The report into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin.

Sceala Clann T.D. Location: Wicklow

This is the report ...I mentioned last month. Delayed ...released in full today.
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Abuse 'covered up' by Dublin Archdiocese
The report of the Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin has said it has no doubt that clerical child abuse was covered up by the Archdiocese and other church authorities.

DETAIL
Garda conduct
Dublin Diocesan Report
The report says the actions of the gardaí who were involved in or investigated the case of one serial clerical sex abuser in the mid 1980s were shocking.
It accuses them of connivance with the Church in effectively stifling one complaint, failing to investigate another and allowing him to leave the country.
It also says the Commission would not have been aware of this were it not for information contained in Church files.
It says there were inappropriate contacts between the Church and some senior Garda officers but it also praises junior gardaí for prosecuting paedophile priests.

It says attempts by Bishop James Kavanagh to influence a garda investigation were unsuccessful because lower ranking gardaí did their job properly.

Commissioner Daniel Costigan is strongly criticised for in 1960 failing to investigate a priest who took photographs of children naked in Crumlin children's hospital.

Scotland Yard alerted the gardaí when the photos were sent to England to be developed but the Commissioner handed the case over the Archbishop John Charles McQuaid.

The priest continued to abuse and was finally convicted and jailed 27 years later in 1997. The commission found Commissioner Costigan breached his duty.

A sergeant refused to believe that serial child abuser Fr Donal Gallagher was anything but sincere and genuine and failed to properly investigate allegations against him.

The DPP could not recommend the priest be prosecuted because the file was so poor. The sergeant later admitted his shortcomings.

The report has also praised the work of junior gardaí and singles out Garda Finbar Garland who was so shocked and disgusted by the acts of former priest Bill Carney that he investigated with speed and efficiency.

The report found that Bishop James Kavanagh's attempts to influence the process were not successful because lower ranking Gardai did their job properly.

In a statement this afternoon, the Garda Commissioner said he was deeply sorry the victims did not receive the level of response and protection they were entitled to.

Fachtna Murphy also said that new procedures and facilities that are now in place to ensure confidence in Garda investigations and effectiveness in methods so that abusers cannot draw a cloak of mistrust and fear around their crimes.

46 priests

Dublin Diocesan Report
Thursday, 26 November 2009 14:32

The report studies in detail the case of 46 priests, 11 of them pleaded guilty or were convicted in the criminal courts of sexual assaults on children.

There was also one clear case of false accusation of a priest given the pseudonym Fr Richardus.

Fr James McNamee: The report states that 21 people made complaints about the priest who was ordained in 1942.
The report states the priest had a total aversion to all women and brought young boys for trips in his car and to nude bathing sessions in a swimming pool in his garden.

Despite several complaints about instances of abuse two Archbishops, John Charles McQuaid and Dermot Ryan failed to take any action.

Fr McNamee: The report states he was transferred to the Carmelite Monastery in Delgany, Co Wicklow after he resigned from his duties in Crumlin following allegation about abuse in his car and the swimming pool at his home in Crumlin.

The Monastery was told he was moved there for health reasons and no-one was informed about his history.

In 1994 Archbishop Desmond Connell initiated an investigation into Fr McNamee's case but he did not inform the superiors at the Monastery.

During his time in Co Wicklow concern over his involvement with children was also raised. Despite this Cardinal Connell did not inform the priest's superiors in Co Wicklow, even though local boys would serve at morning mass for him.

In 1995 the priest was brought to a nursing home in Co Meath, he refused any assessment and initially also refused to allow the management be informed of his history.

The report states that Cardinal Connell and Bishop Donal Murray must accept responsibility for not informing the nuns in Co Wicklow about allegations of abuse when they met with Fr McNamee there in the 1990s.

Granada Institute
Dublin Diocesan Report
Today's publication raises issues over reports on abusers by the Granada Institute.

In one case of a priest named as Fr Terentius there were a number of errors in the report forwarded by the Institute.

It states that in the Granada report that the priest had not admitted to any allegations when in fact he had admitted to several incidents involving six young boys.

The Commission states that the report from the Granada Institute was 'seriously deficient'.

The Granada report also states that two boys were 17 years of age at the time of abuse when according to the Commission they were 13 or 14 years of age.

Another claim in the report from Granada about Fr Terentius states that he is undergoing therapy on an individual basis

The Commission questions this as well as a number of other claims in the report.

