culture of collusion and cover-up is rooted out, writes Ronan Fanning By Ronan Fanning Sunday December 13 2009 THREE events last week -- the meeting between Minister for Foreign Affairs...
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He was our priest. I was a schoolgirl'
Independent.ie 'I could not tell anybody because I felt no one would believe me. And of course, I felt that I would be held to blame. He was our priest. I was a schoolgirl' In the wake of the appalling...
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Bishops to quit as Vatican ups the pressure
Independent.ie Church shake-up on way after key talks in Rome A NUMBER of bishops named in the Murphy report are likely to offer to resign after toplevel talks yesterday between the Pope and the country's two most senior...
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A united front cannot conceal the divisions
Independent.ie By Edel Kennedy Saturday December 12 2009 IT is a symbol of the might of the Catholic Church. But yesterday in the shadow of St Peter's Cathedral, the cracks in the Irish Catholic Church began to show --...
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Bishops to quit as Vatican ups the pressure
Independent.ie Church shake-up on way after key talks in Rome A NUMBER of bishops named in the Murphy report are likely to offer to resign after toplevel talks yesterday between the Pope and the country's two most senior churchmen....
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Irish Times - Letters Page
Response to clerical abuse report Sat, Dec 12, 2009 Madam, - The obscene, perverse practices of ordained Catholic servants of Christ on those very "little children" Jesus urged to come unto him are surely unacceptable to any civilised society. Why,...
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Delay in dealing with child abuser needs to be explained by Bishop Walsh
Sat, Dec 12, 2009 ANALYSIS: Bishop Eamonn Walsh responded this week to issues relating to clerical abuse in two dioceses but questions remain unanswered, writes MARY RAFTERY BISHOP EAMONN Walsh on Wednesday last made a series of revealing statements to...
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Bishops meet groups over Magdalenes
Bishops meet groups over Magdalenes JAMIE SMYTH Sat, Dec 12, 2009 REDRESS CALL: SEVERAL GROUPS representing victims of clerical child sex abuse have asked the Catholic Church to provide financial compensation to survivors of Magdalene laundries who suffered abuse. At a...
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Vatican signals Irish church faces major overhaul
PATSY McGARRY and PADDY AGNEW Sat, Dec 12, 2009 THE IRISH Catholic Church faces major reorganisation following yesterday's meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and senior church figures. Following his meeting in the Vatican with Ireland's Catholic Primate Cardinal Seán...
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Liberal Church wouldn't handle abuse differently
Bishop Brendan Comiskey was, a noted Church liberal who questioned celibacy By David Quinn Friday December 11 2009 There is a notion doing the rounds that, if only the Church and its theology had been more liberal,...
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Response to clerical child abuse report
Fri, Dec 11, 2009 Madam, - Since the publication of the Murphy report there have been demands for heads to roll and quite rightly so. However, I believe we should also be directing our attention to the present. At...
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Pope 'shares outrage and shame' at Murphy report
Cardinal Sean Brady, flanked by Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin (left), talking to reporters at the end of a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in Saint Peter¿s Square at the Vatican today. Photograph: Reuters Related » Brady, Martin travel to...
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Senior Irish clerics to meet with Pope
Thursday, 10 December 2009 11:22 Cardinal Seán Brady and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin are on their way to Rome for a meeting tomorrow with Pope Benedict to discuss the Murphy Report on the handling of child abuse complaints in...
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Under-fire bishop claims he did 'no wrong'
Dublin auxiliary stands over record on child protection "If the perception is continued among the people that I was somebody complicit in all this then that would be a barrier to my ministry and I could...
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Powerful Vatican body considers the Murray case
Independent.ie By Edel Kennedy Thursday December 10 2009 IF Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray tenders his resignation, the Pope does not have to accept it. There have been several cases in the past where the Pope did not accept...
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Letters Page - Irish Times
Response to clerical child abuse report Thu, Dec 10, 2009 Madam, - As a former Irish priest who was, I suppose, although unwittingly. among the avant garde in leaving the priesthood in the mid 1970s and caused the predictable local...
