TWO PRIESTS who are the subject of sex abuse allegations have been moved from the Redemptorist community at Esker in east Galway to another of the congregation’s communities which has no dealings with young people.A new allegation against one of the priests emerged in recent weeks.
On June 5th last it was reported in this newspaper that the Catholic Bishop of Clonfert John Kirby and the Redemptorist congregation were refusing to remove the two accused priests from Esker, which is regularly attended by young people.
This was despite a strong recommendation for their removal by a lay group appointed by Bishop Kirby to address child protection in the Clonfert diocese.
Bishop Kirby and the congregation told The Irish Times then that they were satisfied the situation was being managed correctly and that gardaí and the HSE had been informed about the allegations and the supervisory arrangements for the accused men at Esker.
Following further queries this week the Redemptorist provincial Fr Michael Kelleher told The Irish Times the accused men had now been moved.
“Despite the fact that we had the support of the Redemptorist advisory panel, the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) and the local bishop in our management of these cases to date, we conducted a further detailed review and decided to reappoint the two men to a community which has no ministry to children or young people,” he said.
The allegations against the priests go back 30-35 years. Fr Kelleher confirmed that “a further allegation, also dating back some 30 years, has been made against one of the men and it has been brought to the attention of the HSE and the gardaí”.
He confirmed “there is an ongoing canonical process, which was initiated by the Redemptorists, in regard to one of the men”, but that they “do not envisage a similar canonical process in relation to the second man”.
The Redemptorist child protection policy and NBSCCC document “have been presented to all Redemptorist community members and to lay staff involved in youth ministry in each of our communities in Ireland by the Redemptorist designated officer for child safeguarding”, he said.
All Redemptorists, lay staff and volunteers involved in youth ministry in Ireland (including those in Esker) have been offered training in safeguarding children by the designated officer, he said.
“HSE staff have provided generic child protection training to Redemptorist and lay staff involved in youth ministry in Esker.”
There the Redemptorist safeguarding policy “is posted in the church, in the monastery, in the retreat house and in the youth village”.
Standard procedures for reporting child protection concerns “are in place in Esker, as in all Redemptorist communities”.
Garda clearance had been secured for “almost 90 per cent of staff. We await the processing of the outstanding 10 per cent of applications by the Garda central vetting unit in Thurles,” he said.
SIC: IT