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THE REVIEW by the Church’s national board for the safeguarding of children has revealed that abuse allegations have been made against three of the 63 priests who are currently on active duty in the Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora.
The review of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (PDF) is broadly positive of safeguarding procedures in the diocese, in a report which examines its performance under three different bishops since 1975.
While there is some criticism of how complaints had previously been managed in the diocese, the appraisal of procedures since the appointment of Bishop Martin Drennan in 2005.
Bishop Drennan this morning told Galway Bay FM that the allegations against the three active priests had been discussed with the Gardaí and HSE, and it was considered that the allegations were not significant enough to warrant removing them from duty.
The priests are not named in the Safeguarding Board’s report.
Nonetheless, the report calls for a comprehensive review of those complaints and for officials to be appointed as quickly as possible to progress any necessary investigations – though it is complementary about the oversight being exercised in the meantime.
“It is very clear that these men are being monitored and that any risk presented by them is carefully identified. However the Church policies should be adhered to and brought to speedy conclusions as required by canon law,” it says.
“The Safeguarding Co-ordinator should put in place written risk management plans which should be shared with the accused priest; and a record made of all reviews of risk and monitoring visits.”
The review says one priest had been convicted of an offence against a child or young person since 1975 – but two other cases where insufficient action was taken to deal with the allegations made.
One was under the tenure of Bishop Eamon Casey, who “does not appear to have been afforded the attention it required during the early 1980s”. Casey resigned in 1992 after it emerged he had fathered a child with an American woman, Annie Murphy.
His successor, Bishop James McLoughlin, was informed of the allegations after taking over in 1992, and removed him from ministry in 1995.
In the other case it was found that McLoughlin, who is now deceased, did not offer an appropriate response to the complainant. In that case, the priest was already out of ministry and was deceased when a subsequent complaint was made against them.
“Historically there have been delays in notifying An Garda Síochána and HSE of allegations in cases during the 1990s and early 2000,” the report says, before adding:
More recently there is very prompt reporting of all cases. While all current allegations are referred to the sexual crimes unit in Harcourt Square in Dublin, Bishop Drennan, the designated and deputy designated persons all state that they have a very open and positive relationship with An Garda Síochána in Galway
It was abundantly clear from discussions with the many lay volunteers encountered during the fieldwork that The Galway Diocesan Policy and Procedures are living documents, which they have all signed up to and which they proactively promote across the diocese and in all Church related activities.
The report also notes that the Diocese was one in which the code of behaviour for adults was “openly displayed in Churches and other church property”, a move it welcomed.
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€17 billion of Credit Suisse bonds got written down to zero overnight. Don’t cry that the institutional bond holders got BURNED; they had for the most part insured this risky debt with credit default swaps. That’s €17 billion that’s not on the head of the Swiss taxpayer; so a proper transfer of risk from the taxpayer to the risk seeking bond holders. There’s no point crying over spilled milk here but the great majority of Anglo Irish bond holders had hedged in the CDS market. That horse has bolted. PS: Journal, are you going to continue deleting my Ukraine posts when all I’m doing is stating facts and, as the penny finally begins to drop, presenting a reasonable alternative view?
@Ordinary Bloke: any posts that don’t fit the MSM narrative get deleted.. It’s a form of censorship
@a politicians promise is as good as a lie: their forum, their rules. You should know that by now. You can’t post comments on any other media site. Why isn’t there a national uproar over that!
@Ordinary Bloke: If your view is anything other than “Russia needs to get out of Ukraine and commit to a permanent ceasefire”, then it’s not reasonable and doesn’t deserve a platform.
Also, Putin needs to be surrendered to the Hague to answer for blowing up apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, etc. These things are completely non negotiable and rightly so.
If AI is going to take over then it should start with the bankers. They appear to be not fit for purpose. Shower of wasters
With inflation running amok they can’t print money to get out of the current mess. Banks swapping money to shore up balance sheets has shades of Anglo Irish about it.
@Sean Salmon: ermmm Quantitive Easing, not relevant to Switzerland, banking scam of the greatest level ever. A Ponzi scheme in any other industry.
Is there anything to be said for another bank guarantee?
@Handsome McWonderful: yes, €£$k off
This is only going one way. Regulators learnt nothing from last crash. Bankers realised that they wont carry the can when everything goes south as they got bailed out last time. No moral hazard to worry about. The reality is that investment banking is a big casino with the public picking up the losses. Until bankers start doing time in the big house nothing is going to change. As for getting a conviction that is a remote possibility in this country, in fact you are more likely to win the lotto. There is always a technicality or an invalid warrant to get these carpet baggers off the hook.
have your say