Research proposes justice system overhaul for victims of institutional abuse

A new justice framework is required to better meet the needs of victims and survivors of non-recent institutional abuse across the island of Ireland, a research project has suggested.

The academics behind the new research said they had highlighted “shortcomings in current legal and justice processes” such as inquiries and redress schemes.

The research was undertaken by Professor Anne-Marie McAlinden from Queen’s University Belfast, Professor Marie Keenan from University College Dublin (UCD), and Dr James Gallen from Dublin City University (DCU).

The issue of historical institutional abuses in multiple settings has led to several investigations and redress schemes in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland over a number of years.

The research project involved interviews with 74 stakeholders, including survivors, legal professionals, and institutional (church and state) representatives.

It also drew on international experiences of justice responses to non-recent institutional abuses such as inquiries, redress schemes and apologies.

The findings state that while conventional legal avenues such as inquiries and redress schemes are prevalent, they often “fail to engage survivors meaningfully or address the systemic nature of the abuses”.

The research proposes a new framework of justice to “bridge the accountability gap and improve outcomes for victims and survivors by focusing on healing, truth-telling, and institutional reform”.

It said that central to this new approach is “increasing engagement between victim/survivors and institutional actors”.

The research calls for reforms to legal culture; truth-seeking processes and redress.

Key findings and recommendations include:

– The adoption of “trauma-informed approaches” and the use of plain, non-legal language to make legal processes more accessible.

– The transformation of “truth-seeking processes via victim-centric approaches to inquiry design, modularised approaches to investigation which report findings sooner, and the consideration of alternative non-adversarial modes of truth-finding”.

– Recognising redress as a right and pairing it with “personal, meaningful apologies”.

Prof McAlinden from the School of Law at Queen’s University said: “This was a timely project which sought to examine one of the most important societal challenges of our time, how to deliver effective justice experiences as well as outcomes for victim/survivors of non-recent institutional abuses.

“There were high levels of engagement with the study by not only victim/survivors and advocates but also institutional actors and a clear appetite for doing justice differently.

“We hope that this research makes a significant contribution to these ongoing debates.”

Professor Marie Keenan from the School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice at UCD said: “From the outset we were determined to include all voices and listen carefully to the lived experience of victim/survivors and responsible institutional actors in church and state; examine the temporal challenges involved in non-recent institutional abuses and how these contribute to the responsibility/accountability gap, and, analyse the potential for innovative justice thinking influenced by restorative and transitional justice philosophies.

“We found there is an appetite for a new way and offer suggestions as to how this can be done.”

Dr James Gallen from the School of Law and Government at DCU said: “Addressing non-recent institutional abuses remains a pressing and ongoing challenge for societies globally.

“Several justice responses remain ongoing or in negotiations or proposals on the island of Ireland.”

The full findings are published in a new book, Transforming Justice Responses To Non-recent Institutional Abuses.

The three-year project was funded by the Higher Education Academy North-South Research Grant with support from the British Academy and an Arts And Humanities Research Council Fellowship.

Washington bishops sue over seal of confession

The bishops of Washington filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging a new state law that requires priests to violate the seal of confession if they suspect the abuse of minors.

The May 29 lawsuit argues that the new law violates First Amendment religious freedom protections, as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the 14^th Amendment and the Washington constitution.

“Confession offers the faithful a confidential space to seek God’s mercy and guidance. This trust is sacred, and any law that jeopardizes it risks discouraging those who recognize the harm they have caused from seeking moral guidance,” said Jean Hill, executive director of the Washington Catholic Conference, in a statement.

The suit argues that the law constitutes religious discrimination, because it demands that priests violate the norms of the Catholic Church to adhere to the reporting requirements, while at the same time explicitly exempting multiple other groups from those requirements.

It accuses the new legislation of “[p]utting clergy to the choice between temporal criminal punishment and eternal damnation, interfering with the internal governance and discipline of the Catholic Church, and targeting religion for the abrogation of all privileges.”

According to the lawsuit, the three Catholic dioceses in Washington have abuse reporting policies which “go beyond what Washington law requires,” with the sole exemption of information learned in the sacrament of confession.”

Washington Gov. Robert Ferguson signed a law May 2 making clergy members mandated reporters, who are required to report suspected child abuse. The law does not allow for an exemption if knowledge of the suspected abuse arises through the sacrament of confession.

The legislation was approved by a vote of 64-31 in the House and 28-20 in the Senate. It goes into effect in July.

Several earlier attempts to pass similar legislation had failed in the state of Washington, because of concerns over religious freedom regarding the failure to exempt information learned in the confessional.

In the Catholic Church, priests may not divulge anything revealed in the sacrament of confession, for any reason — and if they do so, they suffer the canonical penalty of excommunication, a serious sanction in the Church.

Canon law states that: “The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore, it is a crime for a confessor in any way to betray a penitent by word or in any other manner or for any reason … A confessor who directly violates the seal of confession incurs an automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See.”

Bishops from Washington’s three dioceses have been united in their opposition to the legislation, emphasizing that priests cannot and will not follow its demands.

Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle said in a statement earlier this month that the bishops of Washington had requested a meeting with Ferguson to discuss their concerns, but that the governor did not respond to their request.

Thursday’s lawsuit was filed on behalf of the bishops of Washington’s three dioceses, as well as several priests in the state, by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the non-profit First Liberty Institute, and the WilmerHale law firm.

The Archdiocese of Seattle and the Dioceses of Yakima and Spokane have all adopted “policies that go further in the protection of children than the current requirements of Washington law on reporting child abuse and neglect,” the lawsuit says.

Those policies include reporting requirements for both clergy and lay employees who have reasonable cause to suspect child abuse or neglect.

“The sole exception to this self-imposed reporting requirement—based on more than 2,000 years of Church doctrine—is information learned by a priest only in the confessional and thus protected by the sacramental confessional seal,” the suit argues.

At the same time, the state has maintained and even expanded exemptions from mandatory reporting requirements for certain non-clergy members, the lawsuit says, including lawyers and spouses.

It points to language in the law which specifies, “Except for members of the clergy, no one shall be required to report under this section when he or she obtains the information solely as a result of a privileged communication.”

“Non-clergy supervisors continue to be afforded exemptions when child abuse and neglect is learned about through attorney-client, spousal, domestic partner, or other privileged communications. That includes non-clergy supervisors within youth sports organizations, youth scouting organizations, and any number of other organizations who regularly come into contact with children,” the lawsuit adds.

Those exemptions make it clear that the new law is targeting religion in an unconstitutional manner, the lawsuit argues.

Many U.S. states include clergy members among mandatory reporters, but nearly all other states exempt information revealed in confession.

In 2016, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that priests could not be forced by law to violate the seal of confession in order to report alleged abuse.

On May 5, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it was launching an investigation into “the apparent conflict between Washington State’s new law with the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment, a cornerstone of the United States Constitution.”

