Ferns report fallout - It could be the tip of the iceberg

Justice Minister Michael McDowell stated yesterday that he is examining the provision of free legal aid for both victims and accused in civil cases being brought over alleged clerical abuse.

This should be warmly welcomed, because many victims may wish to avoid the trauma of a contentious criminal case that would force them to re-live the horror of their victimisation.

The Ferns Report highlighted the need for legislation to prevent such things happening again. Mr McDowell indicated he would consider amendments to the current Criminal Justice Bill on the lines of a recent “reckless endangerment” law in Massachusetts.

This would make it a criminal offence for professional people not to take action to protect children at risk of sexual or physical abuse.

The clerics who committed the paedophile offences needed assistance, but they were such an embarrassment to the Church they were not helped. What happened was the reverse - they were transferred to communities where no one was warned of the dangers they posed to young people.

This amounted to the reckless endangerment of those children. Such conduct should henceforth be a crime. While the bishops lectured everybody about moral responsibility, they evaded their own responsibilities. Now some are hiding behind a cloak of ignorance - that they really didn’t understand the problem.

This does not wash. It is simply unbelievable that those in authority did not understand the dangers posed by priests who had already raped young girls and boys.

These things could not have happened on such a scale without the failure of various people in authority - such as the gardaí, politicians, the media and the public - who knew better, but for various reasons did not speak out. This failure of so many segments of society amounted to giving the depraved clerics a virtual licence to continue their vile behaviour.

The bishops were too busy trying to protect the Church as an institution to face up to their moral responsibilities to protect the victims and likely victims.

In 1986, the then Archbishop of Dublin sought legal advice about the kind of liability the archdiocese might face as a result of clerical abuse. He was clearly aware of the phenomenon, but his first instinct was to protect the Church financially, rather the welfare of children who had, and were, being abused.

The Dublin Archdiocese then took out insurance to indemnify the Church against the monetary cost of clerical abuse, and other dioceses followed suit, thereby demonstrating the Church authorities were aware of the problem.

Of course, this should be of no surprise to anyone, because they were not stupid men.

The Ferns Report may only be the tip of an iceberg. There have already been cases of similar behaviour both elsewhere in this country and in other countries.

A certain amount of the shock and horror being expressed at the Ferns Report is little more than hypocrisy. The depth of specific allegations may have surprised those in authority, but the general outline of the allegations has long been known.

As a result many of the expressions of horror should be recognised for what they really are - hypocritical efforts to excuse past failings to act in the face of horrific allegations.