Monsignor: Accused too old or sick to cope with claims

THE former child protection delegate in the Diocese of Cloyne has attempted to explain his failure to report complaints of child sex abuse by saying the accused priests were often aged or sick.

Monsignor Denis O’Callaghan criticised the Catholic Church’s protection guidelines for offering little discretion if they felt the accused priest was unable to cope with the consequences of an abuse complaint.

The former Mallow parish priest also noted in a letter to the Irish Catholic that “with many others I winced when understandably angry people [victims] expressed the wish that an accused priest would burn in hell”.