A SENIOR churchman yesterday said an alleged sex abuse victim who
claims he was raped at Carfin Grotto is “living in a fantasy world”.Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell branded Pat McEwan an “alcoholic” and said he doesn’t believe claims he was abused by priests when he was a boy.
In Monday’s Daily Record, Pat, now 63, revealed his harrowing account of sexual abuse when he was just eight.
He claimed two local priests and a senior member of the Catholic Church preyed on him between 1958 and 1961 at addresses in the west of Scotland.
One of the allegations was a brutal rape at a church home while his mother visited the Carfin Grotto shrine across the road.
Police Scotland confirmed they are probing allegations made against two retired priests in their 80s.
But Bishop Devine yesterday rubbished Pat’s account.
He said: “I still don’t believe a word he says. There has never been the slightest bit of corroboration about anything, despite weeks of investigation all those years ago. He is an alcoholic. For years and years, he was uncontrollable. Where’s the credibility? It’s a fantasy world he is living in.”
In a meeting with Bishop Devine in 1998 when Pat asked for an apology for his ordeal, he claimed the churchman said: “Can you not let him off with it? He’s an old man.”
Bishop Devine, 76, says he can’t remember making the remark.
He added: “If I did say it, it was to give him some peace and stop pursuing a case that wasn’t going to go anywhere. That’s the least significant part of this.”
Pat’s recollection of the meeting was backed by Alan Draper, a former child protection adviser to the Church who quit because of the way the allegations were handled.
When told about the bishop’s comments, Pat said: “This shows what he’s like. He would rather discredit me and bring up my past. My story is the truth. I was abused and I’ve only ever wanted them to admit that.”
A letter from the bishop has revealed he threatened to cancel a meeting with dad-of-two Pat in 2011 if he brought anyone with him.
Alan had wanted to go with Pat, a vulnerable recovering alcoholic, to ensure “fair” discussion.
Pat had previously turned up unannounced at the bishop’s home to try to discuss the issue.
Ethics lecturer Alan sent a letter to Bishop Devine on February 21, 2011, requesting talks on Pat’s allegations.
He wrote: “At a meeting in the late 1990s attended by the three of us, you accepted and understood Mr McEwan’s feelings. You asked Mr McEwan, however, to forgive the priest as he was now an old man. At that time Mr McEwan was unable to forgive the person concerned and continued to seek help and support to cope with his grief about what happened. Mr McEwan has now reached a stage in his life when he is anxious to move on. I am happy to accompany Mr McEwan to enable a fair and reasonable discussion.”
However, Bishop Devine refused on March 1. He wrote: “I do not think I want to take up your offer of seeing you with Mr Patrick McEwan. As I told him when he arrived unannounced at my home, I would see him at the diocesan office. If he were to be accompanied by either yourself or anyone else, the meeting would be cancelled.”
Pat wrote to Cardinal Keith O’Brien in 2010, then Scotland’s most senior member of the Catholic Church, after having counselling about his experiences.
Alex Neil MSP, now the Health Secretary, also wrote to the cardinal on Pat’s behalf.