Charlotte Liturgy Controversy Heats Up After Bishop’s Proposed Ban of Latin, Altar Rails Leaked

Controversy in a North Carolina diocese has broadened beyond traditional Latin Mass restrictions after it was revealed that the local bishop had also planned to ban the use of Latin, altar rails, and other traditional practices in all diocesan liturgies — a development with implications far beyond the Tar Heel State.

Bishop Michael Martin of Charlotte proposed the restrictions in a leaked draft of new liturgical norms, which was first made public by the blog Rorate Caeli on May 28 and confirmed by the Register. 

Bishop Martin wrote that the purpose of the new norms, which also included barring ad orientem worship and traditional prayers at the foot of the altar, including the St. Michael Prayer, were made with the intention of “purifying and unifying the celebration of the Mass” in the diocese. 

The bishop also wrote that the proposed norms are called for by Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Second Vatican Council’s pastoral constitution on the liturgy, a perspective that has been widely challenged in reactions to the document.

The draft’s leak comes in the wake of the Charlotte bishop’s May 23 decision to restrict the traditional Latin Mass (TLM) in his diocese from four parish locations to a single non-parish site. 

Set to go into effect on July 8, Bishop Martin said the move was consistent with Traditionis Custodes, Pope Francis’ 2021 motu proprio restricting the TLM, and was aimed at promoting “concord and unity.” 

Critics have questioned the timing of the move, given that the diocese had an exemption from Traditionis Custodes for several more months and that Pope Leo XIV may indicate a different approach to the TLM than Pope Francis did.

The controversy in Charlotte is rising to international attention, as it represents the first major liturgical dispute during the reign of Pope Leo XIV, who has pledged to bring unity to a divided Church. 

The North Carolina diocese is now considered a test case to see what, if any, indication Leo gives about not only the future of the TLM but also Vatican II’s authoritative teaching on the liturgy more broadly. 

The Diocese of Charlotte told the Register that the liturgical norms document was “an early draft that has gone through considerable changes over several months” and is still being discussed by the diocesan presbyteral council and Office for Divine Worship. 

Given references to Pope Francis, the document appears to have been drafted prior to the late pope’s April 21 death.

“It represented a starting point to update our liturgical norms and methods of catechesis for receiving the Eucharist,” said diocesan Communications Director Liz Chandler, adding that the norms will be “thoroughly reviewed” in accord with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM).

Bishop Martin was celebrating confirmations in the diocese on May 28, which covers the western half of North Carolina and includes 565,000 Catholics, and was unavailable to answer further questions about the proposed norms before publication of this article.

A member of the Conventual Franciscans, Bishop Martin marks one year as Charlotte’s bishop on May 29. Prior to becoming bishop, he was pastor of a parish in the Archdiocese of Atlanta and served as the director of the Duke University Catholic Center before that.

Vatican II and Liturgy

In the draft document, the bishop wrote that the proposed norms flowed from the Second Vatican Council’s call for lay participation in the Mass to be “full, conscious, and active.”

“These three words taken together are the heart and foundation of my following reflections and instructions on the sacred liturgy in our diocese,” Bishop Martin wrote.

However, several commentators have disputed the bishop’s claim that the proposed norms are called for by — or, in some cases, even consistent with — Vatican II and the Church’s liturgical guidance.

For instance, while Bishop Martin wrote that the Church does not “call for the Latin language to be used widely in the liturgy,” others pointed out that 2007 guidance from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), itself referring to Sacrosanctum Concilium, calls for just that.

While vernacular in the liturgy is the norm, the USCCB document states that “care should be taken to foster the role of Latin in the liturgy, particularly in liturgical song.”

“Pastors should ensure ‘that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them,” state the bishops, quoting Vatican II and referring to liturgical parts such as the Agnus Dei and the Sanctus. 

Matthew Hazell, a British liturgy scholar, said that Bishop Martin’s perspective was consistent with what Benedict XVI famously described as a “hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture.” 

“Rather than allow the Novus Ordo to be celebrated in a manner in keeping with its own rubrics and with the Church’s tradition, Bishop Martin seems to see it as an entirely new creation that cannot even be seen to have anything in common with what came before,” Hazell told the Register.

Catholic Reaction

Other commentators found some of Bishop Martin’s proposed norms to be overly specific and contradictory to his call to “place our own personal preferences aside,” and pushed back against the proposed norm that women be barred from wearing veils while serving as lector, cantor, or altar server, critiquing it as an instance of “clericalism” and “micromanagement.”

“Is Bishop Martin of Charlotte really telling women assisting at the Mass what they can and can’t wear on their heads?” wrote Bronwen McShea, a Church historian.

Other commentators took issue with the proposed norms’ discouraging description of traditional priestly vestments as indicative of anti-Vatican II biases, given that Pope Leo XIV has worn some of these forms of clerical garb.

Father Paul Hedman, a priest from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, provided a widely viewed running social-media commentary of ways in which Bishop Martin’s proposed norms appeared to deviate from official Church guidance. 

He took particular umbrage at the Charlotte bishop’s proposed restriction of traditional prayers that priests say while vesting, describing the move as “tyrannical.”

Even Mike Lewis, founder of WherePeterIs.com and a noted critic of traditionalists, said that there were things in the document that “have me scratching my head,” such as the prohibition of candles on the altar.

“Nevertheless, I appreciate the effort, and I will pray for him and the diocese as he endures the inevitable trad ire,” wrote Lewis on X.

Notably, Bishop Martin’s call to restrict more traditional liturgical practices in the Novus Ordo deviates from other prelates who have similarly restricted the TLM in their dioceses. 

For instance, when Cardinal Blase Cupich restricted the TLM in the Archdiocese of Chicago in January 2022, he also urged pastors to accompany traditionally inclined Catholics by “creatively including elements that people have found nourishing in celebrating the pre-Vatican form of the Mass,” including Latin and Gregorian chant.

Uncertain Future

Catholics in Charlotte have expressed gratitude that Bishop Martin has not enforced the norms he proposed, but trepidation exists over what the future might hold.

Amy Jay, a parishioner at St. Elizabeth in Boone, North Carolina, noted that she has been teaching her four children more traditional forms of prayer in light of Pope Leo XIV’s own example. 

The new Pope has made waves for chanting in Latin and wearing more traditional vestments — all practices that Pope Francis eschewed.

Instead of confusion and boredom, Jay says her children have responded to traditional liturgical customs with interest and devotion.

“The thought of telling them the [portable kneelers] at our parish are going away, that there will be no more ancient chants, or having to explain to them why I am no longer allowed to veil while cantoring, is beyond dispiriting,” she said. “This zeal and love should be nurtured, not suppressed.”

As of now, there is no timetable for when, if ever, new liturgical norms will be implemented in the Diocese of Charlotte.

Woman gets conditional discharge after attempt to blackmail priest for €5,000

A 62-year-old woman from Luqa was handed a conditional discharge after admitting in court to attempting to blackmail a priest for €5,000 by threatening to spread false rumours about him.

The case was heard on Thursday morning before Magistrate Leonard Caruana.

