BishopAccountability.org
	Irish Cardinal Apologizes to Abuse Victims By Robert Mackey The New York Times March 17, 2010 http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/irish-cardinal-apologises-to-abuse-victims/ In a St. Patrick’s Day homily and in a televised statement to reporters on Wednesday, Cardinal Sean Brady, the leader of Ireland’s Roman Catholics, apologized to victims of sexual abuse and “to all those who feel I have let them down.” This week, the cardinal refused to step down despite admitting that he had conducted an investigation into the sexual abuse of two children by a priest in the 1970s and failed to notify the police. The children told Rev. Brady that they had been abused by the Rev. Brendan Smyth, who was jailed decades later, after admitting to molesting and raping dozens of children in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United States. As Ulster Television reported on Sunday: Smyth was accused of sexually assaulting a boy then aged 10 while on holiday. A girl said the priest had abused her around Easter 1970, when she was 10. Both alleged victims were required to sign affadavits swearing that they would not talk to anyone except priests given special permission to hear their allegations. The church at the time did not inform Irish police about the children’s allegations. It was not until the broadcast of an Ulster Television documentary in 1994 on Smyth’s history of serial child sex abuse that the church admitted it had known about his paedophilia and had moved him around Ireland, Britain and the United States, where he was able to continue to abuse other children. Smyth died in jail 13 years ago while serving 12 years for 74 sexual assaults on children. Cardinal Brady’s part in the investigation came to light because he is now being sued in civil court in Ireland by one of the victims of the abuse. Asked on Irish television this week about his failure to notify the police in 1975, the cardinal said that, as a junior priest at the time, he was not responsible for ensuring that the crimes were reported to the authorities: “I felt I did my duty, the duty that was assigned to me by my bishop. It’s not fair to judge actions of 35 years ago by the standards we are following today.” He added: Thirty-five years ago we were in a different world. We had no guidance, we were in uncharted territory. Now we have higher standards, thankfully, and certainly I wouldn’t act in the same way now as I did then. But I repeat that I was not the manager, I was not bishop then and I did act. That’s the most important thing; I did act and acquired the evidence. An Irish expert on the laws of the Catholic Church, Rev. Maurice Dooley, said on Irish radio this week that, the Rev. Brady “had no obligation whatsoever” to report the crimes to the police, since he was gathering evidence for a secret church investigation. He added that it was neither a crime nor a sin for a priest to know about but not report the sexual abuse of children since, “there are certain people who are exempt from this… moral obligation to report to the police and that has always been part of our tradition.” According to a statement posted online by Ireland’s Catholic Communications Office on Tuesday, the children were sworn to silence merely to aid the investigation, not to cover up the crimes of the priest who had abused them. The statement said that the two children, “were asked to confirm by oath the truthfulness of their statements and that they would preserve the confidentiality of the interview process. The intention of this oath was to avoid potential collusion in the gathering of the inquiry’s evidence and to ensure that the process was robust enough to withstand challenge by the perpetrator, Fr. Brendan Smyth.” In his homily, delivered at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh — near the site where, legend has it, St. Patrick founded his first stone church in Ireland — Cardinal Brady said: This week a painful episode from my own past has come before me. I have listened to reaction from people to my role in events thirty five years ago. I want to say to anyone who has been hurt by any failure on my part that I apologise to you with all my heart. I also apologise to all those who feel I have let them down. Looking back I am ashamed that I have not always upheld the values that I profess and believe in. He added, “we must humbly continue to deal with the enormity of the hurt caused by abuse of children by some clergy and religious and the hopelessly inadequate response to that abuse in the past.” Victims of sexual abuse, who have called for Cardinal Brady to resign, were not mollified by his apology. Andrew Madden, who filed a lawsuit against the church in 1995, told the BBC that the cardinal’s remarks were “nonsense.” He added:”If the Catholic Church in Ireland is to be led by a man who accurately reflects it in its current state, then maybe it’s only right and fitting that it should be led by a man who has covered up the sexual abuse of children by a priest.” According to his biography on the Vatican’s Web site, “Cardinal Brady has played an active though low-profile role in the important peace process in Northern Ireland.” But on Wednesday Martin McGuinness, who represents the largely Catholic nationalists of Northern Ireland, said he was “dismayed” to learn of Cardinal Brady’s role. Speaking in Washington, where he traveled to meet with President Obama on St. Patricks’ Day, Mr. McGuinness suggested that the cardinal might need to resign. “If two children were asked to sign vows of silence, then how many more were asked to do the same thing down the years?” he asked. Ulster Television reported that the leader of another political party that represents Northern Ireland’s Catholics, Margaret Ritchie, “said Mr. McGuinness should look to the controversy surrounding Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams’s brother Liam, who is before the courts accused of abusing his daughter, before commenting on Cardinal Brady.” The cardinal has his supporters, though. The Irish Times reported that when he entered the cathedral in Armagh on Wednesday, he was given a loud ovation. The Irish paper added: “The majority of the 300-strong congregation applauded him again after his apologetic homily and as he left the magnificent church at the close of St Patrick’s Day mass.” My colleague Rachel Donadio reports that “Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday that he hoped a forthcoming letter dealing with one part of the scandal in Ireland would help ‘repentance, healing and renewal.’”
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.