THE BISHOP OF Galway and Kilmacduagh has said he “shares” the feelings of “anger and profound distress” around the multiple child sexual abuse allegations made against former bishop Eamonn Casey.
Bishop Michael Duignan also said he is “committed to working with anybody affected to help bring truth, healing and peace to such terribly painful situations”.
Eamon Casey was the Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh from 1976 until 1992, when he resigned after it was revealed that he fathered a child with an American woman, Annie Murphy, in 1974.
Murphy wrote a book about their relationship and appeared on The Late Late Show for a famous interview with host Gay Byrne.
In an RTÉ documentary in association with the Irish Mail on Sunday, Casey was described as a “sexual predator” by the former CEO of The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland.
The programme, which aired last night and is called Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets, examined the Catholic Church’s handling of allegations against Casey, who died in 2017 aged 89.
It included an interview with Casey’s niece, Patricia Donovan, who claims that he first raped her at the age of five and that the sexual abuse continued for years.
It also revealed that a six-figure settlement was paid by the Catholic Church to one complainant after Casey’s death, and that the Vatican banned Casey from public ministry in 2007 following “allegations”.
The Vatican confirmed to the documentary that Casey was formally removed from public ministry in 2007 following “allegations” which, RTÉ said it had established, included his niece Patricia Donovan’s complaint of child sexual abuse.
In a statement today, Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh Michael Duignan said he is “deeply aware” that the documentary on Casey “is a source of anger and profound distress to many people, and in different ways”.
“I share these feelings,” said Duignan, who added that his “priority is that any person who was betrayed or harmed by Bishop Casey is heard and that their experiences are appropriately acknowledged and recognised”.
He said the Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora “adheres to all current procedures for responding to allegations concerning the safeguarding of children, as governed by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland”.
“All safeguarding allegations are reported to An Garda Síochana and TUSLA for investigation,” said Duignan.
He added that Diocesan safeguarding personnel are available to provide pastoral care and support and that counselling is available through the independent professional support organisation Towards Healing.
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