Prosecuting inspector Gabriel Kitcher explained how the woman met with the priest on 21 May, and claimed to possess damaging information about him.

She allegedly warned the priest that she would make these claims public unless he paid her the sum.

The priest firmly denied all accusations, describing them as baseless and false. Instead of complying with the demand, he filed a report with the police.

The situation escalated when, a few days later, the woman returned to look for the priest. 

A photo of her was taken, and authorities were notified that she was spotted in Paola Square. 

She was arrested shortly afterwards.

During her arraignment, the woman admitted that her accusations were entirely fabricated and issued an apology to the victim, expressing regret for the harm caused.

In delivering his judgement, Magistrate Caruana took note of the priest's decision to forgive her.

The court granted her a two-year conditional discharge and also imposed a two-year restraining order for the protection of the victim.

Legal aid lawyer Yanica Barbara Sant represented the accused. 

Lawyers Michael Sciriha and Roberto Spiteri appeared on behalf of the priest.

Man (55) assaulted a priest at a church in Louth

A 55 year old man who assaulted a priest in Dundalk has been placed under a six month Probation Service supervision bond at the local district court.

Simon Maguire of Woodland Park, Dundalk was charged with committing the offence at the Friary Church, Anne Street on May 24th last year.

The Defence solicitor told Judge Stephanie Coggans that his client lives in difficult circumstances and has limited comprehension.

He added he had spoken to the Probation Officer and she is happy to engage with Mr Maguire.

The court heard he had come to court with €65 compensation for thefts from Dunnes Stores, a local Maxol garage and 23 Seats café.

Islamic Cultural Centre closed amid dispute over appointment of directors, court told

A dispute over the alleged unlawful appointment of new directors to a company behind the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland has meant the mosque in Clonskeagh, Dublin, has been closed for a month, the High Court heard.

On Tuesday, Mr Justice Brian Cregan said he would make orders under company law in relation to the appointments if there was no response to proceedings over the dispute from five named new directors of the Al Maktoum Foundation CLG, which owns the centre.

The case has been brought by Dr Abdel Basset Elsayed, a Meath-based medical consultant and director of the foundation company since 2012 and secretary since 2022.

The Al Maktoum in-house counsel, Joseph Sallabi, told the judge that in August 2023, there were only three directors, one of whom was Dr Elsayed.

One of the three resigned and without Dr Elsayed's knowledge, or without board approval, the third director, Mirza El Sayegh, appointed five new directors and took control of the company, he said.

"The situation is really grave as they have now filed submissions with the Companies Registration Office (CRO) changing the constitution and tampering with the records of the company," he said. 

The dispute has meant the mosque in the Clonskeagh centre has been closed for a month now, he said.

Mr Sallabi said the five directors, who are notice parties in the case which is against the CRO, are all resident in Dubai but have their place of business here. 

He said notice of the proceedings had been served by post on the five: Ahmad Tahlak, Hesham Abdulla Al Quassim, Khalifa Aldaboos, Mohamed Musabeh Dhahi and Zahid Jami, all of Roebuck Road, Clonskeagh.

There was no appearance by them or on their behalf and Mr Justice Cregan said there should also be service on them by email so that they can contest the matter if they choose.

When the judge pointed out this all appeared to have taken place a year ago, Mr Sallabi said they only became aware of it in October.

The judge noted the urgency of the matter and said service of the papers should take place within two days and the case could come back early next week.

"You can indicate to them that if they don't appear or are not represented, I will make the orders being sought unless I hear a reason that I should not".

In an affidavit, Dr Elsayed, who is an applicant in the case along with the company itself, said following the resignation of one of the three directors last August, the company received a letter from its auditor confirming there were only two directors (Dr Elsayed and Mr El Sayegh).

The auditor recommended that the board include at least two directors who are based in Ireland to ensure an adequate governance structure.

Last January, he said Mr El Sayegh received a directive from the Mohammed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment to add four directors to the company.

On January 20th, Mr El Sayegh passed a purported board resolution authorising the appointments of four individuals.

"The purported resolution was issued without my knowledge, attendance or contribution", Dr Elsayed said.

He said between April 19th and June 7th last year, Mr El Sayegh submitted forms to the CRO appointing the five new directors who are notice parties. He said those appointments are invalid and without effect and did not follow the requirements of the company's constitution.

It is claimed, in legal submissions, that the appointments were made "under instructions from an unrelated Dubai-registered organisation with no corporate ties to the company, except Mr El Sayegh's directorship in both entities".

The applicants seek an order, under Section 173 of the Companies Act 2014 and under the court's general jurisdiction, directing the rectification of the CRO register by removing the allegedly unlawfully appointed members. 

They also seek an order restraining the new directors from performing any duties or representing themselves as directors of the company.

The Al Maktoum Foundation was incorporated in 1997 to “establish a position for the Muslim community within the Irish society that is fair and based on due rights and to work for a more enlightened appreciation for Islam and Muslims in the wider society, as well as fostering better community relations and working for the good of society as a whole”.

Clerical Error (?) Update

Re-assuring to know that we have followers in Cork....and a post caught their eye

Pope Appoints Archbishop Paglia’s Right-Hand Man as President of Pontifical Academy for Life

The appointment of long-serving chancellor Msgr. Renzo Pegoraro appears to be Pope Leo XIV has appointed as head of the Vatican’s bioethics think tank.

Msgr. Renzo Pegoraro, the longtime deputy of its outgoing president, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, signaling a desire to continue the course set under Pope Francis.

Until his appointment on Tuesday, Msgr. Pegoraro, 65, had served since 2011 as chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Life, appointed by Benedict XVI. 

He continued in the position throughout Archbishop Paglia’s turbulent term as president, which was marked by the appointments of pro-abortion members and problematic statements regarding assisted suicide and contraception. 

Archbishop Paglia is retiring after turning 80.

Dr. Thomas Ward, who is founder of the U.K.’s National Association of Catholic Families, expressed concern about the appointment, saying he never recalled Msgr. Pegoraro “disassociating himself from any of the egregious positions and comments of Archbishop Paglia.”

He continued, “Millions of Catholic parents throughout the world, whose children are threatened by the lies of the Culture of Death, urgently need to hear the unequivocal defense of Catholic truth on human sexuality and life.”

Founded by Pope St. John Paul II and Professor Jerome Lejeune in 1994 to promote and defend human life and the dignity of the person, the Pontifical Academy for Life has historically aimed to provide interdisciplinary dialogue and research on complex bioethical issues such as abortion, euthanasia, procreation and gene therapy. 

The goal was to ensure that these topics were addressed in light of Catholic moral theology.

As chancellor, Msgr. Pegoraro was the senior executive of the academy, which is an autonomous body within the Holy See. He shared in its leadership, worked closely with the president, and ensured the smooth operation of its activities. 

He served first under Spanish Opus Dei Bishop Ignacio Carrasco de Paula who was academy president from 2010 to 2016, and then under Archbishop Paglia.

