NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
He abused boy while training in Rome… yet he was still allowed to prey on kids for 40 more years
BY DEBORAH MCALEESE – 23 JUNE 2015
The Catholic Church has been accused of “protecting their own” rather than the child abuse victims of notorious paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.
Decades of failures by individuals and Church institutions to deal with Smyth and prevent further abuse are currently under examination by the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIAI).
During a day of shocking revelations yesterday, it emerged that suspicions within the Catholic Church about the serial child abuser were discussed even before he was ordained into the priesthood.
The inquiry team was told that the Church had been aware of allegations that Smyth had abused a young boy in Rome while he was there studying as a student priest.
His superiors within the Norbertine Order ignored warnings from a senior priest in Rome not to ordain him, the inquiry heard.
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