Sunday, July 17, 2011

Priest at centre of Australian claims allowed retire to Ireland

AN Irish priest at the centre of two hidden abuse claims in Australia was allowed to retire to Ireland where he attacked and sexually abused at least one young boy in the priest’s private home.

The Murphy Commission made the grim finding after examining a serious complaint against Fr Rion. 

The priest, who was born in Ireland in 1908 and died in 1976, returned to this country in 1974 after allegedly retiring from his post in Brisbane due to ill-health.

Despite having no formal association with Cloyne, he was given permission by the diocese’s then bishop, John Ahern, to visit local schools and say Mass at his home with the assistance of altar boys picked "on a roster" by a local school principal. 

One of these children, "Andrew", contacted the Cloyne diocese from his home in Australia in January 2005 to confirm he was abused in 1975 and 1976.

During detailed correspondence with Andrew and a representative from an Australia advocacy group, and a visit by these two individuals to Ireland, Monsignor Denis O’Callaghan was convinced as to the claim’s accuracy. He contacted the Brisbane archdiocese, which did not clarify if there had been similar cases in Australia. This is despite the fact it was made aware of two "similar" claims in 2002 and 2003, relating to the periods 1937-44 and 1950-55.

The Brisbane archdiocese did not reveal this information either at the time or during the initial inquiries relating to Andrew’s case as it was "never asked", felt the investigations were historical and said the claims were not fully investigated.

The commission said this attitude was "astonishing".

The investigation also found that after Andrew came forward with his claims, the Cloyne and Brisbane dioceses became embroiled in a major disagreement over which area was responsible for what took place, partially over fears of litigation.

Monsignor O’Callaghan, who described the case as "the most traumatic he had dealt with", provided "Andrew" with funding worth €15,000 for counselling.

While he said €10,000 came from the "Good Samaritan Pastoral Care Fund", the commission found it was transferred from the Mallow parish accounts.

Monsignor O’Callaghan asked his Brisbane counterpart to match the payment. The Australian diocese initially refused, insisting it could in no way be held responsible for the "extraordinary [Irish] practice, even in bye-gone days" of allowing priests to say Mass in their private homes — a situation which contributed to Andrew’s abuse.

After letters between the dioceses in 2005 and 2006, the auxiliary archbishop of Brisbane agreed to pay €12,000 (AU$20,000).

While the commission noted Monsignor O’Callaghan was "very kind, both personally and financially" to the abuse survivor, it said procedures were followed.

Bishop John Magee was not aware of any payments, gardaí were not informed of the claim and no investigation took place into whether other children were also abused.