A native of Padua, Italy, Renzo Pegoraro graduated in medicine and surgery from the city’s university in 1985 and was ordained in 1989. He then earned a license in moral theology and a diploma in advanced bioethics. 

He taught bioethics and nursing ethics, has been a member of centers of medical philosophy and ethics, and served as president of the European Association of Centres for Medical Ethics from 2010 to 2013.

From 2016 until the present, he was Archbishop Paglia’s key collaborator at a time when the pontifical academy was accused of drifting from John Paul II’s original mission to defend the sanctity of life and instead accommodating heterodox and secular ethical arguments, changing its statutes, and undermining its credibility as a pro-life institution.

On at least two occasions as chancellor, Msgr. Pegoraro added his voice to this perceived drift away from the academy’s mission by publicly supporting dissenting positions that had won sympathy during Pope Francis’ pontificate.

In 2022, he told the Wall Street Journal that he believed contraception might be permissible “in the case of a conflict between the need to avoid pregnancy for medical reasons and the preservation of a couple’s sex life.”

The Church has always prohibited all forms of artificial birth control (except for medically necessary treatments not directly intended to cause infertility), teaching that contraception violates the intrinsic connection between the unitive and procreative aspects of the marital act.

In a second incident, also that year, Msgr. Pegoraro appeared to support two members of the academy who publicly favored assisted suicide as a tactic to prevent the legalization of voluntary euthanasia in Italy.

“We are in a specific context, with a choice to be made between two options, neither of which — assisted suicide or euthanasia — represents the Catholic position,” Msgr. Pegoraro told the French Catholic newspaper Le Croix.

But stating that he believed some kind of law was a foregone conclusion, he said that of the two possibilities, “assisted suicide is the one that most restricts abuses because it would be accompanied by four strict conditions: the person asking for help must be conscious and able to express it freely, have an irreversible illness, experience unbearable suffering and depend on life-sustaining treatment such as a respirator.”

Cardinal Willem Eijk, also a qualified medical doctor and a member of the academy, firmly rejected such argumentation, saying there was “no significant moral difference” between medically assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia, “neither from the patient’s side nor from that of the physician,” as both bear “the same moral responsibility” in carrying out termination of life.

The Register asked Msgr. Pegoraro if he still held such positions on these issues, and why he did not speak out during the controversies of Archbishop Paglia’s tenure, but he had not responded by publication time.

Radical Changes

The Pontifical Academy for Life was generally admired by pro-life groups worldwide for inspiration and guidance during the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI until it was hit by multiple scandals, first in 2009 during the brief presidency of Archbishop Rino Fisichella and what was known as the “Recife Affair,” involving a contested 2009 abortion case in Brazil, but then more frequently when Archbishop Paglia and Msgr. Pegoraro were at the helm.

In November 2016 and soon after taking up his role as president, Archbishop Paglia changed the academy’s statutes, resulting not only in the sudden dismissal of 172 members of the academy (with some subject to possible renewal) and many with impeccable pro-life credentials, but also the removal of a requirement that academy members sign a statement promising to defend life in conformity with the Church’s magisterium. The new members could also belong to any religion, as long as they promoted and defended life “in a way that conforms to the Magisterium of the Church.”

Archbishop Paglia said the decisions were made “in the context of the Holy Father’s general reorganization of the Roman Curia” and that he has had to make logistical adjustments to the academy to cooperate closely with the Curial bodies, particularly the then-newly created Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

But in 2017 and 2022, Paglia and Pegoraro appointed new members to the academy, some of whom publicly supported abortion or were self-declared atheists. One was Dr. John Nkengasong, a Cameroon-born U.S. citizen who, when appointed head of then-President Biden’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2021, was congratulated by the CEO of Planned Parenthood for working to expand abortion services.

Another Paglia and Pegoraro appointment was Sheila Dinotshe Tlou, a former health minister of Botswana, who served on the oversight committee for a group that offered “supplies for safe abortion and post-abortion care.”

Dr. Ward, a former member of the academy, said after the 2022 appointments that the leadership of the academy was continuing the “enforcement of a paradigm shift on sexual morality in the Vatican.”

Judie Brown, also a former academy member, and current president of the American Life League, called the appointments an “outrage” that were “made worse when we recognize that the Academy was established to fight against abortion.” The principles held by the Academy’s first members “were once the bedrock upon which we all stood,” she said, but have now “disappeared from view.”

Other problems also occurred under the leadership of Archbishop Paglia and Msgr. Pegoraro. In 2022, the academy published a book entitled Theological Ethics of Life which bioethics experts roundly criticized for spreading “misleading and confusing” theological and medical information that contradicts established Church teachings on contraception and assisted reproductive technologies.

That same year, Archbishop Paglia drew further controversy when he asserted that Italy’s abortion law was a “pillar of society” resulting in the academy issuing a statement saying his comments had been “taken out of context.” 

The Italian archbishop again found himself in hot water when he gave a speech in 2023 in which he appeared to declare that the decriminalization of assisted suicide was “the greatest common good” possible in the current political circumstances of Italy. The academy again had to clarify his comments, saying that he remained opposed to euthanasia.

During the COVID-19 crisis, Archbishop Paglia came under further fire for ignoring the ethical concerns over the vaccines and for zealously promoting, despite safety concerns, the inoculation of children even if they showed no symptoms and the fact that the chances of children being taken seriously ill from the disease were “extremely low.”

Political Pragmatism

Overall, Archbishop Paglia was criticized for prioritizing political pragmatism over prophetic witness, with detractors claiming he often started from the political situation and then sought to fit the Gospel and Catholic tradition into it, rather than the other way around.

In a 2020 interview with the Register, Archbishop Paglia defended himself by saying his vision for the Academy was to address a “broad range of issues that today affect life at its most basic level” and to “free our discussions from simplistic assumptions.”

Following the radical changes to the academy, in 2017 some of its former members formed the John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family as an alternative to the pontifical academy, with the aim of carrying on the work that it appeared to be abandoning.

Calling St. John Paul II’s vision for the Pontifical Academy for Life “inspired,” former member Christine de Marcellus Vollmer, now president of the Venezuelan pro-life organization PROVIVE, said: “We pray that our Holy Father will task Msgr. Pegoraro with returning the Pontifical Academy for Life to its original mandate, cut short when closed and reorganized in 2016.”  She also hoped Msgr. Pegoraro had “done further research since his years differing from the prophetic Humanae Vitae and seemingly approving assisted suicide.”

It’s not clear to what extent Msgr. Pegoraro will continue the line of Archbishop Paglia, although it seems he will retain many of the changes his predecessor put in place.

In a May 27 statement, he said it was his intention to “work in continuity with the themes and methodology of recent years, making the most of the specific competences of our large and qualified international and interreligious group of academicians.”

He added that he would like to highlight in particular the issues of “global bioethics,” dialogue with various scientific disciplines, artificial intelligence and biotechnology, and “the promotion of respect and dignity for human life in all its stages.”

