Cardinal apologises to victims but refuses to quit over Smyth role

CARDINAL Seán Brady has apologised to child sex abuse victims who were abused by Fr Brendan Smyth after the priest was established by a Church inquiry to be a paedophile.

But the cardinal repeated his defence of his own actions in the inquiry, insisting he had no authority to do anything other than pass the details on to his superior. Cardinal Brady was responding to calls for his resignation following revelations that he questioned two young victims of Smyth in 1975 as part of a secret inquiry that led to Smyth being denied permission to act as a diocesan priest but left him free to work in chaplaincy roles where he continued to abuse for 18 more years.

The cardinal told RTÉ News that his role in the inquiry was purely to take the evidence from the children – under oath of secrecy – and pass it on to his then superior Bishop of Kilmore, the late Francis McKiernan. He rejected claims his silence was part of a Church cover-up in the Smyth affair. “I didn’t remain silent. I passed the information to the man who had the power to act.