Selections from Murphy Report Chapter 20 about Rev. Patrick McCabe

See also the original PDF, a convenient web version of the McCabe chapter, and the entire Murphy report with linked index. See also Ireland Seeks Problem Priest, by Demian Bulwa, Justin Berton, Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle, August 11, 2010.

The Commission’s assessment [go to this section in the complete chapter]

20.176   This case encapsulates everything that was wrong with the archdiocesan handling of child sexual abuse cases. The story speaks for itself. Archbishop Ryan not only knew about the complaints against Fr {name redacted}, he had a considerable understanding of the effects of abuse on children. This is one of the few cases in which he took a close personal interest. He protected Fr {name redacted} to an extraordinary extent; he ensured, as far as he could, that very few people knew about his activities; it seems that the welfare of children simply did not play any part in his decisions.

20.177   Monsignor Stenson told the Commission that “this case was dreadfully, very poorly handled” and “a much more decisive decision should have been made earlier”. That, in the Commission's view, is a considerable understatement.

20.178   In a saga in which there are very few participants who can be commended, the Commission notes the thorough investigation
carried out by Canon McMahon and the decisiveness of Bishop Carroll.

20.179   The connivance by the Gardaí in effectively stifling one complaint and failing to investigate another, and in allowing Fr {name redacted} to leave the country is shocking. It is noteworthy that the Commission would not have been aware of the Garda activity in question were it not for the information contained in the Church files.

Abuse [see Section 20.19]

Fr [McCabe] had visited her home on a number of occasions. The last time he was in her home, a female helper employed in the house entered her six-year-old son's bedroom and found Fr [McCabe] lying on the child who was naked on his bed. Fr [McCabe] tried to pass it off as a game. It was reported that the little boy later remarked that Fr [McCabe] was choking him and that he thought priests were holy.

McCabe Sees Himself As Christ [see Section 20.41]

During his period in Stroud, Fr [McCabe] wrote on three occasions to Archbishop Ryan. The letters do not show any remorse for the damage he had inflicted on numerous children as well as on his Church. The over-familiarity in tone and the self-serving pieties are striking. For example, he addressed the Archbishop as 'Dermot' which is very unusual. In one letter he compares his experience in Stroud to “Christ's victimhood experience”. He also tellingly refers to his stay in Stroud as a “retreat” rather than a course of treatment.

Shredding Documents in Santa Rosa [see Section 20.74]

The Commission did not seek confirmation on this point from the Santa Rosa Diocese as it is aware that in 1995, when issues of child sex abuse were being investigated in the Santa Rosa Diocese, Bishop Hurley, who was then assigned to Rome, swore a deposition to the effect that he had torn up all confidential personnel records before his resignation in 1987.

Many Victims [see Section 20.165]

After 1995, more complainants came forward. The Commission is aware of 21 people who have made complaints.

Early and Severe Abuse [see Section 20.4]

In very recent years, two men have come forward to both the Church and the Gardaí complaining of having been singled out, groomed and sexually assaulted, in one instance to the extent of buggery, by him in the presbytery and the altar boys' changing rooms during his time as curate in the Pro-Cathedral.

Planning the Abuse [see Section 20.86]

While this was happening, Fr [McCabe] was free to move as he pleased, without supervision. He visited a priest friend in a rural part of the Archdiocese where he spotted a young boy who, unfortunately, he is alleged to have sought out to molest a year and a half later, in January 1988. He put out the word among his former classmates that he was available for supply work during the holiday period, and though by now, numbers of his classmates were aware of the fact, if not the extent, of his problems, they also knew that he had concelebrated mass with them in Clonliffe at the silver jubilee celebrations, and so assumed, not unreasonably, that he was in good standing in the Archdiocese.

Irish Police File Missing [see Section 20.91]

It strikes the Commission as extraordinary that no notes were taken during the course of this interview as the very purpose of the interview was to ascertain and note the response of Fr [McCabe] to the complaint being made against him. Unfortunately, as the garda file on this investigation is missing, the Commission has no means of crosschecking the gardaí's evidence in this respect.

Carried Away [see Section 20.102]

Fr [McCabe] told the father that “this” happened several times before - he gets carried away with children.