NEW UPDATE
Brendan Boland calls for Cardinal Brady to resign here
Brendan Boland was the first child to tell his parents about the abuse
Brendan Boland calls for Cardinal Brady to resign here
Brendan Boland was the first child to tell his parents about the abuse
But I have watched it on BBC 2 tonight and it is patently clear that Cardinal Brady has downplayed his role when he said in 2010 that he was a mere notary at the abuse interview held in 1975 without any powers. This was shown to be not true.
The written evidence presented on TV tonight clearly shows
otherwise.
In 1975, the then Fr Brady was a designated investigator of the abuse cases.
Click here to watch it on BBC i-player ( available for 7 days)
In 1975, the then Fr Brady was a designated investigator of the abuse cases.
Click here to watch it on BBC i-player ( available for 7 days)
For me the most revealing part of the programme was the recent interview with Rev Thomas Doyle, a Dominican canon lawyer who has dealt with several abuse cases in the church who said Brady had enough authenticated evidence from the report which contained a clear and detailed testimony .
Doyle said that for Cardinal Brady to say he had done enough and was just following orders was an inadequate response.
Fr Brady knew the priest in question and knew he was sexually assaulting children.
Fr Brady knew the priest in question and knew he was sexually assaulting children.
Thomas Doyle considers Fr Brady to be criminally negligent.
What was so awful was that as a result of Fr. (subsequently Cardinal) Brady's inaction, 13 more years passed and countless other cases of abuse were carried out by this priest before he was finally caught.
The final scene showed the man who had reported the abuse to Fr Daly as a young boy in 1975 and had given the names and addresses of others who he knew had been abused, meeting up with his friend whom he had not seen in all that time and they embraced. It brought me to tears, when he said "I thought I had saved you.."
The final scene showed the man who had reported the abuse to Fr Daly as a young boy in 1975 and had given the names and addresses of others who he knew had been abused, meeting up with his friend whom he had not seen in all that time and they embraced. It brought me to tears, when he said "I thought I had saved you.."
The programme was excellent, not sensationalist, and not rabidly anti - Catholic , nor an opportunity to bash the church, as so often is the case these days.
The evidence was clearly and fairly presented.
I strongly recommend watching it if you can.
The fact that the reporter Darragh Macintyre was an Irish Catholic and he came across as sensitive and empathic to the Catholic faith made it all the more heartbreaking to watch.
The evidence was clearly and fairly presented.
I strongly recommend watching it if you can.
The fact that the reporter Darragh Macintyre was an Irish Catholic and he came across as sensitive and empathic to the Catholic faith made it all the more heartbreaking to watch.
It included other cases of abuse in 1997 by a different Irish priest , Fr Eugene Green who was jailed for 12 years in 2000. There were 26 victims involved.
The current Diocese of Rafoe report on this was considered totally inadequate by most of the people in the programme as it had not included any reference to the victims and was shown to be woefully inadequate in several ways.
There were a few bright lights and cause for hope that came towards the end of the programme.
Firstly, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, Chief Prosecutor of Abuse Cases for The Vatican came across very well when he talked about the need for accountability and stressed there cannot be a delayed response to disclosure.
He said The Holy See has a duty to bring
bishops to accountability and the Bishops now also have the authority to remove priests immediately.
Significantly when asked if he thought Cardinal Brady should resign he said he would hold his own counsel on that but he said he would talk privately to Brady.
Secondly, and significantly, the current parish priest of Doonwell, Fr Patrick McHugh said that the people Ireland have NOT lost their faith...their faith was an earthed faith, but in relationship to the church EVERYTHING has changed.
Secondly, and significantly, the current parish priest of Doonwell, Fr Patrick McHugh said that the people Ireland have NOT lost their faith...their faith was an earthed faith, but in relationship to the church EVERYTHING has changed.
Original Post below done earlier today...........
The Catholic Primate of All-Ireland has said that he will not resign as Church leader despite
revelations in the tonight's BBC 2's This World programme.
It found Cardinal Sean Brady(left) had names and addresses of those being abused by paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.
However, he did not pass on those details to police or parents.
Cardinal Brady said he accepted he was part of "an unhelpful culture of deference and silence in society, and the Church".
"With others, I feel betrayed that those who had the
authority in the Church to stop Brendan Smyth failed to act on the
evidence I gave them," he said in a statement on Wednesday.
Brendan Smyth was later exposed as Ireland's most prolific paedophile, and he died in prison in 1997, one month into a 12
year prison sentence.
Full BBC report here
"The church also points out that in 1975, "no state or church
guidelines for responding to allegations of child abuse existed in
Ireland".
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said it was a matter for
Cardinal Brady to reflect on his decision following the BBC documentary.
Irish Justice Minister Alan Shatter said the programme's revelations were "tragic and disturbing".
Abuse victims' campaigner Marie Collins, who was raped at the
age of 13 by a hospital chaplain in Dublin, said Cardinal Brady should
resign.
"I'm amazed no bishops have come out and said he should go," she said.
"We have priests and theologians being silenced by the
Vatican - they can act against people whose views they feel are liberal,
but they will not act against someone who not only endangered children
but let them be abused.
"If Cardinal Brady came out and espoused the view that women should be ordained, he'd be gone within hours."
Gary O'Sullivan, editor of the Irish Catholic newspaper, said Cardinal Brady had questions to answer.
My own response
Cardinal Daly - may have done everything Canon Law required of him at that time but any human being with compassion and conscience could not have left things the way they were. He could have followed up on the report he had made with those he had reported to, to ensure that the priest was investigated promptly.
The omission to act must weight heavily on his conscience.
The omission to act must weight heavily on his conscience.
How
did he get to a place where the priority of caring about the welfare of a child came
out of a defective rule book of Canon Law and was seen to be of a higher and more acceptable ethical standard to conform to, than the dictates of his own conscience and integrity as a human being?
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