NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
22 JUNE 2015
Concerns were raised about the activities of a notorious paedophile priest before he was ordained, an inquiry has heard.
There was suspicion that Fr Brendan Smyth, who went on to sexually assault hundreds of children, had abused a boy while training in Rome during the late 1940s.
The revelations were made to the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry, which is looking at how Smyth – a member of the Norbertine order – was allowed to continue offending for over four decades.
Jospeh Aiken, counsel for the inquiry said: “The Norbertine order believes that knowledge of Brendan Smyth’s activities exists prior to his ordination yet he was ordained as a priest in any event.
“A complaint had been made about Smyth when he was a student in Rome in the 1940s. He was accused of abusing a child in the vicinity of the college.”
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