THE Catholic Church has silenced a senior cleric who claimed priests did not have to answer to the law on the reporting of child abuse. Monsignor Maurice Dooley caused outrage among abuse survivors when he said Cardinal Seán Brady had no reason to apologise for failing to go to the gardaí with his knowledge of paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.
The silencing of Monsignor Dooley came amidst further allegations yesterday that a girl abused by a priest was sworn to secrecy in an out-of-court settlement as recently as 2000.
The victim went public with her claims that she was abused over a 10-year period by an unnamed priest, but said she was bound to secrecy in a legal deal which involved the Bishop of Derry, Seamus Hegarty.
Contradicting everything the Church hierarchy has said on the matter in recent years, Mgr Dooley told RTÉ’s Pat Kenny earlier this week: "There is no law in Ireland or statute that requires that clergy report crimes to the police."
Mgr Dooley, who is based in the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, was yesterday gagged by his archbishop, Dermot Clifford, who said he regretted the offence caused by the monsignor’s remarks.
In a statement, Archbishop Clifford said the opinions expressed by Mgr Dooley were his own personal views and that he would not be airing them again.
"The policy and practice of this diocese, and every diocese, is to report all allegations to the statutory authorities. As a consequence, I have spoken to Mgr Dooley and he assures me he will not be speaking again in this controversy.
"I regret the distress, anger, and confusion that Mgr Dooley’s remarks have caused in recent days."
Meanwhile, Cardinal Brady issued a statement setting out his role in the case of a priest in his Archdiocese of Armagh who was tried but acquitted of sex attacks on a teenage girl.
Cardinal Brady said he suspended Fr Joseph Quinn from ministry and forbade him to hear confessions or have unsupervised access to minors the day after he was interviewed by police in 2001.
The priest, who was cleared of the charges at Omagh Crown Court, later made a personal settlement for damages with the girl.
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