THE REMIT of the Murphy commission should be extended to include all
Catholic dioceses in the State, Fine Gael spokesman on children Charlie
Flanagan has said.
“It is clear from the litany of horrors that have
already been revealed that a full national audit of all Catholic
dioceses is required,” he said.
The Murphy commission investigated
the handling of clerical child sex abuse allegations by church and
State authorities in Dublin’s Catholic archdiocese and has just
completed a similar investigation into Cloyne diocese.
Mr Flanagan
was speaking in anticipation of the commission’s Cloyne
report being handed over to Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern.
News reports that it was to be handed over to the Minister yesterday were premature.
Reflecting
on “what we already know of Cloyne, Ferns and the Dublin Archdiocese
and from the Murphy and Ryan reports”, Mr Flanagan said: “The
information which has emerged is too grave and the litany of abuse is
too horrific for this to be avoided any longer.” He said “the culture
within the church which allowed this abuse must be exposed and its
countless child victims must be heard,” he said.
“Fine Gael
believes the remit of the Murphy commission could be extended to cover
other dioceses in the country. The Director of Public Prosecutions must
also be furnished with all appropriate information.
“The veil of
secrecy which facilitated the continued suffering of children at the
hands of paedophile priests must be lifted for good,” he said.
However, and as matters stand, the commission is due to conclude its work by the end of this month when it will be wound up.
In
January 2009 its remit was extended by Minister for Children Barry
Andrews to include Cloyne.
That followed the findings of Catholic church
watchdog, the National Board for Safeguarding Children, that child
protection measures in Cloyne were “inadequate and in some respects
dangerous”.
Those findings were published on the Cloyne diocese website in December 2008.
The
period covered by the Murphy commission investigation into Cloyne
extended from January 1st, 1996 to February 1st, 2006.
The Catholic
Church’s
Green Book /framework document, its first guidelines on child protection, was published in 1996.
It
is understood the Cloyne report, the length of which is believed to be
approximately 400 pages, will include findings involving all 19 priests
who faced abuse allegations during the period investigated.
However,
uncertainty remains over when the report will be published as it is
considered likely the DPP may bring charges against one of the priests
investigated.
That would mean the High Court could order that the relevant chapter be withheld until proceedings in the case are completed.
In
March 2009 Bishop of Cloyne John Magee stood aside from diocesan duties
and the Archbishop of Cashel, Dermot Clifford, was appointed by the
Vatican as Apostolic Administrator to Cloyne.
SIC: IT/IE