A major disagreement has emerged between the Archbishop of Dublin and his predecessor over how to deal with the Government's inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin. The former archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, has initiated High Court proceedings to prevent documents handed over by his successor, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, from being considered by the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation.
Lawyers for Cardinal Connell (81), who is in hospital in Rome following a fall on Tuesday night, claimed at the High Court yesterday that some of those documents were legally privileged. They secured an interim injunction until a full hearing on the matter next Monday.
The injunction restrains the commission from examining the documents to determine whether they are privileged/and or are covered by a duty of confidentiality.
It is understood that the Dublin archdiocese became aware for the first time on Wednesday that Cardinal Connell was planning the legal action, and that the action was confirmed to the archdiocese only yesterday.
In a brief statement, Archbishop Martin said that "since its inception, the archdiocese has refrained from making any comment on the work of the commission. That policy remains unchanged."
He noted, however, "the overarching aim of all must be that of attaining a more accurate understanding of the truth concerning sexual abuse of children by clergy."
He added that he hoped "that the legal matters which have now arisen will be dealt with expeditiously for all concerned so that the commission can conclude its work".
To date Archbishop Martin has handed over 66,583 documents covering the relevant period to the commission.
The commission was set up by the Government in March 2006 to investigate how allegations of child abuse, made against priests in the Dublin archdiocese between January 1st, 1975, and May 1st, 2004, were handled. It is doing so in connection with allegations made against a representative sample of 46 priests.
Cardinal Connell was archbishop of Dublin from March 1988 until his resignation on April 26th, 2004, when Dr Martin became archbishop.
Last night Deirdre Fitzpatrick, of the One in Four group which helps people who suffered sex abuse, said they were "deeply disturbed, saddened but not shocked" by Cardinal Connell's legal action.
Ms Fitzpatrick said she wondered where it left statements he had made in the past about the necessity for all information to be made available before there could be healing and reconciliation for victims.
It emerged during yesterday's High Court hearing that Cardinal Connell had given evidence before the commission on four occasions, and that at a hearing on October 5th his counsel expressed concern that the commission had a document which was covered by legal professional privilege when the cardinal had not waived his claim of privilege.
The archdiocese commission of investigation was told that the cardinal's solicitors had contacted Archbishop Martin's solicitors to establish how the document was released.
Cardinal Connell's advisers said they were concerned that disclosure of privileged documents to a third party could mean a loss of privilege for the cardinal who was anxious to inform Archbishop Martin's solicitors that he, the cardinal, had not waived his claim of privilege.
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