Priests back calls for sex abuse probe

Two well-known figures in the Catholic Church today added their voices to calls for an investigation into allegations of child sex abuse.

They were speaking in reaction to a programme which reported the Dublin Archdiocese was facing 450 legal actions as a result of claims of clerical sex abuse.

Prime Time detailed accounts of cases of abuse by eight priests, of which it said at least six bishops became aware.

Father Aidan Troy, parish priest of Holy Cross in Belfast, said that the time for church explanations was over, and that an investigation now had to be put into place.

He said today: “I have to come out with my hands up and say listen, the time for explanations is far gone. There has to be a legal process now.”

Father Troy expressed his “profound sorrow” for victims of abuse and also called for a successor to be appointed to work alongside Cardinal Desmond Connell, the Archbishop of Dublin.

The Bishop of Killaloe, Willie Walsh, earlier today said that everybody should face criminal proceedings for crimes they have committed.

He told radio that if the structures of the Church were not working for its people they should be changed.

“I think each one of us should has to be subject to the law of the land and if any of us does something which is in any way a criminal offence then I think we should be treated accordingly, the same as any other citizen,” he said.

“I think all of us would accept that.”

Bishop Walsh also said it would appear the Archdiocese of Dublin did not adequately inform its priests about a Church court’s decision to defrock Father Tony Walsh – a known child abuser – in 1992.

Today a spokesman for Justice Minister Michael McDowell confirmed the minister would be discussing with Cabinet colleagues what type of inquiry may be appropriate.

He said it was possible that the government could appoint a commissioner with statutory powers to investigate the allegations, and that this was one of several options being considered.

After last week’s broadcast, Irish Survivors of Child Abuse, a group representing victims of clerical sexual abuse, called on Cardinal Connell to resign over his handling of the allegations.

The group said the Cardinal’s position was now “untenable“, and that the programme proved what victims “had been saying for years” – that there had been collusion at the highest level in the Catholic Church.

The Sunday Tribune yesterday added its voice to the calls, saying in its editorial that Cardinal Connell should “put his pride aside and resign“.

Since the broadcast of the Prime Time programme, there have been calls from several prominent figures, including politicians, for an investigation into the allegations.