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'If I had done any wrong I'd be gone' - Dr Walsh
Thu, Dec 10, 2009 Bishop Éamonn Walsh, Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, took questions from Religious Affairs Correspondent PATSY McGARRY outside the Catholic bishops' winter conference in Maynooth Patsy McGarry started by asking Bishop Walsh about suggestions he was "under...
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Ex-Brother jailed for two years over abuse
Seán John Drummond, who pleaded guilty to 36 charges of indecently assaulting pupils in Limerick in the 1960s, arriving at Limerick Circuit Court yesterday. Photograph: Arthur Ellis/Press22 KATHRYN HAYES A FORMER Christian Brother who indecently assaulted 19 young...
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Bishops shamed by scale and depravity of child sex abuse
PATSY McGARRY Religious Affairs Correspondent Thu, Dec 10, 2009 CATHOLIC BISHOPS have expressed deep shock at the findings of the Murphy report and say they want to "humbly ask for forgiveness." In a statement last night at the end...
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Letters Page- Irish Times
Clerical abuse report Wed, Dec 09, 2009 Madam, - On behalf of all Irish artists . . . though most have kept their mouth shut, I demand the Irish Government expel the papal nuncio and recall the Irish ambassador from...
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Time for the faithful to choose our own bishops
VINCENT TWOMEY Wed, Dec 09, 2009 The bishops meet today. They must rediscover their consciences . . . and slash their numbers by at least 50 per cent ONCE THE five bishops resign and relevant action is taken with...
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Former Christian Brother jailed over assaults
Former Christian Brother jailed over assaults Wednesday, 9 December 2009 A former Christian Brother who indecently assaulted 19 young boys at a Limerick school in the 1960s has been given a two-year sentence at Limerick Circuit Court. Sean John...
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The Catholic Hierarchy gathers
Wed, Dec 09, 2009 AS MEMBERS of the Catholic Hierarchy gather at their winter meeting in Maynooth today, the impending resignation of Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick will hang over their deliberations. The whole saga of the future of...
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Fallout from child abuse report to dominate meeting of bishops
PATSY McGARRY Religious Affairs Correspondent Wed, Dec 09, 2009 IRELAND'S CATHOLIC bishops meet today for the first time since publication of the Murphy report as Cardinal Seán Brady and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin prepare for a meeting with Pope Benedict...
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Agents of foreign state should not control our schools
Tue, Dec 08, 2009 We owe it to ourselves as a democracy to end the role of bishops as patrons of Catholic schools, writes FINTAN O'TOOLE THE VATICAN, in its refusal to deal with the Murphy commission on child...
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Vatican 'dismayed' at Murphy report findings
Giuseppe LeanzaSays he should have responded to the commission formally Micheál MartinMeeting with Papal Nuncio 1 2 Tuesday, 8 December 2009 12:45 The Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, has said the findings of the Murphy Commission...
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Retribution must also have its limits
Tuesday December 08 2009 How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? How many bishops must resign? Just a few points. If, as expected, Bishop Murray of Limerick goes, who then...
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Papal nuncio: Pope will respond to Murphy report
Pope Benedict Tuesday, December 08, 2009 - 11:13 AM The papal nuncio to Ireland says a response on the findings of the Murphy report on clerical sex abuse can be expected from the Pope.Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza held talks...
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Others turned a blind eye, too
Independent.ie THE heat is being turned up on the Catholic Church big time. We have all sorts of suggestions, from boycotting to calling the Pope to order. The behaviour of the Church is, of course, inexcusable in relation to...
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Bishop Murray: Pastor, author and intellectual
Independent.ie By John Cooney Tuesday December 08 2009 DONAL Murray was Cardinal Desmond Connell's protege. He was rated by Connell as the brightest student he taught in his 35 years as a professor of metaphysics at University...
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Pope orders leaders to Rome for crisis meeting
Independent.ie By John Cooney Tuesday December 08 2009 BISHOP of Limerick Donal Murray is expected to give his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI tomorrow as Ireland's two church leaders prepare to fly out to attend a crisis meeting in Rome...
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All church leaders share in collective failure
Tue, Dec 08, 2009 OPINION: One resignation by a negligent bishop will not be enough. The church's cover-up of crimes is systemic, writes COLM O'GORMAN THE SCALE and deliberate nature of the cover-up revealed by the Murphy report has left...
