Magee apology - No more cover-ups in Church

WITH the notable exception of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and a handful of like-minded bishops, it is abundantly clear that many people in this country have lost faith in the hierarchy to deal openly and honestly with the grave issue of child sex abuse.

Instead of satisfying demands for greater transparency, the belated and utterly inadequate expression of sorrow by Bishop John Magee of Cloyne on his handling of child abuse allegations against 19 priests in his former diocese has led to public clamour for greater clarity on his role and widespread demands for genuine transparency on how the Catholic Church has dealt with criminal acts against children.

Because of the rank hypocrisy of some bishops, young people are leaving the Church in droves. Members of the hierarchy appear more concerned with shielding the institutions of the Church by protecting the perpetrators of abuse rather than supporting their innocent victims. What young people are walking away from is the institutional Church rather than abandoning the tenets of Christianity.

The Magee controversy has focused a spotlight on perceived problems within the hierarchy. There is a compelling case for a clean-out of bishops to make way for younger leaders whose thinking is more in keeping with the realities of life and less concerned with preserving an outdated image of the Church.

Arguably, any bishop who in any way has engaged in a cover-up should be removed from office immediately. Their continued presence, coupled with a policy of foot-dragging by a cabal of highly placed officials in the Vatican, who consistently obstructed child abuse investigations, will only succeed in compounding the problems confronting the Irish Church.

Like it or not, good priests have been tainted by the attempts of some bishops to conceal crimes of a sexual nature against children entrusted to the care of abusers. There is a long history of known perpetrators being moved from parish to parish, thus enabling them to prey on even more victims, all because the bishops were more concerned with Church politics than the safety of children and communal welfare.

As a result, considerable damage has been inflicted on young priests whose primary interest lies in serving the community, visiting the sick and the elderly, administering to the needs of the faithful, and playing a genuinely positive role with young people in parishes up and down the country.

The hierarchy has welcomed Bishop Magee’s offer to meet survivors of child sexual abuse inflicted by priests in his former diocese. But that does not go far enough. His expression of sorrow leaves much to be desired because, in effect, he abdicated responsibility to others.

Bishop Magee should have the humility to answer in-depth media questioning about his role in the controversy revealed by Judge Yvonne Murphy’s damning report showing that over a 12-year period he was responsible for an inadequate and inappropriate diocesan response to child sexual abuse allegations. Scathing criticism has also come from the Association of Catholic Priests which describe him as “speaking like a man who failed to fully understand the extent of the abuse experienced by those who suffered it”.

With further revelations anticipated in the impending report on clerical scandals in Raphoe diocese, it is clear this controversy will not go away until the Church is seen to deal with child sexual abuse in an open, honest and transparent manner.

There can be no more cover-ups.