The inquiry into the handling of clerical sex abuse claims in the Dublin archdiocese has found widespread evidence of repeat offences by members of the clergy.The inquiry team has begun to distribute its provisional findings and large sections of its draft report have been passed to Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, in recent days.
The former archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, has also received some sections.
Draft findings are also being circulated to those who allegedly suffered abuse at the hands of diocesan priests, as well as to alleged perpetrators, senior Church managers, gardaí and the Health Service Executive (HSE).
The report covers alleged claims of abuse by 46 priests who were based in the diocese between 1975 and 2004, mostly during Connell’s stewardship.
Martin has been preparing diocesan workers for what one well-placed source described as ‘‘a litany of the worst imaginable abuse and recurring sexual assault’’.
However, one diocesan priest said that, as far as he was aware, there were no plans to inform priests of the contents of the report in advance of its publication.
A spokeswoman for the Dublin diocese refused to confirm or deny whether Martin had received any part of the report, citing restrictions imposed by the 2004 Commissions of Investigation Act. Under the act, anyone who receives part of a draft report and discloses its contents without permission may be fined up to €300,000 and jailed for five years.
Meanwhile, the Irish Bishops’ Conference last Friday pledged to comply in future with all requests for details of complaints and other information that they had previously refused to divulge to HSE auditors.
The bishops also agreed to allow the independent National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC)to carry out an audit of child protection in each diocese.
Bishop John Magee of Cloyne apologised to victims of clerical sexual abuse, ‘‘those working with victims and to the general public for the suffering and frustrations’’ caused by the failures detailed in an NBSCCC report into the handling of child abuse claims in Cloyne.
The Commission of Investigation into the handling of abuse claims in the Dublin archdiocese, chaired by Judge Yvonne Murphy, is awaiting terms of reference before it begins to investigate how Magee dealt with abuse allegations over the past 12 years.
The commission has been given an extension of six months to report back to children’s minister Barry Andrews , who asked it to investigate Cloyne.
It is expected that the final report into the Dublin archdiocese will be presented to the minister by the end of February. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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(Source: SBP)