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People betrayed by 'medieval' church
JAMIE SMYTH Tue, Dec 08, 2009 PRIEST SPEAKS OUT: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH is stuck in a "feudal and medieval"model and has betrayed the people, a Dublin priest has said. Fr Fergal MacDonagh also called yesterday for the Bishop of Limerick...
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End old boys' club, says priest who highlighted abuse in 1993
PATSY McGARRY Tue, Dec 08, 2009 FORMER CHURCH EDITOR: A PRIEST who was removed in 1994 as editor of the Irish Bishops' Conference-sponsored magazine Intercom after publishing an article challenging the bishops' handling of clerical child sex abuse has described the...
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More than one bishop may offer resignation
PADDY AGNEW and PATSY McGARRY Tue, Dec 08, 2009 MORE THAN one Irish bishop may submit their resignation to the pope this week, as Vatican officials confirmed Cardinal Sean Brady and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin have been asked to...
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Religious orders defied government request
06 December 2009 By John Burke Public Affairs CorrespondentCatholic congregations ignored a government request to keep secret details of their offers to a fund to support survivors of clerical abuse.The government told the 18 religious orders that it wanted to...
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Religious orders defied government request
06 December 2009 By John Burke Public Affairs CorrespondentCatholic congregations ignored a government request to keep secret details of their offers to a fund to support survivors of clerical abuse.The government told the 18 religious orders that it wanted to...
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Off Message
06 December 2009 By Jennifer O'ConnellThere is some good news out of the Murphy Report.Since 2008, the Church has been putting prospective seminarians through stern psychological testing. The bad news is that they don't look for signs of paedophilia.Instead, the...
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Bishops face moment of truth to rescue Church
John Cooney: Monday December 07 2009 BUDGET Wednesday is also Crisis Day for the Irish Catholic bishops. On the same day that Brian Lenihan unveils his Budget, the bishops will assemble in the former infirmary of St Patrick's College,...
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Church abuse report: Serial sex abusers go into hiding
Independent.ie By Edel Kennedy Monday December 07 2009 THE names of many priests found guilty of child sex abuse are not on the sex offenders' register because it was established after they were convicted. As a result, the whereabouts...
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Rome must clear any resignation
Independent.ie Bishop Donal Murray cannot just announce his resignation but would have to offer it to Rome and have it accepted by Pope Benedict XVI, according to church law. Normally, a bishop is only required to submit his resignation on...
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Cardinal Brady turns up heat on 10 prelates singled out by report
Independent.ie By John Cooney Monday December 07 2009 CARDINAL Sean Brady has increased the pressure on at least 10 bishops criticised in the Murphy report into the handling by the Dublin Archdiocese of complaints about paedophile priests. Cardinal Brady...
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Response to clerical child abuse report - Letters Page Irish Times
Response to clerical child abuse report Mon, Dec 07, 2009 Madam, - Dr Vincent Twomey, SVD, called on all the bishops mentioned in the Murphy report to resign immediately (December 3rd). The reason he gave is, "they are deemed guilty...
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Jail is penalty for concealing child sex abuse
PEARSE MEHIGAN Mon, Dec 07, 2009 OPINION: AS PART of an RTÉ news report on the continuing fallout from the Dublin archdiocesan commission more commonly known as the Murphy report, an elderly man was approached as he left a church...
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Vatican cannot escape blaim in abuse scandal
Vatican cannot escape blame in abuse scandal 06 December 2009 By Vincent BrowneThe cynical indifference by Irish Catholic bishops to the sexual abuse of children perpetrated by their brother priests is not the full story, by any means. The culpability...
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Open letter to nuncio calls on pope to remove bishops
GENEVIEVE CARBERY Mon, Dec 07, 2009 PROTEST: A SMALL group of lay Catholics delivered a letter to the office of the papal nuncio on Saturday calling on the pope to hold an inquiry into the failure of bishops to protect...
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Bishop's Defence: Parishioners Speak Out
KATHRYN HAYES Mon, Dec 07, 2009 AS THE resignation of Bishop Donal Murray looks imminent, there was still some support for the beleaguered bishop in Limerick yesterday where he personally addressed parishioners a week ago. Mass-goers at St Joseph's...
