BISHOP JOHN Magee’s response to the findings of the Cloyne report has
drawn fresh criticism from abuse victims, a priests’ group and a
Government Minister.
One in Four said it appeared Bishop Magee did
not fully understand the gravity of his failure to protect children and
investigate complaints against suspected paedophile priests during his
tenure as bishop of the Cork diocese.
“His response has insulted
and outraged victims because, regardless of his intentions, it came
across as being quite formulaic,” One in Four executive director Maeve
Lewis said.
“A five-minute interview is insufficient, and victims deserve a much more thorough set of answers from Bishop Magee .”
“The
danger now is that if journalists or victims groups demand answers
Bishop Magee will become the victim in the story as he is an old man. We
must not forget who the real victims are in this situation,” she added.
Bishop
Magee released a statement on Monday, five weeks after the publication
of the report, which said primary responsibility for the failure to
implement the agreed child sexual abuse procedures in the diocese rested
with him.
“I deeply, deeply regret not ensuring that the
guidelines, which were my responsibility to implement, were not complied
with . . . ,” he said, adding that he would be willing to meet victims
of abuse personally.
Dr Magee served as bishop of Cloyne between
February 1987 and March 2010.
Ms Lewis said she understood some
victims of abuse from the diocese would be willing to take up the
invitation, but warned those considering it to be clear about what they
are hoping for from such an encounter.
“In our experience [such
meetings] can be enormously helpful but only if the bishop understands
the impact on the victim,” she said.
Abuse victim and campaigner
Andrew Madden said Bishop Magee still had questions to answer over some
of the assurances he offered to clerical abuse review teams, the Health
Service Executive and the then government.
“It is hard to imagine such
empty words being of any comfort or assistance to anyone,” Mr Madden
said. “The fact that Bishop Magee failed to account in any way for what
was revealed in the Cloyne report does not come as any surprise.”
The
US-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said Bishop Magee
should hold an open news conference and answer all questions about
findings on his behaviour in the Cloyne report.
“Out of respect
for those he so severely and repeatedly betrayed, that’s the very least
Magee should do,” said spokesman Peter Isely.
Fr Tony Flannery, of
the Association of Catholic Priests, said he believed the language and
manner Bishop Magee used to respond to the Cloyne report was inadequate,
as it did not convey that he understood the serious nature of the
problem.
“A five-minute doorstep interview after a month of
silence is not at all adequate for the extent of the difficulties around
the Cloyne report,” Fr Flannery said. “He needs to do more than that.”
Minister
for Agriculture and Cork South Central TD Simon Coveney said Bishop
Magee’s response had not been adequate. “Many people have been deeply
hurt by what has happened and it is an awful reflection of what was
happening in the church,” he said.
Speaking to reporters in
Dublin, Mr Coveney said people living in the diocese and further afield
had been “terribly let down by the failings of the church at the very
highest level” in the diocese.
A spokesman for the Irish Catholic
bishops welcomed Bishop Magee’s invitation to meet victims.
“We welcome
the fact that he spoke publicly, and especially his sentiment to meet
the survivors of abuse,” he said.
But he would not be drawn on
Bishop Magee’s comments that he had not been aware of the full extent of
the failure to protect children until the Cloyne report was published.
“He’s speaking in a personal capacity,” he added.