ARCHBISHOP
Dermot Clifford has issued an apology to a young man who was sexually
abused by a priest who was supposed to be hearing his confession.
The archbishop issued the apology after Fr Brendan
Wrixon received an 18-month suspended sentence at Cork Circuit Criminal
Court yesterday for gross indecency against the then teenager between
October 1982 and February 1983.
The court heard that at the
time Fr Wrixon was acting as confessor during a religious workshop
organised by the Diocese of Cloyne.
The man claimed in a
victim impact statement that the Catholic Church was more interested in
protecting itself than in helping him. It had taken him 20 years to
break his silence, because of the shame he’d endured.
"The truth is I was sexually abused by Brendan Wrixon when I was a teenager. I was wronged in a very serious way.
"He was the adult and I was the young teenager.
"He should have known better. As a priest his role was to be guide and witness to Christian values."
Archbishop Clifford, who is Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of
Cloyne, said he was "deeply sorry" that the trust of a young person was
betrayed by a priest. He said he wished to apologise to the victim and
express his "sincere regret" to him and his family.
Archbishop Clifford said Fr Wrixon has not held a diocesan appointment since 2005.
Judge Seán O Donnabháin told Wrixon that he violated not only the laws
of the country, but his own religious view and whatever tenets he
believed in.
"You have acknowledged publicly that you wronged
him; you are no longer a priest and rightly so. You don’t deserve to be
one," Judge O Donnabháin said after Wrixon pleaded guilty to a charge of
gross indecency.
Archbishop Clifford said he wished to
encourage anyone who has been a victim of child sexual abuse to report
it to the gardaí and the HSE.
"I also wish to let victims, or
anyone who has concerns, know that they may also contact me directly or
contact the diocesan child protection designated officer, Fr John
McCarthy," said Archbishop Clifford.
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