The report into the investigation into allegations of clerical child
sex abuse in Cloyne is the fourth inquiry into the affairs of Catholic
Church in Ireland to have been published within the past six years.
Murphy Report
Full title: Report of the Commission of Investigation, Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin
Published: November 2009
Background: In 2002 RTÉ broadcast a series produced by Mary Raftery entitled Cardinal Secrets ,
which investigated the handling of child sex abuse allegations in the
Dublin Catholic Archdiocese. Following the broadcast the Government
pledged in November that year to establish a full independent judicial
inquiry into the archdiocese’s handling of abuse allegations.
This
set in motion establishment of the Commission of Investigation Act 2004
that in turn led to the setting up in 2006 of an investigation into the
handling of allegations of clerical sex abuse in the Dublin archdiocese
by church and State authorities from January 1st, 1975, until April
30th, 2004, when Cardinal Desmond Connell stepped down as Archbishop of
Dublin.
Among the findings: Four successive
archbishops of the Dublin Catholic Archdiocese handled allegations of
child sexual abuse badly and with "denial, arrogance and cover-up" and
did not report their knowledge of abuse to gardaí over a period of three
decades.
The structures and rules of the Catholic Church facilitated the cover-up of abuse.
Ryan Report
Full title: Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse
Published: May 2009
Background:
The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was set up in 2000 to
investigate industrial schools, reformatories, orphanages, institutions
for children with disabilities and ordinary day schools from 1914,
although the bulk of its work addressed the period from the 1930s to the
1970s.
In May 1999 the then taoiseach Bertie Ahern apologised on
behalf of the State to people who had been abused as children in these
residential institutions. The apology followed the broadcast of the RTÉ
series States of Fear, which was produced by journalist Mary Raftery.
Among the findings: Thousands
of children suffered physical and sexual abuse over several decades in
216 residential institutions run by religious orders implicating over
800 priests, brothers, nuns and lay people.
The report criticised
the Department of Education for failing to carry out its “statutory duty
of inspection” out of deference towards the religious congregations.
Ferns Report
Published: October 2005
Background: In March 2002 a screening BBC broadcast a documentary called Suing the
Pope ,
featuring the testimony of abuse victim Colm O’Gorman and three other
men. That April following a meeting with Mr O’Gorman, then minister for
health Micheál Martin set up an inquiry to investigate how allegations
of clerical child sex abuse were handled by both church and State
authorities in the Ferns diocese between 1962 and 2002.
Among the findings:
The report strongly criticised the handling of the Catholic Church of
child sexual abuse over four decades having heard allegations by over
100 individuals against 21 priests among them Seán Fortune who was
involved in a number of rapes and sexual assaults around the country
over a period of two decades.
The report found former bishop of
Ferns Brendan Comiskey “failed to recognise the paramount need to
protect children, as a matter of urgency, from potential abusers” and
accused him of providing erroneous information to one garda inquiry and
failing to co-operate fully with another.