Bishop of Cloyne under growing pressure to resign
Beleaguered Bishop of Cloyne John Magee today faced growing pressure to resign amid the damning scandal over his mishandling of clerical sex abuse allegations.
The senior cleric, patron of national schools in east Cork, has refused to step down even though the Catholic Church’s own watchdog branded his child protection policies inadequate and dangerous.
Children’s Minister Barry Andrews repeated calls for the former Vatican aide to consider his position.
“In the education system in most other countries there would be lay people involved in the running of the schools and a report as damning as this would make their position untenable,” Mr Andrews said.
“I’ve said I think the Bishop should reflect on that and I think it encapsulates my concerns.”
But Mr Andrews, who was given the Cloyne report in July but insists he was unaware of its damning contents, also faced criticism over his handling of the affair.
Sean Sherlock, Labour TD in Cork East who knows one of the abuse victims, said the minister should also consider his role in the controversy.
“I would suggest that there is also a need for Minister Andrews to reflect on the way in which he has handled the report,” Mr Sherlock said.
“Even if we accept the minister’s assertion that he never read the report, is he seriously asking the public to believe that nobody in his department read the report or that he was not briefed on its contents?
“The indisputable fact is that the minister was in possession of this damming report which remained unpublished and its findings hidden for six months while the department and the diocese passed the buck between them over who should publish it.”
The explosive Cloyne report, compiled by the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) and published on the internet last Friday evening, found Bishop Magee took minimal action over a series of child sex abuse allegations against two of his priests.
Newry-born Bishop Magee, who was private secretary to three different Popes, apologised to clerical sex abuse victims in the wake of the damning report but refused to resign.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has also investigated the complaints and its report is being assessed by legal experts.
As the Bishop faced repeated calls for him to stand down, Mr Andrews revealed he will ask the Cabinet at a meeting on January 7 to publish the second report on the handling of the child sex abuse complaints.
According to the minister, the NBSC refused to forward its report to the HSE and officials in the Department of Health and Children passed it on.
Local TD Mr Sherlock said Bishop Magee was becoming increasingly isolated.
“The resignation of Bishop Magee would bring some degree of closure for the victims and their families,” Mr Sherlock said.
“It would be a clear demonstration that lessons have been learned from this terrible affair and that those in positions of authority will have to take responsibility where such failures occur.
“Bishop Magee is now an increasingly isolated figure. His authority has been undermined.”
Mr Sherlock also claimed people across the Diocese of Cloyne were upset by the way the allegations have been mishandled.
The allegations centre on two priests within the Co Cork diocese. The first against Father A, was made by a priest in December 2004 who claimed he had been abused by another priest when he was a young boy.
Complaints were also made against a second priest, Father B, who was accused of molesting two teenage girls over a five-year period, abusing a 14-year-old boy and of having a year-long sexual relationship with the boy’s mother.
