Limerick Diocese has said it is willing to take the remains of the disgraced Bishop Eamonn Casey for burial.
However, it stressed that this decision is not up to the diocese.
Bishop Casey’s death notice has been taken down from the internet, in line with Church protocol for clergy removed from ministry due to credible allegations of child sexual abuse.
The recent RTÉ documentary Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets, in association with The Irish Mail on Sunday, revealed the former Bishop of Galway had been removed from ministry by the Vatican before 2006 and that the ban was reiterated to him in 2007 after multiple allegations of abuse were received.
Galway Diocese had multiple allegations of child sexual abuse against Bishop Casey on its files when a decision was taken to inter him in the crypt of Galway Cathedral following his death in March 2017.
The Vatican has stressed that it did not get involved in any decisions left to the ‘local level’.
The documentary on RTÉ prompted calls for the cleric’s removal from the hallowed grounds of the crypt, where other deceased bishops of the diocese have been buried.
The Galway Diocese reiterated its previous statement from July 27, which outlined: ‘The interment of the remains of Bishop Casey in the crypt beneath Galway Cathedral is a very sensitive issue that deeply affects people in different ways, and which has different facets.
‘The interment of Bishop Casey in the cathedral crypt now requires a period of careful consideration and consultation, which has already begun. Time and space are required to adequately and appropriately bring this undertaking to completion. We will not be making any further public comment until we are in a position to provide an update.’
Sources have said that a burial in Limerick, where several of his family members have been laid to rest, would be a more appropriate interment.
When asked by the Mail if the Limerick Diocese would be willing to accept his remains to the diocese where he first served in the late 1950s, a spokesman said: ‘This is not a matter for Limerick Diocese to decide but in the event that all relevant parties were to make such a decision, Limerick Diocese would fully cooperate to facilitate such a move.’
Bishop Casey’s late sister Josephine ‘Patsy’ Donovan (née Casey) was buried in Kilmurry cemetery in Limerick in 2007.
His brother Fr Michael Casey, a priest who served in south Perth in Australia for many years, died aged 97 in 2022 and was laid to rest in Mount St Lawrence cemetery, also in Limerick.
Bishop Casey’s nephew Fr Michael Donovan, an alleged abuser who was removed from ministry, was also buried in Limerick, in 2018.
While Bishop Casey was born in Firies, Co. Kerry, his family later moved to Adare, Co. Limerick, and he was first ordained a priest for the Limerick Diocese, maintaining strong links with the county throughout his life.
Meanwhile, his death notice has now been wiped from RIP.ie and no record of his death exists on that site. While condolences close on death notices after a period of 60 days, they can still be read after that time, and as a rule notices remain on the site indefinitely, according to RIP.ie.
A search for Bishop Casey’s death notice, which had remained online up until the documentary aired and garnered in excess of 600,000 viewers, now simply reads: ‘Page not found. Sorry, we couldn’t find that page.’
Similarly, when Bishop Casey’s nephew Fr Donovan died, no death notice was ever recorded and his place of burial was not disclosed to the public. He too was permanently removed from ministry after multiple allegations of child sexual abuse.
Policies exist across Irish dioceses and the Church worldwide governing the funerals of priests who are out of ministry due to an accusation of child abuse.
There are significant limitations around the rights of such priests to have a funeral ceremony similar to everyone else, as victims argue that to allow such a ceremony would be to victimise them a second time.
Some of the protocols in the policy are:
- Consideration should be given to having funeral liturgies in a private chapel and/or at a time other than the usual time;
- A death notice should not normally appear on newspapers or on social media sites;
- Concelebration is to be avoided;
- The deceased priest should be referred to by his Christian name;
- The deceased priest is not to be buried in his vestments or clerical garb.
The funeral of notorious child abuser Fr Brendan Smyth took place before dawn and the grave was covered in concrete to stop it being vandalised.
However, the ban on Bishop Casey’s ministry and the reasons for it were never made known to the public in his lifetime. Some 1,600 people turned up to his funeral, including 11 bishops and 61 priests. There were some notable absences, including the Papal Nuncio, and no archbishop or former archbishop was present.
Bishop Casey’s published death notice had read: ‘The death has occurred of Most Rev. Eamonn Casey – Bishop Emeritus of Galway and Kilmacduagh. Sadly missed by his son Peter, his brother, Fr Michael (Perth), sister, Ita (Furlong), sister’s in-law, nieces and nephews and their extended families, Most Rev. Martin Drennan, Bishop Emeritus of Galway and Kilmacduagh, Canon Michael McLoughlin, Diocesan Administrator and the clergy, religious and faithful people of the Dioceses of Limerick, Kerry, Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora.’
Galway Diocese has been asked to comment on whether it sought the removal of his death notice from the internet.
Of the five child abuse allegations made against Bishop Casey, which were said to have occurred over four decades, three relate to the Limerick Diocese.