BishopAccountability.org
	Why the DPP Must Pursue Deviant Clergy By Andrew Lynch Herald May 22, 2009 http://www.herald.ie/opinion/comment/why-the-dpp-must-pursue-deviant-clergy-1748239.html The 82-year-old priest is frail, suffering from cancer and full of remorse for the terrible crime he committed. Nobody denies that he is in many ways a decent Christian man who has done plenty of good things throughout his life. As far as the law is concerned, it doesn't matter a damn. Fr John Skehan, originally from Co Kilkenny, has just started a prison sentence of 14 months after being convicted of stealing more than $100,000 from his parish in Florida. Even though the man is reportedly suicidal and quite likely to die before the year is out, the judge has ordered that he must serve his full sentence. The US system demands that when somebody breaks the law, justice must be seen to be done -- no matter how long ago it happened or how painful the consequences. As our own country struggles to come to terms with the shocking legacy of child abuse revealed by the Ryan Commission, one question now stands out above all others -- who exactly is going to pay? The financial compensation issue is still a sensitive one and is likely to intensify during the next few days. But on a more fundamental level, why is there apparently no prospect of any of these brutal sadists being put behind bars? The position is very simple. The State knows exactly who these 800 people are. Shocking Since most of the shocking crimes detailed in the report took place in the last few decades, a high proportion of the offenders must be still alive. So why hasn't a single one of them been named and shamed in the report -- and why hasn't a single file been sent to the DPP? The bitter irony is that on top of footing more than 90pc of the ˆ1.3bn compensation bill, we the taxpayers have paid to keep their identities secret. A few years ago, the Christian Brothers took the child abuse commission to court, arguing that some of their abused colleagues were no longer able to defend themselves. After forcing the commission to promise that it would not name any names, they dropped their Supreme Court case and were promptly awarded their full legal costs. That's why this week's apologies from the Brothers and other religious orders ring hollow. They knew about these crimes, they denied them and they did their level best to cover them up. Now that the truth has emerged, they are still doing everything in their power to avoid any real punishment. But if we've learned to expect nothing better from the Catholic establishment, we can at least demand that the State does something about it. For half a century, governments made up of all parties stood idly by while thousands of children were subjected to physical torture that would not have been out of place in a concentration camp. If the German judicial system is still prepared to prosecute Nazis in their 90s, there's no good reason for us not to put our own guilty men in the dock. Sadly, the response from Government Buildings so far suggests that the FF-Green coalition's only plan of action is to hope that it all goes away as quickly as possible. Outrage It's been well known for several weeks now that this report was coming down the tracks and that it would make for horrific reading. But on the day of its publication, the Government could not find a single spokesperson to discuss it on air. Now the cabinet is all at sea over the indemnity deal agreed with the religious orders in 2002, with the Taoiseach insisting it can't be re-opened and the Tanaiste saying that it just might. Depressingly, it looks as though Brian Cowen and his ministers have under-estimated the level of public outrage. Let justice be done, though the heavens fall. That's the old Latin motto that forms the basis of any civilised legal system. It should be our guiding principle as we try to make sense of this deeply shameful episode in Irish history.
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