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Limerick bishop expected to resign
PATSY McGARRY Religious Affairs Correspondent Mon, Dec 07, 2009 The bishop of Limerick Dr Dónal Murray travelled to Rome yesterday to discuss his future. It is believed Bishop Murray departed from Cork airport in the afternoon and that...
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CBS Tralee, Co. Kerry
CBS concentration camp inmates still suffer from the 'holy terrors' By Ryle Dwyer Saturday, December 05, 2009 ELSEWHERE in today's paper (News Analysis, page 17) I have reviewed Michael Clemenger's book Holy Terrors, dealing with life in the industrial...
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Dr Martin must demand resignation of bishops
Sunday Tribune Judge Yvonne Murphy's report into sexual abuse of children by priests in the Dublin diocese over four decades reveals yet another layer in the heart of darkness at the centre of Irish society. The cold descriptions...
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Brady urges accountability over child abuse report
JASON MICHAEL Sat, Dec 05, 2009 Archbishop of Armagh Cardinal Séan Brady has today called for accountability among bishops in the wake of the Murphy report into the handling of complaints of child sexual abuse by priests....
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Old Ireland wants to believe the Vatican is behaving well . . . New Ireland can't believe its ears
Independent.ie Medb Ruane: By Medb Ruane Saturday December 05 2009 Thierry Henry's handball was an outrage so what can you do? Brian Cowen couldn't fix it but he had a word with Nicolas Sarkozy. Bad faith, Nicolas. A contrast to...
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Letters Page- Irish Times
Response to clerical child abuse report Sat, Dec 05, 2009 Madam, - A long time ago during one of the periodic bouts of government belt-tightening I suggested in a discussion on the Vote for Foreign Affairs that one embassy in...
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Bishops must end secrecy on child sex abuse
Sat, Dec 05, 2009 Church leaders failed to grasp that sex abuse by clerics is a crime, not just a canon law offence, writes GARRET FitzGERALD THE IMPACT of the Murphy report on all of us has been traumatic....
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Pope to get open letter on failings of bishops
Independent.ie By John Cooney and Aine de Paor Saturday December 05 2009 AN OPEN letter to Pope Benedict calling for a thorough inquiry into the failures of bishops to protect children will be delivered today. The letter tells Pope...
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Statement of the Contribution of the Sisters of Mercy
3 December 2009 Congregation Download a printout of this statement Statement from the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy (Ireland) The Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy (Ireland) has written to Minister Batt O'Keeffe, T.D. advising him of the...
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Martin requests meeting with Pope's representative
Independent.ie By Dearbhail McDonald and Patricia McDonagh Friday December 04 2009 FOREIGN Minister Micheal Martin has asked Papal Nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza to meet with him to discuss issues surrounding the Murphy commission report into the Dublin Archdiocese. This...
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Resignations 'needed for good of the Church'
Independent.ie By John Cooney Friday December 04 2009 A SENIOR priest in a west of Ireland diocese has called for the resignation of bishops criticised in the Dublin Archdiocese report for covering up or mishandling clerical child abuse complaints....
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Religious orders' fund for victims now close to €500m
Independent.ie By John Walshe Education Editor Friday December 04 2009 RELIGIOUS orders will hand over close to €500m to compensate victims of sex abuse. The latest to announce their increased offer are the Sisters of Mercy, who last night...
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Letters page- Irish Times
Response to clerical child abuse report Fri, Dec 04, 2009 Madam, - I started reading the Murphy report at 10am in an office of the Department of Justice last Thursday week and quickly became both very angry and very sad...
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Prelate's position as chairman of maternity hospital queried
MARIE O'HALLORAN Fri, Dec 04, 2009 A GOVERNMENT backbencher has told the Dáil that it is inappropriate for the Archbishop of Dublin to be chairman of the National Maternity Hospital. Ciarán Cuffe (Green, Dún Laoghaire) said it was "time...
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President praises those who took on authority
CAROL COULTER Legal Affairs Editor Fri, Dec 04, 2009 PRESIDENT MARY McAleese has praised those who showed courage in "taking on the monoliths and vested interests and the culture of silence, which rendered children outrageously vulnerable to abuse". Speaking...
