Diocesan response condemned by inquiry

THE diocesan response to allegations of child abuse in Ferns, although varied over a span of 40 years, comes in for severe and damning criticism as successive bishops failed to protect vulnerable children from priests they knew to be abusers.

According to the Ferns Report, the response of the diocese began very badly under the stewardship of Bishop Donal Herlihy, improved slightly under Bishop Brendan Comiskey, and was vastly bettered by the arrival of the present Bishop Eamon Walsh in 2002.

In the case of Fr Sean Fortune, who committed suicide in 1999 while facing 29 charges of sexual abuse, the report concludes that it was "inexcusable" that the priest was "ordained and admitted to a vocation that required and provided unsupervised access to young people", despite allegations that had already been made against him.

"That a curate with Fr Fortune's history could open youth clubs and build reconciliation rooms in the basement of his house represented a serious lack of supervision and a failure to have regard for the dangers posed by a man with his history," yesterday's report states.

In reference to the abuse perpetrated by Fr Donal Collins, the Ferns Report criticised Bishop Herlihy's decision to transfer the priest to another diocese without informing them of the reason.

In addition, the report concluded that at least six other priests knew why Fr Collins had been removed from St Peter's College in 1966.

However, they failed to inform their superiors or the authorities of the danger he posed to children.

On the matter of Fr James Doyle, who was also later convicted of child abuse, the report found the diocese acted inappropriately by ordinating the priest and giving him unrestricted access to children despite the fact that the then president of St Peter's believed allegations against him were true.

The treatment of the allegations surrounding Fr Doyle by his superiors and other priests was such that "it indicates a system of secrecy which did not advance the achievement of child protection in the diocese".

On the matter of Fr James Grennan, who is alleged to have abused 10 girls on the altar of the parish church in Monageer in 1988, the report finds that Bishop Comiskey incorrectly dismissed the allegations.

"The inquiry is of the view that the way in which the diocese and Bishop Comiskey handled the allegations brought by the girls in 1988 led to a great deal of unnecessary suffering for the girls, their families and the people of Monageer," the report concludes.

In the case of Canon Martin Clancy who was accused of raping young girls over a period of 30 years the report criticised Bishop Comiskey's failure to act, saying it was "shocked at the duration and extent of the abuse allegedly perpetrated by this priest, which in some instances appeared to involve the rape of very young girls".

Concerns raised about the then vice-president of Maynooth College, Monsignor Michael Ledwith, were found to be "inadequately investigated", while a series of inadequate responses to allegations against another 15 unnamed priests is also documented.