PRIESTS in the Diocese of Cloyne have yet officially to
discuss reaction to the Cloyne Report, two months after it was
published.
A spokesperson for Dr Dermot Clifford, the Apostolic
Administrator of Cloyne, yesterday blamed holiday arrangements for the
decision not to hold the meeting until September.
Confirmation that the meeting will eventually take place next month came on foot of criticism of Dr Clifford for failing to call clergy together to discuss the report which found two-thirds of clerical sex abuse allegations made in the diocese between 1996-2009 were not passed on to gardaí, as required by the Church’s guidelines.
The criticism came from the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland (ACPI), members of which met on Tuesday to discuss reaction to the report.
ACPI spokesperson Fr Tony Flannery said priests from both the Diocese of Cork and Ross and the Diocese of Cloyne attended, and that priests from the latter had as yet been given no opportunity by the diocese to discuss the impact of the report on them.
Fr Flannery said each of the 27 priests who attended had expressed their views and many were "upset and angry" that, despite all the work done in the Church in the past 15 years to improve child protection systems, it was worth "nought in the public perception, because one particular diocese was messing up".
Fr Flannery said it was also clear that morale among priests in Cloyne was "fairly shattered" in the wake of the report and that this was exacerbated by a lack of leadership at a crucial time.
"Of course [Bishop] John Magee would be part of that," Fr Flannery said. The Cloyne report found the diocese’s bishop, John Magee, who has since resigned, was himself the subject of an allegation of inappropriate behaviour, but the claim was dismissed. The report also found that his response to complaints of clerical child sex abuse were "inadequate" and "inappropriate".
Fr Flannery said Dr Magee should never have been appointed Bishop of Cloyne, that he was "an unsuitable candidate" but had suited Rome’s agenda. He also said Bishop Magee should have stayed and "faced the music" in the wake of the publication of the Cloyne Report instead of going into hiding.
This was echoed by East Cork priest Fr Joe McGuane, who has called on Dr Magee to publicly answer questions about criticisms in the Cloyne Report of his role in hiding allegations of clerical sexual abuse from the civil authorities.
Father Joe McGuane, from Youghal, also urged the country’s Catholic bishops to reveal the names of the six dioceses where the Church’s own child protection watchdog — the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church — has completed audits of child protection.
Confirmation that the meeting will eventually take place next month came on foot of criticism of Dr Clifford for failing to call clergy together to discuss the report which found two-thirds of clerical sex abuse allegations made in the diocese between 1996-2009 were not passed on to gardaí, as required by the Church’s guidelines.
The criticism came from the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland (ACPI), members of which met on Tuesday to discuss reaction to the report.
ACPI spokesperson Fr Tony Flannery said priests from both the Diocese of Cork and Ross and the Diocese of Cloyne attended, and that priests from the latter had as yet been given no opportunity by the diocese to discuss the impact of the report on them.
Fr Flannery said each of the 27 priests who attended had expressed their views and many were "upset and angry" that, despite all the work done in the Church in the past 15 years to improve child protection systems, it was worth "nought in the public perception, because one particular diocese was messing up".
Fr Flannery said it was also clear that morale among priests in Cloyne was "fairly shattered" in the wake of the report and that this was exacerbated by a lack of leadership at a crucial time.
"Of course [Bishop] John Magee would be part of that," Fr Flannery said. The Cloyne report found the diocese’s bishop, John Magee, who has since resigned, was himself the subject of an allegation of inappropriate behaviour, but the claim was dismissed. The report also found that his response to complaints of clerical child sex abuse were "inadequate" and "inappropriate".
Fr Flannery said Dr Magee should never have been appointed Bishop of Cloyne, that he was "an unsuitable candidate" but had suited Rome’s agenda. He also said Bishop Magee should have stayed and "faced the music" in the wake of the publication of the Cloyne Report instead of going into hiding.
This was echoed by East Cork priest Fr Joe McGuane, who has called on Dr Magee to publicly answer questions about criticisms in the Cloyne Report of his role in hiding allegations of clerical sexual abuse from the civil authorities.
Father Joe McGuane, from Youghal, also urged the country’s Catholic bishops to reveal the names of the six dioceses where the Church’s own child protection watchdog — the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church — has completed audits of child protection.