Church of Ireland archbishops call for decisive action on Gaza

The following statement on the current situation in Gaza has been issued by Archbishop John McDowell and Archbishop Michael Jackson:

It is with outrage that we watch the desperation, dislocation, and defenceless resident population of Gaza who feel they have been abandoned by the world.

The international community must grasp reality and respond as never before. They can no longer stand by and watch the cruel starvation of innocent people, particularly the most vulnerable – children, older people and the ill – as well as the ongoing physical destruction of their lives and surroundings.

Amid the daily horror, the beacons of hope are the hospitals and the continuation of medical care, however rudimentary. This continues to point to the spirit of service at the heart of humanity. 

In recent days we have seen another glimmer of hope from the resilient staff of Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City which is owned and run by the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem. The hospital was bombed on Palm Sunday and has reopened, as its courageous staff pledged in the days after the attack. They are operating in a tent which was erected in place of their destroyed building and are treating the injured and sick as best they can, in what is by anyone’s reckoning a living wasteland, with whatever resources they have. 

We pledge our continuing support for the work of Al Ahli and support the Diocese of Jerusalem as it seeks to find a way forward for the hospital. 

We repeat our call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the influx of every kind of appropriate aid to alleviate starvation, injury and lack of shelter.

We acknowledge that many feel hopeless and powerless to change what is happening in Gaza. We pray that all those in positions of power globally will stand up and demand an end to this cruelty and seek the reinstitution of international law. 

When Jesus speaks of parents offering their children bread and fish, he concludes as follows: “Always treat others as you would like them to treat you …” (St Matthew 7.12).  In that spirit, now is the moment for decisive action.

Can Leo XIV help the Swiss Church out of its crisis?

In September 2023, the Catholic Church in Switzerland was plunged into a crisis from which it has yet to emerge. Could a new pope help Swiss Catholics to find a way out?

The turmoil began when the Swiss bishops’ conference confirmed that the Vatican had authorized a preliminary investigation into claims against six members. 

Five were accused of mishandling abuse cases, while a sixth faced sexual harassment allegations.

The news broke days before the publication of an independent pilot study on abuse in the Catholic Church in Switzerland, commissioned by the bishops’ conference and compiled by the University of Zurich. 

The study, which documented 1,002 cases of clerical abuse since 1950, prompted a public outcry.

The Swiss bishops’ conference said in October 2024, that it had received a letter from the Vatican announcing the results of the preliminary investigation. 

The letter was from the Dicastery for Bishops, led by Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV.

A land of Reformation

The Catholic population of Switzerland is comparatively small. The most recent figures suggest there are around 2.8 million Swiss Catholics out of a population of 8.7 million.

But while there are more Catholics in, say, Madagascar than Switzerland, Swiss Catholicism has an outsized influence thanks to its deep history and proximity to Rome.

Christianity arrived in the Swiss region around the 4th century and the Abbey of Saint-Maurice d’Agaune, in southwestern Switzerland, has been occupied since the 6th century.

Switzerland was, of course, a cradle of the Reformation. 

And the ecclesiastical revolution of the 16th century left its mark on the Swiss Catholic Church, which developed structures more typically associated with Protestantism.

In addition to the normal diocesan structure, the Catholic Church in Switzerland has democratically organized regional bodies known as cantonal churches. 

The regional bodies have their own synods, or parliaments, with elected members. 

The Swiss Catholic Church is arguably one of the most “synodal” in the world, depending on the definition of that term.

In the wake of Vatican Council II, the Swiss Church developed a reputation as a hotbed of progressive Catholicism. 

The Swiss theologian Hans Küng led the global progressive charge, advancing his ideas in the international theological journal Concilium.

But the Church in Switzerland is not uniformly progressive — or, indeed, uniformly anything, given the country’s tremendous cultural and linguistic variety. 

One of the founders of the journal Communio, established partly to counter Concilium, was the Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar.

The Swiss progressive Catholic legacy lives on. In his first Swiss episcopal appointment, Pope Leo confirmed the election by the local cathedral chapter of Fr. Beat Grögli as the new Bishop of St. Gallen. 

At a press conference on the day of his appointment, Grögli backed women deacons. While declining to label himself a supporter of women priests, he said he believed it would happen “someday.”

Grögli, until now pastor of St. Gallen Cathedral, has reportedly called for Church teaching to be “adapted” on marriage, sexual morality, and contraception “so that the profound rift between modern-day doctrine and practice should not get even wider.” 

The priest has also been criticized for donning a multicolored jester hat during a Mass at St. Gallen Cathedral in carnival season.

Meanwhile, members of the Swiss Catholic Women’s Federation voted May 23 in favor of dropping the word “Catholic” from the organization’s name. 

Co-president Katharina Jost Graf said the word would now be included in the federation’s slogan, “überraschend anders katholisch” (“surprisingly different Catholic”).

She argued that the change would “make it clear that by ‘Catholic’ we do not simply mean what around 80% of people associate with it: hierarchy, abuse of power, clericalism, unequal treatment."

Formal reprimands

The clerical abuse crisis arguably arrived later in Switzerland than in its larger neighbors of Austria, France, and Germany.

While Swiss Catholicism grappled with abuse cases for decades, it was only in 2021 that Church leaders commissioned an independent abuse report, following the publication of a major study in France. 

Despite the Swiss Church’s distinctive synodal structure, it does not seem to have combated abuse any more effectively than its neighbors.

Shortly before the publication of the Swiss independent study, it emerged that the prominent priest Fr. Nicolas Betticher had written in May 2023 to the apostolic nuncio in Switzerland denouncing the handling of abuse cases by several Swiss bishops.

That year, the number of people formally leaving the Catholic Church in Switzerland almost doubled, setting a new record of 67,497 formal “church exits.” Researchers said the abuse crisis was a principal factor in the departures.

Following the canonical preliminary investigation into the allegations against Swiss bishops’ conference members, conducted by Chur’s Bishop Joseph Bonnemain, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops offered a mixed verdict.

Cardinal Prevost thanked the bishops for commissioning the independent study and taking other steps to tackle abuse. 

The dicastery found no evidence of offenses requiring canonical criminal proceedings, but issued reprimands to bishops for failing to follow certain provisions of canon law.

The Swiss bishops’ conference said that Prevost encouraged the Swiss bishops “to continue their path of active and rigorous vigilance in the application of canon law in dealing with sexual abuse,” recognizing that “the Catholic Church’s guidelines are not merely legal instruments, but reflect a sense of justice and responsibility toward those affected, to whom the Church owes listening, attention, and reparation.”

Prevost also wrote personally to the bishops subject to investigation. His September 2024 letter to Bishop Charles Morerod of Lausanne, Geneva, and Fribourg was published on the diocesan website. 

It formally reprimanded Morerod for not always following the required procedures for canonical preliminary investigations.

In December 2024, Morerod was elected president of the Swiss bishops’ conference.

What’s next?

Whether the Swiss Catholic Church is nearing the end of the crisis, or still deep within it, may become clearer when the disaffiliation figures for 2024 are published, likely this fall.

If there is a new record for departures, the pressure on Swiss Church leaders will intensify. But if the figure is significantly below the current record of 67,000, they may gain some breathing space.

