Under-fire bishop apologises for paedophilia comments

Ten days after making controversial remarks about child sex abuse, the Bishop of Clonfert apologised to survivors for comments which “may have given the impression” he was “minimising the gravity of the criminal activity”.

Abuse groups called for Bishop John Kirby to resign early this month after he admitted that in the 1990s he thought paedophilia was “a friendship that crossed the boundary line”.

Bishop Kirby’s remarks were made on Galway Bay FM following an audit of his diocese by the Catholic Church’s child abuse watchdog. The audit found the bishop moved two priests accused of sexually abusing children to different parishes.

Speaking at Mass yesterday, Bishop Kirby said: “What I failed to appreciate sufficiently at that time was the addictive and repetitive compulsion of sexual abuse.

“Unfortunately, my words last week, separated from their context, came across negatively. I am very sorry for any anxiety or embarrassment that I may have caused to people in Clonfert or throughout the country.”

He again acknowledged the mistakes he made in the mid 1990s by moving two priests to other parishes, but added: “I operate very differently now and will continue to do so in the future.

“I cannot apologise enough to survivors of abuse for the pain that you suffer. I utterly condemn the actions of the two priests, referred to in the review, who sexually abused in this diocese in the past.

“They betrayed a sacred trust and their crimes are reprehensible. Both were quickly reported to the civil authorities and both were taken out of ministry.”

The audit also found that as late as last November, his diocese did not have a full written child protection policy and procedures document in place.

It also found he had been in dispute with his diocese’s safeguarding committee as late as 2010 which had led to some members resigning.

Abuse survivor Andrew Madden was one of many who had hit out at Bishop Kirby’s comments, saying he didn’t “really believe the claims of ignorance coming from Bishop Kirby”.