An elderly priest in the Diocese of Cloyne is facing
laicisation after a church inquiry upheld a series of complaints by five
women that they had been sexually abused by the priest while minors in
1970s and 1980s.
Yesterday the diocese confirmed its canonical
court had found in favour of the women in relation to the priest, who
had been the subject of complaints from the women that he abused them
when they were under 18.
“A number of complaints of sexual abuse of
minors against a priest of the Diocese of Cloyne have been upheld by a
canonical penal trial. The priest has been dismissed from the clerical
state,” said the diocese.
Denied impropriety
The priest, who denied any impropriety, has 15 days in which to appeal the ruling to the apolostic signature in the Vatican which, as the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church after the pope, oversees the administation of justice in the church.
Yesterday’s ruling follows a hearing at the
Nano Nagle Centre in Cork, which began in 2010 and was suspended for a
period but resumed in 2012 during which time the women gave evidence.
The priest, who had a canon lawyer as his
advocate, denied the allegations but the three priest judges were
satisfied to a standard of “moral certainty” and found him guilty of the
complaints.
The penalty of laicisation is suspended pending
an appeal by the priest who has already featured in a number of high
profile inquiries into the handling of allegations of child sexual abuse
in the diocese by the former bishop, Dr John Magee.
Relief
Yesterday, the women who testified at the court were briefed on the verdict.
Afterwards they spoke of their relief at the verdict which
saw the judges unanimously find the priest guilty of all charges.
“Having gone through the canonical process and
knowing how stringent and rigid it was, I feel relieved and vindicated,”
one woman said. “No one would go through this process without having
had to live the nightmare, but it’s such a relief to be finally
believed.”
Another woman said: “I feel vindicated in so
far as we can be. I’m glad the church held this hearing and made the
findings that they did, but I wonder would they have gone this far if it
wasn’t for us being so relentless in our quest for truth.”
In 2008, the National Board for Safeguarding
Children in the Catholic Church had criticised how the diocese and then
Bishop Magee had handled complaints againt the priest.
The complains
against him also figured in the Murphy report.