In his letter to the Swiss bishops’ conference, Cardinal Prevost stressed that the “path of active and rigorous vigilance in the application of canon law” was essential. Indeed, it is the only way to restore the badly damaged trust in the Swiss hierarchy.

As pope, Leo XIV can arguably best help the Swiss bishops by continuing to insist that they follow the provisions of canon law, and ensuring there are consequences for failure.

He can also carefully scrutinize candidates for Swiss episcopal office. Of the country’s six dioceses, one is currently vacant: the Diocese of Lugano. 

A further two may fall vacant before long: Chur, where Bishop Bonnemain is approaching 77, and Sion, where Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey will turn 75 in August.

Pope Leo’s confirmation of Fr. Grögli as Bishop of St. Gallen suggests the new pope is content for episcopal appointments from the progressive parts of Swiss Catholicism to continue. 

Perhaps he is wary of appointing bishops who clash with the local ecclesiastical culture, given the example of the traditionalist Wolfgang Haas, whose unhappy tenure in Chur ended with his transfer to neighboring Liechtenstein.

But even if Leo XIV is not especially concerned where candidates sit on the ecclesial spectrum, there is one quality he will need to insist on. 

The Swiss Church will only be able to emerge from its crisis if its future bishops are significantly more effective at addressing abuse than their predecessors.

Women deacons would be ‘sensible’ for synodal Church, says Kasper

Cardinal Walter Kasper, the former head of Vatican ecumenism efforts, said he now believes there are reasons to create a women’s diaconate because a synodal Church will need a more “sibling-like” culture.

“In my personal opinion, opening the permanent diaconate to women has good theological arguments in its favour and would be a sensible pastoral step,” wrote the former president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in his autobiography, due to appear on 10 June.

“Women and men have the same dignity before God and must therefore be recognised with their own charisms,” the 92-year-old German cardinal wrote in Der Wahrheit auf der Spur (“On the Trail of Truth”).

“We will continue to need good bishops and priests in the future, but in a synodal Church, the era of clericalism and arbitrary decisions by bishops is over,” he continued. “The laity want and should be heard, and they can also expect accountability from the bishops and priests.”

Kasper said the drop in vocations could bring the institution back to the situation of the ancient Church. Advocates for a female diaconate often cite examples for this office in the letters of St Paul.

“The early Church was not a holy remnant that some dream of today; it was a holy beginning from which our Church has grown like a small mustard seed into a large tree,” he said.

The Rome-based cardinal, noting changes in the world-wide faith, said developments in the Global South could “bring new momentum to the Church and soon make us Europeans look old”.

Kasper had long had doubts about women deacons, especially after the Anglican Communion split over the question of women priests and bishops while he was head of the Vatican’s ecumenism office – now the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity – in 2001-10, responsible for relations with other Christian churches.

But he said he now saw the question as a “megatopic” that Rome must face. “Without conversion, prayer, and repentance, all reforms, no matter how well-intentioned, have no future,” he said.

Church of Scotland’s 140-year-old magazine to close along with hundreds of churches

The official magazine of the Church of Scotland is shutting down production as the Kirk strives to save money as it confronts a growing crisis of faith and finances. 

This will also see the Kirk, as the religious denomination is commonly known, closing and selling off hundreds of churches and places of worship.

For almost 150 years, Life and Work, which was once read by a quarter of the Scottish population – at its peak the magazine had a membership of more than 1.3 million – has served as the independent voice of the Church of Scotland, reports The Times of London.

The Church has announced “with heavy hearts” that the journal will cease publication this year, with the once-profitable title making losses amounting to more than £133,000 last year alone.

Lynne McNeil, who has edited Life and Work for 23 years, told the Kirk’s annual general assembly it was “the hardest of times” for the Church. “We are living in a market of diminishing returns,” she said.

McNeil conceded that an injection of further financial support would represent a mere stay of execution rather than salvation, says The Times.

“The reality is we would be facing the same situation in six to 12 months,” she said.

In the late 1950s, Life and Work was read by almost a quarter of the Scottish population. But since then, the number of worshippers registered with the Church has plummeted to about 240,000, with only 68,000 people reportedly attending services on Sundays.

Reverend Jim Stewart, who convenes the magazine’s advisory committee, said the decision to cease publication was a “seminal moment” as well as a tangible symbol of the problems facing the Church.

In December 2024, the Kirk confirmed its deficit had grown to £6.5 million, despite efforts to cut costs and increase revenue. As a result, the Church is in response planning to close about a third of its churches and sell off 400 places of worship, The Times reports.

“Difficult decisions will be necessary about what continues and what ceases,” Reverend David Cameron, the convener of the Kirk’s assembly trustees, said.

“We are not yet witnessing the anticipated recovery in the Church and our situation necessitates immediate and decisive action.”

The Times spoke to Matt Andrews, a Life and Work subscriber, who was dismayed by the announcement of its impending demise.

“The Church of Scotland’s decision to cease publication is another step towards managed decline,” he said.

“It is disheartening to see our Church led by people with no faith in anything but financial reports and pessimism. My heart goes to Lynn, the team and the readership.”

Rosemary Goring, a journalist and former Life and Work editor, said: “I am saddened to see it go. It is not entirely surprising though. In recent years the Church has been in freefall, haemorrhaging members and money so fast it has taken even the most cynical of it by surprise.

“It is not just the magazine that is under threat of extinction but the entire institution.”

Goring disclosed that her tenure as editor ended abruptly in 2002 when Church leaders objected to her “thoughtful, well-informed reflection” on the spiritual views of the then Prince of Wales, now King Charles III.

“Deeming it disrespectful to the royal family, they pulped the entire edition at a cost of thousands,” she said. “Bidding farewell to a magazine that has informed and enlightened the faithful for a century and a half seems to be signalling it [the Kirk] is reaching the end of the road.”

Next year’s general assembly will consider proposals for a new publication.

Last year it was confirmed that, for the first time, a majority of people in Scotland report that they are not religious.

The term “Kirk” is frequently used in everyday speech and in the Church’s own literature as an informal name for the Church of Scotland. The Kirk of Scotland was officially used as the name of the Church of Scotland until the 17th century.

While the Kirk remains the largest religious group in Scotland, its numbers have halved in a decade.

In the 2022 census, 51 per cent of respondents said they had “no religion”, up from 37 per cent in 2011. The change was driven by a sharp decline in the number of people describing themselves as being Church of Scotland or Roman Catholic.

“It is sobering, and we know that when the Church is measured in this way it can feel hurtful for our members and be a source of anxiety for many,” Cameron said. “But our faith and our relevancy cannot be expressed simply as a set of numbers in a table.”

Priest jailed for sexually abusing sacristan’s 15-year-old niece

A parish priest who defiled a 15-year-old girl who happened to be the sacristan’s niece will serve 20 months of jail time, a court of appeal has ruled. 

The court reduced the original 42-month prison term that the priest was sentenced to when he was found guilty of the crime.  