Lists kept

The report from the Commission also says it is 'astonished' that the Granada Institute in a report on a 'Fr Laurentius' who compiled lists of his sexual conquests claimed the act was an admission of wrongdoing on his part.

The report describes him as a promiscuous man who had sexual relationships with women in all of the countries in which he ministered.

The priest ordained in 1966 has been barred from ministry since 1996.

He claims all his sexual relationships were with adults but there are two complaints from named underage girls in Ireland.

The report details a series of sexual encounters the priest had with women in several different locations.

After an initial complaint of abuse from a girl aged 16, the order deemed it would be unjust to remove him from the area in which he was serving because his history was with adult women.

In 1997, the priest provided the head of his order with a list of women he had had sexual relationships with.

He had relationships with eight women while in Africa, 26 women in Ireland and 12 in 'first world' countries.

He provided the names and ages of all the women and also named girls aged as young as 15 with whom he said he had a 'friendship'.

The report concludes that church authorities were 'remarkably tolerant' of breaches of their rules where sexual activity with adults is concerned.

It describes his list of sexual conquests as 'astonishing' and says the detail in respect of age and precise sexual activity is 'simply unbelievable'.

The Commission says in its view the list is compiled with a view to establishing that he was not a child abuser.
The report accuses gardaí of connivance with the Church in effectively stifling one complaint, and allowing the perpetrator to leave the country.

The three-volume report, covering a period of abuse from the period 1975 to 2004, was published this afternoon by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern.

The Commission of Investigation cost a total of €3.6 million up to April of this year.

The report rubbishes the view put forward by the church that the abuse was hidden from view and somehow took church authorities by surprise.

It states that the vast majority of priests turned a blind eye to abuse although some did bring complaints to their superiors.

In June and July of 2009, just as it was finalising its work, the Commission became aware of additional information which it states may require further investigation and if necessary the preparation of a final report.

Clerical abuse was covered up

The report states that the Commission has no doubt that clerical child abuse was covered up by the Archdiocese of Dublin and other church authorities.

It states that the structures and rules of the church facilitated that cover-up. It also says that State authorities facilitated the cover up by allowing the church to be beyond the reach of the law.

It claims that the welfare of children, which should have been the first priority, was not even a factor considered in the early days by State and church authorities.

The preservation of the good name, status and assets of church institutions was the first priority, according to the report, which states that priests were seen as the most important members of the institution.

The Commission says that it has identified 320 people who complained of child sexual abuse during the period 1975-2004.

It also states that since May 2004 130 complaints against priests operating in the Dublin Arch Diocese have been made.

The report details the cases of 46 priests guilty of abuse, as a representative sample of 102 priests within its remit.

The report strongly criticises gardaí. It states that senior members of the force regarded priests as being outside their remit and it claims there are examples of gardaí reporting abuse complaints to the Diocese rather than investigating them.

It states that in the 1960s, then Garda Commissioner Costigan's decision to hand one case to Archbishop McQuaid was inappropriate. It also states that the relationship between some senior gardaí and some priests and Bishops was inappropriate.

No direct evidence of paedophile ring

The report says it can find no direct evidence of a paedophile ring existing among priests in the Dublin Archdiocese although it says there were some worrying connections.

The report highlights the case of a Fr Carney and Fr McCarthy whom it claims in one case both abused the same child.

The abuse by Fr Carney often occurred at swimming pools sometimes when accompanied by another priest.

The report states that it was not until 1995 that the Archdiocese began to notify the civil authorities of complaints of clerical abuse.

The Commission concludes that in light of this and other facts every bishop's primary loyalty was to the church itself.

All the Archbishops of the Diocese in the period covered by the Commission were aware of some complaints, according to the report.

The move by the Archdiocese to take out insurance against potential compensation claims arising out of clerical abuse was according to the report an act of proving knowledge of child sexual abuse as a potential major cost to the Archdiocese.

The report running to hundreds of pages details particular priests and the litany of abuse perpetrated by them.

Following a flood of calls on foot of last May's Ryan Report, the HSE National Counselling Service has collaborated with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, the Church-funded Faoiseamh service, One-in-Four, Connect and the Samaritans to ensure that every caller affected by today's publication will be offered the service they feel is right for them.

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The report into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin.