Do not scapegoat bishop, say abuse probe witnesses

KEY witnesses in an inquiry into clerical sexual abuse in Wexford says the bishop who managed the diocese at the time should not be made a scapegoat in the ongoing State probe.

Former Vatican ambassador Father Tom Doyle will give testimony to the Ferns Inquiry in Dublin on Wednesday.

He will tell inquiry secretary Marian Shanley and her team that former Bishop of Ferns, Brendan Comiskey, must not be made carry the blame for what went on at the hands of the late Fr Seán Fortune and others.

“Comiskey is not totally responsible. There is no doubt that there was a cover-up and he knew what was going on. But so, too, did the Papal Nuncio, Cardinal Desmond Connell, the then Archbishop of Dublin and the Vatican,” he said in an interview with the Sunday Times.

Clerical abuse victim Colm O’Gorman has always insisted that Dr Comiskey’s resignation achieved nothing and added others knew as much as he did about what was going on under his watch. “His resignation has done nothing for us.

“We never, ever sought this. In 1999 I asked Dr Comiskey to speak out and show compassion. Yet to this day, he hasn’t. That said, I regret what he has done and I hope his resignation means we will still get the answers,” Mr O’Gorman said when he learned of Dr Comiskey’s resignation on April 1, 2002.

Mr O’Gorman always insisted that others were far more culpable for what had happened. “There is a much wider responsibility here and senior figures in the Church still have questions to answer. This goes all the way right up to the Vatican.”

The Ferns Inquiry team hopes to issue its final report by the end of September, Ms Shanley has said. And she said it’s not too late for victims to come forward.

“We’re still moving on through the various phases of the inquiry and over the summer months, we will be concluding the oral hearings. Then we will begin drafting the report.

“We would hope to be able to have the final report ready for Micheál Martin by the end of September. But it’s still not too late for people to come forward. As long as the inquiry has its doors open and people have testimony to give, we will include it in the report,” she said.

While the inquiry is non-statutory, the inquiry team has the power to apply to the minister for statutory powers if people refuse to co-operate. “We’ve not had to refer back to the minister so far. But the inquiry is not over yet. We got the sense from the very outset that everyone wanted to co-operate and make this inquiry work. The impression we have been getting is that healing has already been brought about.”

Key dates in diocese of Ferns

March 2002: BBC screens the Suing the Pope documentary outlining abuse in the diocese of Ferns.

April 1, 2002: Bishop of Ferns, Brendan Comiskey, resigns.

April 4, 2002: Micheál Martin appoints senior counsel, George Birmingham to compile a preliminary report on clerical sexual abuse in the Diocese of Ferns.

August 2002: Health Minister receives the preliminary report.

March 2003: Make-up of the inquiry announced by Minister.

July 2003: Ferns inquiry finally gets up and running.

July 2004: Inquiry team issue preliminary report, detailing its findings a year on.