Both the names of the priest and the alleged victim were banned from publication, along with the details of the location where the events took place. 

The priest was originally sentenced in March of this year, with the court also permanently banning him from working with minors and listing his name on a register of sex offenders. 

The priest appealed the decision and that appeal was heard and reviewed by Judge Neville Camilleri.

The events date back to June 2017, when the girl, 15 at the time, would visit the priest due to family separation issues. She happened to be the niece of the parish's sacristan. 

A court heard that the two began a relationship when the minor kissed the priest on the lips, and he reciprocated.

The two went on to have a sexual relationship that lasted for around four years until 2020, when the girl reported him.

The court heard that the priest tried to end the relationship, but the minor began to threaten him when he raised that prospect. She then ended up reporting him to the police.

The priest admitted that he and the girl had engaged in sexual activities,  though not intercourse, on her birthday at her house. 

In his sentence, Camilleri noted how the relationship was consensual and the priest tried to end the relationship, yet he could not ignore the fact that the priest betrayed society’s faith in the priesthood and the Catholic church.

Camilleri found him guilty of defiling the girl, and his punishment was reduced to a 20-month prison sentence. 

In a statement, the Archdiocese of Malta noted with "profound sadness and regret" that the priest was found guilty on appeal of breaching sexual boundaries with a 15-year-old girl.

"The Archdiocese apologises unreservedly to the victim for the actions of one of its clergymen, and wishes to make clear that it had already referred this case to the Holy See," the statement read.

The Archdiocese thanked the Safeguarding Commission for its handling of the case, which served to highlight the crucial importance of safeguarding structures that empower individuals to speak up when they feel unsafe. 

"The Commission supported the victim in coming forward and reporting the abuse to the Police and this case is a clear reminder that safeguarding mechanisms can be effective. The Church’s Safeguarding Commission encourages anyone who feels unsafe or who witnesses inappropriate behaviour, especially within environments where there is an imbalance of power, to speak up."

The statement ended by noting how support will be provided to the victim, and the Archdiocese will also be offering counselling and emotional support services to the priest.

'A priest and two nuns and two gardaí came and took me from my mum’s arms'

A former Ireland football and rugby player has told how she can find no reason for being locked up in a notorious Limerick industrial school, except that she was a “black child born to a white mother”.

Jackie McCarthy O’Brien, aged 63, was the first person of colour to play for the Ireland senior women’s soccer and rugby teams and won 13 caps for both.

Ms McCarthy O’Brien spent the first six years of her life incarcerated in the notorious all-girls industrial school Mount St Vincent — also known as 'The Mount' — on O’Connell Ave in Limerick, where she and other girls were treated with "horrible cruelty".

Despite extensive research, Ms McCarthy O’Brien says she can find no justification for her incarceration other than the fact that she was black. She was seized from her mother in 1961 under a court order and placed in the home when she was just two months old.

“I was a baby. I didn’t know what was going on,” she said. “I was put in there at two months, and I stayed there until I was nearly six.

“That’s a very long time for a child to be in an institution, they are the formative years."

She says the legislation that allowed the courts to admit her to the State-run school was known as Section 55 of the Childcare Act. She believes this was used as a "cover" to incarcerate her.

“Section 55 just covered their ass," Ms McCarthy O’Brien said. "It happens in situations where a child is orphaned by both parents dying, or one parent can’t look after it if one dies, it covers a multitude of things."

Despite the fact her unmarried mother was desperate to keep her, according to Ms McCarthy O’Brien, the "State, the nuns, and priests used that act" to lock her up. 

She puts it simply: "They didn't want a black child running around Limerick.

“I have checked this a lot and got assistance from the Child Law Clinic at UCC [University College Cork]. I believe I was put in there because I was a child of colour.

“It doesn't say why [she was sent to the school] on my records, but every record states child of colour repeatedly. I believe that’s why I was taken in there."

Missing records

Four years ago, Ms McCarthy O’Brien began the search for her records but was told that they didn't exist.

She said: “I secured my own records eventually, the State didn’t give them to me. I was told by the nuns and the State that they are not there. I was passed from pillar to post. I was told there was no records.

“Eventually I got them my own way, and they did exist. I applied under Freedom of Information knowing from a source they did exist."

Born in Birmingham in 1961 to a white Irish mother, Precious O’Halloran, from Limerick, and a Jamaican father, whom she never met, Ms McCarthy O’Brien moved to Limerick at two weeks old.

“Mum had returned home without my birth father, but when she came back, she never told anyone her baby was black," she said.

“Then a knock came to the door, a priest and two nuns and two gardaí came and took me from my mum’s arms. I was told she ran after the ambulance”.

Ms McCarthy O’Brien describes Mount St Vincent Industrial school "as a very cold and cruel place. I had one friend Lilian, and we bonded, we slept in each other’s bed and if we wet one bed then only one of us would go without breakfast.

“It was about survival and that is an invaluable technique. Two wet beds meant two hungry mouths.

"They would do horrible things, like make you stand naked for hours waiting for your bath on a Saturday night — the black kids would dirty the water they would say, so we went last.

“Mum came to visit most weekends. I didn’t know she was [my] mother, she had been told not to tell me. She was also white, and I did not relate to that. It was confusing."

Ms McCarthy O’Brien remained living with the nuns until her mother married a former All-Ireland handball champion, Mickey O’Brien, in 1966. At that stage she began going home with the couple for breaks.

“It took me two years to feel safe in the house,” she explained. “The only home I knew was the industrial school, to me they were two strangers.

“But after Mickey married mum, they tried to get me out of there but couldn’t because the nuns didn’t really want you getting out very often, and the best they got was visits.

“One Christmas they came and got me out and never let me go back, the nuns came knocking to get me back but Mickey said: 'No you’re not getting her back.'” 

Adoption barriers

Mickey O’Brien never adopted Jackie because of barriers put in their way at the time by the state.

“The nuns told him, do not adopt a child of colour and don’t give her your good Irish name," she said. "But he raised me as his own and I began calling him dad."

She credits him with recognising her talent for sport: “He encouraged me. He was extraordinary, he is my dad.”

Ms McCarthy O’Brien went on to play for Ireland in both football and rugby. She represented Ireland 13 times in football between 1981–1993. 

After retiring from football at 33, she switched to Rugby Union and won 13 caps for Ireland, playing between 1994 and 1998. It was on the pitch that she finally found a sense of belonging.

“I started playing soccer at 11 in 1973, and I went on to play with Limerick," she said.

“Football was my escape on the pitch, I could put my head into it.

“Wearing the green jersey made me Irish, it made me very important. I was accepted."

Jackie went on to marry and have three children. Her daughter Sam is also a former Ireland soccer player. They are the first, and so far only, mother and daughter to represent the Republic of Ireland soccer team.

Jackie has since split from her husband, but they remain on good terms.

“I was 21 when I got married” she said. "We have three children, Sam aged 42, Robert is 40, Stacey is 36, and I adopted Kaya, who was in my care from birth and is now 18."