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Talks with Brown on sex abuse urged
MARIE O'HALLORAN Fri, Dec 04, 2009 A CALL has been made for the Government to engage in direct talks with British prime minister Gordon Brown and the Northern Ireland Executive to address allegations of child sexual abuse in the...
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Every auxiliary bishop had some knowledge of crimes
Thu, Dec 03, 2009 ANALYSIS: It's not just about Bishop Donal Murray. Many other bishops failed and they should all resign, writes MARY RAFTERY AS BISHOP Donal Murray thrashes about trying to save his own skin, it is clear he...
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Martin demands answers 'to satisfy congregations'
Independent.ie By Louise Hogan Wednesday December 02 2009 ARCHBISHOP of Dublin Diarmuid Martin last night cranked up the pressure on senior clerics at the centre of the growing controversy over child sexual abuse. Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray has...
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Brave victim tells others: 'Speak out, you will be heard'
Independent.ie By Dearbhail McDonald Legal Editor Wednesday December 02 2009 FIND your voice. Find your courage. Speak out, you will be heard. Fighting back tears outside of Dublin's Four Courts, Gerard Smyth appealed to victims of abuse to pierce...
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An abysmal abdication of responsibility
FINTAN O'TOOLE Tue, Dec 01, 2009 OPINION: If Bishop Willie Walsh doesn't get it, what hope is there for the rest of the institutional church? BISHOP WILLIE Walsh is a very fine person. Over the years, he has been the...
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The Vatican has shunned us, so why not downgrade the Papal Nuncio?
By Fergus Finlay Tuesday, December 01, 2009 LILYBAEUM no longer exists. It used to be a small port in Sicily and had a fort occupied by the ancient Carthaginians.There's a town on the site now, called Marsala.But oddly...
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Response to clerical child abuse report- Irish Times
Tue, Dec 01, 2009 Madam, - Looking on your map at the locations in Dublin of the child abusing priests (Home News,November 27th), it was hard not to notice they are a virtual roll-call of working-class communities: Ballyfermot, Crumlin,...
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'Scapegoating' of bishop will not help healing process
EAMONN CONWAY Tue, Dec 01, 2009 OPINION: There are many respects in which Bishop Murray has served the Irish church and its people well THE EASIEST thing to do in the present circumstances is to keep silent to avoid causing...
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The bishops close ranks
Tue, Dec 01, 2009 DOES BISHOP Willie Walsh realise how much he has let down the Catholic laity? Has the papal nuncio any conception that the majesty of the Roman Catholic Church won't cut it any more? The days...
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Pressure mounts on Murray to resign despite letter of support from local group
KATHRYN HAYES Tue, Dec 01, 2009 BISHOP DONAL MURRAY: PRESSURE ON the Bishop of Limerick, Dr Donal Murray, to resign in the wake of the Dublin diocesan report continued to mount last night, despite a letter of support issued by...
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Papal envoy denies he showed contempt for inquiry
RONAN McGREEVY and PATSY McGARRY Tue, Dec 01, 2009 THE PAPAL Nuncio in Ireland has denied suggestions that he showed contempt for the institutions of the State by not responding to the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic...
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Go now, bishop, before Vatican sends you a P45
Independent.ie By JOHN COONEY Tuesday December 01 2009 MOST certainly Donal Murray should resign as Bishop of Limerick and respect the state judicial finding of the Murphy commission that his mishandling of complaints against the notorious paedophile cleric Thomas...
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Our mob-law cowardice is to blame for legacy of abuse
Independent.ie By KEVIN MYERS Tuesday December 01 2009 Nineteen-seventy-four, and two evil young paedophile priests, Francis McCarthy and Bill Carney, were unleashed into the world. For years, they enjoyed the tacit protection of the Church, An Garda Siochana and...
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Abuse report: Cover-up clerics likely to get off the hook
Independent.ie Fresh evidence is needed for prosecutions By Dearbhail McDonald and Barry Duggan Tuesday December 01 2009 NEW evidence will be needed if senior clerics and gardai are to be prosecuted for their involvement in the cover-up of child sex...
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