A few years ago, she traced her biological father’s roots and found a half brother in the UK, whom she has since met. His mother was Irish too.

Despite the trauma she faced in her early years, Ms McCarthy O’Brien said she has no ill feeling towards anyone.

No ill will

“I only recently started to realise there was a past,” she explained. “The Christine Buckley documentary was very traumatic for me, I realised there were other people like me because everything was brushed under the carpet, and we never spoke about it all.

“I did four years in counselling, and I then had an understanding of what was taken from me.

“I did not want to be bitter or to let the nuns and the church take my soul or my heart, and going through counselling was a healing process. You learn to leave it go as best you can."

She said that “resilience and learning to keep getting back up” is how she has lived her life, a skill she learned from her mum and dad.

“I was lucky because my parents would encourage me and they always said: ‘Go and do it’.

“I didn’t grow up with the word trauma, some use it willy nilly, but we all have a trauma in our lives.

“It’s what you can take in life, and deal with the pain and suffering no matter what it is, and still be a good decent person, it’s all about self esteem — the industrial schools they took that from people, but I was lucky I got it back, my self-esteem.

“I have no ill will towards anybody, no bitterness, and I never looked for redress, my parents didn’t look for it either.

“I made my own house, I did well, I owe nobody anything. I went out and worked. I have four beautiful children, and I got on with it.” 

Worker at Lough Derg who duped unsuspecting women into sexual assaults to be sentenced next week

A WORKER AT the Lough Derg pilgrimage site duped unsuspecting women into helping him fix machines at the retreat so he could sexually assault them.

Tomas Gallagher fooled his five victims into thinking they were helping him repair washing machines and tumble dryers during a series of incidents at the renowned religious setting.

But instead of helping the workman, the innocent women found themselves being sexually assaulted after the 42-year-old preyed on the unsuspecting women.

Details of the plans hatched by Gallagher were outlined before Letterkenny Circuit Court.

The father-of-one from Rathanlacky, Dunkineely pleaded to a total of seven charges against five different women at the holy island on the shores of Lough Derg.

He pleaded to six charges of sexual assault at St Patrick’s Purgatory.

These offences are contrary to Section 2 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990, as amended by Section 37 of the Sex Offenders Act 2001.

He also pleaded that in the same period and location, he did attempt, by inviting, inducing, counselling or inciting a child to sexual touching. This offence is contrary to Section 4 Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act, 2017.

The victims, who cannot be named to protect their identity, ranged in age from their early teens to more mature women in their later years.

All of the offences took place in 2022 when Gallagher worked both as a maintenance man at the retreat, as well as driving a boat taking pilgrims to and from the island.

Barrister for the state, Ms Fiona Crawford, BL and investigating Garda Joanna Doherty outlined the details of the incidents.

Statements given to Gardai by the victims told how Gallagher had approached them, asking them to come into a laundry room as he needed help fixing various machines.

The statements outlined how the unsuspecting women were asked to reach behind them into the machines while Gallagher fixed a ‘pipe.”

The women thought they were holding a pipe but instead they were gripping the accused man’s penis.

On one occasion, Gallagher told one of his victims to twist the pipe like she was “revving a motorcycle.”

Gallagher told another victim that the ‘pipe’ would be soft and moist.

An older victim was approached by Gallagher who asked her to reach behind a dishwasher and hold a pipe but she “knew immediately it was no pipe” as it was warm and soft and felt like a penis.

The woman couldn’t see it but the shocked woman jumped back and shouted “what the f*** is that?”

The woman didn’t tell anybody else about the incident that day but felt upset and did later tell her daughter about what had happened.

On another occasion, Gallagher asked a young teenage girl to help him with a washing machine and asked her to hold a ‘pipe’.

She grabbed the ‘pipe’ and he told her to “hold it there” as he chatted to her about school.

However, the girl told how the pipe didn’t feel like plastic but was warm and had a rubbery texture and that it felt sticky or sweaty.

Another teenager told in her statement how Gallagher asked him to assist her with a tumble dryer and told her to put her hand behind a wooden board and he got her to hold something.

He told the girl to hold the ‘pipe’ harder and then to loosen it and then to increase her grip before he said “yeah, that’s fine.”

The young woman then said the pipe was ‘squishy, wet and warm’ and when she stood up she saw Gallagher’s penis sticking out from the zipper of his trousers.

One young woman eventually came forward and told a person in charge what had happened which led to others coming forward making complaints of a similar nature against Gallagher.

Gallagher was interviewed by Gardai on three occasions and initially denied anything untoward had happened.

During one interview with Detective Garda Paul McHugh, Gallagher admitted asking one woman to hold a pipe on a tumble dryer as it had been leaking.

He claimed the woman had got up and left for no apparent reason and he had been left nervous and embarrassed by the incident.

However, he later admitted the offences and entered a guilty plea.

Victim impact statements from the women were read out in court while two young women chose to read out their own statements.

One young woman fought back tears as she told how despite being the victim she felt ashamed and disgusted by what had happened and often thinks about if she could have stopped this from happening to other women.

She added that she often thinks about Gallagher’s son and that she prays that he is safe.

An older victim said she feels vulnerable and intimidated by what had happened and that she is sorry that she did not speak up sooner but was afraid that people would laugh at her or not believe her.

Another victim told how she was a student but failed her exams because she became depressed after Gallagher’s assault on her.

However, she later completed her exams and was proud of herself and was determined not to allow her attacker to ruin her life further but still feels he stole something from her.

A teenage victim said she has been forced to attend counselling because of anxiety and that she is now always on edge and simply cannot trust men.

She decided not to come to court as she feared that seeing Gallagher again would trigger her anxiety.

Another woman, who now lives abroad and gave her evidence by videolink, told how she lives in an apartment with a lift and if a man gets into the lift she can’t stop thinking “what if?”

She said she realises that she should not tar all men with the same brush but Gallagher’s attack had made her an angrier, wearier and a meaner person as a result.

She added that she does feel disgusted by what had happened but sometimes feels glad that he had chosen her and that she had alerted the authorities to what was happening as she hated to think what number of victims there might have been.

Gallagher took to the witness stand and said he wanted to apologise to his victims.

He said he “truly regretted” his actions and was sorry for the hurt and pain he had caused his victims and their families.

Asked by his barrister, Mr Colm Smyth, SC, if he realised this was a huge breach of trust, Gallagher replied that he did.

He also revealed that he had engaged in 24 counselling sessions to better understand the impact his actions have had on others.

Mr Smyth said his client accepted full responsibility for his actions, that he had now lost his employment and had become a pariah in the local community because of the publicity surrounding the case.

He added the fact that the offences took place in a sacred place, a place of pilgrimage for Christian people going back many centuries, also had to be acknowledged.

Mr Smyth suggested to Judge John Aylmer that there also has to be “light at the end of the tunnel” for Gallagher, asking him to consider his client’s remorse, his blameless life up until now and his guilty plea.

Judge Aylmer requested time to consider all matters and adjourned the case for final sentence to next week.